MCGirl900 Nuvo 16 Build

[Texan78]

This is going to be a build from start to finish of my daughters Nuvo 16. I currently have 3 reef tanks already, 100G, and two 55G, all 3 in walls. She has been hounding me about wanting her own tank though so she could keep her own coral and learn the hobby. Now while Nano's are less forgiving she will have me to help her maintain it but, it is going to be mostly up to her to maintain this tank. She wants to be a MB ever since she was 7 and she is 10 1/2 now and I mean really serious about being an MB. She has her plan all laid out and it's really impressive for a kid her age. She has just about every coral memorized and knows everything about them and 9 out of 10 times shes right not to mention her extensive knowledge of marine life in general. I go to her before I go to Google most of the time...LoL So to reward her and teach her and keep her motivated we are setting up this tank as she is familiar with most of it since she helps me on the other 3 tanks.

Now this tank wasn't going to be anything big and my wife said don't spend a lot on it and I hadn't planned on it but, I kinda can't help it and if we are going to do you can't do it without doing it big. So I will be helping her build out the equipment and she will be handling the the details on the marine life through this thread.

First learning experience number one. She had to have that crap live sand from Petco. I warned her and begged her not to go that route she would be sorry but, I couldn't talk her out of it and after all it is a learning experience. So after three days of it mucking up the water and the MP10 blowing it around like a dust storm and never settling she came to me and said I hate this junk. I am draining the tank. So that is where the tank is now with the pictures above. I just have tap water in there right now with nothing but filter floss to try to catch the rest of what might be lingering. That is only temporary. I have a RO/DI unit feeding 2 55G drums for premix for my other tanks we will fill it from once we get all the junk out and get ready to set it up.

Here is what it has now and/or has been ordered.

Lighting: BeamsWork Quad Reef Bright LED Light, 3 watt LEDs, 24x 10,000K LED, 8x Actinic 460nm LED. Since this light isn't very efficient sitting how it is resting on the tank and we both don't like or want to hang it we're have a AI Nano on the way.

Media baskets: InTank media baskets and fuge with InTank fuge light

Vortech MP10 replaced 2 Hydor Nano 240s

Hydor 100W heater in sump.

Cobalt 1200 return pump

Substrate Tropic Eden Reef Flakes mixed with Aragasnow

20# of live rock

I think that is about it at the moment. Not planning on a skimmer as will be doing weekly water changes so don't think it is needed at the moment.

Will update as things progress.

 

[Maxxumless]

LoL... That sounds eerily familiar, except it was veterinary medicine and hamsters. Hope it goes better for you than it did me

I loved fish so much I had my first saltwater tank when I was 12. I still remember sitting on the floor looking at my three tanks with a thick copy of Axelrod's fish book that I acquired from UT biology department (single mother working on her masters - I spent a lot of time at the campus library roaming the aisles). I went MB in college, ended up getting a job in IT, and am now going back to school for psychology. Be prepared - life happens.

I have a Nuvo 8g on my desk and love them. Just watch out - the glass scratches really easily. I ended up getting a lint free cloth from Petsmart, cut a square out, and put it between the glass and the scraper.

Hope it goes well for you and your daughter - she's already starting off with equipment that would have given me a heart attack at her age. A little advice, from someone that has worked with kids a while, if you don't mind. Don't overdo it.

 

[Texan78]

Ha Ha! Sounds a lot like me. I am a MES major and spent 7 years in the Coast Guard. When I got out this little bundle of joy came along. Went to the fire academy to become a fire fighter and EMT which is what I do currently. Went to school at night to get my computer science degree while I still could. So do IT consulting on my days off as well. So I know how it goes. She originally wanted to study veterinary medicine thinking that had to do with marine life. When I explained to her she had to be a MB to do that, that is when she said yeah, that's what I want to do.

Thanks for the heads up on the glass. I was worried about that. I use micro-fiber clothes on all our tank glass but I was mostly worried about the sand scratching it.

The good thing is she is already really familiar with a lot of the equipment since she helps me on our other tanks. I had no intention of going very big but I at least wanted to give her some things that would help her be successful since the smaller tanks aren't as forgiving. I mainly want her to focus on the chemistry and water parameters and maintaining the balance and recognizing problems, what caused it and how to solve it and prevent it from happening. To get her started we will pull from my main display storage containers but after that she is on her own and she will have to make up her own RO/DI, mix her own salt and get the salinity right, test her water, do her own water changes, and so on.

 

[terrypercula]

Looking good. Looking forward to the build.

 

[Texan78]

Just a 16G bowl with water at the moment. Looks like there is sand but that is bare bottom. What you see is the protective film over the pedestal....LoL

 

[MCGirl900]

Hello people :wave: i was hoping to have some pics today for you all but my reef flakes are not going to be here till Monday. I was suppose to get it today but it was pushed back. I did get my new cobalt return pump and my fuge light. I have to force the pump into the sump with the suction cup bracket. Is this normal? I also don't think it is as quiet as the one that came with it but maybe that is cause of the brackets not sitting flat. It does have better flow and i like that :celeb2:

 

[MCGirl900]

Hello people i got my return pump mounted better and now it is quiet. Instead of putting the mounting bracket on the bottom i put the bracket on the side of the pump. It now fits back there much better and is attached to the back of the sump and is almost quiet now yay! I got my timer and hanging kit for my lights and my daddy is trying to figure out how to hang them. We don't want to do it from the ceiling. My reef flakes are suppose to be here tomorrow too. I should have pics soon.

 

[stevenson22]

looks nice... on your way to a nice setup

 

[MCGirl900]

Thanks! I get my reef flakes today and we are going to hang my lights and get some live rock to start curing so I will have pics later.

 

[Texan78]

It probably won't be until tomorrow until we get to fill it. I got some 1/2" conduit and bent it and I am going to strap it to the wall behind her stand to suspend her lights. In the process of painting it right now but with it being as cold as it is that might take awhile for it to dry. The stand I got her is cheap and got wet and started to warp which I knew would happen. So I got her some black acrylic cut to size for the top of her stand for the pedestal to sit on. It looks pretty sharp with the pedestal sitting on the black acrylic. Also did water changes on my 3 other big tanks so there is not any RO/DI made up to mix up some saltwater to fill her tank. My RO/DI system is making water now so should be ready to make up some saltwater in the morning. So if all goes well we will be filling it tomorrow. We got her some LR which I put in my rock sump to hold it until tomorrow but, not before I her scrub it down good. Only got about 3-4 pieces as it was $6 a pound. I told her we can slowly add to it as it will be awhile before she gets coral aways.

 

[Texan78]

So posting some pics for her. I got her mounting bracket built and finished so I can hang her light. It came out really well. It is just 1/2" conduit that I bent. Drilled a 3/4" hole in each one and got the Dremel out to clean up the hole. Used an eye bolt with washer and cut the excess bolt off with the Dremel. Painted it with a glossy black and put some chair cap ends on the ends to give it a finished look. I am happy how it came out. Looks like it was bought in a store.

I am going to strap this to the wall behind her stand then suspend the lights from them. That is what is on the agenda today and hopefully I can get it done so I can watch some football this evening! LoL Might have it filled today too hopefully.

 

[terrypercula]

Coming along!

 

[Texan78]

Well it is up and filled. Now for that long patient wait for everything to settle and the water to clear. The part that sucks the most.

 

[terrypercula]

Very nice! That bracket looks pretty snazzy

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

everything is looking great. can't wait to see it stocked.

 

[Texan78]

Very nice! That bracket looks pretty snazzy

Thanks I am pleased with how it came out for $5 DIY job...LoL

Need to clean up a couple things on it like the cords and wire it is hung from but that is all simple things.

Here is a better pic from the top.

Yes, I can't wait to see what she does with it and how she stocks it. If all is good this weekend may pull some Blue Damsels from one of our other tanks and put in there and get a cycle going. Corals are going to be some time off. I told her we would add some more rock over time and build it up as this is all a learning experience for her but she has done good so far. She rinsed the sand and put it in there and made up her own water and put it in and scaped it. I told her to lock her salinity at 1.025 and figure out how to do that. She has a refractometer and she got her salinity dialed in perfect at 1.025 right off the bat. So she's off to a good start.

 

[Texan78]

Well she added her first two fish today some yellow tail blue damsels to get her cycle started. All her parameters looked good and I was able to get it clear in 24 hrs. So things have started. Hopefully things continue to progress without issues and we can get some more LR added soon.

 

[Texan78]

Lets try this....

 

[Texan78]

Also we had to kill the Nano 240s. They provided a lot of flow and the damsels couldn't swim to the other side of the tank...LoL

So looks like I may be geting a MP10 after all so we can adjust the flow rate. I hear the pulse wave works good on the nanos.

 

[ExpensiveHobby]

Also we had to kill the Nano 240s. They provided a lot of flow and the damsels couldn't swim to the other side of the tank...LoL

So looks like I may be geting a MP10 after all so we can adjust the flow rate. I hear the pulse wave works good on the nanos.

You will not be disappointed with the MP10 on this tank. Ive had mine for a few months now and it is totally worth the price paid. I usually use it on wave mode but most people do reef crest. Also once a day I put in regular mode which is basically like a normal powerhead and I crank it up to max for about 20 seconds just to blow off any detrius, hit any dead or low flow spots. Get it all stirred up so it can be skimmed.