Jadette’s IM Nuvo SR-60 AIO Build

[jadette]

Everyone kept telling me I’d be back. I knew I eventually would, but I actually didn’t think I’d be back so soon.
Little history. I started my 140g build ~9 years ago. My build thread is here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2030311
I tore down my tank about 2 years ago and there were many reasons for that. Mainly because I wanted to remodel the room and redo the floors. Little sad that I lost all those photos in the build. My youtube videos are still up though.

Here’s what my 140g looked like in 2013:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y-gNr7n6POo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And here’s what my tank looked like at its heaviest bioload:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dud19Q6cYEA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

So now that I’m back in the game, one would think I would go bigger, but I’m actually going in the opposite direction with a 60g AIO.

Why an AIO? Fellow reefers (Ahem… Toan…) are telling me that I should go with a sump. So many more possibilities with equipment, etc. I know this is true, but I will tell you that I HATED MY SUMP. It was a detritus trap for me and maintaining it was such a major pain for me in my 140g build. It didn’t help that I completely oversized it. I custom ordered my sump before receiving my custom built stand – sizing everything just based on specs. I didn’t know that my stand would have a center brace. I also made assumptions on the space available in the stand and I was a good 6” off. This made removing equipment a real pain the rear for me. Had to unassembled my skimmer in my stand before removing for example. So the right answer is to be patient and buy equipment serially to make sure everything fits properly in the sump/stand. But I’m a stubborn person and all I can remember is “I HATED MY SUMP” so I’m going with an AIO. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

So why the SR-60? My brother picked up a Nuvo 25 Lagoon and in the process of discussing stocking options with him, I got excited about the prospect of starting a new tank. It would have to be small though, since I only have a 37”x30” space to work with in our computer/office room. Old location of my 140g is now filled with my husband’s bass collection. So I ordered a Nuvo 50 lagoon from Aquacave. Two days later, they tell me that it’s OOS. So I did my extensive 30 minutes of research for an alternate option and ordered a Waterbox 50 from Liveaquaria.com. The next day, they tell me that it’s OOS. At this point, I had a strong suspicion that the Reef Gods were mocking me. I was half tempted to order a 200 gallon just to spite them. Because, if less is more, imagine how much more more would be! So after much contemplation and 2 Whiskey Sours, I finally settled on the Nuvo SR-60. Innovation Marine called me this morning to confirm that my tank is ready to be delivered.

Yes, it’s true. I am finally returning to the reefing world and picked the SR-60 simply because it was in stock.

Yay me.

[hersheyb]

welcome back! wow ur last tank was gorgeous... that's a lot of fish for a 140.. AOI tanks will trap detritus in the back, it's just going to be out of sight out of mind kind of thing.. and even harder to clean up since space is limited.. can't wait to see what you do with a 60!

[jadette]

welcome back! wow ur last tank was gorgeous... that's a lot of fish for a 140.. AOI tanks will trap detritus in the back, it's just going to be out of sight out of mind kind of thing.. and even harder to clean up since space is limited.. can't wait to see what you do with a 60!

Thank you! Yes, I realize that it will be a pain to clean an AIO. I anticipate me cursing the Gods frequently on that one. But I had it much worse with my 80 gallon sump that I had no top clearance on and a center brace in the way with my 140g build. If I set up my equipment right, I should be able clean out the AIO fairly easily and routinely.

One rule/lesson learned that I am applying to this build is to not buy any piece of equipment without establishing a maintenance schedule for it that I can stick to. If I can not easily service it, then I should not buy it.

I focused on the fish on my last build, but I got the anthias bug out of my system and I just want to focus on SPS corals in this build. Another lesson learned is to be more selective with my livestock. So no zoas, GSP, blue cloves, monti caps etc that will potentially choke out my slower growing corals.

So many lessons learned from my first build. Curious how disciplined I will be this time around.

[solitude127]

Welcome back Shirley. What kind of lighting are you going to use? Let me know when you're ready for some SPS. :) Have you been keeping up with the SPS lately? Colors of acropora tenuis have been insane as well as the prices. Probably a good time to get back into SPS too since the finally lifted the Indo ban.

[minus9]

Nice! Welcome back!

[jadette]

Welcome back Shirley. What kind of lighting are you going to use? Let me know when you're ready for some SPS. :) Have you been keeping up with the SPS lately? Colors of acropora tenuis have been insane as well as the prices. Probably a good time to get back into SPS too since the finally lifted the Indo ban.

Thanks Mike! So glad to see that you're still in the hobby. So hard to tell nowadays since no one updates their build threads anymore. *poke*. Feel free to hijack my thread with your FTS photos! *hint hint*

Haven't extensively researched corals yet. Still looking at equipment. But boy, have things changed in 2-3 years! I guess I totally just missed the Indo ban and the crazy prices. Coral frags selling for $200-$300 a frag with fancy names that have more syllables than that Mary Poppins song. S2K is now telling me that torches are all the rage. Funny how those things were my "test" corals when I started the hobby in 2006.

I'm really excited to getting into a SPS only (or at least predominately) tank. I want to try something different and see if I have the discipline to go ULNS. Never really had that option with my bioload of 40+ fish in my previous tank! This time, I'm thinking of about 2 medium sized fish, and 1-2 nano fish and calling it a day. Looking for a small, healthy roaps butterfly to showcase my tank. This is a risk as they are considered "mostly" reef safe. Some reports of nipping out of curiosity. I may have to think this one through as the last thing I would want is no polyp extension on my SPS tank.

Tenuis coralite structure is one of my faves! I've been looking at the battlecorals website and everything just looks beyond crazy in coloration. Acropora microclados, granulosas, and efflos are my other must haves.

I'll be sure to hit you up when I'm ready! It'll be slow going though. With new responsibilities at work (another reason why I slowly faded out of the hobby starting around 2017), I really only have the weekends to get my tank started up and rolling. Will really need to rely on auto-water changes and dosing for this one. A bit of a space challenge with an AIO, but I have some ideas. :)

I still have my AI Hydra 52s from my previous build so I'm going to use 2 of them to cover the 3 foot tank. Should be plenty. One of my brothers took my 140g, but he's going freshwater with it so he didn't need the lights. I still have all of my previous settings stored on my AI director, which is nice. I've noticed a trend towards more of a cooler spectrum in tanks, but I was always more of a fan of the warm whites. So happy that the Hydra allows me to achieve this with LEDs. Are you still using T5s?

[jadette]

Nice! Welcome back!

Thank you! It's crazy how it's only been 2-3 years, but the coral, fish, and equipment worlds are totally different now.

$280 Gem Tangs? W T H ??!?!?!?!

One change for me is that I really really really did not want to go with a wooden stand. I had a slow leak in one of my return bulkheads that caused damage to the wood at the corner of my tank. Every single time I put my hand (or head- it was a 30" deep tank and my arms couldn't reach the back) in my stand, I had a fear that my tank would collapse on top of me. The new Nuvo stands are aluminum and this is what sold me on their tank setups.

I wish they came in white though. The black will clash with my office furniture. Got quotes to powder coat it white for $300-$400. I would have done it if it was a used stand that needed a refresh, but the though of painting something brand new just didn't sit well with me. Going to just redecorate the room a little bit to make the black not look so out of place.

[minus9]

Those tanks are nice. Yeah, aluminum or powder coated steel stand is the way to go. I have a nuvo black 25 lagoon that I haven't set up yet, but will probably make a stand from 80/20 t-slot. When you're ready for coral, lmk and I can give you some stuff.


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[solitude127]

Thanks Mike! So glad to see that you're still in the hobby. So hard to tell nowadays since no one updates their build threads anymore. *poke*. Feel free to hijack my thread with your FTS photos! *hint hint*

Haven't extensively researched corals yet. Still looking at equipment. But boy, have things changed in 2-3 years! I guess I totally just missed the Indo ban and the crazy prices. Coral frags selling for $200-$300 a frag with fancy names that have more syllables than that Mary Poppins song. S2K is now telling me that torches are all the rage. Funny how those things were my "test" corals when I started the hobby in 2006.

I'm really excited to getting into a SPS only (or at least predominately) tank. I want to try something different and see if I have the discipline to go ULNS. Never really had that option with my bioload of 40+ fish in my previous tank! This time, I'm thinking of about 2 medium sized fish, and 1-2 nano fish and calling it a day. Looking for a small, healthy roaps butterfly to showcase my tank. This is a risk as they are considered "mostly" reef safe. Some reports of nipping out of curiosity. I may have to think this one through as the last thing I would want is no polyp extension on my SPS tank.

Tenuis coralite structure is one of my faves! I've been looking at the battlecorals website and everything just looks beyond crazy in coloration. Acropora microclados, granulosas, and efflos are my other must haves.

I'll be sure to hit you up when I'm ready! It'll be slow going though. With new responsibilities at work (another reason why I slowly faded out of the hobby starting around 2017), I really only have the weekends to get my tank started up and rolling. Will really need to rely on auto-water changes and dosing for this one. A bit of a space challenge with an AIO, but I have some ideas. :)

I still have my AI Hydra 52s from my previous build so I'm going to use 2 of them to cover the 3 foot tank. Should be plenty. One of my brothers took my 140g, but he's going freshwater with it so he didn't need the lights. I still have all of my previous settings stored on my AI director, which is nice. I've noticed a trend towards more of a cooler spectrum in tanks, but I was always more of a fan of the warm whites. So happy that the Hydra allows me to achieve this with LEDs. Are you still using T5s?

Yep, still using T5s. I recently had my old school Powermdule rebuilt by Clear Choice distribution so it's as good as new. :)

[Jamie1210]

your 140 was my inspiration for getting into anthias years back! :)

Excited to see what's to come!

[BeanMachine]

Welcome back! Looking forward to updates.


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[bullitr]

Welcome back
I was talking to Jaime about you not too long ago and you’re back!!! I am excited to read your updates[emoji12]my tank looks like crap more crappier than usual as my kids are super super busy. Let me know if you need anything. I don’t go to wholesaler that much anymore but we still have a lot of open accounts if you need to use it.

[bullitr]

Duplicate

[jadette]

your 140 was my inspiration for getting into anthias years back! :)

Excited to see what's to come!

Thanks! Did you have a favorite anthias? Since I'm going ULNS, I won't be able to keep a large group of anthias in this tank. If I do get an anthias, it would be a solo one. Perhaps a sunburst or borbonius.

Welcome back! Looking forward to updates.

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Thanks! Probably not as many updates as my previous thread, as there's not as much to explore with an AIO. I went with custom everything on my last build, but I just don't have the energy or patience for that anymore. It took me quite some time (several months) to get my tank, stand, and lights going on my first build. With this tank, I was able to have it in my house about a week after I decided to get back into the hobby!

Welcome back
I was talking to Jaime about you not too long ago and you’re back!!! I am excited to read your updates[emoji12]my tank looks like crap more crappier than usual as my kids are super super busy. Let me know if you need anything. I don’t go to wholesaler that much anymore but we still have a lot of open accounts if you need to use it.

Hey Lawrence! I got REALLY busy too, which is why I think going with a smaller tank is the way to go for me. So nice to be able reset the whole tank in 1 day if I wanted to.
Going to the wholesalers again sounds really nice. I think more for the fish than the coral though. When was the last time you went?
We'll have to catch up one day!

So the tank came in last Thursday. Had to build the stand myself. It was a bit of a pain b/c the videos made it look like the locking mechanism to connect the aluminum extrusions just click in place - but I had to put a bit of muscle to get them to lock completely. Took a little bit of adjusting to get things lined up as well. After finishing it up though, I was happy with the results. Thrilled that it's a stand that I can carry by myself. The tank only required 1 other person to carry (~140 pounds). That was really important to me, and a big factor in deciding on a tank that was under 75 gallons.
So here it is all assembled:

https://i.imgur.com/MerCdEA.jpg

The tank tucks nicely in a corner of my home office. Hard to tell from the photo, but it will not obstruct the window at all once pushed closer against the wall. The window faces north with several large trees in the way, so it never gets direct sunlight.

The tank itself is of exceptional quality. I've had custom tanks built from Visio (pretty crappy) and Leemar, and I would have to say this looks nicer than my Leemar tank. Seams are perfectly straight and flawless. The glass is very thick for its size (2/5"), which makes it deceptively heavy.

Just ordered the rest of the equipment for it today, so I should be ready to get it wet by next weekend.

Now I can start seriously thinking about livestock options... hmmm....

[bullitr]

Anthias
Anthias
Anthias
Anthias
Anthias
Anthias
Anthias
Baby gem tang


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[s2k]

Meh

[Jamie1210]

I loved your purple queens! I was always so amazed that you could not only just get them eat, but were able to keep them for so long. I think you are one of the few ppl I know who could do that. I tried to keep them took, and I tried SO many different foods. They would only sort of peck at it, never really ate with gusto. Eventually withered away and died.

I think you also had luck with Evans's, right?

Aww … group of purple queens >>> single borbonius :(

[KWoo008]

Welcome back!

[jadette]

Anthias
Anthias
Anthias
Anthias
Anthias
Anthias
Anthias
Baby gem tang


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Not going to get any fish that requires 4+ feedings a day. So over that! But a baby gem tang is on my short list. :)

Meh

Bah. I'm not giving in to peer pressure and getting a bigger tank.

I loved your purple queens! I was always so amazed that you could not only just get them eat, but were able to keep them for so long. I think you are one of the few ppl I know who could do that. I tried to keep them took, and I tried SO many different foods. They would only sort of peck at it, never really ate with gusto. Eventually withered away and died.

I think you also had luck with Evans's, right?

Aww … group of purple queens >>> single borbonius :(

The problem I had with Evansi anthias is they rarely come in healthy. I ordered a group of 7 from a vendor who was QT-ing them for me. Never got the shipment because they all died on the vendor within a few days. I finally acquired a group of about 8 or so that arrived alive, but half of them were so skinny, that they withered away quickly. The remaining 4 I kept long term. They were my favorite - I daresay more than the purple queens. The easiest anthias to keep though by far for me were the dispars and ignitus. They would get so fat!

Welcome back!
Thanks Kelly! Good to see you're still active on this forum!

So I just went ahead and bought all my equipment from Aquacave:

Tunze 9012 DC Skimmer
IM Minimax Pro Reactor
MP40ES Quiet Drive Upgrade
Autoaqua AWC All-in-one
Neptune APEX-EL

Going to try Zeovit because it's affordable for a "nano" and it's something I haven't tried yet. Getting into a hobby isn't fun for me if I'm not learning or trying something new.

Really looking forward to having an auto water changing set-up. Was thinking about using the Neptune DOS for this, but I really wanted a completely redundant system for the AWC and ATO. Will be using the Autoaqua to control them both, and the APEX as a backup to shut off the Autoaqua if it ends up failing in the on position (read some reports that this has happened). Little concerned that the pumps that the Autoaqua comes with will not have enough head to work for me. It advertises up to 6.5 ft. My planned set up would have my water supply outside, 6.2 ft below the top of my tank. If it doesn't work, I plan on retrofitting the Autoaqua with DIY peristaltic pumps. Wanted to avoid anything custom or DIY with this build, but it's hard to for me to not totally nerd out on these things.

May pick up a Neptune Trident if I ever find one in stock that's not marked up above retail.

Giving the rocks a nice soak now (thanks Toan!), and should be ready to get my tank wet this weekend.

[ChefZilla]

Heyyyy there. Awesomeness to see you back in the game. I wish I had pieces to start you out but just lost almost everything to dinoflagellates. A few laps here and zoas there. Uhggg. When I'm all stocked up and growing corals like no ones business again I'll hook you up :-) Welcome back

[jadette]

Heyyyy there. Awesomeness to see you back in the game. I wish I had pieces to start you out but just lost almost everything to dinoflagellates. A few laps here and zoas there. Uhggg. When I'm all stocked up and growing corals like no ones business again I'll hook you up :-) Welcome back

Hey Brent! Glad to see you're still in the hobby, though sad to hear about your dino problem. :(
Looking forward to trading corals with everyone again!

So I think I finally figured out my livestock picks.

1) A butterfly from the roaps family (most likely a mitratus)
2) A juvenile tang from the Zebrasoma family
3) A small school (3-5) of Ostorhinchus luteus (yellow cardinals)

And that's bloody it. I'm sure some may feel this is a lot for a 60 gallon, but if you know me, you'll know that I'm practicing some crazy restraint here to keep the list this small. Besides, the cardinals are tiny, not very active swimmers, and will not contribute much to my bioload - so essentially, I'll only have 2 fish swimming about in the water column.

Equipment comes in today, so hoping to be able to start dryscaping this weekend.

My AWC will be set up right outside the window. Debating if I should drill holes on my newly refinished hardwood floors - original oak floors from 1931 restored (you can sense my hesitation) or go all ghetto and run it through the adjacent window. Guess there's no simple answer to that one. But based on how 'clean' I want this to look, I'm partial to going with the former.

I also tossed all of my hanna checkers so I'll have to buy new test kits. Wondering if I should just go all baller and pick up the Neptune Trident. Hmm...

[solitude127]

jadette, any updates?

[s2k]

She’s busy upgrading to a bigger tank

[jadette]

jadette, any updates?

Hey Mike! Yes, lots of updates. My tank has been up and running for about 2.5 months now. Quite the challenge looking for livestock during this "pandemic", but I was fortunate enough to pick up some hard to find fish in early March-before shipments slowed.
In summary:

I was on jury duty on an interesting workplace sexual harassment case for the entire month of February - which gave me the time to do a lot of research on equipment, and I had everything in place in quick order - including 2x10 gallon custom reservoirs from Advanced Acrylics for an ATO/AWC set up. I picked up a Trident too, and have that configured with the Neptune DOS to add ALK/CA/MG. Everything fit tightly underneath my tank. Without a sump, this made it possible:

https://i.imgur.com/kfK3KvL.jpg?1

Got my tank wet at the end of February.

https://i.imgur.com/baoNElV.jpg?1

Waited 2 weeks - and decided to stock my tank after a small diatom bloom came and went. Admittedly, I was impatient and I should have waited longer... but waiting is for wussies! So I decided to just go all crazy and buy fish. You would think that I would test the waters (pun intended) with a small inexpensive fish. But I was getting paid an extra $15 a day for jury duty, so I felt a need to splurge. I picked up a pair of borbonius anthias, a declivis butterfly, and a "baby" gem tang. A couple of weeks later, I added a pair of picasso clowns with hopes that they would host in a malu carpet anemone that I picked up.

Now, from all the ups and downs on my tank so far, this "baby" tang was my most disappointing experience by far. I specifically paid extra for a small juvenile gem that was < 2", but received a ~4" socially inept adult gem tang with all sorts of issues (swam funny, would bump into rocks, spent most of the day hiding, etc). Most importantly, it wouldn't eat. And believe me, I've tried it all. Mysis, spirulina enriched brine, live brine, live blackworms, 3 different types of pellets, 2 different types of dried seaweed soaked in garlic, fresh red oga, algae wafers - the list goes on. I spent more on trying different foods for the tang than what I paid for the tang itself. All this for a fish I didn't even want (that being a large adult tang). After 6+ weeks, I gave up. Thinking that it might be just unhappy in my tank, I gave it to a fellow reefer with a much larger tank, but it still refused to eat and finally succumbed to starvation 2 weeks later.

All of the other fish (it's been 2 months now since initial introduction to my tank) are doing extremely well - fat and healthy and no aggression. I love peaceful tanks. Surprisingly, the borbs are out and about all the time - which I am thrilled about since I read that they tend to hide in rocks most of the time. The two borbs doubled in size in the short 2 months and although one is obviously more dominant than the other, they pair up nicely together.

I'm picking up a trio of threadfin cardinals and also a trio of chromis to round out my fish list and then I'm done... at least that's what I'm telling myself now!

As far as corals go, I've been very pleased with the progress on that. Will detail my adventures back into the sps world later as I am sure everybody's eyes need a rest from the novel that I just typed out here.

[jadette]

She’s busy upgrading to a bigger tank

You just wait and see. I will eventually convert my patio to an enclosed patio with a 600 gallon cube tank in the center. The stand will extend out a bit to double as a bar where I can sit and stare at my large school of anthias while sipping on a Manhattan.

IT WILL HAPPEN.

Just need to figure out which one of my two kids will not go to college.

[minus9]

You just wait and see. I will eventually convert my patio to an enclosed patio with a 600 gallon cube tank in the center. The stand will extend out a bit to double as a bar where I can sit and stare at my large school of anthias while sipping on a Manhattan.

IT WILL HAPPEN.

Just need to figure out which one of my two kids will not go to college.

Awesome! Sorry about the gem. Tank is looking good!

[jadette]

Awesome! Sorry about the gem. Tank is looking good!

That was just what my tank looked like when I first got it wet. I added a lot of corals since then. Here's my tank today.. All frags - so it will be me trying to be patient waiting for this:

http://i.imgur.com/9RStIs4.jpg?2 (https://imgur.com/9RStIs4)

to hopefully grow into looking something like this:

http://i.imgur.com/BGmtykp.jpg?1 (https://imgur.com/BGmtykp)

Dang, I really do miss my evansi anthias!

Got my sps frags from battlecorals, cultivatedreef, and s2k. The bigger frags from s2k. :cool:

I honestly think it's a bit overcrowded. I was lucky and only one of the frags I received didn't survive my initial coral dipping. Everything else survived, and once in my tank, I've had no casualties.

With the trident online and my DOS system adjusting daily automatically, I've managed to keep my water parameters pretty stable. I've been shooting for:

ALK: 8-9
CA: 460
MG: 1350

My phosphates are a little high at .10 ppm right now (Hanna Phosphate ULR), but I don't feel a need to try to get this much lower. I actually battled with high phosphates in my tank in the beginning since I rushed to stock the tank before it was stable. During the first month with livestock, it was > .99 for awhile and I battled with bryopsis and dinos - fortunately, not at the same time.
For the bryopsis, I dosed my tank with fluconazole at the first sight of it on some of my frag plugs and a week later after medicating, the bryopsis was completely gone. All corals and fish were unaffected.
A few weeks later, dinoflagellates started popping up on my rocks and sandbed. I installed an in-tank 24W UV (it was super ugly in my tank, but I knew it would only be temporary). Again, it only took about a week for the dinos to die off. Again, all corals and fish were unaffected.
I guess I was lucky that I took care of the nuisance algae before it got a chance to become a problem.
Corals really started taking off about a week ago. Noticed a huge uptake of ALK and I'm dosing an extra 25 ml a day now compared to last week just to keep my ALK steady.
What I'm unhappy about is my nitrates right now are undetectable - I think that's why my zoas and mushrooms are shriveling up. Started dosing sodium nitrate recently to get my nitrates up to ~ 2-5 ppm.

I don't know why I'm chasing #s (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=s) . I used to never test and would just do water changes whenever I felt things looked "off". Now my home office looks like a chem lab and I'm testing daily - and adjusting my dosing daily. Maybe ignorance is bliss.

Will be interesting to see if I will have better success with micromanaging my tank vs what I did in the past - which was just eyeballing stuff!

[minus9]

Looks great! Adam has some pretty cool sps, a battlebox is in my future once I get back to work. Nothing beats homegrown local frags either. I've been holding out for some Ignitus anthias, but I've decided to pick up a small group of Fusilier damsels instead.


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[solitude127]

Looking good. If you need anymore SPS, let me know.

How are you liking an AIO?

[waterman78]

SHIRLEY!!!!!
WOW....Welcome back. You have always had killer tanks. I'm happy to see this new build. You're off to an awesome start. I'm sending you all the positive vibes that this hobby has to offer because I would really love to see you accomplish this new goal. THAT'S AN AWESOME FTS BTW. Well, keep us all informed. I'm definitely tagging along on this build. Great work.


Larry - SFVR

[jadette]

Looks great! Adam has some pretty cool sps, a battlebox is in my future once I get back to work. Nothing beats homegrown local frags either. I've been holding out for some Ignitus anthias, but I've decided to pick up a small group of Fusilier damsels instead.
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Yes, Adam was great. It was amazing how personal his correspondences were and his packaging was just so adorable, I almost want to order another battlebox just to get more stickers from him! But I agree. Nothing beats trading with local reefers. Can't wait until my frags grow out so I can do that again.
Never seen fusilier damsels before. Did you get them through diver's den? they look large in photos - kinda like if a chromis had babies with an anthias!

Looking good. If you need anymore SPS, let me know.

How are you liking an AIO?

Thanks Mike! Don't know what SPS to ask for when I have no idea what is in your tank. Yes, that's a not so subtle hint that I want to see a FTS from you!

Getting used to the AIO was challenging. I was initially really frustrated with it, but learned to live with its limitations. I do like not having a sump though.

The first issue I had with it was not being able to place my lights in a way to get even coverage. Because one of the compartments housed my skimmer with no room to mount my lights behind it, I couldn't not place my AI light bracket far enough to the left side of the tank. If you look at my FTS, it's a little bit dark on the left side. Wish I could mount my Hydras higher for better coverage, but the AI brackets are not that tall, and I already have them mounted at the maximum height.

Another issue I had was finding a decent skimmer that would fit. I went with the Tunze 9012 DC, which barely fits in the largest compartment. This skimmer is very sensitive, and if I do not align the skimmer cup perfectly with the skimmer body, I'll get microbubbles escaping from the skimmer. Since my tank is tucked away in a corner, it was very difficult to reach over to make that perfect alignment. Basically would have to do a blind mate. I have enough practice now to do this right consistently, but the first few weeks of failed attempts to align the cup perfectly was super frustrating.

A third issue I had with the AIO was that the ATO/AWC optical sensors in the AIO chamber were sensitive to my Hydra LED lights that were running over the tank, so the optical sensor would sometimes not register that the water level had reached a point to turn off the pump. No bueno. Apparently, it's a common problem, and Coralife customer service said that the ATO/AWC system was designed to work in a sump, not in an AIO (apparently, people don't use LEDs in their sumps ever?) Fortunately, my back-up system would turn off the pumps before my tank would overflow, but I certainly didn't want to rely on my back-up system to catch a primary failure on a regular basis. My hubby 3-D printed some nifty brackets to shade the optical sensors so it's not an issue anymore.

The fourth issue I had is that I am acronym challenged and I have to sit and think every now and then to recall what AIO stands for and it hurts my head to think.

All in all though, it's all fine and dandy now. I like not having to worry about leaky plumbing, or not noticing my skimmer overflowing, or finding out days later that my media reactor is offline. Everything is in plain sight!


SHIRLEY!!!!!
WOW....Welcome back. You have always had killer tanks. I'm happy to see this new build. You're off to an awesome start. I'm sending you all the positive vibes that this hobby has to offer because I would really love to see you accomplish this new goal. THAT'S AN AWESOME FTS BTW. Well, keep us all informed. I'm definitely tagging along on this build. Great work.

Larry - SFVR

Thanks Larry! Despite all of my mini-gripes, I am enjoying my journey back into the reefing world. I learned some new things that I never really thought about addressing in my old tank before, so I am glad that I am still learning in this hobby (like my adventure in trying to raise my pH during a time where my house is filled with air breathers 24/7 during this lockdown) - yet at the same time have enough experience to not be overwhelmed when not so great things pop up (e.g, bryopsis outbreaks).

As far as the FTS goes, I'm trying to recreate a mini version of my old tank. It's crazy that my old tank was 3x the size! So to achieve that, I have to be good with making things be the right scale for my tank. That's the main reason why I was so PO'd about getting the large gem tang. Totally threw off the scale in my tank. Yes, my fish will get bigger, but I am sure by then they will grow on me and I will not care as much.
For the SPS frags though, I do plan on trimming them often. The last thing I would want is a large colony to throw perspective off! My goal is for me to take a FTS shot of my tank, compare it to my old 140g, and not be able to tell from photos that the tanks are different sizes. I'll have to photoshop out my MP40, get rid of my YT, and find a new home for my hippotus clam eventually, but you get the idea!

[minus9]

Yes, Adam was great. It was amazing how personal his correspondences were and his packaging was just so adorable, I almost want to order another battlebox just to get more stickers from him! But I agree. Nothing beats trading with local reefers. Can't wait until my frags grow out so I can do that again.
Never seen fusilier damsels before. Did you get them through diver's den? they look large in photos - kinda like if a chromis had babies with an anthias!




Thanks Mike! Don't know what SPS to ask for when I have no idea what is in your tank. Yes, that's a not so subtle hint that I want to see a FTS from you!

Getting used to the AIO was challenging. I was initially really frustrated with it, but learned to live with its limitations. I do like not having a sump though.

The first issue I had with it was not being able to place my lights in a way to get even coverage. Because one of the compartments housed my skimmer with no room to mount my lights behind it, I couldn't not place my AI light bracket far enough to the left side of the tank. If you look at my FTS, it's a little bit dark on the left side. Wish I could mount my Hydras higher for better coverage, but the AI brackets are not that tall, and I already have them mounted at the maximum height.

Another issue I had was finding a decent skimmer that would fit. I went with the Tunze 9012 DC, which barely fits in the largest compartment. This skimmer is very sensitive, and if I do not align the skimmer cup perfectly with the skimmer body, I'll get microbubbles escaping from the skimmer. Since my tank is tucked away in a corner, it was very difficult to reach over to make that perfect alignment. Basically would have to do a blind mate. I have enough practice now to do this right consistently, but the first few weeks of failed attempts to align the cup perfectly was super frustrating.

A third issue I had with the AIO was that the ATO/AWC optical sensors in the AIO chamber were sensitive to my Hydra LED lights that were running over the tank, so the optical sensor would sometimes not register that the water level had reached a point to turn off the pump. No bueno. Apparently, it's a common problem, and Coralife customer service said that the ATO/AWC system was designed to work in a sump, not in an AIO (apparently, people don't use LEDs in their sumps ever?) Fortunately, my back-up system would turn off the pumps before my tank would overflow, but I certainly didn't want to rely on my back-up system to catch a primary failure on a regular basis. My hubby 3-D printed some nifty brackets to shade the optical sensors so it's not an issue anymore.

The fourth issue I had is that I am acronym challenged and I have to sit and think every now and then to recall what AIO stands for and it hurts my head to think.

All in all though, it's all fine and dandy now. I like not having to worry about leaky plumbing, or not noticing my skimmer overflowing, or finding out days later that my media reactor is offline. Everything is in plain sight!




Thanks Larry! Despite all of my mini-gripes, I am enjoying my journey back into the reefing world. I learned some new things that I never really thought about addressing in my old tank before, so I am glad that I am still learning in this hobby (like my adventure in trying to raise my pH during a time where my house is filled with air breathers 24/7 during this lockdown) - yet at the same time have enough experience to not be overwhelmed when not so great things pop up (e.g, bryopsis outbreaks).

As far as the FTS goes, I'm trying to recreate a mini version of my old tank. It's crazy that my old tank was 3x the size! So to achieve that, I have to be good with making things be the right scale for my tank. That's the main reason why I was so PO'd about getting the large gem tang. Totally threw off the scale in my tank. Yes, my fish will get bigger, but I am sure by then they will grow on me and I will not care as much.
For the SPS frags though, I do plan on trimming them often. The last thing I would want is a large colony to throw perspective off! My goal is for me to take a FTS shot of my tank, compare it to my old 140g, and not be able to tell from photos that the tanks are different sizes. I'll have to photoshop out my MP40, get rid of my YT, and find a new home for my hippotus clam eventually, but you get the idea!

I don't have them yet, trying to source them through a friend, Adam (LAreefguy). Yeah, they're super passive and colorful, but I think they get overlooked because of their name. I really wanted some Ignitus Anthias, but sourcing them has been difficult. I'm gonna stick to the Fusiliers, just have to be patient for now, plus they're kinda unique.