IM Nuvo 20 gallon (First Timer) Synner Reef

[robodude666]

Synner Reef,

How are you liking the tank so far? Was it this "Nuvo Fusion 20 Gallon Saltwater AIO Aquarium Kit with SKKYE LED" kit?

Where did you get the stand from?

Thanks,
-robodude666

 

[Synner Reef]

Yes this was the kit! @robodude666 I'm enjoying it so far. I changed out a few things. I don't believe the heater was adequate enough but that could be my fault. It was a 50w. So i went ahead and purchased a 100w heater. I also upgraded the pump to the mj1200 i believe it was. It was super easy to set up. Im still going through some cycling phases to keep all my bacteria. Ill be adding a fish soon. Hopefully when i save ill replace the lighting. I guess the lights arnt the best. Just good enough. From what i read. Also Bulk Reef Supply were super fast and responsive with my order. I cant say anything bad about them. Seriously some of the best people. Customer service ranks super high on my priority list.

As for the stand.I purchased it from a local furniture store. It wasn't cheap by any means but i love it. It fit the decor and had one side with shelves and the other side with 3 drawers. I could add a top off system on the left side in the future. No idea what brand name it is. I just walked into a few different mom and pop furniture stores. I saw this one. Measured the top and looked to see how sturdy it was. VERY well made. I left , went elsewhere to look around. Came back and said , " Its mine"!

 

[Synner Reef]

Day 20: Parameters are low again. Still little trace of Ammonia but i think this ok to add a fish. Nitrites disappeared again. Nitrates are nothing. I may head to Petco tonight and get my Firefish. I think i'll name him Arrow. As im very much into Traditional Archery. Here's my parameters this day. Also a scene from the weighing of the heart.

 

[Synner Reef]

Day 21: Here i thought this was going to be a great three week anniversary. Its not. I picked up my first fish last night and i had already given the Purple Goby a name. Something i shouldn't have done. I found the little guy at PetCo as well as a peppermint shrimp i named peppy. (Ya i know, I'm silly as hell.) Tested my waters and i really thought everything would have been fine. I followed the gals instructions on introducing him into the tank along with the shrimp. Float him for 15 minutes. Well in my head i knew this was wrong but being i'm super new to this and never have done anything similar i took her advice. I floated the guys close to 45 minutes. I know ,WRONG! But... i took her advice. Needless to say he swam to the bottom and hung out near a rock and the shrimp went into a hole and bobbed up and down like he was happy with this huge space to live in.

I went to sleep and woke up this morning to see if he left his place. He did to my astonishment! I was happy. So i was looking around for him behind the tank and under crevices only to find him laying sideways with the shrimp on top of him. RIP, "Arrow". I named him Arrow. I feel like the worse God ever. Like a pathetic point of sale human being for doing this to a tiny little fish i named. I really thought all my water parameters were "OK" for something to live in my tank.

My temperature has been steady at 77.5 degrees since i moved the location of the heater. My Salinity looks to be steady at 1.026. I still have a very slight ammonia reading, ZERO nitrites and Zero nitrates. My PH looks to be 8 or 8.1 i have a hard time reading this. My flow is amazing. So no crazy pockets of gases. Only thing i could think of is i did the acclimation test wrong. That's on me. But man do i feel bummed.

Thanks for reading and letting me get this off my chest. Here's my parameters this morning.

 

[Rjukan]

Don't be so hard on yourself, you have done an absolutely fantastic job so far. I would actually recommend other people new to the hobby to read this thread and see how you cycled your tank. Was awesome to see the consistant test photos, especially the before and after when you put the bacteria in a bottle into the tank.

If it's any consolation there is a high probability there was something wrong with the fish prior to you buying it. Did you watch it for a few days at the store? Did you make them feed it so you can know it's eating? 2 big things I like to do when buying from a LFS.

 

[mwbeach]

Agreed. I don’t think it is anything you did. Sounds like it was a bad fish and not healthy to begin with.

Do you have calibration fluid for your refractometer?

Just checking all basis.

 

[Synner Reef]

Thanks @Eagle 2 and @mwbeach . I did not watch them feed or watch for a few days to see if he was ok. The one fish I had my eyes on was a Red colored FireFish. He sold. So I saw this guy swimming in the water line at PetCo., with a clown. They had two other Purple Gobys . I watched those two and they were fighting each other. So I opted for the later. He seemed peaceful.

I have a thought out plan for tonight when I go to the store and talk with them. I know they dont guarantee their saltwater fish. I am ok with this. But I want them to test my water and their water to see the different readings.

I do have calibration fluid. And as specified I set it to 35. I'll go home tonight and recheck again just to be sure.

Thank you guys and for anyone else who can throw knowledge my way. I learned from this mistake. I'll do a proper drip acclimation next time. For now, I'll see if my shrimp survives.

 

[robodude666]

Is Peppy doing okay? If peppy is fine, I don't think it's anything you did either. I would definitely recommend having them test your water, that way you can get the confidence that your testing method is working and your results are accurate. I would also recommend testing the salinity and pH of their water. Perhaps if they were drastically different from your water it might have been a shock to the fish.

I've also seen a lot of people prefer to do drip acclimation, which not only helps the fish adjust to temperate but to the different water parameters as well. Without getting a fancy drip acclimation kit, you should be able to simply to this by putting half of the store's water into a bucket, add equal part your water, and then slowly add bits of your water over. Disclaimer: I don't own any saltwater fish, but that's my understanding from my research.

 

[Synner Reef]

@robodude666 As for as I left Peppy this morning in the tank..He was as happy as a shrimp can be. He was swaying back and forth and climbing the rocks.

Yea. I'm going to see their parameters and mine. I'll be bringing in water for sure for them to test and theirs. I had a drip line...I knew I should have used it but the lady said otherwise. Which I was being naive and listening to their opinion. That part is on me. I should have followed my heart. Arrow shot me in the heart alright! Sorry I have to joke.

 

[robodude666]

Nah. Don't be so hard on yourself. That's how we learn. We all end up making mistakes and learn from them. It's probably better to get them out of the way now and not in 5 years when you've invested $10k LOL.

 

[wlittlefield]

Hope it goes well!

 

[Synner Reef]

Day 22: All is going well! @wlittlefield . No bad days really. Just unfortunate ones. But Eureka! Peppy is alive and dancing in the tank. This peppermint shrimp i think is loving his new home. I fed him some myasis shrimp from a turkey baster. Hopefully some of the shrimp landed on the sand bed or into the rocks so he can scavenge it. So i got home from work yesterday and tested my salinity. It seemed to be a little high at around 1.027 after calibrating again. But a friend of mine pointed out if i had topped off yet? I didn't , so i topped off my tank and waited an hour and checked salinity again and it was 1.0255 to 1.026 . Kinda hard to read those lines! I need Hannah products. Thanks Lulu!

I did not go to PetCo last night after such a long exhausting day being a Christmas Elf , some say Dwarf if you have seen me. But the plan is to go today. Shorter hours. Ill post about my experience i have with my local PetCo. I do not plan to complain about the loss of my fish. Just figure out why. Matching parameters , etc etc. Hell , i may even just get a couple damsels and some hermits to hit the bottom. Enjoy your weekend reefers!;Happy

 

[Synner Reef]

Day 23: Quite a lot to report. Yesterday after work i went into my local LFS which is a PetCo. I let them know my concerns and if they would please check my water for Salinity and my normal Parameters. They did so with their refractometer . They tested my water as 1.030! I guffawed and blinked. "Impossible" i say, i take readings daily and calibrate more that i should i guess. They don't have calibration fluid. So anyhow i ask them to test their salinity and it comes out at a blistering 1.026. At this point i'm speechless because now i think its my fault. As for my parameters only thing they have more than me is a PH of about 8.4 and their Nitrites were 10ppm where as my PH is 8.0 to 8.1 and i have 0 nitrites. She mentioned my Alk. was a little low but i still have no way of testing that yet. So.... I ask for some of their water and take it home.

At home i decided to calibrate my instrument again and with my readings i get 1.026 on my water and theirs is 1.022 with my calibrated refractometer. This leads me to believe i either have a faulty tool or their meter is way way off. Today's mission is to take my calibration fluid in with me and have them calibrate their meter. Just to get all my apples into a bundle. This leads me to believe Arrow died of Salinity shock because i failed to drip acclimate. When i was told otherwise how to introduce my fish to his new home. I hope i don't sound bitter because i'm not. I just like to be precise on things. I have to be precise in my day to day living in the work that i do.

Anyhow here's today's readings. I fed Peppy some shrimp and Nori. He came right out of his little hole and chased the food down. It was pretty cool. I still plan to get fish from them and some hermits and snails if they have them. Ill just do a proper introduction to my tank. Pictures might be out of place but here's the proof. Sideways salinity test is petco using my tool.

 

[mwbeach]

Interesting. Curious to see what their refractometer shows with a calibration fluid test.


Do you have a LFS nearby? Or is Petco your only option.

 

[Synner Reef]

@mwbeach PetCo is my only option. Next closest place is an hour and a half away. During this time of year I can't get away to check them out. But I plan to after the Holiday!

 

[theFISH18]

Following your progress. Thanks for all of the detailed updates! Looking to start a reef in the next 6-8 months and taking it all in.. deciding between Nuvo 40 and JBJ 45.

 

[Synner Reef]

Thank you @theFISH18 , looking forward to your start. As for which tank to buy , my experience so far with my Innovative Marine 20 gallon has been great. It was affordable for me. It came in a big package deal from Bulk Reef Supply.
I really needed something in life to keep me busy. I shoot Archery to relax and bring my mind down. Its repetitive in nature. Maintenance on the tank gives that same feel for me. Kinda funny how you find things in life that make you feel good.
Enjoy the journey.

 

[Synner Reef]

Day 24: Good news to report. I went and talked with their main gal who cares for the saltwater tanks. The day i got Arrow (The Purple Goby) i spoke to another gal who i guess didn't know much about the hobby. And we know how that story ended. F for respects for Arrow. (F) The main gal was open to me testing and calibrating her refractometer. The tool was way off. Like bad off. I couldn't even turn their screw to adjust to the correct position. This main gal has just started the job here and is still trying to figure everything out. The person before her left it in shambles as you can see. So... She opened up a new tool and we calibrated that one. We tested a a lot of her tanks. Their salinity is very low. So she has a lot of work ahead of her to get it under control. They must have like 30 , 10 gallon tanks.

The great news is.. I picked up 2 Blue Damsels , 3 Hermit Crabs and 2 Nassarius Snails. It was hard to find those snails in the tanks. I got them home and started my Drip Acclimation of all of the critters. Remember their salinity is low. So i must have let it drip for 3 hours. It was like doing a water change for my main tank. That was almost a big mistake i made to. I didn't have saltwater mixed up. So i rushed that and got that going. I had the water on hand just not mixed yet. I been keeping a good storage of RO/DI water. One of the damsels took it real well and started swimming. The smaller of the two went straight for a crevice and hid out for awhile. I panicked and thought about how Arrow did this. But he eventually came out when i left to go grab a bite for dinner. I fed them that night as well. They seemed to take well to the myasis shrimp and the nori mixture. I checked my water this morning and im debating to how many times i feed them. I dont want to overfeed my tank. I don't want crazy blooms of algae just yet! Heres a couple shots i took. When lights went out they each found a crevice to tuck themselves away. The bigger Damsel kicked the shrimp from his hiding place, lol.

 

[Synner Reef]

Day 25: Love watching my little guys. I fed them again last night but just a little bit. Hermits, Snails and the shrimp got in the action. I watched one snail come out from the substrate and move across the sand to grab something to eat . At least this is what i was thinking. Who really knows what goes on in a snails mind? Plotting our doom! I still do worry constantly when i wake up that my fish will be ok. Seems like they are swimming good and eating good. The bigger of the damsels seems to breath at a rapid pace but i'm not totally sure. He was moving his mouth a lot. A friend says maybe stress do to a new enclosure. Here's a few pictures. I'm a very picture heavy person and i hope you all get use to it!

 

[Synner Reef]

Day 26: I came home to some sad news after work. The bigger of the two damsels died. So now i'm guessing his breathing was an issue. I just have no idea what can be the cause. Parameters have been very very steady. Only thing i can think of now is maybe my Ph is to low? Maybe Sue ( i named the smaller damsel ) Hes a boy named Sue. I found Sue take over where the larger fish was always sleeping and Peppy my shrimp teamed up together underneath. Would they have plotted his murder? Peppy was kicked out of his hole from the larger damsel. All joking aside i took some photos and i see no visible sign of sickness to my very novice eyes. They both seemed to eat very healthy portions. I just cant pin point it and its frustrating. Hermit crabs, Peppy, and my snails seem to be just fine. I watch them scavenge for food. The snail pops up his little snout antenna thing when there's feeding going on. Its so alien! Thanks again for looking. On this 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, A steady and healthy reefmastree!