Boco
Community Member
I decided to post my build for some recommendations and to see if what i want to do sounds good to most. this is my first build with a smaller tank, i previously had a red sea max 250 for a few years but had to get rid of it.
after much consideration and looking i decided that the Evo 13.5 was a good tank for me to use for a nano build out. I purchased it and intended to keep everything stock for a bit then slowly upgrade.... well that didnt go as planned..
March 2020
Purchased the Fluval 13.5 and set it up with LFS saltwater for saving time, the Refractometer i had in storage turned out to have been damaged so i went ahead and used the LFS water as is without verifying salinity.. (refractometers were all unavailable online and a different LFS had one coming in a few days later before i was planning to add fish (water ended up being 1.030). I used Turbostart bacteria (2 OZ total) on this tank after setting it up with about a 1 inch sand bed ( about 15lbs of live sand) and 12 pounds of dry rock. with the purchase i also purchased a Koralia nano 425 GPH power-head to add additional flow since everyone said no matter what pump you used the main pump in the FLUVAL would not give you adequate flow. i also purchased the FLUVAL 50W heater that was recommended (however it didnt fit in chamber 3 as it was advertised so its in chamber 1 for now) and i chose not to use a protein skimmer at this time as in all the research i have done none of the smaller ones worked all to well. Added 2 ocellaris clown fish and a CUC (2 turbo snails, 6 small hermits and 2 peppermint shrimp ( my spouse wanted them and got without my knowledge i was thinking of adding 1 but wanted to do some looking before i added it)
April 2020 Purchased a frag pack from WWC and was happy with the selection i received however 1 of them didnt make it ( a GI Joe Favia) they were great and once i provided my specs and pictures they offered an extra one on my next order (planned for July 2020), Upgraded light to a Fluval Marine 3.0 (didnt like the way t looked though i was able to use the stock hood with minor modification, and the light had issues staying on so i returned it) exchanged light for a AI Prime 16 HD and am very happy with it.
May 2020 towards the end of the month i ended up deciding to get a green BTA from my LFS as they had a small one (about 1 inch in diameter) It looked healthy no tears in the foot, mouth was closed tight but the tenticals were short and not inflated but since it was the size i wanted and i haven't been able to find anything similar in-stock for size i decided to buy it even though i had planed to wait another month or two to ensure tank stability but i havent had any parameter swings since the second week of the tank running and its been up for about 3 months by this time so i went for it. when i first put it in the tank it went right were i wanted it to go but shortly after my peppermint shrimp started picking at it here and there and within an hour or so the shrimp decided that the BTA was lunch and started attaching it vigorously since i wanted the BTA more then the shrimp this launched a several hour hunt for them where i was able to capture them and return them to the LFS ( after doing more looking even though most places say they are ok with BTA's they have a tendency to go nuts after having them introduced ) Added a Tiger tail Cucumber ( mostly because i wanted something sifting the sand more as the hermits were not doing much) and added 1 emerald hermit crab due to some algae blooms that my other crabs and snails were not paying attention to cleaning up. once i added it algae issues were no longer present and it looked better then the mini hermits. (added 2 more in July 2020)
June 2020 Noting much here the BTA planted itself by the power-head and stayed here till about the 10th, then moved to my Zoa Colony at the top of my live rocks.
July 2020 Planning for a WWC deliver towards the end of the month, the BTA yesterday moved to the original place in the tank, then today 7/12 it has been moving between he Zoa and the original location with some random travels in between.
Things im considering adding to the tank.. Im thinking about adding In-tank media baskets to chamber 1 and 2 and adding some Cheato to Chamber 1 with a small light and some Copepods. Then chamber 2 i think i will add a few components here for filtering but i haven't really decided yet, so i may do chamber 1 now and chamber 2 in a moth or two.. but i will need to upgrade the heater so it will fit in chamber 3 where its supposed to, and i may upgrade the main pump as i feel i may need some additional flow but im not sure on this.. i want to find some kind of clear lid as i would rather have lid then a net, but i may do a net as right now i have no cover on the tank and i like the look but im concerned the fish may jump out as i have seen others mention that before..
after much consideration and looking i decided that the Evo 13.5 was a good tank for me to use for a nano build out. I purchased it and intended to keep everything stock for a bit then slowly upgrade.... well that didnt go as planned..
March 2020
Purchased the Fluval 13.5 and set it up with LFS saltwater for saving time, the Refractometer i had in storage turned out to have been damaged so i went ahead and used the LFS water as is without verifying salinity.. (refractometers were all unavailable online and a different LFS had one coming in a few days later before i was planning to add fish (water ended up being 1.030). I used Turbostart bacteria (2 OZ total) on this tank after setting it up with about a 1 inch sand bed ( about 15lbs of live sand) and 12 pounds of dry rock. with the purchase i also purchased a Koralia nano 425 GPH power-head to add additional flow since everyone said no matter what pump you used the main pump in the FLUVAL would not give you adequate flow. i also purchased the FLUVAL 50W heater that was recommended (however it didnt fit in chamber 3 as it was advertised so its in chamber 1 for now) and i chose not to use a protein skimmer at this time as in all the research i have done none of the smaller ones worked all to well. Added 2 ocellaris clown fish and a CUC (2 turbo snails, 6 small hermits and 2 peppermint shrimp ( my spouse wanted them and got without my knowledge i was thinking of adding 1 but wanted to do some looking before i added it)
April 2020 Purchased a frag pack from WWC and was happy with the selection i received however 1 of them didnt make it ( a GI Joe Favia) they were great and once i provided my specs and pictures they offered an extra one on my next order (planned for July 2020), Upgraded light to a Fluval Marine 3.0 (didnt like the way t looked though i was able to use the stock hood with minor modification, and the light had issues staying on so i returned it) exchanged light for a AI Prime 16 HD and am very happy with it.
May 2020 towards the end of the month i ended up deciding to get a green BTA from my LFS as they had a small one (about 1 inch in diameter) It looked healthy no tears in the foot, mouth was closed tight but the tenticals were short and not inflated but since it was the size i wanted and i haven't been able to find anything similar in-stock for size i decided to buy it even though i had planed to wait another month or two to ensure tank stability but i havent had any parameter swings since the second week of the tank running and its been up for about 3 months by this time so i went for it. when i first put it in the tank it went right were i wanted it to go but shortly after my peppermint shrimp started picking at it here and there and within an hour or so the shrimp decided that the BTA was lunch and started attaching it vigorously since i wanted the BTA more then the shrimp this launched a several hour hunt for them where i was able to capture them and return them to the LFS ( after doing more looking even though most places say they are ok with BTA's they have a tendency to go nuts after having them introduced ) Added a Tiger tail Cucumber ( mostly because i wanted something sifting the sand more as the hermits were not doing much) and added 1 emerald hermit crab due to some algae blooms that my other crabs and snails were not paying attention to cleaning up. once i added it algae issues were no longer present and it looked better then the mini hermits. (added 2 more in July 2020)
June 2020 Noting much here the BTA planted itself by the power-head and stayed here till about the 10th, then moved to my Zoa Colony at the top of my live rocks.
July 2020 Planning for a WWC deliver towards the end of the month, the BTA yesterday moved to the original place in the tank, then today 7/12 it has been moving between he Zoa and the original location with some random travels in between.
Things im considering adding to the tank.. Im thinking about adding In-tank media baskets to chamber 1 and 2 and adding some Cheato to Chamber 1 with a small light and some Copepods. Then chamber 2 i think i will add a few components here for filtering but i haven't really decided yet, so i may do chamber 1 now and chamber 2 in a moth or two.. but i will need to upgrade the heater so it will fit in chamber 3 where its supposed to, and i may upgrade the main pump as i feel i may need some additional flow but im not sure on this.. i want to find some kind of clear lid as i would rather have lid then a net, but i may do a net as right now i have no cover on the tank and i like the look but im concerned the fish may jump out as i have seen others mention that before..
