Fluval Evo 13.5 Build Thread

[najer]

My coral plan:

What do you think??

Don't get the gsp too close to the scape, nice as an island?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Don't get the gsp too close to the scape, nice as an island?

I plan to get a little live rock to place it on like I have my Xenia.
Also, as far as plate coral goes— is there a better place to put one? For one thing, I can’t find anything on their true diameter, so am wondering if you could help me out with that? Thanks!

 

[najer]

Plate as in fungia, should be fine there?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Plate as in fungia, should be fine there?

Yeah

 

[Sharkbait19]

My turbo snail unfortunately died, it seems like something is affecting my snails, maybe a lack of food? I don’t know, but it stinks that I can’t hold onto a snail.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I’ve actually been deeply thinking about redoing the rock scaping of my tank to better incorporate LPS corals. For one thing, it would involve all the rocks I have being grounded, and redoing the archways and caves with smaller rocks. Also, everything would likely be pushed back so as to leave room up front for plate coral and stuff like that.

 

[Miatafan98]

Nice build! great to see another person from PA here, also where was that petco located that had the frag tank if you remember?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Nice build! great to see another person from PA here, also where was that petco located that had the frag tank if you remember?

Thanks! I’m actually from the lesser known Allentown in NJ, if there’s any confusion! The Petco I mentioned is around Brick, NJ, but I’ve been to plenty which have also been quite impressive. Of course, I’ll never buy from any Petco again after my velvet outbreak...

 

[Miatafan98]

Thanks! I’m actually from the lesser known Allentown in NJ, if there’s any confusion! The Petco I mentioned is around Brick, NJ, but I’ve been to plenty which have also been quite impressive. Of course, I’ll never buy from any Petco again after my velvet outbreak...

Definitely a little confusion lol, thank you for the clarification though!

 

[Sharkbait19]

Today I began the rescaping of my aquarium in preparation for a wave of LPS corals (don’t worry, they’re all quarantined). As you can see, the rocks have been condensed to one side and the other is an open area that I feel my tank was previously lacking, which will be good for plates, brains, and euphilias. The leathers were shifted around a bit too, which ticked them off. I removed my original leather from the rock and stuck it back into the sand until I can find something permanent that it would like.
What do you think?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Ta-da!

Just some background info- the closed up one at the top is supposed to be a clove polyp. I bought it as a massive and gorgeous colony, but It fell apart on the way back from the store, and I learned the hard way that the rock the colony was on was actually a sponge. I was frustrated, as it was a beautiful four-inch colony, and was offered to return it. Instead I just jammed the tiny pieces into every crevice imaginable. Thus, what would’ve been 30 seconds of dropping a coral in turned into two and a half hours of complete torture. I don’t know how much will actually survive in the end, as they got pretty damaged. Thus, they look like crap right now instead of the beautiful colony they once were.

 

[Sharkbait19]

 

[najer]

Nice, how are the ones you dotted around the scape?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Nice, how are the ones you dotted around the scape?

They’re starting to open up as well, and it’s looking really nice!! I’ll be sure to post an FTS soon!

 

[Sharkbait19]

 

[Sharkbait19]

So my stupid crabs thought it was funny to rip most the clove polyps out of the rock and throw them on the sand. I think they’re lucky I found it funny as well. I need a new plan, though.

 

[Sharkbait19]

By the way, I think it’s worth mentioning that after being scolded many times on this forum, I have finally gotten test kits for my alk, calc, and phosphates!!

 

[Sharkbait19]

It’s been a while since I’ve updated you guys on my tank, and I’m sure you’d all appreciate it!

Things have been going very well recently. I can finally say that I have a flourishing reef (besides the lack of fish), packed with happy and healthy corals and inverts. Everything is doing very well it seems and everything is finally established and stable.

I traded the cloves in for a mushroom coral, as they just were simply not adapting to the tank’s environment the way other corals were. During that time, there was a bit of a phosphate and nitrate crisis, in which I almost lost my torch coral. However, many water changes later, everything has been stable and excellent!

In other news, I am soon going to get my first fish for my QT tank. I was going to order my first fish from LiveAquaria, a hi fin banded goby. Unfortunately, they went out of stock today, so I have to wait until they’re back in stock or if I can find another place that has those gobies. It will be in a pair with a tiger pistol shrimp.

After much research, and learning from my mistakes, I am taking a more minimalistic route in terms of the amount and types of fish that will go into the tank.

I’ll keep you all updated on how this goes!

 

[Sharkbait19]

Wow. It’s been a month since my last update! Here’s another fts of my tank! Nothing much has changed. All the corals are very happy right now, though! Next month is when I start restocking the tank with fish, so that’s when this build thread will become interesting again. I placed a liveaquaria order a couple weeks ago, but it got delayed, so when it does arrive, I’ll post a pic of it in the QT. I’ve certainly learned a lot since my first day as a reefer. It’s been a bumpy, but enjoyable, experience. I look forward to the year ahead, filled with exciting reefing. Happy Holidays!

 

[Sharkbait19]

To end this year very well, my liveaquaria order finally came after weeks of being held! The fish couldn’t be included, but I got a scarlet skunk cleaner, a fancy brittle star, and green Rhodactis mushrooms!

Happy new year everyone! Stay safe and well!