Reefy nano!

[154162]

Hi, I’m new here, coming from the freshwater side of things. 1st post on reef2reef but I’ve been creeping behind the scenes for a while, soaking it all in, research, research, so much more research. But I’m finally here, got my first salt water tank set up and cycling!

Guess what ? It’s a super original tank... no it’s Fluval Evo 13.5, would have rather started with something like a 40 breeder but space and money are tight for that scale, it’s definitely size down but the ease of the Evo is what appealed to me. I know there’s literally 100+ of these threads, but I kinda kicked myself for not starting one when I set up my freshwater tank.
So here it is:
-AI prime
-stock pump
-hydor Koralia 240 powerhead
-cobalt neo therm 50w heater
-inkbird temp controller
-XPaqua duetto ATO
-diy eggcrate basket for chamber 1

Got about 12lb of the CaribSea life rock and 10lbs of their Fiji sand. the plan is to have a clownfish, a watchman goby and maybe down the line a third fish (purple firefish) and some cuc (trochus, nassirius, cerith, and emerald crab, might add a skunk cleaner or red shrimp but keeping it to two fish)
and obviously add some coral down the line, can’t wait to add more colour and movement to this tank!

Let me know what you think.

 

[SPR1968]

That’s looks great and I really like the rockwork

And welcome to R2R as well!

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

WELCOME TO R2R!

Tank looks good! Sounds like a good plan as well.

Have you researched the stock lights? I've seen a bunch of people staying with them, but haven't heard whether or not they grow coral.

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Bender]

Welcome to R2R! The scape looks awesome!

 

[154162]

That’s looks great and I really like the rockwork

And welcome to R2R as well!

Welcome to R2R! The scape looks awesome!

thank you to all, Stoked to be here!

 

[154162]

WELCOME TO R2R!

Tank looks good! Sounds like a good plan as well.

Have you researched the stock lights? I've seen a bunch of people staying with them, but haven't heard whether or not they grow coral.

thank you!!!
yes I looked at few tanks that run with the hood light, and they have had good growth with softies and LPS, I also saw some upgrades that even had luck with SPS.
keeping the hood was a big one for me (kids, dust, evaporation) the design is terrible though hahaha.
The light itself i believe is 14,000 K, so not bad at all, just not much control on it and the colour is just too white...
So I added 2x truelumen actinic LED strips and that has just really enhanced the colours, I added some nicrew ramp up/down timers on all the lights so now I have so much more flexibility!
the only downside I’m noticing right now is that the stock light is adding quite a bit of heat, heatwaves are not helping either right now hahaha, so I haven’t quite figured out How much Temp fluctuation is caused by the light, but I’m about to order an inkbird temp controller and a clip on fan and lift the back hood on hot days

 

[154162]

Tank was “officially” cycled on the 19th and a caramel or mocha? (Not sure) clownfish was added on the 20th of June! It’s been 2 weeks
He/she? (What sex are they if they are alone?) is doing great, eating NLS pellets and frozen spirulina brine shrimp
hoping to go to LFS this weekend and get another addition to the tank...maybe goby, firefish or royal gramma, we’ll see what they have!

the lights have only been on for 2 weeks since the clown was added, so not really seeing any algae yet, maybe a tiny patch of yellow/brown diatoms on the sand, but been holding off until I get algae for the CUC, but might get a cleaner shrimp from the Lfs

need to get a phosphate test too currently using the Red Sea marine care kit.

 

[WIReefer]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[154162]

Alright alright alright....
these guys are still shy, but here is the best pics I could get!
Orchid dottyback


was originally going to go for a goby, firefish or gramma, The Lfs had a wild purple firefish (but it looked in a weird shape) and wild normal firefish... but I prefer the captive bred aspect of things, so that’s why the orchid dottyback appealed to me, plus it’s a little bit different than the usual combo we see in these tanks, made sure to check it wasn’t a purple dottyback haha... as these can be feisty.
and living in the same holding tank was a scarlet skunk cleaner fish, so that was a no brainer as I knew I already wanted a cleaner shrimp, and they we were already buddies! The shrimp is still super shy...



Also got 3 nassirius snails, there are some extra food pellets and brine shrimp around the sand so I figured it would be good addition right about now, especially with the added livestock. They buried in the sand right away although the clownfish went to bite the smallest snail’s little siphon trump so hopefully he’s ok.

Also picked up my first coral, ZOA’s

 

[Lowlandreef]

Welcome to R2R and great tank! I watch al those Fluval Evo 13.5 build threads, because I think they're so cool. Wish they sold them over here in the Netherlands . Will definitely follow this thread

 

[EagleEye121]

Loving the scape and the hood mods! I added a cheap blue LED strip off amazon to mine to enhance the color. It looked great but I ended up getting a kessil a80... not sure how much of an upgrade it will turn out to be but it looks so much better IMO.

Following along to see this fill up!

oh yeah and welcome!!

 

[154162]

Welcome to R2R and great tank! I watch al those Fluval Evo 13.5 build threads, because I think they're so cool. Wish they sold them over here in the Netherlands . Will definitely follow this thread

Thank you!
hope you find one soon!

Loving the scape and the hood mods! I added a cheap blue LED strip off amazon to mine to enhance the color. It looked great but I ended up getting a kessil a80... not sure how much of an upgrade it will turn out to be but it looks so much better IMO.

Following along to see this fill up!

oh yeah and welcome!!

Thanks! Yeah I think I would have gone with the kessil too If I didn’t have to keep the lid on! The colora

 

[EagleEye121]

I was planning on sticking with the stock lights just to see growth results. I’ve heard many success stories even with the easier SPS. The color in your tank is great with the extra strips

 

[154162]

Yah same here, just want to keep it simple as it’s my first saltwater, but yeah the truelumen led strips (made by current USA) pack a punch! I now have more control over different light stages during the day! Just got to deal with the extra heat for the stock light and the hood being on all the time

 

[EagleEye121]

Those stock lights put off some heat! I was surprised how hot they were to the touch. Aim a cheap box fan at the tank or something.. that should help

 

[154162]

Yeah I’m thinking about an inkbird temp controller, they have a heat and cooling outlet, and take off the back hood on hot days and put a fan on the rim

 

[EagleEye121]

Solid plan.

 

[154162]

Got some goodies in the mail!
Set up the inkbird as a fail safe for the heater and to kick in the fan, gonna need to find a smaller fan though, but it works so well to to keep tank temp stable, especially with the lights under the hood.
Also time to check phosphate levels.
Going to try out VCA random flow generator nozzle for one of the nozzle, the one pointing down towards the middle of the front glass.
Also got some flakes, the orchid dotty likes the brine shrimp, but not to keen on the NLS pellets that the clown, cleaner shrimp and snails love!

 

[154162]

Phosphates are reading 0, is this normal for a new tank? Started feeding the clownfish since 20th June, and shrimp and dottyback since 4th July. Does it take time for phosphates to kick in? I’m definatly not over feeding