New IM 40L AIO build

[shwaynez]

Been a bit of a slow period as work got a bit crazy. Finally got some new inhabitants:

Corals- to be mounted

1. Microsmussa
2. Duncan
3. Ricordea yuma
4. Clove polyps
5. Leptosaris
6. Zoasx4
7. Favia
8. Frogspawn
9. Toadstool

Fish:
1. Yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp pair-went right to the back of the tank and made their home there
2. Mystery Wrasse- maybe not the wisest to introduce so early. I was sold. It may eventually need to move to a bigger tank, which I’m planning to delve into sometime in the future
3x.Lawnmower blenny- really sad, it died 3 days in. water parameters were ok, looked totally fine before, came home from work and it was dead. It was eating and seemed to be comfortable. Everyone else looked like they were doing well. I went back to the fish store and they gave me some credit and I chose a tailspot blenny and firefish
3. Tailspot blenny- seems to be doing well popping in and out of the rocks.
4. Firefish- also seems to be getting more comfortable.
New gear:
1. Aquamaxx Fr-s reactor with about 1/2 recommended dosing of carbon and gfo- to help control phosphates (0.8 ppm to 0.4,4 days later) and such.
2. Icecap AIO 240skimmer

 

[Blopple]

Been a bit of a slow period as work got a bit crazy. Finally got some new inhabitants:

Corals- to be mounted

1. Microsmussa
2. Duncan
3. Ricordea yuma
4. Clove polyps
5. Leptosaris
6. Zoasx4
7. Favia
8. Frogspawn
9. Toadstool

Fish:
1. Lawnmower goby and pistol shrimp pair-went right to the back of the tank and made their home there
2. Mystery Wrasse- maybe not the wisest to introduce so early. I was sold. It may eventually need to move to a bigger tank, which I’m planning to delve into sometime in the future
3x.Lawnmower blenny- really sad, it died 3 days in. water parameters were ok, looked totally fine before, came home from work and it was dead. It was eating and seemed to be comfortable. Everyone else looked like they were doing well. I went back to the fish store and they gave me some credit and I chose a tailspot blenny and firefish
3. Tailspot blenny- seems to be doing well popping in and out of the rocks.
4. Firefish- also seems to be getting more comfortable.
New gear:
1. Aquamaxx Fr-s reactor with about 1/2 recommended dosing of carbon and gfo- to help control phosphates (0.8 ppm to 0.4,4 days later) and such.
2. Icecap AIO 240skimmer

Absolutely gonna see to see some pics of the mystery wrasse. They are stunning!

 

[Opus]

Pistol shrimp are cool but I finally got rid of mine. I couldn't have any coral on the sand and near the rock work or he would cover it up in sand. Also realize the firefish and blennies will jump and you could find them on the floor one day. I have the IM50 lagoon and even with the mesh top on it I've lost 2 blennies to jumping.

 

[shwaynez]

Fish pics and corals mounted! Appreciate the heads up about the jumpers and sorry to hear about your losses. Right now I have a temp acrylic cutout resting on top of the mesh, planning to get a top lids lid in the near future.

 

[Reef.]

5 fish is good to start with, see how your nutrients are in the next few months, if good I would say you have room for a couple more.

 

[On1]

Hi all! I’m very new to the hobby! I have experience with freshwater but this is my first saltwater tank! This site has been incredibly helpful in helping me set up a new tank, so thank you all!

Deets:
Tank: Innovative Marine Nuvo 40L AIO
Stand: IM black APS stand
Lights: 2x Radion XR15 G6
Pumps: 2x MightyJet 538gph DC return pumps
Powerheads: Maxspect Jump 2K gyre (not set up yet), AI Nero 3
ATO: Tunze 3155 with 5gal IM reservoir
Filtration: IM filter sock in right chamber, Intank caddy with floss and seachem matrix in left chamber, TBS rubble rocks in smaller right chamber
Heater/fans: IM Helio 200W (2x100w) titanium
Rocks: about 50lbs Tampa Bay Saltwater base and premium rock (got the package)
Sand: Tampa Bay Saltwater sand
CUC: Tampa bay hermits and snails

Stocking: TBD, will likely be asking your input in the near future

As of now, the tank is currently is in week 3, cycling with the TBS rock package (which is awesome btw). Some orange sponges seem to be dying off unfortunately. I’m planning to make this a mixed reef tank and currently on the aquascaping stage. I’d like some input on the current design. I have a lot of rock (maybe got too much), but am trying to make two main islands (still trying to figure that out) with lots of caves and overhangs for different habitats. Please let me know what you think. I’m very open to any and all feedback and suggestions on how to make this tank look great and provide as ideal of an environment as possible for the creatures inside.

Photos incoming

Thanks again everyone!
Shwaynez

Hi All,

I am looking at getting into the hobby and looking at the IM Nuvo 40 or the 40L.
What determines the way to go, is it just the aesthetic or some other reason?

Thanks.

On1

 

[shwaynez]

Hi All,

I am looking at getting into the hobby and looking at the IM Nuvo 40 or the 40L.
What determines the way to go, is it just the aesthetic or some other reason?

Thanks.

On1

That’s awesome! It’s a fantastic experience! I preferred the 40L mainly for aesthetics. I liked the lateral rockscape. With the 40, you may have more space in the water column, I just didn’t see too many water column fish that can fit in that size tank but there are some. Come to think of it, with the 40L sump, it seems easier to fit two return pumps (for redundancy) as well as clean since the return pump area for the 40 is an upside down T shape versus a rectangle.

Also tank updates to follow….

 

[shwaynez]

Tank updates:

Fish: unfortunately the mystery wrasse started regularly picking on the firefish and after a while the tail spot blenny. Had to bring him back to the store, which was a real bummer. I’ve bought all these following fish post-quarantine either online or via the LFS. I got a twin spot goby, which was doing quite well (eating frozen mysis and sifting the sand), but did look a bit skinny but not emaciated, and then sadly died after about 5 days. The other fish seemed to do fine and after about a month of letting things rest, I eventually gathered a purple firefish, a tiny yellow clown goby, 5 tiny masked gobies that won’t get much bigger, and two clownfish. They are all doing well now and getting along. The clowns have not hosted yet. Thinking about getting a possum wrasse and a dragonet and then being done. I started a copepod culture in anticipation as well.

Corals: lots, maybe too many. We’ll see.
Tried my hand at a few sps: some birds nests survived one had STN for no apparent reasons (all parameters have been appropriate and stable and corals are dipped), stylophora looks like half of the polyps won’t come out. I got a few small acros and some seem to be doing well, some did not make it due to RTN all within a week after getting them. Saved one by cutting above the death line and keeping the healthy part. Again no clear reason why. I have been looking into playing with the idea of getting an Aquabiomics and ICP report and maybe dosing cipro, but instead I want to just take a pause here and let the tank mature more instead and try again before bringing in the antibiotics. But those corals sure are addicting.

Inverts: Added another fire shrimp and cleaner shrimp after the mystery wrasse took those out. Also added an emerald crab, Halloween crab, and pompom crab to the CUC. Got a tuxedo urchin but ate a lot of the macro algae so had to give that back to the LFS too.

Equipment:
Flow: maxspect 2k gyre and Nero 3, trying to decide if I want to add the IM spinstreams as well.
Skimmer: I tried the new Icecap AIO 240 skimmer, both the pump and controller didn’t work and had to get replacements. After 4 weeks of fiddling I just couldn’t seem to get it producing decent skimate. It would either overflow or produce nothing. I then got the Magtool DC-SQ50 and within 3 days had it dialed in, it’s been good now for over a month.
Filtration: switched from filter sock to Filterfloss with the intank caddy, but didn’t like throwing it out every 3-4 days. I’m using a sponge currently. But after trying to anticipate an upcoming weeklong vacation I’m going to get the corals by design aio automatic roller and give that a try.
I also am running an aquamax Fr-s reactor with GFO and carbon and it keeps the nitrates (around 11) and phosphates (around 0.1) in check along with 10% weekly water changes.
Dosing: since the alk and such started dropping I added a Kamoer F1 dosing pump with Tropic Marin All For Reef and that’s been keeping alk at about 8.4 and calcium and magnesium stable at about 450 and 1380.
Hanna checkers for the above and salinity.

The “good for nothing” tank 5 gal: some Macro algae, gorilla crabs and whelks. Still got about 5 more small gorilla crabs I have to catch.

Always welcome feedback and insight.

Thanks!

Pics to come.

 

[Reef.]

Hi All,

I am looking at getting into the hobby and looking at the IM Nuvo 40 or the 40L.
What determines the way to go, is it just the aesthetic or some other reason?

Thanks.

On1

Your preference and also cost will play a small part, the difference dimensions may mean you need an extra light for the 40 long …personally I would go for the tank you want if you love one more than the other.

 

[On1]

Your preference and also cost will play a small part, the difference dimensions may mean you need an extra light for the 40 long …personally I would go for the tank you want if you love one more than the other.

Ok, so neither the coral or fish matters with the tank dimension with either the 40 or 40L.
Thanks

 

[JoJosReef]

@On1 40L may have some benefits for fish by giving them more lateral swimming space, about a foot more. This is good for fish like wrasses--I have a leopard and a Halichoeres in mine that I wouldn't put in a 40 cube. The trade-off is that it is more shallow, so upward growth of corals caps sooner. That said, there's more floor space for other corals, particularly if you want to have sand bed corals. Cleaning the center AIO chamber on the 40 will be a nightmare. Only pros I see to the 40 are tanking up less floor space (if that is a consideration) and more vertical growth space.

 

[On1]

@On1 40L may have some benefits for fish by giving them more lateral swimming space, about a foot more. This is good for fish like wrasses--I have a leopard and a Halichoeres in mine that I wouldn't put in a 40 cube. The trade-off is that it is more shallow, so upward growth of corals caps sooner. That said, there's more floor space for other corals, particularly if you want to have sand bed corals. Cleaning the center AIO chamber on the 40 will be a nightmare. Only pros I see to the 40 are tanking up less floor space (if that is a consideration) and more vertical growth space.

That's the kind of insight I was hoping for!! I new there had to be reasons.
Let me work up my parts list.
Thanks again team.