Brandon's IM Nuvo 40 SPS Reef

Beau_B · Jan 25, 2021

Looks great! Really like the array of colors.

VermontReefs · Jan 25, 2021

Truly Inspiring - Following

BranchingHammer · Jan 25, 2021

Amazing tank, love this build!

Brandon McHenry · Jan 25, 2021

jamesdomini4 said:
Awesome tank. I am a newbie. What do you think of the newer leds such as the XR15 Blue G5 vs T5?

Thanks! I’ll start by saying I’m a T5 guy so I don’t have a ton of experience with LEDs. I certainly think the newer/nicer LEDs are definitely capable of creating stunning reef tanks but I think care should be given to use them correctly. From what I understand (and my minor personal experience) you should use more than the recommended number of modules, hang them high, space them evenly and use diffusers to try to blend the light as best as possible and eliminate hotspots. This basically replicates what you get with T5s but adds more shimmer and pop. The other thing to keep in mind is to make use of all the color channels. Corals need full spectrum so you definitely want to run full spectrum for at least part of the day and you can always run a “viewing” spectrum for later in the day when you are home. Hope this helps!

Brandon McHenry · Jan 25, 2021

lemonade said:
Really awesome tank. Love the uniformity of the corals, nothing beats T5s

Thank you so much! Yes I agree T5s are my favorite!

Brandon McHenry · Jan 25, 2021

Daniel@R2R said:
Love, love, LOVE this tank!! Excited to follow!!

Thank you so much! It means a lot! Thank you for the follow!

Brandon McHenry · Jan 25, 2021

MONTANTK said:
Awesome tank! I’ve seen it on Instagram quite a bit. Curious to know what you would do differently if you had a sump because I feel the same way but don’t really know why.

Thank you! I think I would just make better use of my filtration. I would have a dedicated refugium, a larger skimmer and a kalkwasser reactor. I’d run my dosing tubes directly into the sump instead of behind the tank and all the way up to the top. It would also just be so much easier to maintenance all of my equipment that way. And of course it would give me more water volume which is good for stability!

Brandon McHenry · Jan 25, 2021

Perry said:
@Brandon McHenry
Curious what type of sand you use? Looks fairly course

I use the CaribSea Special Grade Reef sand. It’s just coarse enough to not blow around a ton and cause a sandstorm but still small enough to look natural and not feel like a crushed coral freshwater tank. ;Hilarious

Brandon McHenry · Jan 25, 2021

Beau_B said:
Looks great! Really like the array of colors.

Thank you! I tried to cover all of my bases with the colors!

Brandon McHenry · Jan 25, 2021

VermontReef said:
Truly Inspiring - Following

Thank you very much! I’m glad my reef inspires you!

Brandon McHenry · Jan 25, 2021

BranchingHammer said:
Amazing tank, love this build!

Thank you so much!

MONTANTK · Jan 25, 2021

Brandon McHenry said:
Thank you! I think I would just make better use of my filtration. I would have a dedicated refugium, a larger skimmer and a kalkwasser reactor. I’d run my dosing tubes directly into the sump instead of behind the tank and all the way up to the top. It would also just be so much easier to maintenance all of my equipment that way. And of course it would give me more water volume which is good for stability!

Good point! I’ve been toying around with the idea of an upgrade. My tank is only 7g so I quickly ran out of space and stability is very challenging. Just trying to decide if I should do an IM 25 AIO or go for the Fiji Cube 34g ext for most of the reasons you mentioned. Do you have any plans for an upgrade?

Brandon McHenry · Jan 25, 2021

MONTANTK said:
Good point! I’ve been toying around with the idea of an upgrade. My tank is only 7g so I quickly ran out of space and stability is very challenging. Just trying to decide if I should do an IM 25 AIO or go for the Fiji Cube 34g ext for most of the reasons you mentioned. Do you have any plans for an upgrade?

Sounds like fun! I absolutely am looking forward to an upgrade but I’m at the point in my reefing career that the next tank that I set up will be done right. I’m not the type of person that needs the best of the best of everything but I want to get good quality and reliable equipment that will make my reef as successful and enjoyable as possible. So I need to think it all out very carefully and save the money to buy it all! ;Hilarious