Update 02/04/2021 - this tank turned into a 25g IM lagoon very quickly...
UPDATE 01/28/2021 - This tank was shut down, and I moved to FL. A "copycat" is being set up now. I will take some time to document and record on this first post the current status, and will link to the page applicable to the current tank.
Thanks for reading!
If interested in the original journey, I'll leave that below and in the following pages.
_______________________________________________________________
This EVO will be transferring over to a 55 gallon acrylic in November, 2018. Here is the link to that build thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fillorys-55.453454/page-2#post-5157687
Equipment List:
Fluval EVO 13.5 Gallon Nano tank
Odyssea 150w Metal Halide w/ Phoenix 14k DE bulb
2x MP10's
DIY chamber 1 media rack [filter floss, chaeto]
Chamber 1 refugium with Grow Light
Fluval Skimmer in Chamber 2
Sicce Syncra 1.0 Return pump
Hydrofill Titanium ATO
3x BRS 1.1ml/min dosing pumps [Alk, Calcium, empty]
Tunze Nano Care Magnet
Apex Classic
Livestock:
12 lbs Live Rock
Bubble Tip Anemone
2x Occelaris clownfish
Purple Firefish
Randall's Goby
White Pistol Shrimp
2x Emerald Crab
4x blue-leg hermits
Corals:
4 acan lords
9 types of zoas
Trumpet
Candycane
2 Acan enchinata
3 chalices
2 birdsnests
handful of IDK SPS
~ 4" Squamosa Clam
MH turns on around 10 am and off at 10 pm [12 hour photoperiod]
* Alkalinity dosed from 1:00 am - noon
* Calcium dosed from 12:00 noon - 8:00 pm
I started to get out of the hobby by selling off my 32 Gallon Biocube. Then I had the idea that 'I'll do a small tank, i'll leave it stock and let it manage itself with minimal input'.
So I sold my corals, sold my doser/controller/light/pumps/hannah checkers etc.
Then I bought a Fluval EVO 13.5 gallon nano tank. I moved over some rock from my 32 gallon, and filled it up with a new bag of CaribSea sand, and water from the Biocube.
I bought an Odyssea 150w Metal Halide fixture off of Ebay to replace my AI prime + T5 combo.
Of course, after selling off my previous corals [probably a good idea anyway, they were pretty large for the size of the EVO] I had to buy some corals. I got 6 corals from a local guy, and my wife won a free coral from a shop on the other side of the state. Shipping would be $35 for this free coral. So it only made sense to buy 9 more corals and get free shipping right? 10 more corals came in. Then there was a frag swap nearby... 12 corals later and the tank's starting to look like something... And then I got help from an awesome local reefer to fill in some gaps in my rockwork with some more SPS! 14 frags later, and i've got 40 frags in my tank, including one SPS that's dying, Bubbles the Bubble Tip and a Squamosa Clam!
Then I decided I needed a powerhead - so I bought a koralia nano 425 gph powerhead. Then I needed to upgrade the return pump, because the stock pumps always suck, right? I ordered a Sicce Syncra 1.0. But the syncra with the loc-line outputs isn't great, I have to also get a hydor random flow attachment. Well, i'm back to using the Loc-Line as the Hydor breached the surface when it spun and made too much noise. I'm now on to using Two Jebao SW-4's controlled by my Apex Classic.
Water changes can't keep up with ALK/CA demand forever right? So I also had to order some Calcium mix, soda ash and mixing jugs from BRS. I also needed kalkwasser to maintain the parameters day to day, so I bought some kalkwasser. Well, Kalkwasser on my small tank wasn't the best idea, so now i've got 3 BRS 1.1 ml/min dosers for my ALK/Calcium and ATO.
I've also purchased a Reefkeeper Lite with 2 PB4's, SL1 and Net module off of the forums here. Didn't stick with the ReefKeeper, instead I sold it and bought a used Apex classic brain from the forums here on R2R, bought a new EB8 and probes, and set up Fusion.
I got a black stand from IKEA which I set up with no shelf on the bottom two sections [to hold my ALK and Calcium containers], attached the dosing pumps to the back wall, set up two shelves for supplies [one for testing supplies, and the other for food and supplements], and cut one drawer in half to mount the Apex in.
I set up my Hydrofill ATO and set up a temporary ATO container made of a dog food container.
I had some scrap acrylic lying around and decided to DIY a media rack [with only a dremel might I add]. So i've got that in chamber one with filter floss on top, activated carbon underneath that and chaeto on the bottom. Turned chamber 2 into a refugium using a LED grow light off of Amazon and let the chaeto start growing.
I have something close to 14 lbs of rock in this tank.
It sits on an Ikea drawer stand which I modified to fit my equipment.
Here's bubbles [i'd like to say my nonexistent kid made up this name, but nope... it was me
Bubbles doesn't look so happy now a days... This picture was when I first got Bubbles, now he's not as colorful, and is not bubbly... A name change may be in order...
I've replaced my original clowns with a pair of Ocelaris who immediately dove in to Bubbles. She didn't like all the attention at first, but now is happy as a clam. Speaking of clams... i've got a Squamosa who seems pretty darn happy!
Nano Build - Fostering Fillory - Mixed Reef - IM 25g
Current Tank Pic [7/14/2021]: Tank [3/11/21]: Here's a video I shot of the tank yesterday. If you notice anything and have any suggestions for things like adjusting flow, powerhead placement etc. let me know! Current Parameters [4/8/21]: Salinity: 1.025 ALK: 8.6 [goal of a steady 8.5]...
www.reef2reef.com
UPDATE 01/28/2021 - This tank was shut down, and I moved to FL. A "copycat" is being set up now. I will take some time to document and record on this first post the current status, and will link to the page applicable to the current tank.
Thanks for reading!
If interested in the original journey, I'll leave that below and in the following pages.
_______________________________________________________________
Equipment List:
Fluval EVO 13.5 Gallon Nano tank
Odyssea 150w Metal Halide w/ Phoenix 14k DE bulb
2x MP10's
DIY chamber 1 media rack [filter floss, chaeto]
Chamber 1 refugium with Grow Light
Fluval Skimmer in Chamber 2
Sicce Syncra 1.0 Return pump
Hydrofill Titanium ATO
3x BRS 1.1ml/min dosing pumps [Alk, Calcium, empty]
Tunze Nano Care Magnet
Apex Classic
Livestock:
12 lbs Live Rock
Bubble Tip Anemone
2x Occelaris clownfish
Purple Firefish
Randall's Goby
White Pistol Shrimp
2x Emerald Crab
4x blue-leg hermits
Corals:
4 acan lords
9 types of zoas
Trumpet
Candycane
2 Acan enchinata
3 chalices
2 birdsnests
handful of IDK SPS
~ 4" Squamosa Clam
MH turns on around 10 am and off at 10 pm [12 hour photoperiod]
* Alkalinity dosed from 1:00 am - noon
* Calcium dosed from 12:00 noon - 8:00 pm
I started to get out of the hobby by selling off my 32 Gallon Biocube. Then I had the idea that 'I'll do a small tank, i'll leave it stock and let it manage itself with minimal input'.
So I sold my corals, sold my doser/controller/light/pumps/hannah checkers etc.
Then I bought a Fluval EVO 13.5 gallon nano tank. I moved over some rock from my 32 gallon, and filled it up with a new bag of CaribSea sand, and water from the Biocube.
I bought an Odyssea 150w Metal Halide fixture off of Ebay to replace my AI prime + T5 combo.
Of course, after selling off my previous corals [probably a good idea anyway, they were pretty large for the size of the EVO] I had to buy some corals. I got 6 corals from a local guy, and my wife won a free coral from a shop on the other side of the state. Shipping would be $35 for this free coral. So it only made sense to buy 9 more corals and get free shipping right? 10 more corals came in. Then there was a frag swap nearby... 12 corals later and the tank's starting to look like something... And then I got help from an awesome local reefer to fill in some gaps in my rockwork with some more SPS! 14 frags later, and i've got 40 frags in my tank, including one SPS that's dying, Bubbles the Bubble Tip and a Squamosa Clam!
Then I decided I needed a powerhead - so I bought a koralia nano 425 gph powerhead. Then I needed to upgrade the return pump, because the stock pumps always suck, right? I ordered a Sicce Syncra 1.0. But the syncra with the loc-line outputs isn't great, I have to also get a hydor random flow attachment. Well, i'm back to using the Loc-Line as the Hydor breached the surface when it spun and made too much noise. I'm now on to using Two Jebao SW-4's controlled by my Apex Classic.
Water changes can't keep up with ALK/CA demand forever right? So I also had to order some Calcium mix, soda ash and mixing jugs from BRS. I also needed kalkwasser to maintain the parameters day to day, so I bought some kalkwasser. Well, Kalkwasser on my small tank wasn't the best idea, so now i've got 3 BRS 1.1 ml/min dosers for my ALK/Calcium and ATO.
I've also purchased a Reefkeeper Lite with 2 PB4's, SL1 and Net module off of the forums here. Didn't stick with the ReefKeeper, instead I sold it and bought a used Apex classic brain from the forums here on R2R, bought a new EB8 and probes, and set up Fusion.
I got a black stand from IKEA which I set up with no shelf on the bottom two sections [to hold my ALK and Calcium containers], attached the dosing pumps to the back wall, set up two shelves for supplies [one for testing supplies, and the other for food and supplements], and cut one drawer in half to mount the Apex in.
I set up my Hydrofill ATO and set up a temporary ATO container made of a dog food container.
I had some scrap acrylic lying around and decided to DIY a media rack [with only a dremel might I add]. So i've got that in chamber one with filter floss on top, activated carbon underneath that and chaeto on the bottom. Turned chamber 2 into a refugium using a LED grow light off of Amazon and let the chaeto start growing.
I have something close to 14 lbs of rock in this tank.
It sits on an Ikea drawer stand which I modified to fit my equipment.
Here's bubbles [i'd like to say my nonexistent kid made up this name, but nope... it was me
Bubbles doesn't look so happy now a days... This picture was when I first got Bubbles, now he's not as colorful, and is not bubbly... A name change may be in order...
I've replaced my original clowns with a pair of Ocelaris who immediately dove in to Bubbles. She didn't like all the attention at first, but now is happy as a clam. Speaking of clams... i've got a Squamosa who seems pretty darn happy!
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