New Build - Prepping for IM Nuvo 100 EXT

[UtahReefer]

AF Air Scrubber: My PH varies like most. At night it gets as low as 7.79 and as high of 8.07 during the day. BRS had 20% off on AF stuff so I bought the AF Air Scrubber and hose. I like this Scrubber because the water reservoir is separate from the main reactor and makes top off a breeze. So far it has been running for about 30 hours. My new low at night has been 8.13 and during the day 8.2. It keeps going up. So far so good. Looks like this reactor works well. I bypassed the air can on my Ultrareef Akula Skimmer and hooked the hose directly to the Venturi.

Update on the Af Air Scubber Performance: It's been a month now and it's greatly improved my PH. My low is no 8.19 - 8.2 at night, and 8.31 during the day. In addition, media use and been very good. In that period of time slightly more than 1/2 of the media has expired so I'm happy!

 

[sugar]

Loving this build!!! Totally inspiring. I am still putting together a list of the items I'll need to get my EXT 100 up and running!

Which ATO did you go with?

How was assembly? Everything come together OK and level? I've seen some issues with how the doors fit, level, things like that.

What's your fish stock list/wish list look like?!

 

[UtahReefer]

Well, quickly coming up on a year since the transfer and setup of the IM 100 EXT. The system is doing well. Had a couple of bumps along the way. First, had a run in with Ick in the tank. Beat it by dosing Hydrogen Peroxide (Humble Fish Method) along with ginger and Selcon in the fish food. The second bump was due to the Salinity level. Look, I like and use Hanna's Products, but really had a problem with their hand held salinity tester. The say you should calibrate it monthly for best results. I saw a regular drift in the results so I calibrated every other week. All of my Acro's began to go south. Color faded and turned brown along with lack of growth. I used the Hanna Salinity Tester to keep my salinity ay 35ppt. Long story short, got sick of buying the calibration packets and decided to purchase a Milwaukee Digital Refractometer. First test I about dropped my shorts. The Hanna, which was just calibrated showed 35ppt, the new Milwaukee showed 38ppt! After several more tests to confirm the results the Hanna went in the garbage. No way would I trust that device ever again. After adjusting the salinity lever per the Milwaukee, the corals began to come back within a week. Within a month all colored up. Chalk it up the wacky road we travel in reefing. I recently made the move to dosing Kalkwasser. Tied of purchasing the CO2 media for the reactor. Looking forward to the result I'll see over the next several months and the carbonic acid that's bound up in the system is released and removed. Happy reefing and all the best.

 

[Manose]

Well you have convinced me!!!! I just pulled the trigger on this tank but will not be shipped till the end of July which gives me plenty of room to lay a new floor down.
I have 4 xr15 g5 blues that I can use but was thinking doing 3 inside my special 36in hybrid I have as it will hold 3 xr15s
I hope that will be enough light

 

[UtahReefer]

Well you have convinced me!!!! I just pulled the trigger on this tank but will not be shipped till the end of July which gives me plenty of room to lay a new floor down.
I have 4 xr15 g5 blues that I can use but was thinking doing 3 inside my special 36in hybrid I have as it will hold 3 xr15s
I hope that will be enough light

I run 3 XR15 Gen 6 Blues at a 95% overall intensity... plenty of light for an SPS tank. The spread the G6 units is the best yet for Radions. I run a 11 hour photo period. Ramps up starting at 9AM, then full intensity AB+ setting for 6 hours. Then ramps down to the WWC settings for two hours followed by a gradual ramp down for two hours (mostly blue channels) till off at 8PM. Corals love it. Most people seem to really chase numbers and over light their tanks. WWC has had several videos on this. It's a balance of nutrients and light, not just blasting the corals at high intensity for long photo periods. With 4 XR15's you're going to have plenty of light.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Well, quickly coming up on a year since the transfer and setup of the IM 100 EXT. The system is doing well. Had a couple of bumps along the way. First, had a run in with Ick in the tank. Beat it by dosing Hydrogen Peroxide (Humble Fish Method) along with ginger and Selcon in the fish food. The second bump was due to the Salinity level. Look, I like and use Hanna's Products, but really had a problem with their hand held salinity tester. The say you should calibrate it monthly for best results. I saw a regular drift in the results so I calibrated every other week. All of my Acro's began to go south. Color faded and turned brown along with lack of growth. I used the Hanna Salinity Tester to keep my salinity ay 35ppt. Long story short, got sick of buying the calibration packets and decided to purchase a Milwaukee Digital Refractometer. First test I about dropped my shorts. The Hanna, which was just calibrated showed 35ppt, the new Milwaukee showed 38ppt! After several more tests to confirm the results the Hanna went in the garbage. No way would I trust that device ever again. After adjusting the salinity lever per the Milwaukee, the corals began to come back within a week. Within a month all colored up. Chalk it up the wacky road we travel in reefing. I recently made the move to dosing Kalkwasser. Tied of purchasing the CO2 media for the reactor. Looking forward to the result I'll see over the next several months and the carbonic acid that's bound up in the system is released and removed. Happy reefing and all the best.

Glad to see your tank is doing great!

 

[code4]

Have the same tank. "Borrowing some ideas on flow and Aqua scaping". Beautiful fish. I am going with a Copper Band. So keeping to mostly peaceful fish. Mandarins, blenny, one small angel. Also mostly Biota fish. Struggling with my aqua scape. Never happy. Good luck and keep posting ideas for me to "Borrow".

Shelley

 

[UtahReefer]

Have the same tank. "Borrowing some ideas on flow and Aqua scaping". Beautiful fish. I am going with a Copper Band. So keeping to mostly peaceful fish. Mandarins, blenny, one small angel. Also mostly Biota fish. Struggling with my aqua scape. Never happy. Good luck and keep posting ideas for me to "Borrow".

Shelley

It's a good system. I've found the only issue with these are their return pumps, not a fan. 1st one failed in a couple of months and they sent me a new one. Second had issues about 6 months in and I just replaced it with another brand. Love the sump, plenty of room for what I need to run. Good luck with your system and have fun.