First time Reefer-EVO 13.5

[ReefingDad]

Hello Everyone, New Reefer Here!

I started my tank about 12 days ago and so far so good I feel. Here are the things I started with:

Fluval evo 13.5 still completely stock
tap water with added dechlorinator
10 lbs arag-alive sand
10 lbs dry live rock
50 watt fluval M heater
Red sea coral pro salt
instant ocean bio spira start up
red sea test kit

currently have on order
hyger mini wavemaker powerhead w/ led control
nicrew light timer

Todays testing:
Temp: 78.6
PH: 8.0
Nitrite: 0.05
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 10
Salinity: 1.020

My temperature seems to be hanging a little high and I think my heater may be a little off, I have it set to 66 and it continues to be around 78 when the lights are on, the heater also does not fit into the pump chamber like desired so i am searching for a smaller one that will fit into the pump chamber. My salinity is a little low due to getting my first coral today, reading the coral dip RX instructions and using a gallon of water out of my tank to dip with brought it down so i don't think i did that properly.

First coral:
Over the past weekend my order of a few zoas came in from Top Shelf Aquatics and they were exactly what I was looking for, long story short after a day in my tank and my wife asking me a few questions about them they ended up at my LFS today. The wife did some researching and with having a little one in the house the palytoxin stories really freaked her out so they had to go, happy wife happy life right? Anyways today I took them into the LFS and left with a purple tipped frogspawn frag and that is all that is currently in the tank.

Future plans:
Down the road aways I do plan on stocking a pair of clownfish, getting the proper CUC in and adding some LPS and soft corals outside of anymore zoas haha

Questions:
can anyone recommend a smaller heater for the Evo 13.5? Like stated above looking for one to fit in the return pump chamber. Also looking for any recommendations on what to set up in the first chamber before the bio balls and carbon. Last but not least any recommendations on easier LPS corals and good soft corals to compliment my frogspawn would be awesome!

Thanks for taking the time to read and happy reefing everyone!

 

[MaxxuM]

Might want to look at inTank media tray and get that sponge filter thing out of it. Plus, getting an RODI unit is another good option. You can install it under the sink and you can tell your wife it will clean your drinking water (which it will). Just make sure you get one with a tank and spigot. You'll want to ask how people do a split DI filter too. They pay for themselves in a few months. Try to raise your salinity to around 1.025 or 1.026 and buy a refracometer if you haven't already.

And you need to slow down It sound's like you're going full speed ahead. The toxins are extremely rare occurrence. Just don't handle them and touch your eyes or mouth. Wash your hands after handling them. Just about all pets can be a health hazard if you don't understand them. Reptiles and amphibians can carry salmonella and cat's can carry cat-scratch disease. Lion fish and rabbit fish have spines with poison in them too. So don't go poking them with your finger lol

Welcome to R2R! There's tons of wisdom and experience in this forum and a willingness to share.

 

[Taborct1]

Welcome to the forums! I dont know much about the salt but with IO reef crystals I run at about 1.024 salinity. I'm guessing your tank is cycled but if not I would wait to add any thing else. You may also want to take it slow due to the small water volume. Your macro elements are going to be harder to keep in check the smaller the tank is but you should be good with waterchanges for now.

As far as the salinity dropping did you by chance tank saltwater out and top off with fresh? If so that's why. You can top off evaporation with normal water but if you take saltwater out you should add the same amount back in.

For corals there are many hardy begginer corals out there. I went quicker that what I should have as well and my tank is already packed (in my wifes opinion lol). Candy canes (caulastrea) aka trumpet coral is an easy LPS, so are Duncan's (which mine is growing faster than anything else I have), zoas, xenia, star polyps, mushrooms, leathers, favia, lobophyllia, and hammer/frogspawn/torch (Euphyllia).

All of these I have in my tank which is now around 3 months old. Keep the tank topped off and do water changes and don't over feed. With just a frogspawn you probably aren't feeding at all yet. Give you an idea, with my CUC (snails and hermits, 2 clowns, 2 cardinals, a molly and since today 2 yellowtail damsels, I only feed about 8 drops of food. I mix my own food which is just 1 cube of marine feast and 10ml of phyto then topped off with tank water in one of those small travel size bottle things that you get from Walmart.

You'll enjoy the hobby and dont let the experts scare ya. I came into saltwater from freshwater with the mindset I was going to have a bunch of fails but honestly it hasn't been too bad. Just pay attention to your tank and your tests and you'll eventually figure out what its telling you it needs. Best of luck

 

[Easy Reefing]

I use an aqueon 100 watt glass heater and have it connected to a Bayite temperature controller for my fluval evo 13.5 .

 

[GrapevineReefs]

Your May not have the kind of success your looking for in a reef tank with dechlorinated tap water. Tap water has endless variables that coral more often than Not respond poorly to. I run two of these side by side in a current side project I have going on and as a previous poster said... go to the Intank Aquatics website and getting BOTH media baskets... for chambers 1 and 2 of your evo 13.5 the “intank aquatics” media baskets are so good for the Evo’s that they should be considered as essential as a heater, live rock and salt in the water. The media baskets give you endless option for filtration and gives you the ability to use the rear chambers as a refigium for chaeto and maintaining a pod population.

 

[JaaxReef]

I would look at some of the titanium heaters like the Finnex. They are very small and should fit in your tank! Agree with the others: Just take things slow and enjoy the ride. Happy Reefing!

 

[rwreef]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Reef.]

Heater, the Ehiem preset heaters are small but not it can’t alter the temp, colbalt heater may fit too, against n look to change to todo water or buy distilled water from water he shop, much better than tap, rodi water is not recommended for drinking water!

I would slow down as you seem way ahead, you are having heating issues and salinity issues, good to be keen but slow id best.

 

[ReefingDad]

Thanks everyone for the ideas and support! I’ll have to check out some of these heaters so I can hopefully get that moved over into the pump chamber and get an in tank media basket setup in the first chamber.

Happy Reefing!

 

[DeepSeaRob17]

Might want to look at inTank media tray and get that sponge filter thing out of it. Plus, getting an RODI unit is another good option. You can install it under the sink and you can tell your wife it will clean your drinking water (which it will). Just make sure you get one with a tank and spigot. You'll want to ask how people do a split DI filter too. They pay for themselves in a few months. Try to raise your salinity to around 1.025 or 1.026 and buy a refracometer if you haven't already.

And you need to slow down It sound's like you're going full speed ahead. The toxins are extremely rare occurrence. Just don't handle them and touch your eyes or mouth. Wash your hands after handling them. Just about all pets can be a health hazard if you don't understand them. Reptiles and amphibians can carry salmonella and cat's can carry cat-scratch disease. Lion fish and rabbit fish have spines with poison in them too. So don't go poking them with your finger lol

Welcome to R2R! There's tons of wisdom and experience in this forum and a willingness to share.

I agree, slow down some. Focus on your filtration before everything else. You aren’t a fish keeper you are a water keeper. Keeping stable water is crucial. Defiantly get yourself an RODI unit. It’s not hard to maintain and will go a long way. There are places that have good tap water, but one accident with your city’s water and you could be in a bind. I have a fluval 32.5 and the inTank media baskets are worth it in my opinion. Huge improvement from the filter sponge that comes in it. You should let the tank run for a few weeks before adding anything else. Every specimen in your tank will do something different to your water quality. Add something, wait a week and test. See what that specimen is doing to the tank. With smaller tanks, because the water volume is so small, when something goes wrong it goes fast. So adding one more small fish may seem like a good idea until it’s what pushes the limits of the tank. Keep up with your water changes and let the tank settle into its place. Don’t chase numbers, chase stability in your water chemistry. Every tank is different, obviously stay within parameters.
I have noticed that these fluval tanks run really low PH until the diatoms phase starts to decrease then they level out. Adjust your heater a very small amount, wait 24 hours and see where it’s at. Then make another adjustment. All good things come with time in these tanks. You will learn patience as you grow.
welcome and don’t be afraid to ask questions, even the most experience people can learn something new everyday.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Welcome to R2R!! I agree with what everyone has said. Slow down, invest in an RODI unit.

 

[ReefingDad]

I agree, slow down some. Focus on your filtration before everything else. You aren’t a fish keeper you are a water keeper. Keeping stable water is crucial. Defiantly get yourself an RODI unit. It’s not hard to maintain and will go a long way. There are places that have good tap water, but one accident with your city’s water and you could be in a bind. I have a fluval 32.5 and the inTank media baskets are worth it in my opinion. Huge improvement from the filter sponge that comes in it. You should let the tank run for a few weeks before adding anything else. Every specimen in your tank will do something different to your water quality. Add something, wait a week and test. See what that specimen is doing to the tank. With smaller tanks, because the water volume is so small, when something goes wrong it goes fast. So adding one more small fish may seem like a good idea until it’s what pushes the limits of the tank. Keep up with your water changes and let the tank settle into its place. Don’t chase numbers, chase stability in your water chemistry. Every tank is different, obviously stay within parameters.
I have noticed that these fluval tanks run really low PH until the diatoms phase starts to decrease then they level out. Adjust your heater a very small amount, wait 24 hours and see where it’s at. Then make another adjustment. All good things come with time in these tanks. You will learn patience as you grow.
welcome and don’t be afraid to ask questions, even the most experience people can learn something new everyday.

How do you have your in tank baskets setup?

thanks!

 

[Alanna102499]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[DeepSeaRob17]

How do you have your in tank baskets setup?

thanks!

I out filter floss on top, the middle section is empty and I have bio balls in the bottom chamber. I am considering putting a Cheto light strip behind the tank and putting Cheto in the middle section of one side. Otherwise that’s it...

 

[ReefingDad]

I got a new delivery today and added in my light timer and wave maker, light time was simple but have a few questions about the wave maker if someone is willing to oblige. Wondering how you know when it is overpowering the tank? Mine is set to 40% power and a classic wave pace and seems to be rippling the water on top and to be pushing my frogspawn around at the bottom.Also wondering how you guys usually choose a position for yours and how you know what spots would be low flow in a smaller tank like mine? Thanks for any advice in advance!

 

[Easy Reefing]

I got a new delivery today and added in my light timer and wave maker, light time was simple but have a few questions about the wave maker if someone is willing to oblige. Wondering how you know when it is overpowering the tank? Mine is set to 40% power and a classic wave pace and seems to be rippling the water on top and to be pushing my frogspawn around at the bottom.Also wondering how you guys usually choose a position for yours and how you know what spots would be low flow in a smaller tank like mine? Thanks for any advice in advance!

I place my wavemaker right underneath the return nozzles

 

[MaxxuM]

I got a new delivery today and added in my light timer and wave maker, light time was simple but have a few questions about the wave maker if someone is willing to oblige. Wondering how you know when it is overpowering the tank? Mine is set to 40% power and a classic wave pace and seems to be rippling the water on top and to be pushing my frogspawn around at the bottom.Also wondering how you guys usually choose a position for yours and how you know what spots would be low flow in a smaller tank like mine? Thanks for any advice in advance!

It looks like you have the same wave maker that I have (click on my build thread to see where I placed it). I have the EVO 5 gallon and I keep mine set at the lowest level of 40%. I doubt you'll have any problems if you stay between 60%-80% power during the morning and taper off to 50% at night with a long surge setting. Just doing point it directly at something. I'd move it forward a little about 3" so it focuses more on the rock and toward the back. Aim one return toward the middle back of the tank and one at the wavemaker. That will give you some turbulence.

My inTank media basket is floss (changed 3-5 days), Purigen or ChemiPure Blue Nano, and SeaChem Matrix. I think Matrix is why my nitrates and phosphates are effectively under control despite feeding a lot.

 

[ReefingDad]

It looks like you have the same wave maker that I have (click on my build thread to see where I placed it). I have the EVO 5 gallon and I keep mine set at the lowest level of 40%. I doubt you'll have any problems if you stay between 60%-80% power during the morning and taper off to 50% at night with a long surge setting. Just doing point it directly at something. I'd move it forward a little about 3" so it focuses more on the rock and toward the back. Aim one return toward the middle back of the tank and one at the wavemaker. That will give you some turbulence.

My inTank media basket is floss (changed 3-5 days), Purigen or ChemiPure Blue Nano, and SeaChem Matrix. I think Matrix is why my nitrates and phosphates are effectively under control despite feeding a lot.

Yep exact same Wavemaker! So far I’m a big fan, I have it set to 40% power with the classic wave setting going. I will probably up it eventually but just wanted to get used to it first and need to figure out how to program a schedule. I moved my frogspawn up into the rock work and it seems to perfectly be flowing around. I think the biggest thing to accomplish now is getting a media basket into my first chamber, seems like a lot of people have success with those in evo’s. I wish my pictures didn’t show up so crappy, gonna have to figure that out as well!

 

[DeepSeaRob17]

I think the best option is to first decide what you want to keep, if you are thinking of sps in that tank then you will for sure want the higher flow. It took me a long time of moving stuff around to figure out what worked best to keep the flow moving the right way and at what power. But try different things, move it around and decide what works. The water moving at the top is not a bad thing, don’t worry so much about that, it helps break surface tension and expel nitrogen and intake oxygen. Most of the time I realized that I actually needed more than less. I like to aim the power heads at the returns, it breaks it down in the middle and prevents the washing machine effect and keeps the current more random.

 

[MaxxuM]

Yep exact same Wavemaker! So far I’m a big fan, I have it set to 40% power with the classic wave setting going. I will probably up it eventually but just wanted to get used to it first and need to figure out how to program a schedule. I moved my frogspawn up into the rock work and it seems to perfectly be flowing around. I think the biggest thing to accomplish now is getting a media basket into my first chamber, seems like a lot of people have success with those in evo’s. I wish my pictures didn’t show up so crappy, gonna have to figure that out as well!

It all takes time. Enjoy it. Reefing is a gateway drug to photography Next you'll be investing in a digital camera and macro lens.