Fluval Evo 13.5 Build

[Larry101]

Did you start the tank from new ? If so then I can’t see the tank being cycled in a few days. Diatoms will go eventually. How often do your water changes ?

I agree. That is a pretty big bioload for a 13.5-gallon tank also. Plus it also depends on the source water because I know diatoms feed off of silicates which could be a sign of bad source water. Are you using a rodi system?

 

[Larry101]

They all look good, I would maybe dip it then place it lower in the tank then just observe it.

Would coral Rx work?

 

[Larry101]

Or should I use peroxide on just the skeleton?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Did you start the tank from new ? If so then I can’t see the tank being cycled in a few days. Diatoms will go eventually. How often do your water changes ?

I’ve been doing 1-2 times a week depending on how fast the water gets dirty.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I agree. That is a pretty big bioload for a 13.5-gallon tank also. Plus it also depends on the source water because I know diatoms feed off of silicates which could be a sign of bad source water. Are you using a rodi system?

Yeah it’s rodi water

 

[MrDLHughesY]

Would coral Rx work?

Yeah

 

[MrDLHughesY]

I’ve been doing 1-2 times a week depending on how fast the water gets dirty.

And how much water are you changing each time ? Twice a week is too much, I would say a 10% 1 a week. What is your filtration?

 

[Larry101]

Yeah it’s rodi water

Did you use dry or live rock?

 

[MrDLHughesY]

Or should I use peroxide on just the skeleton?

Personally I would just give it a full dip in rx then drop it to the bottom of the tank and observe but that’s just my 2c

 

[Larry101]

Personally I would just give it a full dip in rx then drop it to the bottom of the tank and observe but that’s just my 2c

I will do that and scub the fuzz of with a toothbrush and observe. I am just praying it is just in too high of light.

 

[MrDLHughesY]

I will do that and scub the fuzz of with a toothbrush and observe. I am just praying it is just in too high of light.

My guess would be light hopefully it bounces back

 

[Sharkbait19]

Did you use dry or live rock?

Live rock and live sand

 

[Sharkbait19]

And how much water are you changing each time ? Twice a week is too much, I would say a 10% 1 a week. What is your filtration?

It’s usually 10% weekly. I’ve only done twice a week when sand clogged my return pump. The filtration is just stock filtration with a sponge filter containing carbon and biomax.

 

[MrDLHughesY]

It’s usually 10% weekly. I’ve only done twice a week when sand clogged my return pump. The filtration is just stock filtration with a sponge filter containing carbon and biomax.

Have you took the foam out of the stock pump ? Also for sand to be blocking it up you flow must be causing your sand to be moving through the water column also I would look to plug the hole in the false wall so all the water passes through the the overflowed and your filters.

 

[Larry101]

It’s usually 10% weekly. I’ve only done twice a week when sand clogged my return pump. The filtration is just stock filtration with a sponge filter containing carbon and biomax.

I would recommend getting an intank media basket and run filter floss. It would help especially with the bioload from all of the fish.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I do plan on upgrading the filter media, just not immediately.

 

[Easy Reefing]

Nice fluval !

 

[Larry101]

Nice fluval !

Thanks! Hey I love your YouTube channel btw.... your fluval looks amazing

 

[Easy Reefing]

Thanks! Hey I love your YouTube channel btw.... your fluval looks amazing

Thank you ! Appreciate it

 

[Larry101]

Wow, it's been around 3 and a half months ago since my last update, so I think it's time for another one.

Problems I Faced​

Throughout these past few months, I have faced quite a number of problems. On a good note, my euphyllia all bounced back except one. I concluded that my lights were a bit too high for the euphyllia so I dialed them back even more. In the middle of September, my female clownfish also perished due to ich and my tank has been running fallow to this day since, I think I am going to buy my next fish from TSM aquatics since they quarantine. I also faced a battle with gha that lasted around 1 and a half months. Here's how I got rid of the gha: I dosed vibrant twice a week for 2 weeks which really stunted the gha's growth and I was also manually removing as much as possible every 5 days. Then my corals started to look really horrible probably because vibrant was stripping all of the nutrients from the algae and the corals. So I had to dial it back and then the gha came right back. Then, I also started to get dinos so I knew I had to take more drastic measures. I finally beat both the dinos and gha by getting 4 trochus snails, doing a 4-day blackout, dosing microbacter 7, dosing Dr.Tim's waste away, dosing vibrant, and using this cheap UV sterilizer from amazon. When I took off the black garbage bag after the 4-day blackout 95% of the gha was gone and there wasn't a sign of dinos to be found. Both of which haven't come back within the next month and a half.

New Livestock​

I have gotten some new corals including a long polyp green toadstool colony (from corals.com), a 10 pack of zoas (from reef lounge usa), clove polyps, a yellow goniopora, a candy cane colony (from divers den), and some gorgonians (from KP aquatics). Unfortunately, my alveopora died due to lack of light (had it in a horrible spot and it never opened up quite like it did in the lfs) and my female clownfish also died due to an ich outbreak (I currently have no fish).

New Problems​

As of right now, I have seen aptasias hear and there, but every time I do I simply use lemon juice and then use a turkey baster right away to suck the remnants of the aiptasia out. I have only seen 3 baby aiptasias throughout the last 2 months. A very recent problem is that my goniopora has looked really really good and opened up even more than it had in the lfs, but 2 days ago I did a water change and it hasn't looked the same. I tested my phosphates and nitrates and they were a bit low (probably because I don't have any fish in the tank at the moment) so I fed all of more corals the past 2 days reef roids in hopes that the gonipora will open up like it used to. Other than that my take has been cruising since I got rid of the dinos and gha and I think my tank's parameters are really starting to stabilize and the tank is settling in.