Innovative Marine Nuvo 30 Long Build

KSReefing · Dec 18, 2016

Hello all. I will finally be starting my first build thread on this forum. I have been on Reef2reef for a couple years now but never was able to do a build thread. I currently have a 29 gallon biocube that I have been using for a couple years now. I have been caught up with school and training for the past two years where my care for my tank had gone off and on. I'm finally done with everything and now have lots of time to focus on my tank. I'm currently a firefighter/paramedic in Lenexa, Kansas so I have a good amount of time to work on my tank but also need some automation when I am working 24 hour shifts.

Some may ask why the switch from a 29 to a 30 gallon. I consider it a great upgrade because I am excited for the 36 inch length of the tank. The ability to fit more equipment in the back of the filtration was a big plus for me as well. I do plan on keeping the biocube for awhile for the use of a frag tank because I have over a 100 frags that I need a home for. Propagation has been extremely fun for me and enjoy trading with local reefers.

Equipment List
IM 30 Long Nuvo
2 Ai Prime Leds
1 Maxspect Celestial Led
IM Desktop Reactor
IM Midsize Reactor
IM Midsize Ghost Skimmer
Digital Aquatics Controller with Temp and PH probes.
ATO linked through controller
2 Jebao PP-4 wave makers
Eheim 75 Watt heater.
40 lbs of Fiji Pink live sand
30-40 lbs of live rock from biocube.

Sand has gone in the tank as of tonight and should settle down by tomorrow morning.

Chrisfish · Dec 18, 2016

Congratulations on your new tank. Looking forward to seeing pictures.

juanrmattos · Dec 18, 2016

Awesome!!!... Best of luck with it, I truly have enjoyed mine.

KSReefing · Dec 20, 2016

[ATTACH=full]445822[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=full]445823[/ATTACH]

mta_morrow · Dec 20, 2016

congrats, I love my IM30L.

KSReefing · Dec 20, 2016

Sorry guys trying to figure out why pictures aren't working.

Sand has been settling and it has taken foreverrrrrrr. I'm going to find some pieces of my live rock to move over to the tank to help with cycling process. Problem is a lot of my rocks have corals already growing on them so it'll be a pain.

KSReefing · Dec 21, 2016

Sand is finally settling down. Threw some rock into the tank. Plan on picking up some bottled bacteria to help speed up the process. I'm hoping with the rock coming from my other tank which had been up for years the tank will cycle quickly.

Still have a few more pieces of rock to add. Water is a little cloudy still. Can't believe it took 48 hours to see halfway into my tank.

I'll ease off the blue for future but snapped this before running off to work this morning.

Just some of the stuff I plan on moving over.

Have a ton of frag plugs that I will have to either to bury in the sand bed or start gluing on rocks.

oohnoo · Dec 21, 2016

Amazing how the 30L looks so much bigger than it really is. Looking forward to watching your build.

What are you using to take pics? Love to see some more pics of your setup.

KSReefing · Dec 21, 2016

oohnoo said:
Amazing how the 30L looks so much bigger than it really is. Looking forward to watching your build.

What are you using to take pics? Love to see some more pics of your setup.

iPhone. I keep snapping pics with blues on. I'll take some more with whites and room lights on.

Zoaeasy · Dec 21, 2016

Love my 30 Las well and following along You have some great corals it's going to look amazing.

KSReefing · Dec 21, 2016

Zoaeasy said:
Love my 30 Las well and following along You have some great corals it's going to look amazing.

Thanks! I am out of room in my biocube and I want to partake in the cherry corals sale coming up. Gonna have to find a way to make room!

KSReefing · Dec 25, 2016

Man I waiting. It kills me not being able to do anything for time being. Expecting a fast cycle though.

KSReefing · Dec 29, 2016

Quick update here.

Salinity - 1.025
Calcium- 450
Alk- 8.4 dKH
Mg- 1600 (Seems a bit high) will retest again.
Nitrate-0
Nitrite-0
Ammonia-0

Using red sea test kits. I had a spike a few days ago and have leveled back out. Used bottled bacteria to get the cycle going. My biocube suffered a salinity swing while i was gone for a few days. I left the ato off when I was doing a water change. ( STUPID) Corals took a bit of a hit. Don't think there will be any losses just everything was unhappy.

I can honestly say to anyone that is building an aquarium that an ATO is one of the best devices out there for this hobby. I finally set up the ATO on this aquarium and it is rocking and rolling. Pictures are to come. I participated in a live sale two days ago and having them shipped next week on the 4th. Hopefully biocube is healed up by then and ready to take on the new frags. If not they will be going into this aquarium and monitored closely. I have started to move frags over from the biocube and they are doing well to this point.

KSReefing · Jan 4, 2017

Got a couple pieces from my live sale last week in the frag tank ready to be put in.

StayJejune · Feb 15, 2017

Those Acans you got from the live sale look amazing! Great choices

Zackmoo · Feb 16, 2017

I can't believe that is a 30 gallon. It looks massive

nanosteve · Feb 16, 2017

Im following this thread. Just got a 30L myself!

Holy crap on the amount of frags you have in the 29.

tupes · Feb 16, 2017

Hows the tank doing? Those are some great looking frags.

bdare · Feb 28, 2017

Any updates?

Kandace · Jul 5, 2017

I see you have the minimax media reactor. I have the same tank with a jbj protein skimmer and rowa pros in my caddy. My phosphates are under 1ppm but my nitrates are staying at around 30. How are you liking that reactor? I can't decide if I should get it or not based on reviews online. What media are you using? I was thinking of doing bio pellets.