Fluval Evo 13.5 build Started May 2020

eleongsit

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Hi All,

Just wanted to post information on my Fluval 13.5 build that I started in May of 2020.

Tank: Fluval Evo 13.5G

Light: Coral Box moon light (Purchased few years earlier for previous tank)

RO Unit: RO Buddie with DI unit
Auto Top Off: Smart Auto Top off ATO system

Pumps:
Stock return pump
Sicce Voyager Powerhead
Hygger Mini Wave Maker

Media
Custom made media basket(Made of egg crate) in chamber one
Bottom: Marine Pure Gems
Top: Chemi-Pure/ Filter Floss

Chamber 2 Currently Empty. Looking for suggestions.

Stock:
Fish:
1 Springerii Damsel
Current Clean Up Crew:
Blue Leg Hermits

Coral
Few unhappy Zoa Frags :(
2 unhappy Mushroom Frags :(
1 unhappy encrusting sunset monti frag :(

Corals have been in the tank for several months now and previously were happy until the dinoflagellates started in around October/September. Nothing new live stock wise has been added since then.

Tank is going through a major ugly phase right now and I am unsure how to treat it. I've got what I suspect are dinoflagellates and possibly some brown cyanobacteria. Zoas and Mushrooms currently open about half way only. Thankfully my fish is doing perfectly fine and eating frozen mysis shrimp like a champ.

I wanted to post a separate thread detailing what I've done so far to combat this issue would the nusance algae forum be the proper place to start a thread?

Would also love some advise on possibly improving my build :)

IMG_2439.jpg


*added Auto top off system
 
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eleongsit

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Posting some updated tank shots after I managed to eliminate the dinos from my tank. Tank is running only blue lights for the time being.

Zoas are starting to open up again but are not fully open yet.
 

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eleongsit

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PH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate between 15- 20ppm (hard to read test...)
Phosphate - .12 ppm from sailfert test (unsure on this one I find it hard to get any result.)
DKH 6
Salinity 1.025
 

saltybees

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PH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate between 15- 20ppm (hard to read test...)
Phosphate - .12 ppm from sailfert test (unsure on this one I find it hard to get any result.)
DKH 6
Salinity 1.025
I’m running the same tank. Your alk is pretty low, should shoot for 9. It’ll help with cyano if your water is a bit harder if you’re having issues with it, Corals will be happier also.
What’s your flow? Gph?
I dose vibrant every week and it definitely helps with new tank uglies, also might be something to help your tank out!
 
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eleongsit

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I’m running the same tank. Your alk is pretty low, should shoot for 9. It’ll help with cyano if your water is a bit harder if you’re having issues with it, Corals will be happier also.
What’s your flow? Gph?
I dose vibrant every week and it definitely helps with new tank uglies, also might be something to help your tank out!

My return pump is just the stock pump so I know that one could be stronger. I looked up my power head and the flow rate should be about 250GPH.

My tank is just finished a 5 day blackout/ Hydrogen Peroxide treatment to get rid of a giant dino problem a few days ago. I was dosing Bacter 7 during that time. I did dose Vibrant when I started battling dinos at the advise of my LFS but it seemed to make it worse at the time and then it also killed my Cheato. I'm not sure if its wise for me to dose Vibrant again now or not... I don't want to bottom out my nitrates again as I suspect that is at least partially the cause of my dino issue.

As for my alk what would be a safe way to raise that? I do have some Red Sea Reef Foundation ABC+ which I could dose but this one raises calcium/alk/ mag. I currently don't have access to calcium and magnesium tests. Calcium and Mag were a bit high would that cause major issues?
 

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My return pump is just the stock pump so I know that one could be stronger. I looked up my power head and the flow rate should be about 250GPH.

My tank is just finished a 5 day blackout/ Hydrogen Peroxide treatment to get rid of a giant dino problem a few days ago. I was dosing Bacter 7 during that time. I did dose Vibrant when I started battling dinos at the advise of my LFS but it seemed to make it worse at the time and then it also killed my Cheato. I'm not sure if its wise for me to dose Vibrant again now or not... I don't want to bottom out my nitrates again as I suspect that is at least partially the cause of my dino issue.

As for my alk what would be a safe way to raise that? I do have some Red Sea Reef Foundation ABC+ which I could dose but this one raises calcium/alk/ mag. I currently don't have access to calcium and magnesium tests. Calcium and Mag were a bit high would that cause major issues?
I read your Dino issue thread too that sucks you’re having to deal with that.

what’s your regular maintenance schedule like? Water changes etc

I run the stock return pump too, it does the job but you should definitely up your power head flow for sure it’ll help keep the detritus off the sand/rock which is probably causing some issues. I average 1500ish gph in my tank.

What’s a bit high? I’d invest in the Red Sea test kit that shows mag/calc/alk it’ll save you headaches. My calc and mag really don’t fluctuate with weekly water changes anyways but I have to dose alk, there’s a thread about making your own with the right recipe..just baking soda and rodi, if you aren’t able to get the premade stuff.

Patience is definitely a virtue when it comes to reef tanks, you’ll get it straightened out don’t get discouraged!
 
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eleongsit

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Yup, I think I just need to wait now. My tank has been clear of dinos for a few days now with now and every day my zoas are opening a bit further, it seems that things are sorting themselves out over time.

I've started ramping up the whites on my lights a bit too, running them at about 15% now.

Test kits for MAG and CA are on the top of my list to purchase currently :)

I normally do water change once a week about 10%, but when I was battling dinos that stopped as I heard that water changing would possibly make the outbreak worse. I am slowing ramping up to do my regular water changes again. Sometimes I go two weeks between water change if I'm busy for some reason.

I can look into a stronger powerhead but does 1500GPH not cause a tornado in the tank? I don't want to make my poor damsel plastered to the wall lol
 

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Awesome, sounds like it’s all getting better then!

Ya 1500gph might not be suitable for your tank, just what I need to keep my tank optimal. just saying you might need some more flow overall. Hydor 425 power heads are pretty much perfect for these tanks. I have a Nero 3 on random flow so it’s not a constant 1500 but probably close lol

here’s a pic this morning while my lights ramping up

image.jpg
 
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eleongsit

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Looking good!

Sorry the reflection on the front makes it a bit hard to tell, do you have a powerhead on the back wall near the bottom and one on the front glass as well?

If I may ask what do you have in your back chambers?
 

saltybees

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Looking good!

Sorry the reflection on the front makes it a bit hard to tell, do you have a powerhead on the back wall near the bottom and one on the front glass as well?

If I may ask what do you have in your back chambers
Looking good!

Sorry the reflection on the front makes it a bit hard to tell, do you have a powerhead on the back wall near the bottom and one on the front glass as well?

If I may ask what do you have in your back chambers?
Ya I have a Nero 3 in the back corner and a hydor koralia 425 in the front.

chamber 1 is a diy media basket with floss that I change every week with my water change, second shelf is a tablespoon of carbon that I change every month and third is about 250 ml of purigen that I’ll replace when it exhausts or 6 months.

second chamber is a few pieces of rock rubble and my ATO line

third is my heater return pump and ato float.
 
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eleongsit

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Hmmm.... I'll have to look into a wave maker possibly in the future.

My chamber 2 is currently empty, I made a small basket for it using egg crate but it was too big cause I did not measure correctly, have to shrink it. Based on what your doing I think for me it would make the most sense to put my marine pure gems in that chamber and have chemipure and filter floss in chamber 1.

Things are still looking OK today :) Some zoas not fully open still but still more than before :)
 

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Awesome, I’m sure they’ll make a recovery they’re pretty hardy.

I posted some pics on my build thread of the basket I made you could copy it and just shorten it for chamber 2 if that helps ya.

definitely get yourself more flow, helps with literally everything.
 
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eleongsit

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Its been a few days now, I've ramped up the whites on my light to about 30% now, I noticed that my eagle eye zoas are still not opening except for a tiny bit of skirt showing, they also sort of look to be stretching out a bit.

I finished making a media basket for chamber 2 and I moved the marine pure gems into that chamber. I also removed the chemi pure I had running in chamber 1, I added it in there when the dinoflagellates were going crazy and I did not want to risk it adding any toxins back into the water after being exhausted.

This weekend I'm going to look to see if I can find some live rock rubble to throw into the bottom part of the chamber 1 media basket under my filter floss to hopefully add a little bit more biodiversity to my tank.

Overall apart from my zoas still not opening fully things are looking good, my parameters are stable so I'm not entirely sure why the zoas are still not fully opening. I'm starting to wonder if perhaps my one damsel might not be producing enough waste for there liking. Do you think it might be time for me to think about adding a second nano fish?

Also looking at possibly purchasing the hygger Mini wave maker pump, its rated at 1600GPH which is much stronger than my current pump and should help with any flow issues, plus it has the added benefit of being a controllable wave maker so I can use to to create some randomness in the flow.
 

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The zoas are probably just acclimating again to the changes, I’d wait until you have the lights back up to 100% and make sure the dinos don’t come back before adding anything new.
 
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eleongsit

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I installed a Hygger mini wave maker last night to help increase flow in my tank. So far so good, except need to work on positioning I think as its currently pushing all the sand on one side of my tank into a pile on the other end lol
 

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