DragKnee's Nuvo 16

[DragKnee]

This tank is very young, only a few weeks old, and is my first saltwater tank but there has been some wonderful progress, so I figured it was time to make a thread to document the progress.

This is how the tank looked on May 25th, 2013

Basically everything was stock except the addition of the Hydor Koralia Nano Pump. The tank has 20lbs of live sand, and in this picture, 16.5lbs of live rock.

Between then and now, I also started up a 10 gallon salt water using a standard tank. After putting about 16lbs of live rock in the 10 gallon, and liking how it was set, I realized the Nuvo looked very bare with no real caves and no "height" to the rock, so I picked up an extra piece putting a total of about 19lbs of live rock in the Nuvo.

While the stock lighting was decent, I wanted something that was dimmable and controllable, and something that'd allow full support of any coral I wanted without needing to have 3 of the Innovative Marine lights sitting over the tank.

The Maxspect R420r immediately caught my attention, and I just had to have it! Yesterday, I got it in the mail from MarineDepot, and set it up...

Currently, for livestock there is:

-> Black Ocellaris Clownfish
-> (2) Peppermint Shrimp They seemed to have eaten all my Aiptasia!
-> Large hermit crab, and 4 small hermit crabs
-> (2) Turbo snails

Currently there is a zoanthid rock in the front right corner of the tank that is waiting to be moved to a 5 gallon Pico once I get the lighting set up.

Future Plans
- I plan on getting the MiniMax Reactor and run GFO
- I plan on getting inTank Fuge Basket and run Chaeto to try and support copepod growth, as my goal is to successfully house a mandarin in the tank.
- I plan on running mostly LPS corals, though I don't know how much I'd be able to house in the small tank without causing an all-out coral war

That's about it! I may be picking up a Torch Coral today, if so, new pictures to come sooner rather than later

 

[Kentech5]

Still jealous of that light Drag. Be careful with those peppermints, mine liked to harass my hammer coral if I tried to spot feed it at all. I ended up placing it in my pep free PICO.

 

[Cloudburst2000]

Nice tank. I would have likely gotten that light if I had the Nuvo in black but I really wanted a light that was white to match my Nuvo. Have you thought about a Vortech MP10 powerhead? They save a lot of real estate inside the tank since the motor is outside the tank...real estate is at a real premium in nano tanks. They also look really nice on the Nuvo tanks. Are you planning on running a skimmer? If so, what kind?

This tank is way too small to successfully keep a mandarin. They have to eat constantly throughtout the day and will quickly deplete your pod population in such a small tank...and that fuge will be much too small to produce enough pods to keep a mandarin fed. If you do try it, be warned that you will constantly have to be replinishing your pod population which will get expensive quickly. Even if the mandarin accepts frozen, unless you can feed it constantly all day, it will still starve. My brother-in-law has a mandarin that accepts frozen food in a 30g tank with a much larger fuge then you will have, and he still has to replenish his pods about three times a month. He is spending close to $40/month on pods alone for one fish. He is planning on moving the mandarin to a large fully running tank he is buying from a local guy. Otherwise, he would be getting rid of the mandarin because it is way too much hassle and way too expensive in a nano tank. If you truly want a mandarin, I suggest upgrading your tank significantly.

 

[terrypercula]

Very nice! I love my nuvo 16 more and more every day

 

[Josh125]

How is the quality of these tanks now? There are a number of horror stories out there on their quality, just curious if these have been resolved?

 

[terrypercula]

I've had no problems and my LFS loves them and also hasn't had a problem. Couple goofy things about them like no on/off switches on the stock lights. And the pump could be a little more powerful but all in all I love mine.

 

[DragKnee]

I've had no problems and my LFS loves them and also hasn't had a problem. Couple goofy things about them like no on/off switches on the stock lights. And the pump could be a little more powerful but all in all I love mine.

The stock lights I put on timers so that want an issue. I didn't like how they weren't dimmable though which makes me love my Maxspect just that much more.

So far, quality seems top notch

 

[Cloudburst2000]

How is the quality of these tanks now? There are a number of horror stories out there on their quality, just curious if these have been resolved?

I got one of the early tanks when production had just started. They had some sloppy silicone issues on some early tanks. I got mine replaced, no problem. They seem to have worked out all the kinks, and put out a quality product now.

 

[DragKnee]

Here's an update folks...

This is somewhat an order picture. The hammer now has an additional 4-head hammer behind it, and I have a watermelon chalice.

These pictures are two different focus points. One on the base, one on the polyps...

Adult female clown to go with my juvenile clown. I also have a Bangaii cardinal.

The Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoa's have recently been moved out of the tank into my 30g as I will be doing this tank mainly as LPS, and my 30g as Zoa's. Where it's located in the first picture, is now where the toadstool is.

 

[smy168]

I had leaks in mine, but they sent me a replacement from their second generation 16s that have a piece of glass on the inside of the filtration department.

What TPs are you running on the Maxspect? I'm having a difficult time adjusting the "auto" mode. Running a MP10w and a Finnex HOB as a fuge.

here's a pic of it cycling and the fuge (build out)




Your tank look great! Keep us updated!

 

[Whysoserious]

That is a nice looking tank! Love the toadstool. Tyree?

 

[DragKnee]

That is a nice looking tank! Love the toadstool. Tyree?

Yes. A friends toadstool was basically having "babies", and he gave me one. That one just recently placed its foot, and it's doing extremely well.

 

[cnuechter]

I just recently set up a Nuvo 16g and love this tank. The only problem I have come across is that the stock lights (2 8watt skkye) are not enough to keep my corals and RTBA happy and growing. I was wondering if any of you who have upgraded your lights could give me any feedback on what route I should go for my upgrade. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[goalk33p3r]

Sweet nuvo how is the razor led on it looks like you get good lighting all the way across

 

[dread4life]

Nice i just started one myself and my ai nano isn't giving me much coverage...tank is looking good

 

[DragKnee]

Sweet nuvo how is the razor led on it looks like you get good lighting all the way across

The Razor is awesome. However, it is no longer on the Nuvo. The Nuvo is now just a QT tank, while my newest tank (a 30g cube with 20g sump) is the main tank.

I am also in the planning stages to do a 180 gallon reef starting the beginning of next year.