IM Nuvo 20 as Frag tank??? Is this doable?

[Dj City]

Hello

I need a frag tank.
I want something simple but also want it to look good.

I have a 40 gallon breeder as a QT/HT. My idea is to put the Nuvo 20 under the 40 breeder. Because it will be under the other tank, NO SUMP.
I have an MP10 that I plan on using for flow along with some small jeabo wave pumps if needed.

My questions...

Will the Nuvo 20 work as a frag tank?
What skimmer should I use with the Nuvo 20?
Will a Black Box led light like the Mars Aqua or Viparspect 165w work?
Should I upgrade the return pump?
Anything else I need to upgrade or need to know?

 

[ScottR]

Hello

I need a frag tank.
I want something simple but also want it to look good.

I have a 40 gallon breeder as a QT/HT. My idea is to put the Nuvo 20 under the 40 breeder. Because it will be under the other tank, NO SUMP.
I have an MP10 that I plan on using for flow along with some small jeabo wave pumps if needed.

My questions...

Will the Nuvo 20 work as a frag tank?
What skimmer should I use with the Nuvo 20?
Will a Black Box led light like the Mars Aqua or Viparspect 165w work?
Should I upgrade the return pump?
Anything else I need to upgrade or need to know?

I saw a similar question on here awhile back. Someone replied with a YouTube video of a fishbowl full of SPS that were clustered altogether and it looked healthy. I see no reason why you can’t do this.

 

[501Reefer]

I am in the process of building a IM 10 frag tank. So I see no reason why a 20 wouldn't. I wouldn't worry about a skimmer weekly water changes will be enough. You will need an ATO

 

[Dj City]

Thank you.
I will be running an ato.

Im planning on a skimmer though because I will have at least 1 fish in there. Possibly 2.
Im not a fan of water changes. I use dosing for elements.
Having said that,
Skimmer...
What skimmer should I use with the Nuvo 20? What fits and is good enough?
Lighting...
Will a Black Box led light like the Mars Aqua or Viparspect 165w work?
Flow...
Should I upgrade the return pump? I will have an mp10 on this tank.
Anything else I need to upgrade or need to know?

 

[REEFIN RIOS]

Thank you.
I will be running an ato.

Im planning on a skimmer though because I will have at least 1 fish in there. Possibly 2.
Im not a fan of water changes. I use dosing for elements.
Having said that,
Skimmer...
What skimmer should I use with the Nuvo 20? What fits and is good enough?
Lighting...
Will a Black Box led light like the Mars Aqua or Viparspect 165w work?
Flow...
Should I upgrade the return pump? I will have an mp10 on this tank.
Anything else I need to upgrade or need to know?

I have a 14 gal im peninsula as my frag tank, I have 2 very messy fish in there no skimmer, I hate water changes as well but 1 gal changes are easy every Friday. Even every other week I’m pretty lazy. You could also get an Auto water change system. If you really want a skimmer the aquamax hob 1.5 is a good choice. Light wise that black box will do just fine for any corals, but I myself like automation so I run an AI prime Hd. And I run only 2 pounds of sand the rest is bare bottom, with my frag rack on one side and 2 rocks on the other side. Yes upgrad the stock pump it’s very noisy, I have a tunze pump does 300-400 gph plenty for my tank.
Hope that helps
Lucas.

 

[REEFIN RIOS]

Thank you.
I will be running an ato.

Im planning on a skimmer though because I will have at least 1 fish in there. Possibly 2.
Im not a fan of water changes. I use dosing for elements.
Having said that,
Skimmer...
What skimmer should I use with the Nuvo 20? What fits and is good enough?
Lighting...
Will a Black Box led light like the Mars Aqua or Viparspect 165w work?
Flow...
Should I upgrade the return pump? I will have an mp10 on this tank.
Anything else I need to upgrade or need to know?

I have a 14 gal im peninsula as my frag tank, I have 2 very messy fish in there no skimmer, I hate water changes as well but 1 gal changes are easy every Friday. Even every other week I’m pretty lazy. You could also get an Auto water change system. If you really want a skimmer the aquamax hob 1.5 is a good choice. Light wise that black box will do just fine for any corals, but I myself like automation so I run an AI prime Hd. And I run only 2 pounds of sand the rest is bare bottom, with my frag rack on one side and 2 rocks on the other side. Yes upgrad the stock pump it’s very noisy, I have a tunze pump does 300-400 gph plenty for my tank.
Hope that helps
Lucas.

 

[Dj City]

I wound up getting a petco 20 long for $20.
Got a aqueon quiet flow hob filter rated for 50 gallons (repurposed from an old broken down tank)
I put a 200w heater in the tank.
I put 4 pillars of Stax rocks 3 deep in the tank to serve as risers for the eggcrate and to help with bacteria population (nitrogen cycle)
I added bio spira, microbacter7 and Dr Tim's Ammonia to start the cycle.
For flow, I added 1 mp10 toward the top right side of the tank and a Tunze 6105 on the bottom left under the eggcrate.
I found a GalaxyHydro 165w for $50 that will light the tank. That should arrive by friday.

What do you think of my frag tank set up?
Pics to come later.

 

[Dj City]

20 long frag tank.
Just set this up today.
The light you see is coming from the bare bottom 40 breeder qt tank above it.
I have a GalaxyHydro 156w led on the way to light the frag tank up. I have an Aqueon Quietflow hob rated for 50 gallons.
I have a mp10 top right and a Tunze 6105 bottom left under the eggcrate.
I'm using 2 little fishes Stax rocks for live rock and it doubles as a stand to raise the eggcrate off the bottom of the tank. I added a bunch of bio spira and microbacter7 to start the cycle.
I think I will get some miracle mud or fiji mud for this frag tank. I have Dinos in my 110 gallon DT and I have some nice corals. I'm setting up a brand new 180 gallon to replace the 110 gal. the corals from the 110 will go into the frag tank after a good dip and new frag plugs where appropriate.
Maybe if I can get enough biodiversity in the frag tank, the dinos will be starved out and I can add them to the new build.

 

[Arricefe]

I am in the process of building a IM 10 frag tank. So I see no reason why a 20 wouldn't. I wouldn't worry about a skimmer weekly water changes will be enough. You will need an ATO

I know it's an old post but @501Reefer did you build your frag tank using the IM 10?

 

[501Reefer]

I know it's an old post but @501Reefer did you build your frag tank using the IM 10?

Yeah, it did its job for 10 months. I just tore it down Sunday when I moved. Currently debating on if I should sell it or set it back up @ the new house.

 

[Arricefe]

I'm in the process of doing the same to mine, I tore it down a couple of weeks ago and now making it a frag tank. I've got the overflow built, hopefully i can get it plumbed in this weekend.

 

[Arricefe]

I set up a Nuvo IM10 as a frag/grow out tank and plumbed into my DT. I first set it up as a bare bottom with a rack but I had an algae bloom in it. I added some new sand but I think because it wasn’t live it didn’t do much good as far as the algae is concerned. Next I took the rack out and added a dry rock it is also now going through the ugly stage. Next I’m going to take a rock from my DT and swap it out with the one in the grow-out tank to help the process along. I didn’t expect it to go through this so I guess Noobs are going to noob, lesson learned.