First time Reefer-EVO 13.5

[Bob Wiley]

Welcome!
I have this tank as well and will be following your progress. Mine is still mostly stock equipment so I like to see how everyone else has upgraded it.

I don't have any plans for corals at the moment, but I will say to keep in mind your stock light will not be good for all corals. @Easy Reefing can speak better to this than me, but I just think you're at a spot right now where either your light is going to limit the kinds of corals you can put in there
-OR-
you are going to be looking at upgrading your light soon in order to keep the corals you want. (At which point you are also talking about removing the hood, possibly creating your own wire top like his and going with an auto-top-off unit to counteract all the evaporation a lidless tank commits to the air.)

Coincidentally I was just watching this BRS vid tonight about good beginner corals that might pique your interest—




In fact, it might be worth an evening to just sit down and go through that whole playlist. Each episode is only 5 minutes long, but a lot of the info they cover will answer a lot of the questions I've seen being asked in here.





Big Al's also did a mini-series on upgrading this tank a few years back—








I'll let everyone else in here chime in as to if those upgrades are worth it or not. Again, those are a few years old at this point and Big Al's channel is now dormant. The upgrades people have mentioned already in here are probably better anyway, but just wanted to give some more ideas/options.

 

[Easy Reefing]

I’ll just share what I have done with mine so far I have chamber 1 and chamber 2 intank media baskets for mine . Chamber 1 has filter floss , activated carbon and marinepure biocubes . Chamber 2 has chemipure blue and more marine pure biocubes. Chamber 3 has a sicce syncra 1.0 pump and a aqueon 100 watt glass heater which is connected to a Bayite temperature controller. I also have a mini desk fan plugged in to the Bayite temperature controller to keep a more stable temperature. I also have a smart micro ATO to help fill the tank and keep salinity stable . I also installed two 1/4in VCA random flow generator for the return nozzle. For more flow , I have the jebao sw2 wavemaker . I upgraded my light because I really wanted a clam and sps to a ai prime 16HD . I made my own mesh lid from a screen frame kit from Home Depot . I heard the stock light isn’t too bad for softies and low light corals but I love the controllability of the AI prime and it just opens up the door to a different variety of corals you can get hope this helped you .

 

[Easy Reefing]

Im going to test par on the stock light and let you know the results later this week

 

[ReefingDad]

Thanks everyone for the input! Appreciate all and any comments that get me headed in the right direction. I’m not sure what corals I’ll be going with next but I know it will be softie or LPS, nothing sps for me until a better light abs a more established tank. Thinking I will add a pair of clowns before anymore corals. I would eventually like to take the stock cover/light off and get a better light but with a curious 2 year I am feeling that situation out first a bit before making any changes lol @easyreefing I really like the look of your tank and the upgrades you’ve made!

 

[firmefatboy799]

small tanks ive found using the return pump nozzle as a surface agitator keeps the transfer of air elements going strong, as stated try a cobalt as they are slim and smaller, time is your friend and enemy, starting from scratch you're gonna need some time to let that tank mature to be able keep corals alive, start with a fish or 2 and a cuc and let it do its thing

 

[NashobaTek]

Welcome to the team

 

[Easy Reefing]

Thanks everyone for the input! Appreciate all and any comments that get me headed in the right direction. I’m not sure what corals I’ll be going with next but I know it will be softie or LPS, nothing sps for me until a better light abs a more established tank. Thinking I will add a pair of clowns before anymore corals. I would eventually like to take the stock cover/light off and get a better light but with a curious 2 year I am feeling that situation out first a bit before making any changes lol @easyreefing I really like the look of your tank and the upgrades you’ve made!

Thank you Goodluck with your fluval and keep us updated

 

[ReefingDad]

Little update, got my first CUC members today! 2 blue legged hermits and 2 Trochus snails. Picked them up after I got home today from work and saw what I believe are diatoms on my rock? Based on other threads I’ve read that seems to be what it looks, I have also seen mixed comments on whether that means the tank may have cycled or if is just from my lights being on during the cycling. I kept my lights off for the first week, they’re on now because of my frogspawn head which seems to be doing very well!

 

[firmefatboy799]

I think a mix of both, now just let everything cycle and do what it needs to do, I would say don't add anything more until you get past your diatom bloom don't wanna overdo the bioload and end up with an algae bloom which could still happen not the end of the world but sit and watch the tank grow, maybe buy a cheap clown/or pair or a chromi and throw them in to really help everything along

 

[ReefingDad]

I think a mix of both, now just let everything cycle and do what it needs to do, I would say don't add anything more until you get past your diatom bloom don't wanna overdo the bioload and end up with an algae bloom which could still happen not the end of the world but sit and watch the tank grow, maybe buy a cheap clown/or pair or a chromi and throw them in to really help everything along

Yep that’s what I’m doing now! I added a bonded clown pair from my LFS on Friday and they seem to be settling in well. They have eaten a few times for me and no fighting or signs that they would be unhappy so far. They are just some plain Jane clowns but I figured with it being my first pair and first saltwater fish that I should go with something a little less expensive then some of the “designer” clown pairs they had. My snails are really taking care of any diatoms or algae that accumulates on the rocks but neither my crabs or the snails have taken to the sand much so I am getting some build up there. I don’t plan to add anything new for a couple of weeks into the tank, just working on some DIY media baskets for the first and second chamber and working on upgrading the lighting. I’ve been debating between the Kessil A80 or the AI prime 16HD, I like the price of the Kessil and the fact that it doesn’t have a fan so it is probably a lot more silent but I like the app and control of the prime, anyone have any thoughts to help me along on that decision?

Thanks and happy reefing!

 

[Hairyteeth]

Definitely get the in chamber media baskets one and two highly worth ii, an ATO is really handy with this little tank for stability reasons....and with the lighting maybe consider the end game tank goals before deciding.... happy nano reefing

 

[najer]

As above just slow down a bit and let it mature, I still run the stock hood and light but no filtration (carbon in a bag currently as I had a cespitularia melt), I only view it from the front.
Flow, that is a 2000 lph flat out and there is an Eheim 600 return.

 

[ReefingDad]

little update, all the inhabitants in my tank are doing well. I believe my frogspawn is in the process of growing a new head, it went from one mouth to two separate that I can see and has been a little more closed up with some bubbling action going on. The algae is starting to come in a little stronger though and is really clouding up my water. I added some chemi pure original and filter floss into a DIY filter basket for chamber one and will be doing a 10% water change later tonight, anything else I can do to try to get some better clarity to the water or is this the dread ugly stage that I was hoping to avoid? Any help is appreciated thanks!

 

[MaxxuM]

Likely bacteria blooming. It goes away in a few days to a week typically. Keep up with the maintenance and change out the mechanical filtration every 3-4 days until it's stable, then every week. Feed sparingly and avoid pellets for now (frozen and teaspoon of live tigger pods fortified every other day if you can get them). Might want to consider increasing your CUC now. A few nassarius snails to deal with the sand bed and trochus snails for the glass/rocks.

Looks like you're well on your way though

 

[ReefingDad]

Thanks maxxum! Yeah the growth really ramped up over the last few days It feels and just one of those things that drives you nuts when you stare at it so just want to make sure I get it headed back in the right direction! I’ll start feeding every other day for now and avoid the pellets. I also have flake food and frozen brine shrimp so stick to that for now?

 

[najer]

What are your nitrates and phos?

 

[ReefingDad]

Little update on my tank, came home from work today and saw what I believe to be pods all over the glass which was interesting. Hopefully a sign things are going well! Only new thing I added was a UV sterilizer to take care of that green water which it did within a few days! Everything is clear now (pics look more green than it really is due to the bright white lights and green rocks) I also did recently purchase a new IM 25 lagoon that I look forward to setting up soon but until the next update happy reefing everyone!

 

[MaxxuM]

Glad things are going well! Looks like the reefing bug bit you

 

[ReefingDad]

Thank you @MaxxuM yes it has! I think I had that moment I’m sure everyone does where once things started going well I instantly started to think oh boy this tank is going to get small quick. I think the lagoon will get small quick as well but fits the best in the upstairs of my house now until I finish out my basement. I couldn’t believe the quality difference though between the IM tank and the fluval, IM blows it out of the water and I would recommend anyone looking at the fluval saves for something of slightly higher grade if you’re going for an AIO. Also purchased an RODI unit I’ll be setting up this weekend so we will be cooking with some fire soon on that front as well!