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Emerald's Nuvo 16 Zoa Paradise! I'm Baaaack!!!


Emerald525

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I'm back after almost being gone 2 years! Last tanks were taken down October 2013 and sold or donated to Hatfield and Tanks for Teachers.

 

I bought onefang's Nuvo20 got a little twitchy and sold it to Ladysaber and then Garrett had to post another Nuvo for sale and I was hooked again!

 

 

 

Here is the tank all cleaned up. A little vinegar really does the job! :)

If you look in the upper left corner there is a small crack! Garrett accidentally chipped it when he was taking it out for me! :( But he gave it to me for 50 dollars! I think the tank is the cheapest part of this entire build. (laugh)

 

Wegotjs was kind enough to silicone it for me! Thanks Jon!

 

I went with the Ikea Kallax stand. Thanks for the tip Onefang!

 

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Mr. Bret and Softy hooked me up with some primo live rock! I wish they had had more smaller pieces I would have taken more! Really nice stuff!

 

The tank is in my bedroom and I didn't have a spot not by a window so I put up black curtains which really do a good job of blocking out the sun.

 

Right now I have a Tunze 6025 nanostream that I got used off of nano-reef. They are actually great little powerheads. I don't think they get the love they deserve!:)

 

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I bought Valcon's Maxspect Razor nano 60w 16000K with 120 degree optics. I like the sleek design of these lights! Thanks again Brad! 

I met his wife at her work in the parking lot! You have a very understanding wife Brad but I guess I would be too if someone just handed me a wad of cash!  :laugh: 

 

The tunze really blows the sand around! I'm not used to nano tanks LOL. I'm not going to worry about fine tuning it though because I'm waiting for my RW-4 I ordered today.

 

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One of my least favorite things about starting a new tank is the cycling process so I did everything I can to speed up the process. I added Dr. Tim's nitrifying bacteria.

Softy gave me some of his secret substrate aka live sand from his awesome tank he hasn't posted pictures of yet! Thanks Adam.

 

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I bought 20 pounds of Live sand from Jeff at Cuttlefish and Corals. He was out of regular sand so he gave me a good deal on the live sand! I also bought the IM nano ghost skimmer! Was great seeing your place Jeff but kinda torture seeing all those cool fish and corals and not being able to get any! :)

 

 

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Bret also gave me some of his water from his tank to get started but I didn't have enough so I ran around today to get a heater and powerstrip and powerhead to mix salt. I'm using a Brute trash can in my closet. The only thing that is big about this build is my RO system. It's a bit overkill for a nano lol but I kept it from when we had 300 plus gallons running through here! 

 

 

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Here is the final product. I'm going to put doors on the stand to make it look cleaner and organize all the plugs and wires. I have the IM custom caddies on order and after looking on nanoreef will probably run purigen and chemipure elite. I am going to try to keep this as low tech as possible and just try to manage with water changes.  My plan is zoas and some ricordias and yumas. I will be hitting people up in a few weeks. 

 

I'm going to go slow. That's one thing I learned from my first experience and will probably get some black ice or snowflake clownfish. Jeff always has some nice ones and I hear OIAB gets some good ones in too!

 

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So what made you take your first hit again? Rehab didn't tank I mean take very well. How long till your back at 300G's or more?

 

 

I have a 29 jbj I think somewhere in the garage, even have the stock lighting fixture (LEDs & small halide) plus a stand. I will need to buy a new skimmer for it though. It does have an area in the back for a skimmer. I will save this for when I need to spend more money I guess.

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sweet!!  you got the tank all setup!  now it's time for the long wait for cycling.  You should make some time within the next couple of weeks to come back by and look through some of our rock.  We can pull out some of the larger, boring chunks and make some scape for ya.

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So excellent to see you back, I enjoy your old zoa threads you had great stuff.  Enjoy the build thread documentation I learn so much from others experience.  My goodness that is a heck of an RO system!

 

Yes I think it will look amazing. I'm always on the look out for something different and unusual. :applause:  My focus will be on the corals and keeping it simple. That RO system is awesome. I got a smoking deal on it! I thought about selling it but I knew I would not be able to get another one at the price and I knew I would be back! :)

 

So what made you take your first hit again? Rehab didn't tank I mean take very well. How long till your back at 300G's or more?

 

 

I have a 29 jbj I think somewhere in the garage, even have the stock lighting fixture (LEDs & small halide) plus a stand. I will need to buy a new skimmer for it though. It does have an area in the back for a skimmer. I will save this for when I need to spend more money I guess.

 

Yes I did! I am planning on staying with the nano tanks! I feel like I am learning so much new stuff because they are definitely some differences in dealing with smaller volumes! I love the JBJs. They are great little tanks. You should get it set up or sell it to me! :)

Edited by Emerald525
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The AIO appeal is so nice cause it just becomes filling it back up with water and letting it grow.. Nuvos make it so simple to stay stable.. 

But if you need some zoas for this new collection you are starting, Ive got a lot of variety for you along with a lot of other nice looking softies

I can hardly see the crack, good looking tank

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sweet!!  you got the tank all setup!  now it's time for the long wait for cycling.  You should make some time within the next couple of weeks to come back by and look through some of our rock.  We can pull out some of the larger, boring chunks and make some scape for ya.

 

Thanks Adam! I will totally take you up on that offer!  I need more live rock in the display and it also gives me a good reason to drool over your zoa collection!  I don't think the cycling will actually be that long but I will take my time! :)

 

 

Nice to see you back Kim! I've got the Fusion 20 in my office and dig the smaller scale of a nano. These little IM AIO's are the way to go!

 

Thanks Bill it is nice to be back! I missed having a tank. Didn't know how much but I have seriously just been staring at the live rock and enjoying that. LOL! Of course Adam and Bret gave me some beautiful primo pieces.

 

I agree Bill. Don't get me wrong love the huge tanks but as far as for sustainability and simplicity it makes sense that more people are doing nanos. Easier to transport and set up and more room and cheaper. Jeff's plan at his shop to start people up with a small nano and even set up for only 400 dollars is a great business plan.

 

IM really did a good job with their design and "curb appeal"

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The AIO appeal is so nice cause it just becomes filling it back up with water and letting it grow.. Nuvos make it so simple to stay stable.. 

 

But if you need some zoas for this new collection you are starting, Ive got a lot of variety for you along with a lot of other nice looking softies

 

I can hardly see the crack, good looking tank

 

 

I'm not as OCD as some other people so the crack doesn't really bother me. I really love the look of the Nuvos. I will definitely be looking for a few other softies like frogspawn and probably some lps with flow like a hammer coral. The nice thing with the small volumes is a 5 gallon water change will make a huge difference.

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I'm not as OCD as some other people so the crack doesn't really bother me. I really love the look of the Nuvos. I will definitely be looking for a few other softies like frogspawn and probably some lps with flow like a hammer coral. The nice thing with the small volumes is a 5 gallon water change will make a huge difference.

I recommend some kaleidoscope cloves, they give some movement and color. They also won't overrun like a tiny blue clove and can be torn off, actually are more fragile than a zoa.. 

 

Ive got an 'extra' frogspawn chunk in the tank maybe 5-6 heads range, but I kinda like it, make me an offer though and we can see

Edited by Sasquatch
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I recommend some kaleidoscope cloves, they give some movement and color. They also won't overrun like a tiny blue clove and can be torn off, actually are more fragile than a zoa.. 

 

Ive got an 'extra' frogspawn chunk in the tank maybe 5-6 heads range, but I kinda like it, make me an offer though and we can see

 

Yes those are better than the clove polyps. Roy used to have some nice ones. The sympodium I used to have also was nice but I think that would overgrow pretty quickly. I don't need any right now! It's tempting but I really don't plan on adding any corals until another 2 to 4 weeks depending how long it takes for the cycling process. :) Do you have a picture of it?

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Looking good. Starting over is a lot of fun! I'm really looking forward to see how this progresses[emoji106]

I like that ikea stand, nice that it's see through.

 

The nanos are pretty easy to run...I personally have not been able to really dial in a small tank like a large tank, but I know it can be done...especially sticking to the Zoa-ish corals

Edited by Mandinga
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Looking good. Starting over is a lot of fun! I'm really looking forward to see how this progresses[emoji106]

I like that ikea stand, nice that it's see through.

 

The nanos are pretty easy to run...I personally have not been able to really dial in a small tank like a large tank, but I know it can be done...especially sticking to the Zoa-ish corals

 

 

I have seen some of the tanks on nanoreef and some people can grow some pretty amazing stuff. I always found Shaun Monahan's solana amazing. I just don't like the sticks enough to make it worth the effort of dosing calcium and alk and watching the phosphates and nitrates so closely. My plan is to only stock with a maybe 3 fish at the most probably just 2 clownfish to keep down on the bioload and then do once a month to bi monthly water changes.

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