IM Nuvo 30M Reboot

[AirGee]

I started reefing in 2013 with an IM Nuvo 30M. It's a 30 gallon cube AIO. I believe IM discontinued the model in favor of the shorter and longer models, which I would probably buy now if I could redo it.

I had the tank set up in a townhouse near Seattle for 3 years. It was my first tank, and a bit of a learning curve. Lost some frags along the way, but the zoas and palythoas thrived through hair algae blooms etc.

Old tank photos:

I hope to get a pair of clowns like this again. I missed these guys and hope they all found good new homes.


When I moved in 2016 I was sad to to have to breakdown the tank and give the livestock up to my LFS at the time, Barrier Reef Aquariums in Renton. I felt like everything was just starting to click too, fish were thriving and coraline algae and corals starting to grow and encrust everywhere. When I was moving it was not feasible to move the tank. I moved into my new place a few months later and the tank sat empty.

5 years later and something pushed me to do something with the sad empty tank. Cleaned it out with white vinegar and I am on my way with a new build with years of progress in technology and methods to explore. I now own my home and feel pretty stable so I feel good about making this commitment.

New build takes previous lessons learned in consideration and following lots of YouTube channels.

I am pretty much only reusing an InTank filter box I purchased the last time and the IM LEDs from the previous build.


Filtration:
New clean Marco rocks (used about 20lbs)
CaribSea AragAlive Fiji Pink 20lbs
Trying the new to me IM midsize filter packs for now (floss, GFO, and carbon)
Seachem Matrix in media bag
IM Nuvo filter sock
Reef Glass nano air stone protein skimmer (not running yet)
Cycled with Dr. Tim's fishless cycle, added a bottle of BioSpira for good measure.

Lighting:
Using the old IM Skylight LED fixture that came with the tank originally.
A Kessil A360x with back of tank mount and controller is on the way from SaltwaterAquarium.com cyber Monday as first major upgrade

Flow:
Sicce Syncra 1.5 return pump
Tunze Turbelle 2040

Water/Salt:
I bought 6 boxes of Petco boxed water for the initial fill for convenience. I still have a few water changes worth after the fill.
I have some Kent Reef Salt mix leftover, which I am debating about using still. It should still be good.
After that I will probably switch to another brand of salt mix.
I have a small 5 stage ro/di under my kitchen sink which will work for top offs and water changes, which will be manual.

Will be dosing TM All-For-Reef by hand as well.

I think that covers most of the new build. I will post some pics of the new aquascape and the first livestock I just put in this weekend from Indo Pacific Sea Farms. So happy I got back into this, looking forward to stocking my first pair of clownfish in several weeks!

Stand is an old radio cabinet, it's nice and sturdy.

Set it up a little off the wall to have access to the open back. Braced the back a bit with some reclaimed decking, and to possibly use as mounts for over the back lights or controls.



Got a tank tuneup package, mini stars, worms, Coraline algae, pods etc from IPSF.com. I was shooting to spend enough for 2 freebie corals from them, and wasn't disappointed in the nice LPS frags I got.

I am not even sure what they are, some type of micromussa?

Lots of cool life came from IPSF, I found out about them a year or so into my first reef, and was looking forward to use them to start my new tank.

Anyway, I am really happy to get back into this hobby and wanted to share my progress.

 

[blaxsun]

I found a bag of ChemiPure Blue in the media caddy was a great alternative to the IM filter packs. I just ran filter gloss in the top and the ChemiPure Blue in the middle chamber.

 

[AirGee]

I found a bag of ChemiPure Blue in the media caddy was a great alternative to the IM filter packs. I just ran filter gloss in the top and the ChemiPure Blue in the middle chamber.

Sweet, that's exactly what I was thinking of switching to after exhausting this pack.

 

[blaxsun]

Sweet, that's exactly what I was thinking of switching to after exhausting this pack.

You can apparently leave it in for 2-4 months (I got about 2 months and changed the filter floss out every 2-4 days). MarinePure also makes these small 0.5” ceramic hexes that worked pretty good as well (helps to keep nitrates in check).

 

[AirGee]

Stocking Plans

Feeling a need to document my livestock plans. Mostly for myself so I have something to stick to, and consciously modify here if needed. Also so I don't do something silly and impulsive like buying $300 worth of frags from ReefBum's live sale before my tank is really ready.

ReefBum's YouTube channel has been one of my favorites getting back into this hobby. I really enjoyed the 3 glass walls peninsula tank build series.

Anyway his live frag sale this weekend was a real inspiration for my coral stocking plans. I was going to stick with softies and LPS, but his SPS are stunning and I want to try and pull off a mixed reef. I will be going for Monti caps and digis and maybe a Stylo for SPS. Duncans and blastos in the middle for LPS, then Zoas and maybe some shrooms down low.

Current livestock is the CuC from IPSF and the two freebie corals. I am going observe these freebies over the next few months and place them in the LPS zone of my scape. I will use their growth to determine when to make my first big coral purchase.

Fish will be maximum of 4.
2 clownfish to start.

Eventually I will stock either a pair of fire fish, chalk bass, or bangai cardinalfish.

AlternativeIy had a six line wrasse and sharknose goby in my previous reef. I may just do that again, perhaps a different kind of goby.

3rd option for the final fish may be a solitary Royal Gramma.

 

[AirGee]

Livestock Update

I visited my LFS, The Shark Reef in Silverdale WA yesterday and picked up a couple of clownfish, and a few mushrooms including a ricordea. The clownfish come from a local WA breeder, Westsound Aquaculture.

I also moved my IPSF freebies up to better spots on the rock work.

Will work on my photography. Was hoping the Kessil on the way would help with that but unfortunately it is delayed by FedEx since Wednesday.

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

Great thread love the photos and alll the detail!

 

[AirGee]

FedEx finally delivered the Kessil A360X! Set it up today and snapped some pics in acclimation mode.

 

[Merthynia]

It appears like your freebie frags might be blastos. They are a great LPS.

 

[AirGee]

It appears like your freebie frags might be blastos. They are a great LPS.

Thank you, I think you are correct.

They are really liking the Kessil, nevermind the hermit crab plopped on top.

 

[AirGee]

I made a large order from Tidal Gardens for my coral stocking. They arrived last Tuesday before Christmas and have been acclimating nicely and wanted to share some pics. Alot of the frags were from their last live sale. They are doing great, and thanks to "Thanta Claus" for the free Christmas frag!

Blue encrusting Pavona
Purple Pavona
Neon Green Pavona
Superman Montipora
Forest Fire Montipora Digitata
Aussie Mint Green Duncan
Lava Flow Leptospirosis
Zoanthid mix frag
John Deere Psammocora (freebie!)

I acclimated per their instructions and dipped with KoralMD.

 

[AirGee]

I mounted my frags during my water change this weekend. I clipped the bottom plugs off most, and the purple pavona came off the plug in two separate frags which I reattached both directly to the rock.

They are all doing very well, can't say enough good things about Tidal Gardens with these frags.

 

[AirGee]

I did switch out the IM filter packs with Boyd's Blue. The IM packs were just floating in the top of the InTank caddy... didn't seem efficient, and my water seems clearer to my eyes with the Boyds.

I have been feeding the fish a mix of Hikari S and New Life Spectrum pellets.

Every few days I have been feeding Benereef and or IPSF coral frenzy. Also mixing in some hikari brine shrimp and arctic pods as a treat for all.

I have been feeding the tank Phyto Feast everyday as well.

I am lucky to live in an area with excellent fresh seafood and really want to treat my corals (especially the duncans) to some at some point, but I'll probably pick up sold frozen food soon too.

I haven't hooked up the skimmer yet.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[AirGee]

Just a quick update a few months in. Things are going well.

I've hooked up the Reef Glass airline skimmer a few times as needed, it works well. I notice film algae and cyano patches just disappear after running a few weeks, but I also notice corals don't seem as happy as that point either. Just been using my intuition as to when to run it at this point.

I'm due to change out my first Boyds Blue filter sack soon. And need to replenish my supply of AFR. I have been dosing just about 5 mls a day. I'm not crazy about testing, but I have tried to maintain about 10 dkh, and from how things are looking anyway parameters seem to be good.

All things considered been pretty low maintenance so far.

I've seen a few hitchhikers just recently good and bad. A stomatella and a feather duster work, but also a couple of fast growing apraxia and some vermetid snails.

I took care of the first couple of small aptasia I found with a directed syringe of vinegar, but a couple found their way too close to corals for me to be comfortable with that removal method.

I'm planning on getting one or two more fish soon, and might pick up a pair of berghia nudibranches and see how they do. I'll probably add a few more other snails to my cleanup crew soon as well.