IM 20g NUVO Fusion

[BigCitySmallReef]

Just started my first reef tank!

 

[chefjpaul]

Looks great so far!

What are your plans?

 

[BigCitySmallReef]

Looks great so far!

What are your plans?

Hopefully lots of coral. I'm wracking my brain now on which light setting to use for the AI Prime HD.

 

[chefjpaul]

Hopefully lots of coral. I'm wracking my brain now on which light setting to use for the AI Prime HD.

I use D. Saxby schedule. Best program I've found for these AI lights do far.

You can find the download on AI website, along with a few others.

 

[BigCitySmallReef]

I use D. Saxby schedule. Best program I've found for these AI lights do far.

You can find the download on AI website, along with a few others.

Thanks so much! I'm hoping for a mixed reef tank if it's possible for one this size. I'm greedy... I want a little of everything ;Woot

 

[BigCitySmallReef]

This schedule seemed to be popular on the AI Prime Facebook group

 

[Dsnakes]

Looking good so far. I run a 24” and 18” Current USA LED light bars above my Nuvo 20. I have them on the loop system with 3 of the 660gph power heads.

 

[BigCitySmallReef]

Just adding some details:

Innovative Marine 20 Gallon NUVO Fusion Nano Aquarium
Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm Aquarium Heater 75 watts
Hydor Koralia Nano Aquarium Circulation Pump 425 gph
AI Prime HD Light
20 lbs BRS Reef Saver Aquarium Dry Live Rock
10 lbs CaribSea Aragonite sand

Just dosed Coralline Algae in a Bottle + Nitrifying Bacteria, Purple Helix Strain and picked up Blue Ocean Corals Coral Rx Concentrate Dip for when I start adding coral.

 

[HairyGary]

This is a great tank! I had mine up and running for about 2 years before the SPS outgrew my tank. Had two Prime HDs on it! Good luck!

 

[BigCitySmallReef]

This is a great tank! I had mine up and running for about 2 years before the SPS outgrew my tank. Had two Prime HDs on it! Good luck!

Thank you! Do you think one will Prime HD will be enough? I have it about 12" above the tank so I don't fry anything close to the top. I was hoping to have a mix of corals.

 

[HairyGary]

Thank you! Do you think one will Prime HD will be enough? I have it about 12" above the tank so I don't fry anything close to the top. I was hoping to have a mix of corals.

I had both of mine about 8 inches from the top. I ran the AB+ program that BRS matched with Ecotech. One prime wont be enough for most SPS.

 

[BigCitySmallReef]

Just started a copepod culture under the sink! Using Phyto-feast live for the food.

 

[BigCitySmallReef]

I had both of mine about 8 inches from the top. I ran the AB+ program that BRS matched with Ecotech. One prime wont be enough for most SPS.

Man, that looks great! What kind of skimmer do you have tucked back there? I was thinking of the Innovative Marine Skimmate Ghost Protein Skimmer but I'm not sure it's the best for that price.

 

[grassy_noel]

Hey there, I have the same tank! One thing I'll throw out there is to consider how much rock you have in your tank if you want a lot of corals. I started with about the amount of rock you have, but ended up removing almost half of it because there was just not enough room for the corals with the rock so close to the water's surface. I then looked at about a million photos of successful tanks and noticed there seems to be some unwritten rule that the rock should only go up about half way up in the tank, leaving the top half for open water and future coral growth, especially if you're interested in branching SPS. If it's mostly encrusting corals and LPS then the height of the rockwork might be ok. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but I really struggled to find good places for corals with so much rock.

Second, I wouldn't go out and spend a ton of $ on a second light just yet. The AI prime is pretty powerful, and perfectly capable of growing SPS corals. The bigger challenge with SPS corals and a single light will be that there will be heavy shadows. A second light or a bigger light source (like T5s) reduces the shadows and bathes your corals in light on all sides. This is something to consider in the future, but don't think you HAVE to have a second AI prime for SPS corals not to starve. I've seen people growing small colonies of SPS under a single Kessil A80, near the top of the water...that light is only like 15 watts.

Finally, I think the skimmer you're looking at in @HairyGary 's photo is the IM Ghost. I have that skimmer in my tank now. If you'd like to buy a used one, let me know...haha! I don't get any microbubbles and the skimmer is quiet enough for me. It just pulls a fairly thin skimmate...I can never get the dark brown stuff. I always end up with a cup full of water slightly tinted green or brown. I am currently testing some other options. But also don't totally discount this skimmer because of all the bad reviews out there. Once its broken in the microbubbles really die down (mine are gone completely), it just takes at least a few weeks.

Best of luck, and have fun!

 

[BigCitySmallReef]

Hey there, I have the same tank! One thing I'll throw out there is to consider how much rock you have in your tank if you want a lot of corals. I started with about the amount of rock you have, but ended up removing almost half of it because there was just not enough room for the corals with the rock so close to the water's surface. I then looked at about a million photos of successful tanks and noticed there seems to be some unwritten rule that the rock should only go up about half way up in the tank, leaving the top half for open water and future coral growth, especially if you're interested in branching SPS. If it's mostly encrusting corals and LPS then the height of the rockwork might be ok. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but I really struggled to find good places for corals with so much rock.

Second, I wouldn't go out and spend a ton of $ on a second light just yet. The AI prime is pretty powerful, and perfectly capable of growing SPS corals. The bigger challenge with SPS corals and a single light will be that there will be heavy shadows. A second light or a bigger light source (like T5s) reduces the shadows and bathes your corals in light on all sides. This is something to consider in the future, but don't think you HAVE to have a second AI prime for SPS corals not to starve. I've seen people growing small colonies of SPS under a single Kessil A80, near the top of the water...that light is only like 15 watts.

Finally, I think the skimmer you're looking at in @HairyGary 's photo is the IM Ghost. I have that skimmer in my tank now. If you'd like to buy a used one, let me know...haha! I don't get any microbubbles and the skimmer is quiet enough for me. It just pulls a fairly thin skimmate...I can never get the dark brown stuff. I always end up with a cup full of water slightly tinted green or brown. I am currently testing some other options. But also don't totally discount this skimmer because of all the bad reviews out there. Once its broken in the microbubbles really die down (mine are gone completely), it just takes at least a few weeks.

Best of luck, and have fun!

Thank you for the advice!! To be honest, I think I'm now leaning more towards LPS, mushrooms, polyps, and zoas. I also have to keep in mind that I'm in an apartment and wont be here forever - so this will all have to be moved at some point, lol. After hearing your advice, I'll stick to one light for now... I can think of many things I need for the tank that the money can go towards. This is not a cheap hobby but it's already so rewarding. I've got about 2 months left to pay off my car and I'm already planning where the extra money will go for the tank!

 

[grassy_noel]

For what it's worth, I'm running a single Radion XR15 over my tank. I consider this to be a pretty similar light source to the AI prime, especially since I run it only about 30% intensity. I see good response from all of my corals, but the two birdsnests I have tried have bleached pretty quickly from the back (shaded) side.

For LPS and softies, one AI prime should be fine!

Here's a shot of my tank a few weeks ago...ignore the green hair algae...that's a whole 'nother thing.

 

[HairyGary]

Man, that looks great! What kind of skimmer do you have tucked back there? I was thinking of the Innovative Marine Skimmate Ghost Protein Skimmer but I'm not sure it's the best for that price.

Thanks. It was a great tank. Its the small Ghost skimmer. I wanted something out of the way. It was fine but I also did water changes as I fed alot.

 

[HairyGary]

Hey there, I have the same tank! One thing I'll throw out there is to consider how much rock you have in your tank if you want a lot of corals. I started with about the amount of rock you have, but ended up removing almost half of it because there was just not enough room for the corals with the rock so close to the water's surface. I then looked at about a million photos of successful tanks and noticed there seems to be some unwritten rule that the rock should only go up about half way up in the tank, leaving the top half for open water and future coral growth, especially if you're interested in branching SPS. If it's mostly encrusting corals and LPS then the height of the rockwork might be ok. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but I really struggled to find good places for corals with so much rock.

Second, I wouldn't go out and spend a ton of $ on a second light just yet. The AI prime is pretty powerful, and perfectly capable of growing SPS corals. The bigger challenge with SPS corals and a single light will be that there will be heavy shadows. A second light or a bigger light source (like T5s) reduces the shadows and bathes your corals in light on all sides. This is something to consider in the future, but don't think you HAVE to have a second AI prime for SPS corals not to starve. I've seen people growing small colonies of SPS under a single Kessil A80, near the top of the water...that light is only like 15 watts.

Finally, I think the skimmer you're looking at in @HairyGary 's photo is the IM Ghost. I have that skimmer in my tank now. If you'd like to buy a used one, let me know...haha! I don't get any microbubbles and the skimmer is quiet enough for me. It just pulls a fairly thin skimmate...I can never get the dark brown stuff. I always end up with a cup full of water slightly tinted green or brown. I am currently testing some other options. But also don't totally discount this skimmer because of all the bad reviews out there. Once its broken in the microbubbles really die down (mine are gone completely), it just takes at least a few weeks.

Best of luck, and have fun!

Yep that is correct. I started with one HD but shadowing was an issue so I added the second. I had no issues growing SPS but good water quality and stability is key as well with a small tank as there is less room for error.

 

[BigCitySmallReef]

For what it's worth, I'm running a single Radion XR15 over my tank. I consider this to be a pretty similar light source to the AI prime, especially since I run it only about 30% intensity. I see good response from all of my corals, but the two birdsnests I have tried have bleached pretty quickly from the back (shaded) side.

For LPS and softies, one AI prime should be fine!

Here's a shot of my tank a few weeks ago...ignore the green hair algae...that's a whole 'nother thing.

That looks awesome! What do you think about cleaning the sand bed? I can already see that's the one thing I'll hate about maintenance. I went with the larger grain black sand about 1" deep, mainly because I like the look, but also hoping I could get away with not having to siphon. Also, since I put the rock in first, there's not much sand if any towards the back inch of the tank. I was hoping to get some nassarius snails to help keep the sand stirred.

 

[grassy_noel]

That looks awesome! What do you think about cleaning the sand bed? I can already see that's the one thing I'll hate about maintenance. I went with the larger grain black sand about 1" deep, mainly because I like the look, but also hoping I could get away with not having to siphon. Also, since I put the rock in first, there's not much sand if any towards the back inch of the tank. I was hoping to get some nassarius snails to help keep the sand stirred.

I vacuum maybe the top 1/4" of the substrate when I do a water change, weekly. I always get some stuff up, but mostly I think it's the cloudy powder that always comes in with aragonite substrate.

Another option I've heard people use is to blast a turkey baster into the sand before a water change. The idea is that it whips all the junk on the sand up into the water column, and then you siphon out ~20% of it, and some of it goes into the overflows to be caught by your filter socks/pads. Not exactly the same in my opinion, but similar.

I think the black color will help you not see gunk or algae on the sand bed. Also, if you get some good sand-stirring cleanup crew that could really help, too (gobies, nassarius snails as you mention, sand sifting stars, urchins, conchs, hermit crabs to a lesser degree, etc.). Also, if you keep the flow pretty high in the tank that will help keep detritus up in the water column and coax it toward the overflows.

My guess is you'll want to vacuum the sand bed at least every couple months, even if you do all of these other things. Junk just accumulates. If you want proof, take a look at someone's bare-bottom tank sometime. They're always covered in junk. That same stuff is sitting on our sand, it's just harder to see.

There are folks who literally NEVER siphon the substrate (I heard Sanjay Joshi say this about his big reef tank in a youtube video once), so clearly it is possible...