IM NUVO EXT 40 Reef Build

BeardedMcG · Feb 12, 2020

Miyagi Tort

Wild

Blutspitze · Feb 20, 2020

Wow! Loving the extension on the Slimer. Coming along nicely for sure.

BeardedMcG · Feb 20, 2020

Blutspitze said:
Wow! Loving the extension on the Slimer. Coming along nicely for sure.

Thanks it's a fun one to watch since it's growing fast and interesting growth too.

BeardedMcG · Mar 24, 2020

I got two clams today from @PacificEastAquaculture very happy.

Blutspitze · Mar 26, 2020

Gorgeous clams! They're looking great already!

BeardedMcG · Jul 24, 2020

This is a long overdue update but it's been a frustrating past few months. I had a crash and lost a few SPS and unrelated a clam. A few weeks ago I'd just get sad if I looked at my tank. I'd sit down in front of it and get up a minute later wondering why I did that to myself. So here's the story.

March
In late March I got the beautiful clams. Things appeared to be going well. I'm Happy.

April
Early April I notice a little tissue loss near the base of my Oregon Tort. The rest of the tank appears to be doing well. Looking back I hadn't noticed that colors had started to fade.

May
By the end of May the Oregon Tort is having issues at the tip but the base has healed up. No tissue loss on any other corals. Did a few investigations looking for bugs as a possible issue. No evidence was found.
Sometime in May I notice my clams are looking bad. I pull them out and find pyramid snails all over. I put them in a bowl of sand and start cleaning every few days.

June the month of reckoning
June 3rd a crab is stuck inside one of the clams. I think it fell off the rock ledge above and landed right on top. I had been pulling them out of the bowl when I noticed. I tried to get the crab out of the clam but the clam is closed as much as it can be and won't release. I eventually get the crab out but the damage is done and the clam doesn't make it through the day.
The rest of the month is downhill with SPS loosing color. I try raising nitrates closer to 10ppm which I had been keeping <5ppm. At first this improved color but once I got to 10ppm and stopped dosing the color faded again. By the end of June I've given up. Many of my montirpora and acro have 70-100% tissue loss. I don't have any photos of my SPS during this time because they just kept getting worse. On June 26th I start to wonder if I'm missing some trace element and start using All For Reef.

July
Things are still not getting better but not much time has passed in the SPS world. I pull out a few dead frags and drop them in CoralRx to see what comes off. Quite a few flatworms come off. A few look like AEFW but none of the usual signs (bite marks and eggs) have been present. On July 10th I start dosing Flatworm Stop and Coral Booster. 5 days later I notice color improvements but think it's just my wishful thinking. By day 8 I'm sure there is color improvement and noticeable tissue thickening.

Today
Without a doubt there is massive improvement in color and tissue. When I switched to All For Reef I was dosing 2ml/day to maintain dKH of 8.5. I continued 2ml/day until day 7 of Flatworm Stop and Coral Booster when alkalinity started to drop. As of today (day 15) I'm dosing 6ml/day. I estimate this is close to my peak when using BRS 2 Part and the tank was healthy back in the first part of the year. I have photos from last weekend and I'll take some tomorrow showing a week of improvement.

So there's my update. Photos to come.

BeardedMcG · Jul 28, 2020

Here’s the restoration progression on a Spongodes and another greenish acro I can’t remember the name off.

BeardedMcG · Jul 28, 2020

Here’s the clam June 1st doing well.

and two days later June 3rd with the crab stuck inside.

BeardedMcG · Jul 28, 2020

I need to take more FTS. Not the same lights, camera WB, camera or even exact angle but gives you an idea of the progression.

D1rty30 · Jul 28, 2020

BeardedMcG said:
I need to take more FTS. Not the same lights, camera WB, camera or even exact angle but gives you an idea of the progression.

Not bad for about a year. Beautiful tank

lester lloyd · Jul 28, 2020

Wow nice clams I’ve had no luck with clams I roll hopefully try again soon

BeardedMcG · Jul 28, 2020

D1rty30 said:
Not bad for about a year. Beautiful tank

Thanks it's coming along. Once everything get's settled in the next few weeks I'm hoping to see real growth out of it.

BeardedMcG · Jul 28, 2020

lester lloyd said:
Wow nice clams I’ve had no luck with clams I roll hopefully try again soon

They're hard to resist aren't they!?!? So colorful especially from above.

Drizzieee · Jul 28, 2020

What a great build. I personally love the Nuvo tanks and they come pretty much perfected for the average reefer, you’ve taken it to the next step for a very clean set up! Keep up the great work this is awesome!

BeardedMcG · Jul 28, 2020

Drizzieee said:
What a great build. I personally love the Nuvo tanks and they come pretty much perfected for the average reefer, you’ve taken it to the next step for a very clean set up! Keep up the great work this is awesome!

Thank you for such kind words. I love the tank. The external overflow is so handy.