IM Nuvo Fusion 10 mini me build

[Aaronhome27]

After building my 24 gallon mini water box of coral and having some success I couldn't help but think there was a fish or two I still wish I'd had. Being limited in space I decided to go ahead and do another even smaller build for a clown, goby pistol shrimp tank.

On my 24 after some trial and error I scrapped the whole stock AIO filter set up. I played around with it and ended up going back to simple for the most part. I removed the stock 475 gph pump (I tested it and it would be even do 200 gph). I went with a jebao dcs 2000 In doing so of flooded the whole stock setup so I switched things up. I went with an eshopps 75h skimmer, custom made utility rack with a large drip tray and that's about it. I wanted that flow. So for nutrient export I hung some knitting screen from my drip tray and added a cheato max light to the back. After doing so that system has stayed very stable and never seen algae in the display since doing the changes. So on this build I'm going to try to go the same route.

I'm going to ditch the stock pump, filter sock and even the IM rack. I'll go with a larger flow acrylic tray and hang some screens from it in the first overflow chamber. From there I'll use rubble or ceramic rings as a larger bio filter. In the bottom chamber that sits under everything I'll add some live rock rubble. I'll top it off with a jebao dcs 1200 pump. I list all materials here once I get them in and experiment. For now tank is up and cycling. I got some used (dry) sand, 14lbs Florida mined rock I'd been soaking for a while, and I'll use water that I siphon from my 24 including some gravel siphon. I hope to make this more of a euphyllia tank so it has some nice color and movement. I'll update lighting once I get a better idea what I want to do. Oh and BTW This will be the ultimate budget build. I'm looking at $150. Stayed tuned. I'll find some deals

Current equipment:

* Tank - IM nuvo fusion 10

* Heater - finnex hmx-s

* Light- ABI 12w Tuna Blue

* Skimmer - Aquatop 24 eco AIO skimmer

* Pump - stock

* Powerhead - spin stream

* Liverock - 12lbs liferock

* Nutrient export - home made algae scrubber in chamber 1

* Filter- intank filter floss holder with intank filter floss

 

[Flippers4pups]

After building my 24 gallon mini water box of coral and having some success I couldn't help but think there was a fish or two I still wish I'd had. Being limited in space I decided to go ahead and do another even smaller build for a clown, goby pistol shrimp tank.

On my 24 after some trial and error I scrapped the whole stock AIO filter set up. I played around with it and ended up going back to simple for the most part. I removed the stock 475 gph pump (I tested it and it would be even do 200 gph). I went with a jebao dcs 2000 In doing so of flooded the whole stock setup so I switched things up. I went with an eshopps 75h skimmer, custom made utility rack with a large drip tray and that's about it. I wanted that flow. So for nutrient export I hung some knitting screen from my drip tray and added a cheato max light to the back. After doing so that system has stayed very stable and never seen algae in the display since doing the changes. So on this build I'm going to try to go the same route.

I'm going to ditch the stock pump, filter sock and even the IM rack. I'll go with a larger flow acrylic tray and hang some screens from it in the first overflow chamber. From there I'll use rubble or ceramic rings as a larger bio filter. In the bottom chamber that sits under everything I'll add some live rock rubble. I'll top it off with a jebao dcs 1200 pump. I list all materials here once I get them in and experiment. For now tank is up and cycling. I got some used (dry) sand, 14lbs Florida mined rock I'd been soaking for a while, and I'll use water that I siphon from my 24 including some gravel siphon. I hope to make this more of a euphyllia tank so it has some nice color and movement. I'll update lighting once I get a better idea what I want to do. Oh and BTW This will be the ultimate budget build. I'm looking at $150. Stayed tuned. I'll find some deals

Nice start! Yes I could see some green, yellow and purple torches flowing in there!

 

[Aaronhome27]

I know the budget seems very unrealistic but I assure you it is very possible with patience. I'm sure there will be some buying and reselling to get there. My budget is my cost, not what it would cost to build new. My biggest wall will be whether it's plausible to do without a skimmer. I do have a skimmer from my aquatop that could be fashioned to work if need be. My hope is to do this as a biological system Just not sure if that's possible with the 2 fish and 1 shrimp.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I know the budget seems very unrealistic but I assure you it is very possible with patience. I'm sure there will be some buying and reselling to get there. My budget is my cost, not what it would cost to build new. My biggest wall will be whether it's plausible to do without a skimmer. I do have a skimmer from my aquatop that could be fashioned to work if need be. My hope is to do this as a biological system Just not sure if that's possible with the 2 fish and 1 shrimp.

Should be able too. I've seen some impressive Pico's that where quite diverse.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I know the budget seems very unrealistic but I assure you it is very possible with patience. I'm sure there will be some buying and reselling to get there. My budget is my cost, not what it would cost to build new. My biggest wall will be whether it's plausible to do without a skimmer. I do have a skimmer from my aquatop that could be fashioned to work if need be. My hope is to do this as a biological system Just not sure if that's possible with the 2 fish and 1 shrimp.

Definitely doable. I have run several tanks under 30 gallons with no filtration back in the nineties. Water changes will be your friend.

Looking like a good plan.

 

[Aaronhome27]

This is the 24 build I'm nearly done with. Still need to figure out a door for the canopy. But back to this thread, the 10 will be a mini me of this tank. (minus the way over budget price)

View attachment 20181110_140155.jpg

View attachment 20181114_124638.jpg

 

[Aaronhome27]

Nuvo has been set up for 5 days. I used rock I had cycled for a couple weeks in a bucket with weekly 100% water changes. I set the tank up with a few gallons of junk I'd siphoned out of my other Nano gravel. Also purchased a small piece of purchased live rock. I tried something different that I hope doesn't bite me but I had some Vibrant here at the hose. It's amino's and a mix of bacteria so I thought what the heck. Why not. I'm at 5 days right now and numbers appear to be stabilizing. I'll still have to be patient and wait for the diatom etc phases. But this is pretty promising. Also last night I has a huge bloom of pods all over in the tank. No clue where they all came from but it was quite a few I shut off the pump to see and sure enough they were swimming all over. Interested to see what happens with the numbers over the next week now. Will do a 10% water change today.

 

[JBKReef]

Do you have a write up or details on the DIY scrubber?

 

[Aaronhome27]

No I haven't really done anything like that with it. It just a minimal lexan frame I made. Then I cut a snug fit drip plate that lays on the frame. It hold a piece of filter floss on top and just some simple ridgid knitting screen below. Just add a proper light to that (shining right in the screens) A friend gave me a cheato max led that works well. On the Nuvo I am using a terrarium led with same spectrum but also has some 6500k led's as well. The nuvo is a bit easier as all I needed was the intank basket. Then I cut a spot in the backing of the tank for the light.

First pic is the nuvo set up. Second pic is the aquatop 24 setup, and third pic is what the aquatop produces in about 2 weeks.

 

[Aaronhome27]

UPDATE TIME!

Alright, scored a nearly new (like new) Nuvo 10 at my LFS. It was complete with stand, finnex hmx-s heater, tank, skkye 18w light, IM nuvo rack. Basically the full premium kit for $120. I snagged the heater and stand from the kit and will sell it for $125. The heater is dead on accurate after it got 48 hours to adjust.

I used an old kessil mount I had and fashioned it up to run an ABI tuna blue 12w. The light has much higher lux than the skkye light. It's a little too blue and color seems a bit washed but the reviews say this light can really grow coral. I'll use it for a while and see how it does.

Num ers have been stable for a few days now with 5 nitrate no phos and no ammonia already. I used vibrant to speed up the process along with some more bacteria siphoned from my other tanks gravel bed. This cycle so far has been quick to go through the ammonia cycle. I did however ditch the Florida mined live rock. I switched to liferock as I have in my other tank. The white rock had been cycled for a while in a bucket but it somehow got bryopsis on it. Its early enough to just ditch it. I have the life rock pictured. It looks bad in the pics but it has lots of caves and openings to allow waterflow through it.

With parameters stable I added a mibar clown. Also added a paly frag that needed a new home. Both are doing very well.