Juan's IM NUVO 30L Reef Aquarium Build - Page 3

shelleyBoston · 10/11/2016, 06:20 AM

Awesome setup, following! cant wait to see how it turns out.
waiting for my IM fusion 20...

Juanrmattos · 10/11/2016, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shelleyBoston

Awesome setup, following! cant wait to see how it turns out.
waiting for my IM fusion 20...

Nice!!!... I'm certain you will have a blast building it up.

Juanrmattos · 10/11/2016, 04:11 PM

.
Flipped the switch... Literally!!!

STOKED!!!

Juanrmattos · 10/15/2016, 02:52 PM

.
Look who decided to show up today.... Finally!!!

Also got the lights for the cabinet

Set of 4 but one is damaged

Aragonite is already soaking in RO water... We will be cycling soon boys!!!

Juanrmattos · 10/16/2016, 12:31 PM

After 21 days of curing in the dark, I've begun cycling...

Added 18 Lbs of KZ Aragonite to make a 1" bed (Rinsed and shiphoned before hand)...
Mixed the KZ Reefer's Best salt; after the substrate, the Skimmer and the reactor, the net water volume went down to 20 Gallons.
Skimmer set to full.
Reactor set to max flow.

Initial dose based on the new water content:

8.6 oz of ZeoLite on a 92 ghp reactor.
3.8 ml ZeoBack
7 ml ZeoStart
2.8 ml Sponge power

These doses will drop substantially after day 4, I will then include the use of ZeoFood.

Adopted the Coral Lab SPS AB+ light schedule but went up to 30% Cool white and 28% Warm White, Red and Green still at 24% and all Blues and UV at 100%; fixtures running at 50% intensity.

Sorry about the bad photo... I wish you guys could see how nice it looks in person, but truly impossible to capture with the phone.

Off into the reef we go!!!

ssick92 · 10/17/2016, 09:56 AM

Looks awesome! Have you considered removing the mesh top? IMO it is a much cleaner look without it, and unless you have fish that are known to jump (firefish, wrasses) you shouldn't need it. It also blocks some of the light penetration, though I doubt it would affect it enough with those powerful lights.

Juanrmattos · 10/17/2016, 10:20 AM

Thank you John, I actually like the way it looks with the top on... But yes, I have considered purchasing the Clear Lid from Artfully Acrylic...

Here is a quick walk around clip of the aquarium on day one

Juanrmattos · 10/18/2016, 04:27 PM

.
OOOOppps... I did it again!!!

There it goes the Noodle Soup as well... Bread and water for a long time

Also fixed the cabinet a little...

Juanrmattos · 10/19/2016, 08:00 AM

.
Vortex pump installed first thing in the morning...

Programed the schedule...

And also decided for a permanent program for the lights... Is a small modification of the Coral Lab SPS AB+ to run at 75% (The acclimation setting will be turned on for 15 days right after I add the first coral on day 14).

Day 4 of the cycle... Dosing the ZeoVit program later at night...

Moving along....

Ranchhand02 · 10/22/2016, 09:12 PM

Nice looking set up. Where did you get the power bar? I really like the clean look inside your cabinet.

Juanrmattos · 10/22/2016, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ranchhand02

Nice looking set up. Where did you get the power bar? I really like the clean look inside your cabinet.

Thanks, truly appreciated.

The power rack is available on eBay or any sound components store (Very affordable too... well compared to aquarium equipment at least).

Ranchhand02 · 10/22/2016, 09:45 PM

Thanks. What brand is yours?

Juanrmattos · 10/22/2016, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ranchhand02

Thanks. What brand is yours?

Juanrmattos · 10/25/2016, 09:10 PM

Day 10 of the Nitrogen Cycle

Still have detectable ammonia (0.02 ppm), but I decided to stick to the program down to the dot...

10% water change, introduced the Aqua Gadget Media baskets (Using Filter Floss only) and also the ZeoVit activated carbon (36 grams inside a mesh bag).

Also introduced the 1st resident... Ladies and Gents, please meet Wilson

The White Stripe Maroon Clown has always been one of my favorite fish; I know they tend to be aggressive as they get bigger in size, but in the mean time the plan is to enjoy of him... Maybe I get lucky like the last time, and this one grows to be chill.

Still dosing 20 Units (0.2 ml) of Zeo Start daily, a drop of ZeoBack twice a week and will be performing 2 gallon water changes every 4th day until water parameters are 100% stable, once they are, will begin to dose the Bi-Ionic Calcium / Alkalinity program and also the Magnesium.

Moving Along!!!....

Cesar357 · 10/27/2016, 01:07 AM

Beautiful. Tagging myself to follow. Great tank

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

ssick92 · 10/27/2016, 01:29 AM

This Zeovit system is making my head spin haha. Just out of curiosity, what drew you to using this system?

And in your opinion what are the pros and cons of using this system vs. a typical reef tank? I'm genuinely interested because I don't know much about it...

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Juanrmattos · 10/27/2016, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cesar357

Beautiful. Tagging myself to follow. Great tank

Thanks a million !!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssick92

This Zeovit system is making my head spin haha. Just out of curiosity, what drew you to using this system?

And in your opinion what are the pros and cons of using this system vs. a typical reef tank? I'm genuinely interested because I don't know much about it...

The ZeoVit system is basically a low nutrient environment that replicates natural levels; not only is a proven method but the results are undeniable.

The system is fairly easy to manage, even though it requires full commitment when it comes to dosing, understanding your water parameters and paying close attention to your corals behavior... I have used some of these products in the past with excellent results, but this would be my very first time using the full system. The big deal in this particular aquarium has been to figure out the right dosing schedule (The tank has a net water volume of 20.5 gallons and most of the components are based on drop per 25 gallon basis).

Giving it all I have though

Juanrmattos · 10/27/2016, 09:56 AM

Personal lesson of the day:

For those of you interested in using the Aqua Gadget reactor for the Zeolite media, 1. Fill the media in line with the overflow water level (This guarantees the media will always be submerged, even during water changes) and 2. "DO NOT" raise the canister to flush the mulm, you can accomplish this by spinning it instead...

Allowing air into the media is detrimental to the colonizing bacteria residing in it.

On a separate note, Wilson is a bum, he already knows his feeding spot and swims up to the tube every time I come by... Feeding well on Spectrum sinking pellets and frozen Misis/Brine shrimp.

Ah!, will begin to dose ZeoFood tomorrow, the guys at KZ replied confirming the component is not only meant for corals but also for the bacteria... so it seems I've been starving them.

Just ordered a Small Sarcophyton (Good option to anchor Wilson to a spot in the tank), now chasing a Montipora Digidata colony.

Juanrmattos · 10/30/2016, 04:58 PM

Day 14th of the ZeoVit Nitrogen Cycle (Final day).

Right when I was about to claim defeat at the end of day 13, the reef came back around overnight and into schedule...

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0
PH: 7.9
At: 8 dKH
Salinity: Fluctuating 1.024 / 1.026
Water temp: Fluctuating 76 / 79

I don't want to jinx it, but I never got to see any algae bloom (Pretty sure I will have a nice explosion some day).

Dosing the ZeoVit program as follows:

ZeoLite Media: 7 oz at 40 gph (Spinning the canister every morning).
Zeo Start: 1 unit (0.1 ml) daily.
Zeo Back: 1 drop twice a week.
Zeo Food: 1 drop diluted in 5 ml of reef water and dosing 2.5 ml of the content twice a week (Alternating with Sponge Power).
Sponge Power: 1 drop diluted in 5 ml of reef water and dosing 2.5 ml of the content twice a week (Alternating with Zeo Food).

Started to dose B-Ionic Calcium Alkalinity and Magnesium:

Calcium: 5 ml every other day.
Alkalinity: 5 ml every other day.
Magnesium: 15 ml twice a week.

Will begin dosing Strontium on Tuesday.

Dialed in on my permanent light schedule.

Introduced 1st coral...

Won't be dosing Iodine so I hope it sticks...

And so, we are rolling... Thanks to everyone that stuck with this thread, for all the positives and the encouragement... Updates will follow but I will post on bi-weekly basis... For now, This is all there is:

Cheerio!!!

CorbinSawyer · 11/01/2016, 01:10 PM

Looks beautiful

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Juanrmattos · 11/01/2016, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CorbinSawyer

Looks beautiful

Thanks bud... Im truly enjoying this reef.

Juanrmattos · 11/02/2016, 04:27 PM

Day 15th on the book...

As usual, apologies for the poor quality...

Cesar357 · 11/02/2016, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juanrmattos

Day 15th on the book...

As usual, apologies for the poor quality...

Great video. I'm enjoying this thread.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Juanrmattos · 11/08/2016, 03:01 AM

A bit of a rough week...

Finally got some patches of Red Algae (Not the hairy kind, but more so like light dots) all over the rock and substrate... I believe due to a full dose of Strontium on a still very unstable system (The nutrient load is so low, I have yet to clean the glass for the very first time). Not sure why, or how, but I had an ammonia spike, so I removed the media floss, the Carbon and stopped dosing the B-Ionic 2 part. Only dosing the ZeoBack and ZeoStart (No ZeoFood or Sponge Power to help the die off process).

This coincided with a hardware malfunction in one of my Radion lights... I saw it going off and back on for 3 seconds a couple times last Thursday, honestly thought it was the cloud effect on the schedule, so I did not pay further attention, but right before lights out on Friday, I saw the buttons blinking Red and the unit just went off.

Finally got a hold of Ecotech this morning, they are sending a brand new replacement unit that should be here on Wednesday (Tomorrow)...

Introduced 12 Turbo Snails, 6 Blue Leg Dwarf crabs and 1 Blue leg crab as a cleaner crew... We also brought home a 2" Yellow tang foreseeing green hairy algae coming out of the Red spots (Wife had to name him Bubbles), we should be able to have him for some time before he over grows the space.

Other than that, will be doing water tests today and maybe a small water change.

Sorry I have no pictures this time around.

Juanrmattos · 11/10/2016, 09:23 AM

UPDATE:

Received the replacement XR15w G4Pro fixture yesterday, very relieved to have the whole tank illuminated again.

The cleaning crew has been doing a pretty good work, the rock is nearly free of any spots and the substrate has greatly improved...

Now, after hours and hours of research and dosing experimentation, I've come to the conclusion that the Ammonia spikes are being generated by the Salt Mix and constant water changes of 3 gallons every 5 days (According to the reviews from KZ and RedSea, it does not mean is a bad batch of salt, but more so precipitation of crystals and concentrated element content... Or so they say). To come to this conclusion, I've have discontinued one by one each of the elements in the dosing schedule (Suspended the ZeoLite / ZeoStart for 48 hours with no major change; Skipped a dose of ZeoBack and ZeoFood with no significant change; I went through the extent cleaning the Media baskets, the Skimmer body and even the floss with RO boiled water (Killing a lot of beneficial bacteria in the process)... Further more, I have tested the RO/DI before mixing to make sure the water was ok, tested the ROD/DI water after a few hours of being stored on the mixing container to make sure the container was ok, tested again after a couple hours of introducing the mixing pump to make sure it was not the pump and all came back ammonia free.

My question now, is if I should keep dosing the two part Alk and Ca, and how would the Ammonia presence affect the process (My PH levels are decent, but Alk is very low, which is not helping with the algae eradication either).

Help?

10/17/2016, 09:56 AM	#56
ssick92 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: San Clemente, CA Posts: 911	Looks awesome! Have you considered removing the mesh top? IMO it is a much cleaner look without it, and unless you have fish that are known to jump (firefish, wrasses) you shouldn't need it. It also blocks some of the light penetration, though I doubt it would affect it enough with those powerful lights. __________________ John IM Nuvo 10g Mixed Reef Nano \| Kessil A160we \| Mp10QD \| Osmolator Nano

10/27/2016, 01:29 AM	#66
ssick92 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: San Clemente, CA Posts: 911	This Zeovit system is making my head spin haha. Just out of curiosity, what drew you to using this system? And in your opinion what are the pros and cons of using this system vs. a typical reef tank? I'm genuinely interested because I don't know much about it... Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk __________________ John IM Nuvo 10g Mixed Reef Nano \| Kessil A160we \| Mp10QD \| Osmolator Nano

10/11/2016, 06:20 AM	#51
shelleyBoston Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Boston N.shore Posts: 65	Awesome setup, following! cant wait to see how it turns out. waiting for my IM fusion 20...

10/11/2016, 04:11 PM	#53
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	. Flipped the switch... Literally!!! STOKED!!!

10/15/2016, 02:52 PM	#54
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	. Look who decided to show up today.... Finally!!! Also got the lights for the cabinet Set of 4 but one is damaged Aragonite is already soaking in RO water... We will be cycling soon boys!!!

10/16/2016, 12:31 PM	#55
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	After 21 days of curing in the dark, I've begun cycling... Added 18 Lbs of KZ Aragonite to make a 1" bed (Rinsed and shiphoned before hand)... Mixed the KZ Reefer's Best salt; after the substrate, the Skimmer and the reactor, the net water volume went down to 20 Gallons. Skimmer set to full. Reactor set to max flow. Initial dose based on the new water content: 8.6 oz of ZeoLite on a 92 ghp reactor. 3.8 ml ZeoBack 7 ml ZeoStart 2.8 ml Sponge power These doses will drop substantially after day 4, I will then include the use of ZeoFood. Adopted the Coral Lab SPS AB+ light schedule but went up to 30% Cool white and 28% Warm White, Red and Green still at 24% and all Blues and UV at 100%; fixtures running at 50% intensity. Sorry about the bad photo... I wish you guys could see how nice it looks in person, but truly impossible to capture with the phone. Off into the reef we go!!!

10/17/2016, 10:20 AM	#57
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	Thank you John, I actually like the way it looks with the top on... But yes, I have considered purchasing the Clear Lid from Artfully Acrylic... Here is a quick walk around clip of the aquarium on day one

10/18/2016, 04:27 PM	#58
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	. OOOOppps... I did it again!!! There it goes the Noodle Soup as well... Bread and water for a long time Also fixed the cabinet a little...

10/19/2016, 08:00 AM	#59
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	. Vortex pump installed first thing in the morning... Programed the schedule... And also decided for a permanent program for the lights... Is a small modification of the Coral Lab SPS AB+ to run at 75% (The acclimation setting will be turned on for 15 days right after I add the first coral on day 14). Day 4 of the cycle... Dosing the ZeoVit program later at night... Moving along....

10/22/2016, 09:12 PM	#60
Ranchhand02 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 532	Nice looking set up. Where did you get the power bar? I really like the clean look inside your cabinet.

10/22/2016, 09:45 PM	#62
Ranchhand02 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 532	Thanks. What brand is yours?

10/25/2016, 09:10 PM	#64
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	Day 10 of the Nitrogen Cycle Still have detectable ammonia (0.02 ppm), but I decided to stick to the program down to the dot... 10% water change, introduced the Aqua Gadget Media baskets (Using Filter Floss only) and also the ZeoVit activated carbon (36 grams inside a mesh bag). Also introduced the 1st resident... Ladies and Gents, please meet Wilson The White Stripe Maroon Clown has always been one of my favorite fish; I know they tend to be aggressive as they get bigger in size, but in the mean time the plan is to enjoy of him... Maybe I get lucky like the last time, and this one grows to be chill. Still dosing 20 Units (0.2 ml) of Zeo Start daily, a drop of ZeoBack twice a week and will be performing 2 gallon water changes every 4th day until water parameters are 100% stable, once they are, will begin to dose the Bi-Ionic Calcium / Alkalinity program and also the Magnesium. Moving Along!!!....

10/27/2016, 01:07 AM	#65
Cesar357 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 239	Beautiful. Tagging myself to follow. Great tank Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

10/27/2016, 09:56 AM	#68
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	Personal lesson of the day: For those of you interested in using the Aqua Gadget reactor for the Zeolite media, 1. Fill the media in line with the overflow water level (This guarantees the media will always be submerged, even during water changes) and 2. "DO NOT" raise the canister to flush the mulm, you can accomplish this by spinning it instead... Allowing air into the media is detrimental to the colonizing bacteria residing in it. On a separate note, Wilson is a bum, he already knows his feeding spot and swims up to the tube every time I come by... Feeding well on Spectrum sinking pellets and frozen Misis/Brine shrimp. Ah!, will begin to dose ZeoFood tomorrow, the guys at KZ replied confirming the component is not only meant for corals but also for the bacteria... so it seems I've been starving them. Just ordered a Small Sarcophyton (Good option to anchor Wilson to a spot in the tank), now chasing a Montipora Digidata colony.

10/30/2016, 04:58 PM	#69
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	Day 14th of the ZeoVit Nitrogen Cycle (Final day). Right when I was about to claim defeat at the end of day 13, the reef came back around overnight and into schedule... Ammonia: 0 Nitrites: 0 Nitrates: 0 PH: 7.9 At: 8 dKH Salinity: Fluctuating 1.024 / 1.026 Water temp: Fluctuating 76 / 79 I don't want to jinx it, but I never got to see any algae bloom (Pretty sure I will have a nice explosion some day). Dosing the ZeoVit program as follows: ZeoLite Media: 7 oz at 40 gph (Spinning the canister every morning). Zeo Start: 1 unit (0.1 ml) daily. Zeo Back: 1 drop twice a week. Zeo Food: 1 drop diluted in 5 ml of reef water and dosing 2.5 ml of the content twice a week (Alternating with Sponge Power). Sponge Power: 1 drop diluted in 5 ml of reef water and dosing 2.5 ml of the content twice a week (Alternating with Zeo Food). Started to dose B-Ionic Calcium Alkalinity and Magnesium: Calcium: 5 ml every other day. Alkalinity: 5 ml every other day. Magnesium: 15 ml twice a week. Will begin dosing Strontium on Tuesday. Dialed in on my permanent light schedule. Introduced 1st coral... Won't be dosing Iodine so I hope it sticks... And so, we are rolling... Thanks to everyone that stuck with this thread, for all the positives and the encouragement... Updates will follow but I will post on bi-weekly basis... For now, This is all there is: Cheerio!!!

11/01/2016, 01:10 PM	#70
CorbinSawyer Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 90	Looks beautiful Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

11/02/2016, 04:27 PM	#72
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	Day 15th on the book... As usual, apologies for the poor quality...

11/08/2016, 03:01 AM	#74
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	A bit of a rough week... Finally got some patches of Red Algae (Not the hairy kind, but more so like light dots) all over the rock and substrate... I believe due to a full dose of Strontium on a still very unstable system (The nutrient load is so low, I have yet to clean the glass for the very first time). Not sure why, or how, but I had an ammonia spike, so I removed the media floss, the Carbon and stopped dosing the B-Ionic 2 part. Only dosing the ZeoBack and ZeoStart (No ZeoFood or Sponge Power to help the die off process). This coincided with a hardware malfunction in one of my Radion lights... I saw it going off and back on for 3 seconds a couple times last Thursday, honestly thought it was the cloud effect on the schedule, so I did not pay further attention, but right before lights out on Friday, I saw the buttons blinking Red and the unit just went off. Finally got a hold of Ecotech this morning, they are sending a brand new replacement unit that should be here on Wednesday (Tomorrow)... Introduced 12 Turbo Snails, 6 Blue Leg Dwarf crabs and 1 Blue leg crab as a cleaner crew... We also brought home a 2" Yellow tang foreseeing green hairy algae coming out of the Red spots (Wife had to name him Bubbles), we should be able to have him for some time before he over grows the space. Other than that, will be doing water tests today and maybe a small water change. Sorry I have no pictures this time around.

11/10/2016, 09:23 AM	#75
Juanrmattos Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Miami, Florida Posts: 164	UPDATE: Received the replacement XR15w G4Pro fixture yesterday, very relieved to have the whole tank illuminated again. The cleaning crew has been doing a pretty good work, the rock is nearly free of any spots and the substrate has greatly improved... Now, after hours and hours of research and dosing experimentation, I've come to the conclusion that the Ammonia spikes are being generated by the Salt Mix and constant water changes of 3 gallons every 5 days (According to the reviews from KZ and RedSea, it does not mean is a bad batch of salt, but more so precipitation of crystals and concentrated element content... Or so they say). To come to this conclusion, I've have discontinued one by one each of the elements in the dosing schedule (Suspended the ZeoLite / ZeoStart for 48 hours with no major change; Skipped a dose of ZeoBack and ZeoFood with no significant change; I went through the extent cleaning the Media baskets, the Skimmer body and even the floss with RO boiled water (Killing a lot of beneficial bacteria in the process)... Further more, I have tested the RO/DI before mixing to make sure the water was ok, tested the ROD/DI water after a few hours of being stored on the mixing container to make sure the container was ok, tested again after a couple hours of introducing the mixing pump to make sure it was not the pump and all came back ammonia free. My question now, is if I should keep dosing the two part Alk and Ca, and how would the Ammonia presence affect the process (My PH levels are decent, but Alk is very low, which is not helping with the algae eradication either). Help?