New Reefer trying a Nuvo 20

Kmore1219 · Aug 30, 2016

jwhann6 said:
As a recently graduated college student who kept a reef tank throughout school, you seem to have the right idea. Take your time, buy good equipment slowly as you begin to need it and stay within your budget.

Only other general advice I can give for keeping a nano like this is to not overstock it. Like everyone else has said, parameters change much quicker in smaller tanks and having a heavy bioload will only make it harder to keep them stable.

Thanks for sharing your build and good luck!

As for stocking goes all I have really thought of is that I 100% want a pair of Black Ice Clowns and a diamond goby. As for corals I have no idea, just know that I'm keeping with softies and lps only.

jwhann6 · Aug 30, 2016

Kmore1219 said:
As for stocking goes all I have really thought of is that I 100% want a pair of Black Ice Clowns and a diamond goby. As for corals I have no idea, just know that I'm keeping with softies and lps only.

I kept a B&W ocellaris clown in my tank and it was great, fully of personality and always active. I'll let someone else chime in on the diamond goby as I don't have any experience with them. Bioload wise, as long as you keep up on water changes you'll be good to go.

Kmore1219 · Aug 30, 2016

jwhann6 said:
I kept a B&W ocellaris clown in my tank and it was great, fully of personality and always active. I'll let someone else chime in on the diamond goby as I don't have any experience with them. Bioload wise, as long as you keep up on water changes you'll be good to go.

Awesome, thanks for all the advice. I can't wait to see my little guys in the tank, it is basically going to be all theirs.

Kmore1219 · Aug 31, 2016

Picked up some Fiji pink sand today, once I'm out of class it will be time to fill my tank!

Kmore1219 · Aug 31, 2016

Sand is in and water is mixing!

jwhann6 · Aug 31, 2016

Looks good so far!

Kmore1219 · Aug 31, 2016

Water is in and it is time to start cycling! The water is clearing up pretty fast which is making me very happy since I love to just stare at the rock. I am also amazed with how quiet my pump is right from the beginning, I can hardly hear it at all. I think for now my hardest thing is going to be figuring out where to place the powerhead so it is most effective. Down the line I will most likely be investing in another one to place on the opposite side. Went to my LFS today and was somewhat saddened by the small variety of fish and corals they have so I am going to spend my upcoming time searching out a new place to go to.

Kmore1219 · Aug 31, 2016

I am amazed at how fast this tank cleared up. Loving my scape 10x more seeing it completed. I also love how much agitation this pump gives me on the surface.

jwhann6 · Sep 1, 2016

Bummer to hear about the lfs situation, i think its always a good idea to search around sites like R2R because there are usually some great deals on frags and frag packs. Don't be afraid to check out craigslist either, I've come across some great hobbiests who have really hooked me up.

blank · Sep 1, 2016

If you end up getting a protein skimmer, I wouldn't recommend the IM Ghost :/ it's a bit loud and if not loud, doesn't skim very well. Well atleast mine does't... Love the Rockwork btw! I want to change mine up :/

Kmore1219 · Sep 1, 2016

blank said:
If you end up getting a protein skimmer, I wouldn't recommend the IM Ghost :/ it's a bit loud and if not loud, doesn't skim very well. Well atleast mine does't... Love the Rockwork btw! I want to change mine up :/

Im looking to get away with not having a protein skimmer for as long as possible. Hopefully doing some routine WC can keep everything in check. Thanks for letting me know to avoid that skimmer, I've definitely heard some iffy things about it already.

Kmore1219 · Sep 1, 2016

How to deal with cycling your tank in your bedroom... just cover it with a ton of shipping bags! No light is getting in this tank no matter how bright it gets.

Kmore1219 · Sep 2, 2016

How the tank looks from the back, using a temporary random led light fixture I had just to get some good photos. Along with being my build thread Im going to use this thread as my photo journal so I can see the full progression of this tank.

Kmore1219 · Sep 4, 2016

Cycle updates:
3/1 Added shrimp to start cycle
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0
3/2
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates0
3/3
Ammonia 1
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0
3/4
Ammonia 1-2
Nitrites 1
Nitrates 20

Kmore1219 · Sep 5, 2016

Some quick shots of the tank, my friend had a cheap light just sitting around and since I don't have any light at all yet I was more than happy to take it off their hands.

Kmore1219 · Sep 12, 2016

Its been about a week so ill do a quick update on my tank. Had some emergencies to take care of which meant I had to put the tank on hold for a couple of days. Luckily I was still very early in the cycle so I just let the water keep pumping around and restarted the cycle as soon as I could. Seems some of the bacteria survived the few days without ammonia because right away they started eating it up again.Im now about 3 days into cycling again. Ive got a few little things popping up on the rock but with the help of some other members here I learned they are most likely just Forams and I can leave it be.

Kmore1219 · Sep 12, 2016

Love coming home to see new little things on the rocks. Idk about everyone else but I love this part of starting a tank.

Kmore1219 · Sep 14, 2016

Cycle is done and I am itching for some fish, heading to my LFS tomorrow to pick up some RODI water so I can mix up some new saltwater and then maybe a day or two after that I will be adding a fish.