Happy Friday Everyone!
I decided to start up a tank journal for my first foray into reefing, a NUVO 10 nano! So a little background -- I've kept planted tanks ranging from 4 gallons to 500 gallons my entire life, but I always made excuses not to enter reefing (too expensive, have to mix salt water, too hard / intimidating, I don't even know what RODI stands for, etc). Now that I've been out of college and working for a few years, I finally feel comfortable and stable enough to take the dive. I did what most people did and scoured forums, watched the BRS 52 weeks of reefing, watched 5,000 more Youtube videos, then bought a tank. I actually wanted to go with the NUVO 20, but I already have two freshwater set-ups and I just didn't have the space in my small apartment so I decided to go with the 10. I will definitely upgrade if / when I can afford a more permanent living situation. I know stability could be an issue here, but I enjoy the challenge and I feel the ATO has helped a ton with stability.
Anyway I'm super excited to be part of the community so let's get right into it:
Specs:
Tank: Innovative Marine Nuvo 10
Lighting: AI Prime 16 HD
Return Pump: Mighty Jet 326 GPH (came with tank)
ATO: XP Aqua Duetto
Aquascape: ~8 lbs CaribSea liferock, ~10 lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive
Started: 4/24/20
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First Entry | 4/24/20 - 6/26/20
I actually started this tank on 4/24/20, so it's just over 2 months old at this point.
On day 1, 4/24 I put in my rock in a way that I thought would work. It's not to close to the back to inhibit flow and there is space in the front for frags, swimming room, etc. I know flow is essential in reef tanks, and I've had the MightyJet set to 2.1 (lowest setting) and oscillating since I got it and everything seems happy. Surface agitation appears to be pretty good, but let me know if you have any suggestions on how to improve.
Weeks 1 - 5 were reserved for cycling with lights off. After everything stabilized and my initial cycle was finished, I picked up a clown pair along with some snails and flipped my lights on. My salinity is stable at 1.025 with the ATO and I'll include my lighting schedule below. Constructive criticism is encouraged here...I've read a ton, but honestly there's so much information and anecdotal evidence out there I'm just shooting for consistency.
In the last 3 weeks I've also added some Zoas, Frogspawn, a duncan, and what looks like a favia. Everything looks happy so far so I can't complain. I've been doing ~2 gallon water changes weekly and changing out the filter floss I put in the top chamber. I started to get some diatoms, but they only appear on day 5 or 6 after a water change and clear up shortly after weekly maintenance. The plan going forward is to see if these continue to do well in the next month or so and maybe pick up some more softies / LPS. I love the look and motion of hammers, so that'll probably be my next pick up, but I'm open to suggestions.
Pictures + Progress:
4/24 | Rocks and Sand In:
5/25 | Ocellaris Pair + CUC In
5/30 | Added Frogspawn, Duncan, Favia, some Zoas
6/26 | Today!
Lighting
Thanks!
I decided to start up a tank journal for my first foray into reefing, a NUVO 10 nano! So a little background -- I've kept planted tanks ranging from 4 gallons to 500 gallons my entire life, but I always made excuses not to enter reefing (too expensive, have to mix salt water, too hard / intimidating, I don't even know what RODI stands for, etc). Now that I've been out of college and working for a few years, I finally feel comfortable and stable enough to take the dive. I did what most people did and scoured forums, watched the BRS 52 weeks of reefing, watched 5,000 more Youtube videos, then bought a tank. I actually wanted to go with the NUVO 20, but I already have two freshwater set-ups and I just didn't have the space in my small apartment so I decided to go with the 10. I will definitely upgrade if / when I can afford a more permanent living situation. I know stability could be an issue here, but I enjoy the challenge and I feel the ATO has helped a ton with stability.
Anyway I'm super excited to be part of the community so let's get right into it:
Specs:
Tank: Innovative Marine Nuvo 10
Lighting: AI Prime 16 HD
Return Pump: Mighty Jet 326 GPH (came with tank)
ATO: XP Aqua Duetto
Aquascape: ~8 lbs CaribSea liferock, ~10 lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive
Started: 4/24/20
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
First Entry | 4/24/20 - 6/26/20
I actually started this tank on 4/24/20, so it's just over 2 months old at this point.
On day 1, 4/24 I put in my rock in a way that I thought would work. It's not to close to the back to inhibit flow and there is space in the front for frags, swimming room, etc. I know flow is essential in reef tanks, and I've had the MightyJet set to 2.1 (lowest setting) and oscillating since I got it and everything seems happy. Surface agitation appears to be pretty good, but let me know if you have any suggestions on how to improve.
Weeks 1 - 5 were reserved for cycling with lights off. After everything stabilized and my initial cycle was finished, I picked up a clown pair along with some snails and flipped my lights on. My salinity is stable at 1.025 with the ATO and I'll include my lighting schedule below. Constructive criticism is encouraged here...I've read a ton, but honestly there's so much information and anecdotal evidence out there I'm just shooting for consistency.
In the last 3 weeks I've also added some Zoas, Frogspawn, a duncan, and what looks like a favia. Everything looks happy so far so I can't complain. I've been doing ~2 gallon water changes weekly and changing out the filter floss I put in the top chamber. I started to get some diatoms, but they only appear on day 5 or 6 after a water change and clear up shortly after weekly maintenance. The plan going forward is to see if these continue to do well in the next month or so and maybe pick up some more softies / LPS. I love the look and motion of hammers, so that'll probably be my next pick up, but I'm open to suggestions.
Pictures + Progress:
4/24 | Rocks and Sand In:
5/25 | Ocellaris Pair + CUC In
5/30 | Added Frogspawn, Duncan, Favia, some Zoas
6/26 | Today!
Lighting
Thanks!
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