Fluval Evo 13.5 Build - First Aquarium!

Ollie67 · Mar 1, 2024

Day 36

Just wanted to post a little update picture of the scape! Nothing much today lol.

Alsooooo, I might pick up a yellow watchman goby. I was going to wait a little more, but my LFS had some tiny ones which I was thinking of adding when I stop by tomorrow morning

Happy Friday!

WalkerLoves_TheOcean · Mar 1, 2024

Ollie67 said:
Day 36

Just wanted to post a little update picture of the scape! Nothing much today lol.

Alsooooo, I might pick up a yellow watchman goby. I was going to wait a little more, but my LFS had some tiny ones which I was thinking of adding when I stop by tomorrow morning

Happy Friday!

Get one!!

Happy Friday!

Ollie67 · Mar 2, 2024

Day 37 Update!!

Happy Saturday everyone! Today I stopped by my LFS for some water refills, but of course, you know I had to impulsively buy something. I ended up purchasing a young (tiny) yellow watchman goby!! I got him acclimated quickly and he is exploring the tank (currently sitting on the sand bed...)! He even swam into my hand when I was cleaning my tank earlier lol- scared me. I also purchased a Bam Bam Zoa frag! It's pretty nice, I love the orange. It opened up a bit already, which is good that it is happy so soon! I tried to cut part of the frag plug, but my bone cutters are too small I think. With all my force, I couldn't get it cut, so I will be ordering some larger ones to take on the job. Temporarily stuffed the zoa in my rocks for now

Other maintenance today consisted of:
-Approximate 15-20% water change
-Cleaned inside and outside of glass
-Removed some hair algae by hand from sand
-Stirred sand
-Topped of ATO container

I will test my nitrate and phosphate levels tonight when I'm home from work probably. Last night my nitrate read 21.7ppm, which isn't too bad considering it had spiked in the past. It measured 12.4ppm 3 days prior, so I will take it as I fed every day (just in smaller amounts). Phosphate was still super high though (last measured at 0.78ppm), so I have Seachem Phosguard coming in today, and will set up tomorrow in a media bag.

ALSO, for those wondering about my salt that is used for my water, I asked today, and they use Coral Pro Salt from Red Sea. Is that a decent salt? @lil sumpin @ralquist

Any feedback or suggestions is appreciated! Have a good day everyone!

Ollie67 · Mar 2, 2024

Also check out these clown pairs my LFS had! I think they are quite beautiful, I love those patterns.

Apologies if the pictures aren't super clear, they are a screenshot of a video I had of them swimming around lol.

lil sumpin · Mar 2, 2024

Yeah that's a good salt. Are you planning to rely on your LFS for refills in the long run? I did this the first month I started and was quickly made aware of how costly and tiring it would become to rely on them.

WalkerLoves_TheOcean · Mar 2, 2024

Ollie67 said:
Day 37 Update!!

Happy Saturday everyone! Today I stopped by my LFS for some water refills, but of course, you know I had to impulsively buy something. I ended up purchasing a young (tiny) yellow watchman goby!! I got him acclimated quickly and he is exploring the tank (currently sitting on the sand bed...)! He even swam into my hand when I was cleaning my tank earlier lol- scared me. I also purchased a Bam Bam Zoa frag! It's pretty nice, I love the orange. It opened up a bit already, which is good that it is happy so soon! I tried to cut part of the frag plug, but my bone cutters are too small I think. With all my force, I couldn't get it cut, so I will be ordering some larger ones to take on the job. Temporarily stuffed the zoa in my rocks for now

Other maintenance today consisted of:
-Approximate 15-20% water change
-Cleaned inside and outside of glass
-Removed some hair algae by hand from sand
-Stirred sand
-Topped of ATO container

I will test my nitrate and phosphate levels tonight when I'm home from work probably. Last night my nitrate read 21.7ppm, which isn't too bad considering it had spiked in the past. It measured 12.4ppm 3 days prior, so I will take it as I fed every day (just in smaller amounts). Phosphate was still super high though (last measured at 0.78ppm), so I have Seachem Phosguard coming in today, and will set up tomorrow in a media bag.

ALSO, for those wondering about my salt that is used for my water, I asked today, and they use Coral Pro Salt from Red Sea. Is that a decent salt? @lil sumpin @ralquist

Any feedback or suggestions is appreciated! Have a good day everyone!

Yay! So happy you picked up that lil' guy!

That's the salt I use, and it's worked well for me, so I think its good.

ralquist · Mar 2, 2024

Awesome!!!! Great salt, it’s higher alk, cal, and mg so you shouldn’t have to worry about dosing with regular water changer! I use the Red Sea seal “Blue bucket”. Just cause that’s what I started with! Their salts are icp tested and mix very clean if and when you start doing that at home.

Holy Bam Bam Batman! Those are real nice frag score, they are super bright! So all frag plugs are not created equal! Those are 100% ceramic maybe “purple?” In color, I’ve got some unfortunately. You will kill your hands trying to break the stem off, I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten through one lol

New fish that’s so cool!! Love the watchman!! Keep your lid closed*

Ollie67 · Mar 3, 2024

lil sumpin said:
Yeah that's a good salt. Are you planning to rely on your LFS for refills in the long run? I did this the first month I started and was quickly made aware of how costly and tiring it would become to rely on them.

Cool! I honestly might have to keep refilling for a few months until I move places. There's just no good way to mount an RODI system. I wish I could lol. But yes, I see how it can add up over time. I don't mind making a trip to the LFS every 2-3 weeks though haha.

Any suggestions on an RODI system that won't break the bank when I do have the chance to install one?

Ollie67 · Mar 3, 2024

WalkerLoves_TheOcean said:
Yay! So happy you picked up that lil' guy!

That's the salt I use, and it's worked well for me, so I think its good.

Me too!

He is so tiny lol, but he will grow with the clowns and tank. Haven't been home much, but he is fun to watch! When I first added him in, the clowns kinda pushed him away, but since then I haven't seen any aggression or issues. Hopefully it stays that way.

And that's good to hear!

Ollie67 · Mar 3, 2024

ralquist said:
Awesome!!!! Great salt, it’s higher alk, cal, and mg so you shouldn’t have to worry about dosing with regular water changer! I use the Red Sea seal “Blue bucket”. Just cause that’s what I started with! Their salts are icp tested and mix very clean if and when you start doing that at home.

Holy Bam Bam Batman! Those are real nice frag score, they are super bright! So all frag plugs are not created equal! Those are 100% ceramic maybe “purple?” In color, I’ve got some unfortunately. You will kill your hands trying to break the stem off, I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten through one lol

New fish that’s so cool!! Love the watchman!! Keep your lid closed*

Cool cool cool! Definitely happy to hear they use a good salt and I will probably use it when I get to that point.

And yes, I love that Bam Bam

It was only 20$ too, has less heads than the 40$ ones but that's okay with me! Good to hear I'm not the only one, I almost used my foot to try and pressure my cutters to get through LOL. It is purple in color lol, so likely ceramic. Oh man... Is there a way to remove the bam bam from the plug, or is that a no no?

And thanks! Will do haha

Ollie67 · Mar 8, 2024

Day 43 Update and Previous Days

I hope everyone has been well! I realized it has been almost a week since I have posted here, so I figured I could give an update! First and foremost, my watchman goby has been well! The first two days he swam around the tank and was hanging out around the top for some reason. After that, I didn't see him for a day until I fed. He was tucked inside a little cave that is behind my rock-work, so I don't see him much. He has been eating my frozen shrimp every day though! Today he came out for a little longer when feeding! I got a picture and a short video I may upload later. On the other hand, my one clown's bump has gotten a little bigger. He still eats and swims with his buddy.

My new Bam Bam zoa has been doing great too! It's been opening during the day and seems healthy. I recently moved it to it's more permanent spot after my larger bone cutters arrived to cut the plug, as my small ones wouldn't do the job. My GSP has more polyps opening up and looks really nice! I feel like it's gotten more green lol. Since last update, I've done one 20% water change. My nitrates have been staying somewhat stable now (thankfully) even after feeding. My phosphates were still high, but not changing too much. Hence, I added a mesh bag with a dose of Phosguard pellets. These seem to have done a little work, as the next day my phosphates went from 0.73ppm to 0.57ppm. I also have started dosing Microbacter 7 daily (2mL) to help keep nutrients and bacteria in the tank along with keeping parameters stable. Not sure if it has been effective yet.

Since last update, I have also cleaned the glass, brushed my rocks, and stirred my sand twice, but every time the algae and now dinos come back the next day- ugh... I will post some photos of the uglies after this comment for those interested. I think it's normal (right?), but I will take any suggestions on keeping it down and also cleaning strategies!

Ollie67 · Mar 8, 2024

Here are the algae/dino photos. I feel like not all the algae shows up in the photo, it looks worse in person... The close up photos shows the bubbles on the sand.

WalkerLoves_TheOcean · Mar 8, 2024

Ollie67 said:
Day 43 Update and Previous Days

I hope everyone has been well! I realized it has been almost a week since I have posted here, so I figured I could give an update! First and foremost, my watchman goby has been well! The first two days he swam around the tank and was hanging out around the top for some reason. After that, I didn't see him for a day until I fed. He was tucked inside a little cave that is behind my rock-work, so I don't see him much. He has been eating my frozen shrimp every day though! Today he came out for a little longer when feeding! I got a picture and a short video I may upload later. On the other hand, my one clown's bump has gotten a little bigger. He still eats and swims with his buddy.

My new Bam Bam zoa has been doing great too! It's been opening during the day and seems healthy. I recently moved it to it's more permanent spot after my larger bone cutters arrived to cut the plug, as my small ones wouldn't do the job. My GSP has more polyps opening up and looks really nice! I feel like it's gotten more green lol. Since last update, I've done one 20% water change. My nitrates have been staying somewhat stable now (thankfully) even after feeding. My phosphates were still high, but not changing too much. Hence, I added a mesh bag with a dose of Phosguard pellets. These seem to have done a little work, as the next day my phosphates went from 0.73ppm to 0.57ppm. I also have started dosing Microbacter 7 daily (2mL) to help keep nutrients and bacteria in the tank along with keeping parameters stable. Not sure if it has been effective yet.

Since last update, I have also cleaned the glass, brushed my rocks, and stirred my sand twice, but every time the algae and now dinos come back the next day- ugh... I will post some photos of the uglies after this comment for those interested. I think it's normal (right?), but I will take any suggestions on keeping it down and also cleaning strategies!

So happy to hear that your watchman goby, and corals are doing well!

Everything is looking great!

strich · Mar 13, 2024

Thanks for the updates!

How much RODI water are you inputting into the system? Given your tank has a lid I'm surprised if the evaporation is a lot.

Ollie67 · Mar 14, 2024

strich said:
Thanks for the updates!

How much RODI water are you inputting into the system? Given your tank has a lid I'm surprised if the evaporation is a lot.

Hi! Currently, I have a 2.5 Gallon jug that I use for my ATO reservoir. I only fill it up to the 2.0 gallon mark, and that usually lasts me over a week.

For example, I topped my container off at 2 gallons on Sunday. It is now Thursday, and it is now at the 1.5 gallon mark. So over the last 4-5 days my ATO has added about 0.5 gallons of RODI into the system. I think that's pretty alright for evaporation. I have a mesh lid, so there is a large amount of surface where water can evaporate compared to the stock Fluval lid, where there is only a cutout for the light.

I do also have my powerhead up on a higher setting now as I am trying to prevent more algae growth, so it's creating a good amount of surface agitation as well, which could be causing more evaporation. Let me know if you have any more questions

Ollie67 · Mar 14, 2024

Day 49 Update and Previous Days

Hello everyone! It's been almost another week since my last update, so I'm going to do one today! On my last update, I noted a sign of dinos and more algae growing in my sandbed. The last few days, I have been trying to mitigate that as best as I can. I don't think the picture I had showed how bad the uglies were. I had slimy and bubbly sand all over, yuck!

Following my last update, the day after I changed my lighting schedule to 10hrs as opposed to 12hrs. I figured that 12hrs is a long time of light, so I made a small change to help mitigate. I am currently running a 51% schedule, so still not super strong lighting.

On Day 45, I did a large amount of maintenance. I cleaned/scraped the inside of the glass, as there was a thick amount of algae on there, which made it so you couldn't even see clearly in the tank. I also gravel-vacced the sand to stir up and suck up as much of the uglies as I could. This helped clean up the sand a lot, and I followed that with a 3-gallon (~20%) water change. I also scrubbed my rocks with a toothbrush to get some of the hair algae off the rockscape (I did this before the water change). I also changed my filter floss, which I ended up changing every day up until now, as it was turning dark brown really quick. I also changed the Phosguard bag I had with new media and changed one of my chemo-pure carbon bags to help clear the water.

Some of my other minor changes included angling my powerhead at a more downward angle towards the sandbed, while also increasing the power to 80%. This seems to have helped by preventing a lot of stuff from settling in the sand. I should have upped my power before, as it was only on 30%. Lastly, I have been continuing my daily dose of Microbacter 7 and weekly dose of Microbacter Clean. Not sure if these are making a big difference, but I hope they help.

Following this maintenance on Day 45, the next day I decided to initiate a 3-day blackout period for my tank. I did not want the dinos/algae to take over the sandbed again, so I did this to try and kill off the rest of what was there by starving it of light. I disabled my AI Prime for the next three days (46, 47, 48) up until today where I resumed the 10hr schedule. During this period I fed every other day and just continued my Microbacter dosing. Not much was done.

Today, I came home to a clean and very white sandbed. Super happy about that! There is practically nothing in the sandbed anymore, with the exception of maybe a small hair or two of algae - which may even be from before the blackout or its just dead. I am hoping nothing starts to grow back following this. I do have a UV sterilizer on the way, which comes in on Saturday. Hoping things stay calm until then at least... I also noticed that the smell of the water has gotten better (it smelled really bad when there was a lot of algae). I was worried a bit about my 4 corals, but all have survived and are doing great today (minus my Xenia still not opening fully). Granted, it wasn't too long of a blackout and my corals aren't the type that need a crazy amount of light (thankfully).

Other than all that, everyone else seems to be doing fine! My fire shrimp molted again a few days ago, and I noticed my watchman goby has been coming out of his cave every once in a while on his own (when not feeding)! It's cool to see him chilling lol. My clowns have been also doing pretty well, both eating like champs. My one clown's bump has gotten pretty big now on his face, which is somewhat frustrating how its not getting better. The bump on his other side seems to have gotten much smaller, so it could be something bacterial that keeps growing/shrinking. I'm hoping that continuing adding selcon and glucan once in a while will help it go away.

Thanks everyone for reading this long week's update! I didn't mean to write so much, but there was a lot to discuss haha. I will add a photo of my tank I took today! Happy Thursday!