Hayreddin's 10g Nuvo Journal

[Hayreddin]

Hi everyone



New to the hobby and just finished setting up my first tank after a few months of lurking in the forums and doing as much research as I can. Glad to have it up and ready to cycle to get the process going. The final cabinet it will be on arrives in a week so it’s temporarily placed for now. My build currently is:



Equipment

IM NUVO Fusion 10

Kessil a160we (purchasing before end of cycle)

stock pump (Sicce 1.0 arriving next week)

Tunze Nano ATO (arriving next week)


Filtration

10 lbs Caribsea Special grade

7-8 lbs BRS reef saver dry rock





Here is a current tank shot shot after leak testing and filling. I have a few quick beginner questions that I would love help with. I had to join two of my pieces of rock together using epoxy and the LFS suggested this red epoxy to blend in with any coralline growth. Now I’m thinking this may have been a wrong choice. Thoughts? Should I get some better matching epoxy and thinly cover what can be seen, or do I need to chisel it out and reapply with a better color? I also only used about 8 lbs of rock because I didn’t want the tank to look too full before adding anything else. Do you think that will be enough rock?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Hi everyone



New to the hobby and just finished setting up my first tank after a few months of lurking in the forums and doing as much research as I can. Glad to have it up and ready to cycle to get the process going. The final cabinet it will be on arrives in a week so it’s temporarily placed for now. My build currently is:



Equipment

IM NUVO Fusion 10

Kessil a160we (purchasing before end of cycle)

stock pump (upgrading before end of cycle)



Filtration

10 lbs Caribsea Special grade

7-8 lbs BRS reef saver dry rock





Here is a current tank shot shot after leak testing and filling. I have a few quick beginner questions that I would love help with. I had to join two of my pieces of rock together using epoxy and the LFS suggested this red epoxy to blend in with any coralline growth. Now I’m thinking this may have been a wrong choice. Thoughts? Should I get some better matching epoxy and thinly cover what can be seen, or do I need to chisel it out and reapply with a better color? I also only used about 8 lbs of rock because I didn’t want the tank to look too full before adding anything else. Do you think that will be enough rock?

Definitely enough rock. Looks really good! Only thought is make sure there is enough room between the rock and glass for cleaning. Welcome to R2R!

 

[Hayreddin]

Definitely enough rock. Looks really good! Only thought is make sure there is enough room between the rock and glass for cleaning. Welcome to R2R!

Great point, I double checked that and adjusted slightly to make sure I can get where I need to for cleaning. I love being a part of R2R, you can't help but learn something new when you're here.

 

[uhgster1]

I recommend from personal experience that you buy the media basket. When you get it fill the bottom 2 thirds with matrix and use the top third for chemipure and filter floss. The matrix will allow you to use less rock in your scape and the chemipure will take care of all your chemical filtration. I filled up my Nuvo 10 pretty quick once everything started growing. Everything you see was started from frags. And most important of all, GET AN ATO. It is the most important piece of equipment you will need to keep your parameters stable. Happy reefing!

 

[Nanosheriff10]

That should be enough rock. If you start to have trouble with nitrite you could put some marinepure in the sump portion. +1 on making sure you have enough room to clean the glass. I didn't and I knock coral off every time I try and get my hand in there.

 

[Pbh-reef]

I just got this tank (used and with some coral already) 3 weeks ago- loving it so far!

 

[Hayreddin]

I recommend from personal experience that you buy the media basket. When you get it fill the bottom 2 thirds with matrix and use the top third for chemipure and filter floss. The matrix will allow you to use less rock in your scape and the chemipure will take care of all your chemical filtration. I filled up my Nuvo 10 pretty quick once everything started growing. Everything you see was started from frags. And most important of all, GET AN ATO. It is the most important piece of equipment you will need to keep your parameters stable. Happy reefing!

ATO should be arriving later this week! I was going to wait to get it until closer to the end of the cycle but the sooner these manual top offs stop the better!

 

[Nanosheriff10]

Where did you get the magnetic rock on the glass?

 

[Hayreddin]

Where did you get the magnetic rock on the glass?

I assume you mean @uhgster1 ’s tank? It is a pretty sweet looking tank. Also, thanks for the tip on the filtration @uhgster1 I’m definitely planning on upgrading to the media basket and will give the filter floss and chempure a shot!

 

[Hayreddin]

Beginner question for anyone willing to help, I was really hoping to get the Kessil a160we for this tank but i'm worried it might stretch my budget too much to quickly. Part of me wonders if could I get by with an a80 for awhile and then upgrade to the 160, I'm mainly looking at keeping LPS and softies with the hope to eventually move to some SPS but that seems quite a ways off. But the other part of me thinks I should just get the light I want rather than waiting and upgrading in the future. Has anyone else had a similar experience and what did/didn't you like about the way you went about acquiring and upgrading your lights.

 

[uhgster1]

Beginner question for anyone willing to help, I was really hoping to get the Kessil a160we for this tank but i'm worried it might stretch my budget too much to quickly. Part of me wonders if could I get by with an a80 for awhile and then upgrade to the 160, I'm mainly looking at keeping LPS and softies with the hope to eventually move to some SPS but that seems quite a ways off. But the other part of me thinks I should just get the light I want rather than waiting and upgrading in the future. Has anyone else had a similar experience and what did/didn't you like about the way you went about acquiring and upgrading your lights.

Just my opinion, you're better off getting an AI Prime HD. You can probably even find a non-HD Prime for around the same price as that A80. The use you will get out of it will be worth it. I started my Nuvo 10 with a non-hd Prime and it did everything I needed it to do and more. It WILL grow SPS in a Nuvo 10 easily and it costs less than the Kessil.

 

[Pbh-reef]

I am not much further along than you so can only offer my thoughts. My sense is that most people use the a80 or hd prime lights on these tanks. I have an a80 that came with the whole used set up I got. It seems just fine to me on a simple dual timer plug. My advice is to look at build threads of established IM 10s and similar sized tanks here and on other forums, a lot of good tanks seem to run on these two lights. If you’re planning on SPS in the distant future who knows if you’ll also be upgrading the tank size by then? But maybe someone with more experience will have different advice!

 

[Hayreddin]

Just my opinion, you're better off getting an AI Prime HD. You can probably even find a non-HD Prime for around the same price as that A80. The use you will get out of it will be worth it. I started my Nuvo 10 with a non-hd Prime and it did everything I needed it to do and more. It WILL grow SPS in a Nuvo 10 easily and it costs less than the Kessil.

I was actually considering the AI but then saw some posts about getting a "diso" effect with being able to see the individual colors of the LEDs in the tank. Do you have much issue with this? If it does happen, is it really noticeable or not really? Thank you for your advice!

I am not much further along than you so can only offer my thoughts. My sense is that most people use the a80 or hd prime lights on these tanks. I have an a80 that came with the whole used set up I got. It seems just fine to me on a simple dual timer plug. My advice is to look at build threads of established IM 10s and similar sized tanks here and on other forums, a lot of good tanks seem to run on these two lights. If you’re planning on SPS in the distant future who knows if you’ll also be upgrading the tank size by then? But maybe someone with more experience will have different advice!

That's a great point about upgrading the tank size in the future, I hadn't even considered that. I think based upon these responses I feel good about not splashing out for the a160 and either getting the a80 or the AI Prime HD as people are suggesting.

 

[Nanosheriff10]

I was actually considering the AI but then saw some posts about getting a "diso" effect with being able to see the individual colors of the LEDs in the tank. Do you have much issue with this? If it does happen, is it really noticeable or not really? Thank you for your advice!

I have a AI Prime HD on my nuvo 10 and I've never noticed being able to see individual colors. I've never actually heard of that.

 

[uhgster1]

The "disco" effect is really subjective. If you're used to t5's then you would notice it. It's really nitpicking when it comes down to it. My friend has an AP700 and it discos just like my AI, which again is really just subjective. If you have company over and they see your reef for the first time I promise you that no one's even going to notice it, especially if they're non-reefers. They'll just ooh and ahh!Don't sweat the small stuff.