This is my very first saltwater tank. I decided to go with a nano tank so I can get a feel for it before going all in on a bigger tank.
Fluval Evo 13.5 gallon AIO
Stock pump
Fluval M50 heater
Inkbird ITC-308s heater controller
Fluval PS2 Protein Skimmer
Intank chamber 2 basket
Sicce voyager nano 1000
Hygger mini wave maker 1600
Fluval marine 3.0 light
BN-Link 6 socket Wi-Fi smart power strip
Caribsea Arag-Alive sand
Caribsea Aragonite
Dry live rock
Pacific Ocean boxed water
The initial setup was fairly quick and using the boxed ocean water made it easy since it’s a nano tank and didn’t need much. I put in the sand with a layer of aragonite on top since I noticed the sand was super fine and didn’t want it blowing around. I wanted the benefit of the live sand for a bio filter. Thinking back I could have done it a bit different tho, maybe not so thick for this size tank.
I chose to set it up with the pump and heater in the first chamber on the left, the media basket in the middle chamber, and the skimmer in the right chamber. I also used the plug that came with the intank basket to plug the lower intake hole.
I mounted the heater controller and the wave maker controller on the end to try and keep things neat. I also tried to manage cables the best I could. Disregard the displays, they don’t show correctly through the camera.
I upgraded the light to the Fluval marine 3.0. I chose this because I wanted to keep the hood and it fit well.
I also went further by cutting a notch in the hood on the right side to make it fit better.
Altough not pictured I setup the smart power strip with the app on my phone so now I can switch off each piece of equipment for maintenance. Better than trying to pull plugs when needed.
My water parameters seem stable so far, not fluctuating much. I’m keeping the tank around 78 degrees. During the setup I also added Bio Spira but that’s it. Trying to do some research on what’s best to start with as far as livestock goes.
Tank parameters the last several days.
High Range pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5
Calcium - 360
Carbonate Hardness - 196.9
Phosphate - 0.2
Salinity 1.025
I’m testing with the API saltwater and reef test kits.
I’d love to hear any suggestions.
Fluval Evo 13.5 gallon AIO
Stock pump
Fluval M50 heater
Inkbird ITC-308s heater controller
Fluval PS2 Protein Skimmer
Intank chamber 2 basket
Sicce voyager nano 1000
Hygger mini wave maker 1600
Fluval marine 3.0 light
BN-Link 6 socket Wi-Fi smart power strip
Caribsea Arag-Alive sand
Caribsea Aragonite
Dry live rock
Pacific Ocean boxed water
The initial setup was fairly quick and using the boxed ocean water made it easy since it’s a nano tank and didn’t need much. I put in the sand with a layer of aragonite on top since I noticed the sand was super fine and didn’t want it blowing around. I wanted the benefit of the live sand for a bio filter. Thinking back I could have done it a bit different tho, maybe not so thick for this size tank.
I chose to set it up with the pump and heater in the first chamber on the left, the media basket in the middle chamber, and the skimmer in the right chamber. I also used the plug that came with the intank basket to plug the lower intake hole.
I mounted the heater controller and the wave maker controller on the end to try and keep things neat. I also tried to manage cables the best I could. Disregard the displays, they don’t show correctly through the camera.
I upgraded the light to the Fluval marine 3.0. I chose this because I wanted to keep the hood and it fit well.
I also went further by cutting a notch in the hood on the right side to make it fit better.
Altough not pictured I setup the smart power strip with the app on my phone so now I can switch off each piece of equipment for maintenance. Better than trying to pull plugs when needed.
My water parameters seem stable so far, not fluctuating much. I’m keeping the tank around 78 degrees. During the setup I also added Bio Spira but that’s it. Trying to do some research on what’s best to start with as far as livestock goes.
Tank parameters the last several days.
High Range pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5
Calcium - 360
Carbonate Hardness - 196.9
Phosphate - 0.2
Salinity 1.025
I’m testing with the API saltwater and reef test kits.
I’d love to hear any suggestions.
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