Jim's Nuvo Mini 38

That is really nice porous rock - nice job with the layout too - tank looks great.

 

I've been lacking a bit at keeping up with your updates.

I love the tank, Jim. Your aquascape looks great.

 

Its looking great! Im loving that scape.

 

Surprise from dosing solution

Thanks for the replies. Cudos are always great.

Got my Tropic Marin BIO ACTIF salt and Bio-Calcium today. I opted for the Bio-Calcium because it was recommended for use with the BIO ACTIF salt. The surprise was under the Use and dosage section they advertise "Each level measuring spoon will raise the calcium level of 10 US gal. / 36 by approximately 28 ppm and the alkalinity by 4 KH" So I won't have to dose for alkalinity separately. This means that I can use the other half of my Reef Angel Dosing pump for ATO .

Looks like I won't get my RO/DI unit until next Tuesday - Oh well, I have some yard work to catch up on.

 

Drat!

Contacted Tropic Marin about their Bio-Calcium to see what strength it should be diluted for setting up a dosing pump and it can't be diluted with RO/DI. It needs to be broadcast directly into the tank. This may or may not be a problem depending on the frequency I have to do it.

I won't know the impact until I see how much water I loose to evaporation in a day, and how stable the calc/alk on their salt is.

In the meantime, I've been working on getting my Reef Angel configured the way I want for my system. There are a lot of built in functions which I won't be using, and some which don't work as I thought they would. The moonlights are a good example. The only control is the intensity for the day, which means they are on all the time, but to different intensity depending on the phase of the moon. No moon rise and set. The Wifi attachment is well worth the money because of the capability that you get. There is a free program which you can install on your PC which allows you to monitor and chart the state of your aquarium. It also allows you to turn on and off functions, and will send you an alert email for the conditions you define. Below is a screen shot of what it reports and charts - keep in mind that it is not hooked into my tank yet, so the temp and Ph are not representative of a running system:

 

controller programming done

Spent a great deal of time programming my Reef Angel controller to do what I want. The group over at Reef Angel are great at responding in a timely manner, and I have everything in place except the ATO switches - which I cannot place until I have water in the tank.

RO/DI should be here tomorrow, and I can start making water. Today will be dedicated to placing the hardware in the stand and hooking it up.

 

I guess these tanks are pretty new on the market. Looking forward to hearing/seeing how yours comes out. I've got my eye on the micro 30, myself. Those lights are way expensive, though. I'm thinking a couple BoostLed Par30s might work well and look nice, too. What do you think.

One thing I'm interested in - they call out a "dedicated refugium column" in their sales docs. I can't for the life of me figure out how that is supposed to work.

Look forward to chatting more with you in the future.

Cort

 

Cort,

I suspect they are referring to the small chamber where I have placed my Protein Skimmer. See this photo:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=44670&stc=1&d=1318814901

As for using the BoostLed Par30, there are a number of variables to consider. First what do you plan on keeping in your tank? Next would be how you plan on mounting them to the tank? How good are you at DYI? One of the reasons I chose the "complete package", was to avoid the hassle and mistakes that can be made. Another reason was the PAR values for the light. I can keep any coral I want in this tank, just pay attention to placement with regards to the PAR values in their chart:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=44603&stc=1&d=1318546097

_____
Jim

 

RO/DI making water

Finally got my RO/DI up and making water. I've had a number of these over the years, from different manufacturers, and I have yet to receive one that didn't have a leak somewhere - and this one is no different.

It's taking an hour and forty-five minutes for four gallons. My water pressure through the filters is only 40 PSI. So I can squeak out about 54 gallons a day which is more than adequate for my use.

I'll be adding the water today. Still working with the Reef Angel controller - There is a new extension cable for the Ph which is being evaluated. I need it to place the controller somewhere other than mounted to the side of the tank. Looks like the cable may be as much as two weeks away though. Good thing I'm not in a hurry.

 

There be water in that tank - pics

Water made and in the tank. Only took 27 gallons which means there was 11 gallons displaced by the rock, sand and equipment. Looks like the double and triple rinse of the rock and sand was worth while. It's only been pumping for a little over three hours, and she's clearing up.

I took the nanoskimmer out. It is a little too fragile for me. Will look into another one later. The light fan makes more noise than the rest of the equipment, can hardly hear the return pump. That may be because I have an extra gallon of water in the tank. Waiting for everything to settle, then I'll take out the excess water. I also don't have the filter sponges in place yet. Again when it settles out and the water is clear, I'll add them along with the Spin Stream Nozzles (don't want to clog them while blending the water).

The temp should be up and stable by tomorrow morning, and I can start the bacteria cycle. Although I must say that the water made with Tropic Marin BIO ACTIF salt is the first I've ever used that had an ocean aroma to it. I'll start the additions of SeaChem Laboratories Marine Stability tomorrow AM if the temp has stabilized.

Below are a couple of photos with the water in a little over two hours: