20 Nuvo Fusion Peaceful Philippine Inspired Reef

[Musing.Dog]

I have plans for beginning a 20 gallon nuvo fusion in my bedroom. I am on a budget but not willing to forego aesthetics too much or cut corners just to save pennies.

I begin with a little nightstand courtesy of my local Goodwill. It has some water damage in the left corner but I figure it will probably be under the tank or an ATO reservoir or something.

For lighting I am considering Marineland Reef LED Strip Light or Current USA Orbit Marine LED Saltwater Reef Lighting System in the 18" to 24" size. What else is out there up to about $150 preferably lower? I'd like to give LEDs a try. I like the look of pendant lights better but I am unable to hang any fixtures.

I plan to include mostly zoanthids but would like the ability to keep some less demanding LPS. I would also like to include limited amounts of attractive macros such as gracilaria.

I am not going to call this a biotope or anything, but I'm going to try to loosely base my stocking plans off what animals may live on a Philippine mixed reef somewhere.

My tentative stocking list:

2x Purple Firefish
1x Randall's Prawn Goby
1x Randall's Pistol Shrimp
A little CUC

The long term plan some years ahead is to expand this tank into a bigger Red Sea setup. But until then, I believe this project will be fun.

 

[Miles_Glasser]

Don't get a pistol shrimp and goby, they'll kick sand all over your rocks and coral, which will harm the coral and sandy rocks are incredibly ugly

 

[Musing.Dog]

@Miles_Glasser

I don't mind some sand on the rocks, or blowing sand off the corals once a day if need be. I find their digging interesting. I haven't seen much of other people complaining about them. I'm going to go with a heavier sand also, no sugar-fine sand.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

I would get the reefbreeder nano wifi or if you can find a use ai prime might give you enough spread.

 

[Rallos]

You could get a kessil or an AI prime with the gooseneck to attach to the side of the tank and that should be pretty good for lighting. I kept a shrimp/goby pair in an IM 10 with really fine sand and I didn't have any problems with corals getting covered. Granted I waited until they had found a burrow location that they liked before placing any corals on the sand and I made sure to keep them away from the opening of the burrow.

 

[Musing.Dog]

@ aznflyfisherman
Thanks, I am looking at the Reef Breeder Nano Light Plus, is this the one you mentioned? It looks like a great fixture. I was hoping for cheaper but I think the budget could be stretched a little for it.

@Rallos
Thank you for the input on the goby and shrimp. I will do the same with coral placement. I read the Kessil doesn't get good spread (and they are very expensive). I like the idea of a sunrise/sunset cycle but either of these lights + a controller will likely cost too much.

 

[Rallos]

@ aznflyfisherman
Thanks, I am looking at the Reef Breeder Nano Light Plus, is this the one you mentioned? It looks like a great fixture. I was hoping for cheaper but I think the budget could be stretched a little for it.

@Rallos
Thank you for the input on the goby and shrimp. I will do the same with coral placement. I read the Kessil doesn't get good spread (and they are very expensive). I like the idea of a sunrise/sunset cycle but either of these lights + a controller will likely cost too much.

If you get an AI prime (would be great I think), you don't need any extra controller. You program it with your smartphone over wifi. Reef lighting is expensive no matter how you slice it but it's one of the most important aspects of your tank. Light source can make or break good coral growth and color.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

Yes thats the one, cost less then the ai prime n has wifi n you dont need to buy anything else to run it.

 

[Musing.Dog]

Excellent, I'm heavily leaning toward the Reef Breeders nano light.
Also, tank and dry rock are on their way; it should be cycling this week.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

Make sure its the one that has wifi n you can control each channel. They have the basic one as well but you cant control the channels. I guess its call the nano-light plus now.

https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/nano-lite/

 

[Miles_Glasser]

@Miles_Glasser



I don't mind some sand on the rocks, or blowing sand off the corals once a day if need be. I find their digging interesting. I haven't seen much of other people complaining about them. I'm going to go with a heavier sand also, no sugar-fine sand.

Oh ok. That'll be fine then @musing.dog

 

[aznflyfisherman]

I am thinking about taking down my 29g n 6g biocube n getting the nuvo 20 as well, let me know how you like it n post pictures please. Thanks.

 

[Musing.Dog]

I actually saw the 20 next to a 25g lagoon today and have changed my mind. I love the dimensions of the lagoon so much more; the extra depth adds so much to the look. The nuvo 20 looks like a 10 gallon tank next to it and its depth will only allow a linear aquascape at best compared to the lagoon.

I will post pictures for sure when I get the 25 lagoon. I have to modify my stand to accommodate it. I think you should see the 20 nuvo in person, if you haven't already, before you settle on it, the display volume/space is a little cramped.

 

[murphreef]

Nice!

Agreed I just picked up the Lagoon tank today myself. Wife called me and it is sitting at home waiting for me. I finally decided to get back into the tank game again. Took about 3 years off but saw the 25g lagoon online and thought it would be fun to mess with some SPS again.

Looking fwd to your build.

I will be posting mine within the next week or 2 :bounce3:

 

[Musing.Dog]

Thanks! I'm a little annoyed because I actually bought the 20 online and it arrived today. I came home to the package knowing I have to send it right back and wait for the refund and all that. I was very ready to start this project but the 25 will be so much better.

Speaking of complications, my stand is 2.5" short also. I have to bolt a new top to my stand to support that extra depth. I'll be staining my new wood top and making that change this week sometime. I'll definitely post pics.

I had a tank a few years ago as well but I graduated from college, moved to another state and back between then and all kinds of other stuff. I'm not that stable but I have quite the itch. I might move again in the next year (not across state lines) but I think this size tank won't be too cumbersome to move eventually.

 

[murphreef]

^ yea i was considering the 20 for a minute but my last tank was a custom 75g cube and before that had a 180 filled with sps.

I missed having a tank just not all the hassles haha. I always liked the thought of an AIO set up. I hated the sump and all the junk it collected on my old tanks so this should be fun, clean and simple.

Sucks about the stand but you will get it figured out! I still need to find something to use as a stand myself. I will look around this week.

I opened my tank box today and realistically it is more of a 15 gallon tank than a 25 gallon but that is fine i am glad it isnt physically 25 gallons worth of display. Ive had my fill of large tanks.

I also received my AI Prime HD light with mounting kit, my Ghost protein skimmer, my live sand, media holders and smart micro ATO unit which I am really impressed with the super small size. I was so use to my ugly JBJ ATO and this is a nice clean super small unit.

Looking fwd to seeing you get your 25

 

[twitchy]

I am also about to set up a lagoon 25 sometime this week or so, but I am still looking for a light. Torn between an AI prime and the reefbreeders nano light. If either of you get your light in I'd love to hear what you think of the spread on this tank.
I picked up an Ikea base cabinet (24x24x30h) as my stand, it came out to 75$ for everything, and I even got a second door to use as a matching top. You could always look into that if you cant get a top bolted on to your current stand.

Good luck

Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Schweet_One]

I recently setup the IM lagoon 25 myself and couldn't be happier with it. I left the top open and have a single A160we Kessil clamped to the back. The kessil gets decent coverage overall but does have some shading in the back areas due to my rockwork. I believe having 2 kessils would be overkill.. I plan on seeing how the coral responds to the current light before deciding if another kessil will be needed as one seems to do the job

 

[Musing.Dog]

I went by world wide Corals today because I noticed they had the lagoon 25. I was intending to buy to avoid more shipping time. I asked about their equipment return policy and got, "What do you have a problem with?", to which I replied "Nothing, I haven't bought anything yet". He replied, "Well, we don't accept returns on equipment. Why do you need to know then? What are you going to try to return?". After that I got a sour taste in my mouth and informed him that I asked because most stores do have a return policy of some kind but I'll happily take my business elsewhere.
Wow. I had no intention of returning a 25 lagoon, had I bought it, as I know exactly what I want now but after that negative, accusatory tone and lack of interest in informing me about something as simple as a return policy, I will probably never buy anything from WWC. Unfortunate, they are 10 minutes from my work.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

Im starting not to like my coralife biocube 29g lol.. my wife gonna kill me if i switch to a nuvo 20 or 25...lol..plus i just got the biocube last summer.