Nuvo Fusion 40 build

[fiddlesticks]

Current FTS 11 February 2021

Hi all, and welcome to my build thread!

After a few year hiatus from reef keeping, I got the itch again, and have started setting up a new build. I have had picos and very small nanos in the past, so this will be my biggest box of water yet! Having been out of the hobby for a while, I've been scrambling to get caught up on current methods and best practices, but any advice or suggestions are welcome!

I love the look of the IM Fusion rimless tanks, and 40 gallons will be small enough for me to be able to reach everything without a ladder, but large enough to let me have a few fish. My last 3g pico was fishless, and I loved watching the inverts and coral, but just missed the movement you get from having fish (and I won't miss explaining to people who aren't reefers that yes, there really are living things in there, even though there aren't fish... ).

I plan to do LPS and softies primarily. I've wanted a Euphyllia for a long time, but never had the space before. I've roughed out a stocking list, but am debating between a few different things for an additional fish. Currently torn between a yellow watchman goby and an orchid dottyback.

Livestock:

• Mated pair of ocellaris clowns
• Neon goby

Coral:

• Frogspawn
• Indo torch
• Several rock flower anemones
• Random zoanthids
• "Branching" GSP
• Monti cap (it's been well and truly annoyed for a good long while, but is still alive, if only just)
• Long polyp toadstool leather

Current Equipment:

• IM Nuvo Fusion 40
• AI Hydra 32 HD
• Finnex 150W heater
• Inkbird temp controller
• XP Aqua Duetto ATO (on my second one - the first one had water infiltrate the sensor, and I had to replace it)
• Tunze 9004 Protein Skimmer
• Two Sicce Voyager Nano powerheads
• IceCap Gyre 2k x 2, on opposite sides of the tank
• Kamoer X1 dosing pump (NoPox)
• IM Aqua Shield UV sterilizer (I have this in right now clearing up a minor case of dinos, but I usually have the IM media basket installed instead)
• 5-stage BRS RO/DI sytem
• Reef Saver dry rock x 40lbs
• 4 x MarinePure 2" cubes in the rear chambers
• CaribSea Aragonite special grade

Planned Future Additions:

• IM Midsize Nuvoskim protein skimmer
  • I plan to add a protein skimmer after the cycle winds down, but am not 100% set on a specific model. This one is the current front-runner as it's specifically designed to fit in the rear chambers
• Media reactor
  • In the past I've just used bags of carbon, but like the idea of a small reactor for carbon, and GFO if needed.
• Algae scrubber/refugium?
  • I don't know how much nutrient export I will need for this system yet, but I do like to feed towards the heavy side, so I may have to look into this down the road. I've allowed space behind the aquarium for a HOB refugium if I decide I need one, as opposed to converting one of the rear chambers into a refugium.

Thanks for stopping by!

Original FTS, 02 April 2020


FTS, 11 June 2020

 

[fiddlesticks]

I got the RO/DI unit set up last night, and have been making water. I've elected to go the Inappropriate Reefer way, and leak test with RO/DI water. I put 10 gallons or so in last night before bed, and no leaks so far. I'll be schlepping water upstairs this afternoon to top off the tank, and get the pump going for the official leak test. I'm excited to start playing around with my rock to figure out how I'm going to scape the tank, but there's no real rush at this point. Hopefully no leaks, and tomorrow I can start mixing in salt, and thinking about scaping!

 

[fiddlesticks]

Scape is done! After several hours of moving rocks around (and breaking some of the larger ones into more workable pieces), I'm pretty pleased with how the rockwork turned out. Only ended up using maybe 15-20lbs of sand.

I kicked off the cycle with some Dr. Tim's One and Only, and some ammonium chloride. I overshot my ammonium chloride addition a bit (with rocks and at actual operating volume, the tank seems to be closer to 32-35 gallons of water, so I added less than what I needed for 40 gallons, but ended up a little above the 2ppm I was going for). Not a major concern, but I haven't been able to see the ammonia drop yet, as my test kit caps out at 2ppm. Nitrites have been steadily going up though, so the little beasties are happily munching away on the ammonia.

I'm still trying to figure out the spectrum I want to use for my AI Hydra 32 HD, but I've got lots of time for that still. Here's a picture of the scape as it is right now:

 

[Tahoe61]

Scape turned out fantastic.
Have you hooked up the Duetto yet?

 

[fiddlesticks]

Scape turned out fantastic.
Have you hooked up the Duetto yet?

Thank you! Yep, I've got the Duetto up and running. So far it's been working pretty well. I was surprised that the tiny pump it came with was able to get topoff water all the way over the rim of the tank since the reservoir is sitting in the bottom of my stand, but it works like a champ.

 

[Tahoe61]

Yeah I like mine. When a snail crawls on the sensor it can be unnerving though.

 

[fiddlesticks]

Yeah I like mine. When a snail crawls on the sensor it can be unnerving though.

I bet! I'm hoping the snails stay in the display. The sensor is in the pump chamber, and the top fits pretty tight around the edges, so I'm hoping it would take a MacGyver of a snail to get to it.

 

[Tahoe61]

So is mine. Spouse called at me work and stated the ATO is blinking pink and alarming. Told him to unplug it until I got home. A huge Turbo made to it the back chamber. Finally was able reach snail and return to display, but he has lost my trust.

 

[fiddlesticks]

So is mine. Spouse called at me work and stated the ATO is blinking pink and alarming. Told him to unplug it until I got home. A huge Turbo made to it the back chamber. Finally was able reach snail and return to display, but he has lost my trust.

How in the world did he get back there??? I had a clownfish that liked to jump into the rear chambers of my biocube. Fishing him out with a net was not the most fun I've ever had...

 

[Tahoe61]

How in the world did he get back there??? I had a clownfish that liked to jump into the rear chambers of my biocube. Fishing him out with a net was not the most fun I've ever had...

I had seen him scoping the back chambers out. He would crawl to the rim but never over. He certainly did a fantastic job of cleaning the back chambers and I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to get back there again, the snail knows where the good algae is. I do not always keep lid in place.

 

[fiddlesticks]

I had seen him scoping the back chambers out. He would crawl to the rim but never over. He certainly did a fantastic job of cleaning the back chambers and I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to get back there again, the snail knows where the good algae is. I do not always keep lid in place.

He's probably saving it for a post-social-distancing party.

 

[fiddlesticks]

The cycle continues! Ammonia dropped below 1ppm for the first time since my initial dosing. Nitrite test is reading 1ppm, but that's the max range for the Red Sea test, so it could be higher. Currently chilling until Ammonia and Nitrite both read below 1ppm, and then I'll add my second dose of ammonium chloride.

I added Bio Spira last night to reinforce my microbial minions, and to hopefully increase the biodiversity of the bacterial population in the tank. I turned off the return pump for 15 minutes, and just let the powerheads circulate it around in the display. Hopefully they will find some nice homes in the rock and sand.

Dropped the Tunze 9004 in the left-most rear chamber, though it's currently off. I know people go back and forth on running a skimmer during the cycle, but I'm hoping to get it through the break-in period prior to adding livestock. It'll stay off for 48 hours after the addition of Bio Spira, but after that I will probably let it run.

 

[fiddlesticks]

Nothing terribly exciting going on in the box of water. The cycle is still trucking along. We're currently waiting for the minions to break down all of the nitrites from a 2ppm ammonia addition in 24 hours. They're darned close. They can get all but about 0.2ppm in 24 hours, but their reproduction rates seem pokier than those that process ammonia.

I swapped the two Sicce powerheads for an IceCap Gyre 2k. It cleans up the look of the display a lot, and I love how much more control I have over the type and volume of flow.

 

[Brandon.helvie]

How are things going with the tank currently? I’m running a similar set up as well. I’m about 4 months in. I searched HD32 nuvo 40 par abs you’re thread popped up. Curious how things are looking!

 

[fiddlesticks]

Things are going pretty well! I started a build thread on another site and have been neglecting this one...

We're coming out of the uglies, and have added the first few corals. Found some nice frags of monti cap, cyphastrea, Florida ricordea, and a long polyp toadstool leather. Everyone is open and happy one week into the acclimation cycle of the Hydra. So far for fish we have a pair of ocellaris clowns, and just added a neon goby this week. I'll get some photos uploaded when things are a little less hectic, hopefully tomorrow.

 

[Brandon.helvie]

Things are going pretty well! I started a build thread on another site and have been neglecting this one...

We're coming out of the uglies, and have added the first few corals. Found some nice frags of monti cap, cyphastrea, Florida ricordea, and a long polyp toadstool leather. Everyone is open and happy one week into the acclimation cycle of the Hydra. So far for fish we have a pair of ocellaris clowns, and just added a neon goby this week. I'll get some photos uploaded when things are a little less hectic, hopefully tomorrow.

Absolutely, throw up some photos!

 

[Brandon.helvie]

here’s what I’m working with. Currently have Goni, few zoas, few mushrooms and RF anemone . Two Wyoming’s, royal gramma, YWG and pistol shrimp along with a handful of hermits and two turbos. Looking to start filing up the up the upper half and face if the rock work. Looks like we’re just about the same time frame.

 

[fiddlesticks]

here’s what I’m working with. Currently have Goni, few zoas, few mushrooms and RF anemone . Two Wyoming’s, royal gramma, YWG and pistol shrimp along with a handful of hermits and two turbos. Looking to start filing up the up the upper half and face if the rock work. Looks like we’re just about the same time frame.

Your tank looks great!!!! I've got a mated pair of clowns and a neon goby, plus a random assortment of snails/hermits from reefcleaners. My wife keeps telling me we need "something purple," so maybe a royal gramma in our future?

Brace yourself, potato-quality pics of my tank inbound... I need to get a filter so I don't have to do as much tuning to try to get my images to look less blue in pictures, but it's lower on the priority list than more fish and corals...

FTS 11 June 2020

My favorite picture of the clowns so far

Florida ricordea (complete with attempted photo bomb by one of the clowns)

Cyphastrea

Long polyp toadstool leather

And finally, two of my hermits. I've named them the murderhobos, because each of them liked the shell of a cerith better than the one they had. They decided to eat them, and move in.

Still trying to get a good pic of the neon goby. He's very quick, and has a number of hidey holes he likes to hang out in, so it's hard to photograph him.

 

[Richard Newman]

Hi @fiddlesticks. Nice setup!
I have the same tank. And yes, gobies are rather on the shy side. We have a yellow watchman and is very camera shy.

I just upgrade to the Icecap 2K gyre. Love it so far. Would you mind sharing your settings? For the moment I have the pump set to a max of 50%. Running the random pattern from 8am - 8pm. Have you run into any gotcha's with the 2K?

Feel free to check out my build thread. Looks like my tank has been running a little longer.

Thanks!

 

[Brandon.helvie]

Your tank looks great!!!! I've got a mated pair of clowns and a neon goby, plus a random assortment of snails/hermits from reefcleaners. My wife keeps telling me we need "something purple," so maybe a royal gramma in our future?

Brace yourself, potato-quality pics of my tank inbound... I need to get a filter so I don't have to do as much tuning to try to get my images to look less blue in pictures, but it's lower on the priority list than more fish and corals...

FTS 11 June 2020

My favorite picture of the clowns so far

Florida ricordea (complete with attempted photo bomb by one of the clowns)

Cyphastrea

Long polyp toadstool leather

And finally, two of my hermits. I've named them the murderhobos, because each of them liked the shell of a cerith better than the one they had. They decided to eat them, and move in.

Still trying to get a good pic of the neon goby. He's very quick, and has a number of hidey holes he likes to hang out in, so it's hard to photograph him.

Things looks like they are progressing nicely! Regarding the Gramma, they are beautiful fish. However, i've heard its a coin flip on what you'll end up with. Some are skiddish and spend mos of their times in the rock. While others are insanely territorial and will dominate their areas of the tank. My son was the reason we got the tank and he wanted the gramma so it was the first fish we put in. Well, to put it nicely the gramma is a jerk. He is constantly charging my female clown causing her to start the submissive shake. The male doesn't really care and dodges the gramma. It doesnt happen all day and the gramma doesn't actually bite them from what i can tell. The gramma hasn't gone after my YWG, which is smaller by about 2 inches and is significantly quicker. I wont remove the gramma until it becomes a significant issue, which it has not to this point.

And yes, hermits are murder hobos! (Really like that name). I dropped a few small nassarius in and they immediately killed them and left their shells sitting. There is a large number of larger empty shells sitting around they just werent interested in apparently. I currently have one hermit that is living in a bumblebee snail shell. I kind of regret going the hermit route and not going with solely snails!