Scaramanga IM 15 Office Edition

[scaramanga]

This has been in the plans for a year. When I started my 75g I was planning on using the leftovers in an old 10g Rimmed. Plans changed and went with this build. Rocks and Sand both went into the 10g with a heater and pump for 8 months while I planned how I was going to move it to my office.

In comes a sale on the IM 15 Nuvo Desktop that I couldn't pass up and so started the journey. Broke down the 10g rimmed with rocks and sand and moved with buckets of water to office.

Equipment

Tank - Innovative Marine Desktop 15g AIO cube
Rock/Sand - Marco Dry and Caribsea Fiji pink araj alive
Water - Rodi(homemade) + Tropic Marin Pro Reef
Filtration - AIO Chamber 1 Media basket [Compartment 1(Floss eventually), Compartment 2(BRS charcoal Eventually, Compartment 3 Marine pure gems), AIO Chamber 2 nano rocks
Flow - Stock mightyjet 326gph, Jebao DMP 10
Lighting - NooPsyche K7 Mini
Skimmer - none
UV - None
Temp control - Eheim 75w Jager 81F preset in return chamber, controlled by Inkbird set to 78.5F +/- 1
Testing - Hanna ULR Phosphate, HR Nitrate, Alk. Milwaukee MA887 digital refractor, Imaginarium PH
ATO -Tunze Osimalator 3 Nano
Other Accessories - Flipper Float Nano, IM Clear Mesh Cover

To order - Eheim Autofeeder(before Wrasse)

Stocking plan (* for sure):

1) 1 x Yasha Goby*
2) 1 x Candy cane pistol*
3) 1 x Peppermint Shrimp*
4) 6 x Trochus Snail*
5) 4 x Nassarius Snail*
6) 1 x Bumblebee Snail*
7) 1 x Tailspot Blenny or Hector/Rainford Goby
8) 1 x Pink Streaked Wrasse*

Setup Date 11/04/24

 

[scaramanga]

Update for 11/12/24
Updated with new Parts as they came in.
IM caddy added marine pure gems to bottom compartment. Removed the Sock that came with it. Added Rubble into chamber 2. Added Noopsyche Mini 7 light. Turned it on for photos, but leaving off till I have stuff in tank. Added IM Clear mesh lid. Built the Stand and moved tank to it.

Note to self, take more water out when moving. It wasn't enough. Was pretty wet for a few hours at work.

 

[JojosReef]

Great build! That will be a fun tank. Best nano fish, too.

 

[scaramanga]

Update for 11/20/24
Tunze Osimalator 3 came in. Yay, no more manually filling. Also, in was the inkbird. Game changers! @reefbysteele Pods and Phyto came in. Time to seed. Put pods in all chambers and the tank. Dosed a small amount of Phyto. No Filter floss at this time. Trying to seed everything before I put it in.

 

[scaramanga]

Great build! That will be a fun tank. Best nano fish, too.

Thanks man! I wrote out a pretty large amount of fish. Did my research on what parts they hang out in and aggressiveness. Then narrowed it down. Still somewhat flexable, but this is what I liked so far. Going to try and attempt a mixed reef on it. More SPS and a couple LPS. Going to break up that top rock down a bit. Maybe do a zoa garden in bottom left.

 

[JojosReef]

The K7 Mini will be plenty for SPS on the top of the rocks. I run 3 minis on my IM Nuvo 40L and one on an IM Nuvo 10g. Easily getting 300-350 PAR on top of the rocks in my 40 running the lights at avg 50% intensity.

 

[scaramanga]

Update 12/2/2024

On 11/23/24 found a Pink Streaked Wrasse at Reef Lounge. Very much a random as I had been trying to find one for a week online to no avail or were absurd prices. Absolutely my Favorite LFS to go to. Also added 2 x trochus snails and 1 mushroom coral frag. Next up the Yasha goby in probably a month or so. Feeding once a day. Feed once every other day from 11/28/24 - 12/2/24 due to holiday.

On 11/25/24 Dosed Nautilus Macro PNS to add some more types of beneficial bacteria. Dosed again 12/2/24

Tank seems to be going through that first ugly stage of bacterial bloom. Started on 11/28/24 still going today 12/2/24. For the bacterial bloom I did add a small bag of carbon, but I know it's just a wait game. Small amount of diatoms on the bottom of rocks on 11/28/24. Changed out the filter floss on 12/1/24. Diatoms have seem to disappear probably antidotal as the floss was still quite clean.

Dosed some Phyto 12/2/24 hoping Pod population is staying strong.


Testing
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 2ppm
ph 7.6

 

[scaramanga]

Update 9/26/25

Been more than 9 months since an update so I figured i'd update with a few pics.

Bacterial bloom actually keep going for about 2 weeks after I took that picture so I picked up a green machine UV. Placed this in the 3rd chamber and it cleared up the tank in less than 2 days. It has been running in there ever since.

Dosed Purple and pink coralline algae from algae barn Mid December 2024

Recently getting a small patch of really hard to pull out algae(by the White zombie and Favia). No idea what it might be, but I may try and take a toothbrush and water change to it.

Live Stock additions/updates Since
Green Mushroom about from Reef Lounge has split

Strats Zoa from @anthonys_aqua early December. Started with around 5-6. Now its growing everywhere

White Zombie Zoa forgot who I got from and JF Yellow Submarine Favia. Added about 3 months ago. White zombie was 3 polyp. Up to 10+ now. The Favia has not grown at all, but hasn't died. No idea what's going on here with it.

Grabbed a few Mangrove pods while I was in the Keys in Feb 2025. Stuck in 2nd Chamber with the Nano Rocks and they have completely taken off.

5 months ago ordered from keysmarinelifedirect.com for my home tank and this tank. Put in 2 x peppermint shrimp, 2 x emerald crabs, a few trochus , a few cerith, and a 10ish hermits + handful of other smaller snails. All doing well.

RF Red Raunchy Mushroom, Neon Orange Mushroom, Manila Spy, and Cooler's Champagne from @bluemon added 2 weeks ago. Already seeing large growth in RF and neon orange. Cooler's color looks great, but not really seeing any polyp extension. Not sure if that matters or if I should try adding coral food like reef roids.

Other Changes:

Salt: Moved away from Tropic Marin to Reef Crystal to match my at home system. Changed in January 2025.

Lighting: Weaves purple and blue at 60 to 50 throughout the day with White around 20 to 10.

Flow: DMP 10 increased flow from 30 to 50. Changed from sine to random. 2 weeks ago

Feeding: Moved to the 1/2 sized frozen Mysis cubes. Feed the 1/2 over 2 days.

Water Changes Done every 3 to 4 weeks as needed. Nutrients have never been an issue.


Future

Still Looking at adding a Yasha Goby at sometime.
Stocking with more Corals. Would like to see how the SPS turns out. Eventually add in some kind of flowly LPS.
Funds to spend on more livestock has been on the lower side, so I have been slowly adding.

Thoughts

Love this office tank. Get to view it all day. People always stop by my office and check it out. Any mistakes I made on the home tank I learned and tried not to replicate on this. To think about where this started out 11 months ago to now is crazy. Glad I documented the day 1.

Advise always appreciated. Thanks for checking out my thread.

I will eventually update my home one when I get time.

 

[moondoggy]

Nice looking tank, I have a IM 15 as well best bang for the buck. That light looks interesting, is that an Alien Express purchase or is it on Amazon as well?

 

[scaramanga]

Nice looking tank, I have a IM 15 as well best bang for the buck. That light looks interesting, is that an Alien Express purchase or is it on Amazon as well?

It's the Noopsyche K7 Mini. Less than $100 and it is a monster. I use 2 of the K7 pro's on my home tank. The par levels they put out and shimmer are amazing. I got the Jebao DMP 10 off Ali Express. Also, well worth it. 1/4 the price of the major manufacturers . I'm actually going to grab a few 40's for my home tank. With limited budget I wanted to spend more of it on the livestock.

https://noopsychereeflight.com/prod...WpqB749JV6UO3e5_1xnEjSph3fPwlmiw5Nt5-2FmN8MVC

 

[moondoggy]

Thanks I wished I purchase those instead of the 3 AI Prime HD, big price difference. Two tanks
Then to balance those light I bought two Nero 3

I have to stop abusing my wallet. I am happy with my IM 15 single AI Prime HD and two Nero 3 but there are cheaper options,

 

[Jimbo327]

Tank is looking good. The coralline is a nice purple and filling in. The corals will fill in with time.

 

[thresher]

That corraline is taking off. Which drug you putting in there?

 

[scaramanga]

That corraline is taking off. Which drug you putting in there?

Used the Pink and Purple bottles from Algaebarn.

https://www.algaebarn.com/shop/aqua...cj3f94hI6eqwa6m59V_wEW8VPG-zYYsMaAn8GEALw_wcB

 

[scaramanga]

*update 10/22/2025

Ran some tests on 9/29/25
Salinity 1.025
Alk 5.7
Nitrate 0
Phos .03


Started dosing 2ml of AFR that day and daily. Slowly have been able to get Alk up to 7.1. Testing confirmed I am consuming .25 dkh daily. Want to get between 8 - 9 DKH. Should be about another week to get into the 8s. Also started feeding reef roids once a week since 9/29/25.

Test on 10/22/25
Salinity 1.025
Alk 7.1
Nitrate 0
Phos .03

Have only done 1 4g water change which was right after testing on 9/29/25. I'm feeding about 1/2 mysis cube every day. Still can't figure out why I can't get my nitrates ups. Is my stock to low? Are my mangroves consuming it? I only have a minor amount of what looks like Bryopsis or turf algae(less that a quarters worth in whole tank).

Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[scaramanga]

*update 11/14/25

Definitely, Bryopsis.

10/29/25
Day of reckoning. Picked up reef flux to get ahead of the now multiple small patches of Bryopsis in the tank. Dosed 1 pill aka 10g worth of treatment. Started feeding a bit heavier to try and get some trace of Nitrates.
Alk 7.3
Nitrate 0
phos .03

11/13/25
Fast forward almost 2 weeks and Bryopsis is damn near gone. Still have 5 more days till water change. No losses of coral, inverts, or fish. Still feeding heavier, but still cant see to get Nitrates to come up. Coralline is going out of control everywhere
Alk 6.1
Nitrates 0
Phos .07

I have two questions that maybe the community can help with.

1) Anyone have some ideas of how I can possibly get my Nitrates up? Is my Stock to low, are my Mangroves consuming all of it? I am going to cut back on feeding heavy since it seems to be just driving up my Phosphates.
- Stock
Pink Streak Wrasse, 2 x Peppermint shrimp, Emerald Crab, Handful of different snails, and hermit crabs

2) My ALK seems to be being consumed at a higher rate than 2ml of AFR a day can sustain Should I just keep bumping this up? Is there a better way? Like I was saying above since increasing to 2ml of AFR my coralline has exploded even more. I use reef crystals for salt which usually tests in the 10 to 11 DKH range. However, due to Nitrates being so low, water changes don't seem to be the best method to increase this.

Bryopsis Before

Bryopsis After

 

[dontavo27]

What’s your magnesium at?
IME I’ve noticed if magnesium is under 1250ppm, both alk and ca won’t reach desired levels.
I learned this from C.R. Brightwells marine chemistry book.

 

[Jimbo327]

I always said to give whoever discover Fluconazole for Bryopsis a Reefing Nobel Prize. That stuff really works.

 

[scaramanga]

What’s your magnesium at?
IME I’ve noticed if magnesium is under 1250ppm, both alk and ca won’t reach desired levels.
I learned this from C.R. Brightwells marine chemistry book.

Haven't really tested Mag. I do water changes about every 3 weeks due to low nitrates and Phos. I did test my WC water and it was sitting at 9.5dkh. When I do a 25-30% change, with DLK at 6.3 before to 7.1 after. I am upping the dosage of AFR by an extra ML and I now am slowly starting to climb back up.

To help With Nitrates @Jimbo327 hooked up some ammonium that I started dosing this yesterday. I will test again probably on Monday. I am planning on adding a Tailspot Blenny on Thursday, which should also help up my bioload a bit. Eventually will probably want to add another fish, which I planned to be a yasha goby, but I really am falling for wrasses. Then again no idea if another wrasse in here would work(still need to do a bit of research. @JojosReef might know that question off the top of his head.

I always said to give whoever discover Fluconazole for Bryopsis a Reefing Nobel Prize. That stuff really works.

I seriously couldn't agree more with this statement.

Noticed today that this tank officially hit that 1 year mark a couple weeks ago! This tank has been so much fun. Everyone that walks past my office always stops in to see.

 

[JojosReef]

*update 11/14/25

Definitely, Bryopsis.

10/29/25
Day of reckoning. Picked up reef flux to get ahead of the now multiple small patches of Bryopsis in the tank. Dosed 1 pill aka 10g worth of treatment. Started feeding a bit heavier to try and get some trace of Nitrates.
Alk 7.3
Nitrate 0
phos .03

11/13/25
Fast forward almost 2 weeks and Bryopsis is damn near gone. Still have 5 more days till water change. No losses of coral, inverts, or fish. Still feeding heavier, but still cant see to get Nitrates to come up. Coralline is going out of control everywhere
Alk 6.1
Nitrates 0
Phos .07

I have two questions that maybe the community can help with.

1) Anyone have some ideas of how I can possibly get my Nitrates up? Is my Stock to low, are my Mangroves consuming all of it? I am going to cut back on feeding heavy since it seems to be just driving up my Phosphates.
- Stock
Pink Streak Wrasse, 2 x Peppermint shrimp, Emerald Crab, Handful of different snails, and hermit crabs

2) My ALK seems to be being consumed at a higher rate than 2ml of AFR a day can sustain Should I just keep bumping this up? Is there a better way? Like I was saying above since increasing to 2ml of AFR my coralline has exploded even more. I use reef crystals for salt which usually tests in the 10 to 11 DKH range. However, due to Nitrates being so low, water changes don't seem to be the best method to increase this.

Bryopsis Before
View attachment 129671

Bryopsis After
View attachment 129670

Bump that AFR up! I'm dosing about 80 mL of AFR per day in my (soon to be defunct) 83gal mixed reef tank. Magnesium is hard to test. Randy Holmes Farley has a whole thread on how inaccurate all of the at-home tests are--probably best to guess based on Calcium and ALK levels after running an ICP test. I just keep bumping the AFR up when I see ALK dropping, and nothing in the tank complains.

RE: wrasses, if your pink streak is small, you could add a larger male pink streak and they may get along nicely. If your pinky is already male, you could try adding a juvenile/female. There is always a chance one tried to kill the other, though. A small acclimation box might be best. Or you could try out a possum wrasse with the pinky--they are similar in demeanor and a bit quirky. Acclimation box also with the possum. I'd steer away from any flashers/fairies--yes, they don't get large, but they need lots of length for their behavior patterns (flashing/zooming).