Fluval Evo 13.5

alpha199 · Mar 25, 2021

I got the tank on sale at Petco when I originally went in to work on a betta tank for my desk. However, you know what they say once you go saltwater, you never go back. Since my time in the army with my 55g FOWLR Moray Eel tank in my barracks room, I've had saltwater tanks. My wife wasn't too happy about the purchase, but she understands the struggle. Anyway, I started the tank on the 14th of March, 2021. I have 2 Current USA pro lights, the Fluval mini protein skimmer (absolute pain in the butt to tune), aquamai wifi wavemaker (the worst app I've ever seen), seneye reef monitor, Eheim 1k return pump (repositioned and no longer cooking my tank), and a crappy aqueon heater which will be replaced eventually. Posted below are my tank parameters so far and a pic of the tank.

Oh, please ignore the banana; it is a stupid game we play where we hide the banana in the house.

GoReefin · Mar 26, 2021

Looking like you're off to a great start

Cajun_Reefer · Mar 26, 2021

Welcome! Great little tank! I've got one as well! And that's a cool little spreadsheet thing you've got going on. I'll have to get my techy-husband to make me one like that!

alpha199 · Mar 26, 2021

Here's a link to it, just delete all the stuff and start fresh!
Update: I ordered a red macroalgae for the display since I don't plan on doing a fuge. I ordered it off of algaebarn.com and I also purchased their cycle start stuff. It should all get here on the second. I'll post more when it gets here.

N.Sreefer · Mar 26, 2021

Where'd all these fruit flies come from? Guess you lost the game dear.

alpha199 · Mar 26, 2021

N.Sreefer said:
Where'd all these fruit flies come from? Guess you lost the game dear.

I don't get it? Oh, i'm dumb. It's a fake banana.

Cajun_Reefer · Mar 26, 2021

Sweet! I just opened this up on Google drive and saved it! I'll start fresh Monday with my next water change!! Thank you for that! I was handwriting things back when I first started my tank, but I'd rather have it on my computer!

ShepherdReefer · Mar 26, 2021

Tanks looks great.

alpha199 · Apr 1, 2021

Update the macroalgae have arrived, and I attached them to a couple of loose rocks. I have plenty of leftovers still in the jar from AlgaeFarm. I may or may not add more later. The tank should be done cycling any day now. The pictures don't do the Red Ogo justice; it is very bright in the tank.

alpha199 · Apr 10, 2021

Update! Here are the stats so far. I learned that the PH stat on the Seneye reef monitor is very inaccurate. So I stopped relying on it and went back to testing with the API kit for now. I have managed to locate the only fish I plan to have in the tank! A Yellow-spotted Scorpionfish!!! I'm picking him up in the morning. My goal is to mimic the reef conditions it lives in naturally. The Red Ogo has died because I have too much nutrient export and not quite enough import so I'm hoping after adding the scorpion I'll be able to support the Red Ogo again. I'll go ahead and place another order for some. The tank parameters seem to be fine so I'm leaving the now White Ogo in the tank until the new stuff gets here. Anyway thanks for reading!

alpha199 · Apr 16, 2021

UPDATE! Daxter, the Yellow-spotted Scorpionfish, has been doing great in the tank. We decided to name the damselfish Jackson. It looks like my tank is starting to hit the "ugly phase". I'm noticing patches of brown algae. I will likely expand my clean-up crew as it is currently limited to 3 hermit crabs. In the center of the tank is some Caulerpa Mexicana or Mexican Fern algae. It seems to be doing great, and I think it looks excellent in the tank. That rock also came with some zoas on it. At least I think they are zoas. They're some type of polyp coral. Anyway, that's the update for today. Stay posted for more updates.

alpha199 · May 1, 2021

Hey guys! Sorry, it has been so long since my last post (hopefully someone else is reading this). I will post my parameters and pics tomorrow.

What's new: I added a D-Flow chamber 2 basket that properly flows the water through the entire basket. It seems to be working as intended. I purchased the plug for the hole in chamber 2, but it both didn't fit, and the new chamber 2 basket plugs the hole on its own anyway. I moved the rocks around and updated my ATO from the piece of trash I made myself. I had added a scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp (I don't remember when but it wasn't today, just for the record). I also added 3 trochus snails which have eradicated the dinos from the sand, glass, and rocks. I also attribute the Destruction of the Dinos TM to the dosing of OceanMagik from @AlgaeBarn . This is a solid product, and the tank is going insane right now. The Mexican fern, as pictured in my previous post, has branched out to insane levels, and I'm going to end up taking it all off the rock and planting it in the sandbed to have like a kelp forest kind of feel. That's everything that's new.

Inhabitants updates: Daxter is taking frozen krill (when he isn't a primadonna), and when he decides he's too good to eat frozen food like the rest of us, I take a ghostie out of the death row ghost shrimp breeding tank I have set up, and he eats that, talk about picky. My cleaner shrimp Jacques (... my wife picked the name she's a die-hard Disney fan) is doing great. I originally added him because I noticed what appeared to be ich on the damselfish. Within a minute of being in the tank, he pulled the damsel in and started cleaning him, and in just a day or two, he was totally cured. Hooray for natural solutions!!! The damsel (Jackson) is still just a damselfish doing damsel fish things. The hermits like to climb on the Mexican fern macro and live life on the edge, then fall to the sandbed below.

The crisis: Today was absolutely insane, and I'm delighted my tank is on my desk, or this would have been a tragic day and not just a chaotic one. While installing the D-Flow chamber 2 baskets I followed the instructions and turned off the return pump and ATO. After installation, I felt that the water level was steady and plugged the ATO back in. The water level was very much not steady, and the ATO proceeded to do its job and dumped a ton of water into the tank to the point that the display part of the tank was quite literally bulging with water. I immediately unplugged the ATO and tested the salinity. It was around 1.022 or something. All I really saw was that it wasn't what I wanted and that it was low and went in to try not to let my tank die mode. I siphoned out about a gallon or so of water, tested the salinity again, and added 1/2 tsp of reef salt into the return pump chamber. I let it sit for an hour and hoped for the best. I tested the salinity again, and it had returned to 1.024, exactly where I wanted it. I got lucky this time; please learn from my mistake if you add the chamber 2 basket (which I 10/10 recommend as the current filtration method of the 13.5 is useless), give it some time before you turn your ATO back on.

Anyway, that's the update for today; as I said, I'll add pictures and post my flowsheet tomorrow. Let me know what you think!

GHOSTLY · May 1, 2021

What light is that

alpha199 · May 1, 2021

GHOSTLY said:
What light is that

I'm running 2 CURRENT USA Orbit Marine IC PRO. I love them they are fantastic. They have a full 24 hour cycle and you can tune the brightness to your suiting. I tested the par levels forever ago with my seneye and while I probably could use more than soft corals I do not intend to. I will just fill it with your basic GSP and zenias etc.