My first ever tank- Fluval EVO 13.5

[kiteski14]

My first attempt at having a reef tank. I've had the tank for about 3 weeks. I'm going on a vacation this week so I'm holding off on any fish or additional livestock until I get home on Sunday.

So far I have...

Fluval EVO 13.5 Tank
Stock filtration
Stock pump
Stock lighting on a Fluval light timer
13lbs of live rock
100W heater
Thermostat
BRS ATO (I just got this today and set it up)
2 small blue legged hermit crabs and an astraea snail (I picked these up yesterday)

As I mentioned, this is my first tank, so based on the pictures if there's anything that you see that I should be doing different, please let me know. The temperature is typically 80-81, I had just set up the ATO and it put in some RODI water, so that's why the temperature is reading a bit lower.

Ideally I'm hoping to have a pretty simple tank, I'd like to get two clownfish, a goby and an anemone and then a couple of soft corals. My current goal is to give this my best effort and not go overboard and try and make it so a year from now I have a clean thriving ecosystem.

I plan on doing 1 gallon water changes every Monday. If I need to, I'll up the size of the water change. I'm trying to do this on a budget, so I'm trying not to upgrade everything. I'd love to get away with the stock filtration if possible. Has anyone on here used the stock filtration for extended periods of time and had success?

I'm looking forward to sharing my progress on here and looking forward to all the great advice and feedback I'll receive.

A week from now, the real journey begins when I start adding some fish to the tank.

 

[Katrina71]

I think if you want a nem, wait until your tank has stable parameters for at least 6 months. Start with a very small pair of clowns to let your rock's bacteria build up to the bioload demand.

 

[Katrina71]

Nice start! Btw, your temp should be around 78.

 

[kiteski14]

Nice start! Btw, your temp should be around 78.

Oh okay, good to know! I thought I saw on here that in order to have any corals it has to be above 80 so I was trying to just get used to keeping the temperature I plan on using once I get corals. Thanks for comment about holding off on getting an anemone. Is it harder to get the clown fish to host the anemone if I get them at such different times?

 

[kiteski14]

I was also wondering if the snail and 2 hermit crabs should be good on feeding on the live rock for the week that I'm gone. I don't see all that much algae, I do start to see some getting onto the sand, but they haven't left the rock since I put them in yesterday.

 

[Katrina71]

Clowns are funny. They may never take to your nem. If you want to try something earlier, I'd suggest a 3 head frogspawn.

 

[smirkis]

great start. i have the same tank and i love it. maybe look at pulling the sponge in the middle chamber and get a intank media basket (or DIY one with egg crate) for the 1st and middle chamber. You can move the heater to the 3rd chamber if it'll fit with the pump. you can use marine pure bio balls in one of the basket chambers. and add filter floss at the top of the 1st chamber.

i filled my middle chamber with marine pure balls. then added the intank basket to chamber 1 with floss up top and a fuge with chaeto below it. all my gear is in the 3rd chamber with the return pump. i'd also look at changing your light over time. i had a nem under the stock light my first year and it eventually just basically melted into nothing. I've had the AI PRIME for a while now and everything in my tank is 100x happier including my new nem and all my frogspawn/hammers

just some ideas

 

[Bontchimuz]

Can you share the exact model of the fluval light timer please? I am in the market for one. Love the set-up!

 

[kiteski14]

Can you share the exact model of the fluval light timer please? I am in the market for one. Love the set-up!

Yup it's the Fluval A3977 Digital LED Dual Lamp Timer, here's a link to it on amazon.

I'm still not sure if I like it or not, but I did find out how to get the light to turn completely on and off (for some reason it only worked on input 2, input 1 would not allow me to set the moonlight to 0%, while input 2 would).

I'm not entirely sure if the lights are dimming throughout the day to reflect sunrise and sunset, but I'm hoping that's the case. I'll know later this evening as I tweaked it a bit last night.

 

[kiteski14]

Tank update:

Yesterday I did my first water change, it was 1.5 gallons. I tested and ammonia and all other levels were good. I have noticed that this algae has started to build on the sand and a bit on the glass. I'm going away for a week and I'm hoping that this algae doesn't take over the tank when I am gone. Should I do a larger water change before leaving? Is this natural so early on? I have also noticed quite a bit more activity from the 'hitchhikers' that came in on my liverock, I'm assuming that is a good thing. It's been two weeks and I hadn't seen them much at all until the last couple days which now they are coming out and exploring the rocks.

I'm planning on adding two clownfish and a goby when I get back from my trip, and hold off on adding corals a bit until the tank gets used to having the new livestock.

I love getting feedback so if anyone has any advice before going on this trip it'd be appreciated. thanks

 

[DidYouSayReefer]

Some algae in the beginning is very normal. Only add one fish a month so the bacteria can keep up. You probably don’t need a water change unless you’ve fed the tank. Do one when you get back before you add you first and then do them weekly.

 

[kiteski14]

I just got back from my week long vacation and came back to a tank with quite a bit of algae. The snail and two hermit crabs are still well and alive. The first picture is from right when I got back. I've since cleaned the tank and did a two gallon water change. I did water tests this morning and nitrite and nitrate levels are both reading zero, as well as ammonia. I think my tank is ready for fish. I'm heading to the local fish store later today and hoping to pick up two small clowns.

On the bright news, the ATO seemed to work perfectly when I was gone, but the algae growth was alarming. Should this be a concern right now based on the pictures or is this amount of algae normal in a new tank?

 

[kiteski14]

Tank Update

Just got back from the LFS and picked up two ocellaris clownfish, a fire shrimp and two more snails. I just added them to the tank and they seem to be adjusting well. Excited to start this journey with some fish after being patient for the last 3 weeks.

I plan on getting some soft corals in a week or two, as well as a goby.

 

[kiteski14]

UPDATE

Not too much to update here. The fire shrimp was apparently pregnant and ended up having thousands of babies, the clownfish loved it and I think ate just about all of them. I'm not sure if some are left in the filtration but the tank has cleared. The day after it molted, I removed that from the tank. Since then, one of the clownfish appeared to have itch, it had a lot of white spots all over it. Since then I've fed it more than usual and it seems like it has gone away. Besides that the algae has begun to subside, and the snails are doing a great job of cleaning up the tank. Planning on adding some corals this weekend!

I upgraded the return pump to a SIICE .05, I haven't noticed too much of a difference for water movement, but from what I've read and reviews, it's a lot better than the stock pump.

 

[kiteski14]

UPDATE

Well unfortunately, my two clownfish died within a day of another after about two weeks. I'm not sure of the cause, I believe it may have been ICH.

I did have a bit of an algae problem which I did a two day blackout and it completely fixed it. I've been able to clean up the sand with my weekly water changes.

Since then I focused mostly on corals for two weeks and just got another clownfish in the tank. Right now everything appears to be doing good.

I'm not sure if I will need to feed the corals independently or if they will be able to survive off the waste of the livestock (I'm hoping that's the case).

Fingers crossed this clown does better than the last.

 

[Malifry97]

Nice Tank! Also, where did you get your live rock? And what hitch hikers did you get? One more thing, That sand looks to large for the YWG. you generally want finer sand for them. just keep an eye out.

 

[kiteski14]

Nice Tank! Also, where did you get your live rock? And what hitch hikers did you get? One more thing, That sand looks to large for the YWG. you generally want finer sand for them. just keep an eye out.

I got the live rock at my local fish store, it's much more dense than I wish it was, at the time I didnt know any better. I got some amphipods and a brittle starfish.

The sand was recommended by the LFS. The goby is a juvenile, so I'm hoping it's not an issue. It has tunneled under the rock where it likes to hide out.

 

[vetteguy53081]

If I may chime in, You are stocking very quickly and I urge you to halt and take some time to enjoy your tank. There are nutrient, light and bacterial requirements and your tank currently is thriving- Not seeded.
Your tank at 13.5 gals is limited for stocking and you are approaching stocking limits . There are many frag shows and holiday sales to enjoy and save some room for a few finds at these shows.
Tank looks nice , I must say !!

 

[Malifry97]

I got the live rock at my local fish store, it's much more dense than I wish it was, at the time I didnt know any better. I got some amphipods and a brittle starfish.

The sand was recommended by the LFS. The goby is a juvenile, so I'm hoping it's not an issue. It has tunneled under the rock where it likes to hide out.

it looks healthy so just keep an eye out. and the brittle stars a great little critter

 

[kiteski14]

If I may chime in, You are stocking very quickly and I urge you to halt and take some time to enjoy your tank. There are nutrient, light and bacterial requirements and your tank currently is thriving- Not seeded.
Your tank at 13.5 gals is limited for stocking and you are approaching stocking limits . There are many frag shows and holiday sales to enjoy and save some room for a few finds at these shows.
Tank looks nice , I must say !!

Thanks. I am done stocking this for awhile. The only other thing I plan on adding is a royal gamma a couple weeks down the line. After that, I'd love to just sit back and watch this tank grow. I'm keeping up on my water changes and plan to do so every week, hoping it all works out, I know I need to be a bit more patient