My fluval evo 13.5

[gabrielw94106]

Hey documenting for the future to look back on. Currently I have a stock evo 13.5 with the heater they recommend and a hydor 240 gph wave maker with a jebao sw2 on the way as on now. With CaribSea’s arag alive reef sand 10 lbs and 10 lbs of saltwateraquarium.com dry money saver reef rock. I have a pair of clowns and a gsp frag in right now. New coral arriving tues day will update then.

 

[gabrielw94106]

tank lights are off i understand low image quality will update in the am

 

[alpburakozbay]

Nice setup. Why is dry rock preferred over live rock? Why live rock is not preferred? Is this just the prefer or is there another reason?
I think dry rock shape is better to live rock (maybe wrong).
I talked too much sorry... I follow this setup, have a nice day.

 

[Trylobyte]

Nice setup. Why is dry rock preferred over live rock? Why live rock is not preferred? Is this just the prefer or is there another reason?
I think dry rock shape is better to live rock (maybe wrong).
I talked too much sorry... I follow this setup, have a nice day.

My thoughts on why dry rock is preferred is for a few different reasons. For one, the cost is significantly lower than what you would pay for live rock. Two, most of what people are calling "Live Rock" today, is really just "cycled rock" as real "Live rock" has to be collected from natural reefs. Third building on the second, it keeps natural reefs from having all that precious rock from being collected. And last but not least, real live rock can come with a host of things you don't actually want in your tank like pests, nuisance algae, etc.

To the OP, nice setup! How long has the tank actually been going? If you just started it I would definitely wait on adding more until you get past the initial cycle and photoperiod. Just to make sure your parameters are stable and you can hurdle over that first set of diatoms and whatever algae may take hold, and give you time to set up a clean up crew.

 

[JoshO]

Dry rock is a safer option for new reefers imo. It comes free of potential pests and is lower cost. Live rock harms the reefs in our oceans, and often live rock is as stated above, cycled dry rock.
Dry is also easier to aquascape and helps put an emphasis on patience, something we all need to learn!

I'm with @Trylobyte here, you need to wait for some form of stability (usually minimum of 4 months in) before adding corals, to make sure you're not going to run into issues as easily! If you're adding corals before this point and having a full photo period immediately then get some vibrant on hand to start dosing should you get an algae outbreak (very likely)

 

[gabrielw94106]

My thoughts on why dry rock is preferred is for a few different reasons. For one, the cost is significantly lower than what you would pay for live rock. Two, most of what people are calling "Live Rock" today, is really just "cycled rock" as real "Live rock" has to be collected from natural reefs. Third building on the second, it keeps natural reefs from having all that precious rock from being collected. And last but not least, real live rock can come with a host of things you don't actually want in your tank like pests, nuisance algae, etc.

To the OP, nice setup! How long has the tank actually been going? If you just started it I would definitely wait on adding more until you get past the initial cycle and photoperiod. Just to make sure your parameters are stable and you can hurdle over that first set of diatoms and whatever algae may take hold, and give you time to set up a clean up crew.

Ive had the tank set up for a week and some change and used turbo start. Definitely have been keeping an eye on my tests and will not be adding anymore fish for a whole as the tank will mostly be a coral tank! I believe Im actually getting my first wave of diatom algae right now loll

 

[gabrielw94106]

Dry rock is a safer option for new reefers imo. It comes free of potential pests and is lower cost. Live rock harms the reefs in our oceans, and often live rock is as stated above, cycled dry rock.
Dry is also easier to aquascape and helps put an emphasis on patience, something we all need to learn!

I'm with @Trylobyte here, you need to wait for some form of stability (usually minimum of 4 months in) before adding corals, to make sure you're not going to run into issues as easily! If you're adding corals before this point and having a full photo period immediately then get some vibrant on hand to start dosing should you get an algae outbreak (very likely)

From most of the research i was doing the people at reef builders were saying that you actually don’t need to even cycle for most corals. If I do end up having problems ill have my buddy with a frag tank hold onto the frags for me for a while. Thanks for letting me know !

 

[JoshO]

From most of the research i was doing the people at reef builders were saying that you actually don’t need to even cycle for most corals. If I do end up having problems ill have my buddy with a frag tank hold onto the frags for me for a while. Thanks for letting me know !

Corals don't need a 4 month cycle, but they need stability. Having help on hand is a great tool!

 

[gabrielw94106]

Corals don't need a 4 month cycle, but they need stability. Having help on hand is a great tool!

Ah ok makes a bit more sense. Ill post more to the thread on Tuesday and I’ll actually update those pictures right now because I remembered theyre low quality. Thanks for the advice I appreciate y’all

 

[gabrielw94106]

Updated photos

 

[Trylobyte]

From most of the research i was doing the people at reef builders were saying that you actually don’t need to even cycle for most corals. If I do end up having problems ill have my buddy with a frag tank hold onto the frags for me for a while. Thanks for letting me know !

As @JoshO pointed out, the corals don't really need the 4 month cycle but the stability. You are bound to have some swings in your water chemistry just starting out. I know that we've all seen people stock to quickly and actually be successful, but it's still a risk on both the animal and your wallet. You also have to take into consideration the size of your tank which is 13.5 gallons, but with the rock and sand you're probably just sitting around 10-12 gallons, so those swings will essentially feel "concentrated" in your tank as you don't have the volume to dilute a spike in any parameter. That's also why its suggested to do 10%-15% water changes only per week even though most of your beneficial bacteria isn't in the water column, it's the change in the chemistry rapidly that does the damage to the inhabitants.

Anyways the tank looks nice, and I am looking forward to seeing your progress! Just thought I would say to keep an eye on everything a little more while the tank matures. As long as you're doing that, you shouldn't have any trouble!

 

[gabrielw94106]

D

As @JoshO pointed out, the corals don't really need the 4 month cycle but the stability. You are bound to have some swings in your water chemistry just starting out. I know that we've all seen people stock to quickly and actually be successful, but it's still a risk on both the animal and your wallet. You also have to take into consideration the size of your tank which is 13.5 gallons, but with the rock and sand you're probably just sitting around 10-12 gallons, so those swings will essentially feel "concentrated" in your tank as you don't have the volume to dilute a spike in any parameter. That's also why its suggested to do 10%-15% water changes only per week even though most of your beneficial bacteria isn't in the water column, it's the change in the chemistry rapidly that does the damage to the inhabitants.

Anyways the tank looks nice, and I am looking forward to seeing your progress! Just thought I would say to keep an eye on everything a little more while the tank matures. As long as you're doing that, you shouldn't have any trouble!

I totally agree with this. Ive been doing freshwater tanks for a bit and I understand they’re totally different but I will definitely continue the 10-15% a week and then to continue to test test test. Ill post updates as more pop up. I appreciate it !

 

[Trylobyte]

What kind of FW tanks do you have/had? I had quite a few setup before switching to this, but I downsized to just my 50 gallon planted community which is my favorite even above my old cichlid tank (though they had quite the personality lol). Anyways that 50 gallon is considered a "high tech" planted and houses schools of cardinal tetras, rummy nose tetras, candy cane tetras, bleeding heart tetras, neon tetras, peppered cory cats, 2 orange bristlenose plecos, 2 fire and 2 neon blue dwarf gouramis, 8 cherry barbs, and heap of cherry shrimp.

 

[gabrielw94106]

What kind of FW tanks do you have/had? I had quite a few setup before switching to this, but I downsized to just my 50 gallon planted community which is my favorite even above my old cichlid tank (though they had quite the personality lol). Anyways that 50 gallon is considered a "high tech" planted and houses schools of cardinal tetras, rummy nose tetras, candy cane tetras, bleeding heart tetras, neon tetras, peppered cory cats, 2 orange bristlenose plecos, 2 fire and 2 neon blue dwarf gouramis, 8 cherry barbs, and heap of cherry shrimp.

I have had a 40 long with it being more of a community tank planted and that stuff. My most recent project/projects are my Neocaridina and caridinia shrimp tanks which are sensitive to water (temp drop or rise or any chemistry problems) i really prefer the nano tanks though theres limited equipment for them that is considered high tech sometimes

 

[gabrielw94106]

My coral shipment arrived from @WWC got a piece from the spring sale. Corals have been dipped and acclimated and ill most likely be moving them to where they prefer throughout the week heres the lot. I apologize there is a diatom bloom in the midst clean up is on the way.

corals are: mystic grape favia, pumpkin eater chalice, halleberry zoas , fruitloop zoas, radioactive dragon eye zoas, GSP (for the back wall) , speckled leather, and pinkish anthelia. From here ill mostly be updating coral growth.

 

[gabrielw94106]

Hey thought i should do an update!
First thing: the clownfish did end up passing away. I think the amount of snails I put in did end up rise the ammonia levels too high.. but corals are looking great! I can tell growth from the photos! PS. Sorry for the tank looking ugly. Its lots better than before though.

 

[gabrielw94106]

I have been thinking about getting another light for the fluval but I am not exactly sure what to get. Does anyone recommend anything? I head the ai prime 16 or the 16 hd not sure the difference. On another note, the tank is actually starting to look good now. The algae is at an all time low and I really like how the tank is starting to look. Hopefully the halleberry zoa colors up but I think I will need to get the new light before that happens because I've had it for about a month w/ very little color coming back since they were shipped to me.
-Stay safe everyone

 

[gabrielw94106]

I am trying to see how I could Improve the filtration. I was planning on an intank basket on chamber 2 and then a refugium in the first chamber then upgrading the heater and pump. Ill attach some photos of the coral growth I realize the photos were necessarily clear last time.

 

[gabrielw94106]

Photos:

 

[gabrielw94106]

Finally purchased and set up the AI Prime 16 HD and recently moved the aquascape to allow more room for coral noticed better coloration very slightly from the lights so far. Will keep updated