Fluval 13.5g MacroAlgae/Invert Tank

dwair

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Well starting something new and different from what I've done in the past. This tank is a 13.5g Fluval Evo. It will not be SPS/LPS/Softies. It will be a MacroAlgae/Invert tank.

I MAY put in a fish or two, haven't decided yet, if I do it will probably be some type of goby/pistol shrimp combo.

Anyways tank stuff:

Tank - Fluval 13.5g Evo
Heater - Aqueon 50w
Return Pump - Sicce Silent 1.0
Powerhead - Hydor Koralia pump (though this may change, got it in today and it was HUGE, like the actual size of it was alot larger than I was expecting for the flow rating it has)
Chamber 1 - InTank Media Basket. - Plan on putting Filter Floss on top. Marine Pure Gems (small bio balls basically) in second row. Possibly Carbon if needed on bottom.
Lighting - Going to use stock lighting for now, as I'm doing MacroAlgae only and inverts, don't really need a crazy light. Think an AI Prime is severe overkill and I don't really want to lose the lid.
Thats it. No other filtration. I've seen a few of these done and most of them say less is more when it comes to filtration as the entire tank basically is going to act as a filtration with all the macroalgae.

Dosing -
ChaetoGro
AllForReef (if needed)
Possibly some Iron if the Chaetogro is not enough.
Phytoplankton

Livestock plans -
Live rock from KP Aquatics
Live Sand - Caribsea Special Grade
TBD - Trying to decide which Special Inverts I can do that won't eat my MacroAlgae. Got to do some research.
Off the top of my head I want Halloween Hermit, Electric Blue Leg Hermit, Coral Banded Shrimp, Possibly Candy Striped Pistol Shrimp paired with like a Yasha's Goby.
Was possibly thinking some Porcelain Crabs, Sexy Shrimp, MAYBE a Harlequinn Shrimp. Not sure if I want to constantly feed Starfish or not.
MacroAlgae - Display Algae that I'm going to research.

Fluval Pic.jpeg
 

GHOSTLY

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Good start. May I suggest you DON'T get the harli. If you get the sexy shrimp and the porcelain I would invest in a small area for rock flowers. Everything else seems good! Keep me updated
 
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dwair

dwair

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Good start. May I suggest you DON'T get the harli. If you get the sexy shrimp and the porcelain I would invest in a small area for rock flowers. Everything else seems good! Keep me updated
Yea I realize they are natural hosts, but I don't want any nems in here. They don't HAVE to have nems.
 

MaxTremors

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The coral banded shrimp will kill any smaller shrimp (sexy shrimp, might even go after porcelain crab if it’s not hosted by an anemone). I would suggest some easier anemones, like maxi minis or rock flowers (for a macro algae tank I would probably go with the more drab varieties, as it would look more natural), as well as some soft corals (leathers, Xenia, cloves, Kenya trees all look great in macro tanks). Also a brittle or serpent star would work well.
 
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dwair

dwair

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The coral banded shrimp will kill any smaller shrimp (sexy shrimp, might even go after porcelain crab if it’s not hosted by an anemone). I would suggest some easier anemones, like maxi minis or rock flowers (for a macro algae tank I would probably go with the more drab varieties, as it would look more natural), as well as some soft corals (leathers, Xenia, cloves, Kenya trees all look great in macro tanks). Also a brittle or serpent star would work well.
Thank you for the information regarding the Coral Banded.

As far as Coral goes, No coral in this tank, no Nems. Only MacroAlgae, Live Rock, Live Sand, Inverts. Maybe 1 fish. No coral though.
 

MaxTremors

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Live rock from KP Aquatics in the tank and some form of macro algae already that came with it!

Also see how big that Powerhead is!!! Not even a high flow Powerhead. Gotta look at better options.

247C9DC7-0549-46D3-AD86-792DDAD9F824.jpeg
For a relatively inexpensive slim controllable wave maker (so your macros sway back and forth), I would get a Jebao slw 5.
 
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dwair

dwair

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For a relatively inexpensive slim controllable wave maker (so your macros sway back and forth), I would get a Jebao slw 5.
Will have to look into this one. I was thinking Hygger wavemaker, but I may go that route. Was definitely wanting budget powerhead on this one as its just macros, don't need a ton of flow, nor do I want to put something like a MP-10 or Nero 3 in this thing.
 

reefer_evo5

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is that a Coralia nano 240? or is it a bigger pump. I used a coralia 240 on my evo 13.5 and it wasn't that bad I placed it right below my return nozzles and it stuck out about the same length that the return nozzles did.
 

mbri

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I really like this idea! I've actually been leaning towards doing something similar because I love inverts in general, and I'm worried after now having my tank set up for a while that it's just too small for the fish that I really really want. I never had macroalgae in the tank I had growing up, but since I've started my research/dug through R2R, I am fascinated with the range of macros available, especially calcified varieties! Also I know this post is 2 months old by now, but I got a hygger mini wave maker and I really love it. It's got great flow and I love the wave types and customization options.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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