My journey so far... 13.5g evo nano

[dsayo]

Thought I’d share my 4 1/2 month journey for those who care to see how crazy this hobby can progress and evolve as you learn more!!! . I admit I may have moved a little quick at the beginning but lessons learned, right.

Setup:
-13.5G Fluval Sea
-Stock Lighting
-Protein Skimmer
-Wave flow maker
-InTank filter basket (chemi pure, purigen)
-Kent Reef Salt Mix
-Carib Arag-Alive Fiji Pink sand
-Dry Rock
-RODI water

Day 1: ahh the look and feel of a fresh new tank lol - had I known to put the rocks in before the sand, I would have. Or even just gone “bare bottom” (no sand) for the tank

Day 15: I know I’ve seen threads that you need to wait 5-6 weeks but I did use a cycle product (Stability Seachem) to help and tested parameters - I guess people have different experiences.

Added my very first saltwater pet (pair of clowns)

Day 30: Algae bloom. Was worried at first seeing so much algae but with research learned it was normal, however I also learned to switch to RODI water at this point. (Was using tap with a conditioner up until now). A couple snails and hermits added. I was obsessed with inverts for about a month. Lol. Unfortunately, the bigger clown bullied the smaller one to death.

Day 40: first taste of corals. Basically went to Frag store and asked for a beginner coral and they gave me a GSP, had I did research b4, I would’ve steered away. Beautiful corals, but spreads super quick and not ideal for my small tank. Also purchased from a private seller the following: utter zoa, tyree, mushrooms, candycane - I was fascinated by these as my first corals. Rescaped, as I learned u should put GSP on its own rock on an island. Lol

Day 70: Its growing! More rock added. Rescaped once I learned corals need specific placements. Another lesson learned had I knew from the start. Cleaner shrimp added. More corals (cpl zoas, Duncan, acans)

Day 90: At this stage, coral obsession is real... Reading R2R on a daily. Lol. Rescaped once again to fit new corals: a cpl hammers and zoas. Now testing calcium and alkalinity - understanding how important it is especially once you start invest $$$$ into these beautiful corals. Also replaced foam filter with media basket from inTank, another great move learned from R2R.

Day 140: current state as of the day of this posting. Even more corals added: frogspawn, hammer, favia and now I’m all about making a zoa garden on the left rock side.

Thanks for reading folks!!! Sorry for the long thread but hopefully this helps newbies know the trials and tribulations of starting this hobby. Key thing I learned, is research, regular testing and water changes .

Still a long ways to go but this journey seems so rewarding if you do it right.

Hope to share an update again soon.

 

[Brady4000]

You can also add this as a badge. So when people see your user name they can click on it and see your tank.


1. Click here to edit the link in your profile: https://www.reef2reef.com/account/account-details
2. Add the URL (link) of your build thread to your “R2R Tank thread Link”.
3. Save it, and you have the build thread contributor badge!

This was sent to me by one of the staff, while ago.

 

[dsayo]

You can also add this as a badge. So when people see your user name they can click on it and see your tank.


1. Click here to edit the link in your profile: https://www.reef2reef.com/account/account-details
2. Add the URL (link) of your build thread to your “R2R Tank thread Link”.
3. Save it, and you have the build thread contributor badge!

This was sent to me by one of the staff, while ago.

Ah thanks! Appreciate the tips.

 

[Brady4000]

Lol delete. Thought I was in my build thread for a second...

 

[dsayo]

Update

Day 160: still holding up pretty well. Is there a need to upgrade any of the stock lighting/pumps? Have some algae growth on the sand and the rocks showing more brown dusting (diatoms?). Keeping up with water changes to eradicate the algae. Got some more zoas for the garden and also another frogspawn.

Thinking i need another fish. Any ideas?

 

[dsayo]

Day 175: finally caved and got the AI Prime HD light and I’m glad I did. still on the lookout for more livestock in the tank. But haven’t found a suitable friend for my evil clownfish.
Using the David Saksby setting on acclimation mode for 30 days. We’ll see how this goes.

 

[Twoddler]

Nice post, tank looking good

 

[dsayo]

Nice post, tank looking good

Thanks mate. Just checked yours out and looking good.

 

[MaxTremors]

I have a question for you. I set up a tank in the end of Jan (so about 4 months old). Its a 28 gallon nano-cube, but it’s pretty similar in terms of filtration. I used dry rock, but seeded with a good amount of live rock (probably 20 dry and 10 live). Anyway, around the end of month 2 and into the beginning of the fourth month, my nitrates just kept getting higher and higher despite big water changes every week and towards the beginning of the fourth month, twice a week (like 70ppm at the highest). This was despite light stocking and light feeding (four small fish feeding a tiny bit once a day). I too was using chemipure elite and purigen and while my nitrates were high, phosphates were undetectable. I’ve kept tanks for years and something just didn’t seem right. So after doing some research, I read that GFO (which is in chemipure elite), especially in nano tanks, can too efficiently get rid of phosphates, which denitrifying bacteria need to process nitrates into nitrogen gas. So, after removing the chemipure, slowly but surely my nitrates started coming down (not to the point that I wouldn’t need to do water changes, but down to an acceptable level, <20ppm). Anyway, I’m curious if you’ve had any of the same problems running chemipure elite? For now I’m just running the purigen and may add some GAC, or maybe chemipure blue, but for now just letting things level out.

 

[dsayo]

I have a question for you. I set up a tank in the end of Jan (so about 4 months old). Its a 28 gallon nano-cube, but it’s pretty similar in terms of filtration. I used dry rock, but seeded with a good amount of live rock (probably 20 dry and 10 live). Anyway, around the end of month 2 and into the beginning of the fourth month, my nitrates just kept getting higher and higher despite big water changes every week and towards the beginning of the fourth month, twice a week (like 70ppm at the highest). This was despite light stocking and light feeding (four small fish feeding a tiny bit once a day). I too was using chemipure elite and purigen and while my nitrates were high, phosphates were undetectable. I’ve kept tanks for years and something just didn’t seem right. So after doing some research, I read that GFO (which is in chemipure elite), especially in nano tanks, can too efficiently get rid of phosphates, which denitrifying bacteria need to process nitrates into nitrogen gas. So, after removing the chemipure, slowly but surely my nitrates started coming down (not to the point that I wouldn’t need to do water changes, but down to an acceptable level, <20ppm). Anyway, I’m curious if you’ve had any of the same problems running chemipure elite? For now I’m just running the purigen and may add some GAC, or maybe chemipure blue, but for now just letting things level out.

I’m currently using chemi pure blue and not elite so I can’t speak to that experience. With blue, seems to be going great. I’m fairly new to this hobby so I can’t tell you exactly what may be causing your high nitrates. It’s a good sign it went down after removing the chemipure. How much of it are you using? I buy the smaller prepackaged ones and it’s made for “nanos”.
I actually have a problem with too low of nitrates in my tank (too clean) as I only have one clownfish and a shrimp. So I am heavy handed when it comes to feeding time in order to have that healthy nitrate balance.
What’s your livestock? What test kit are you using? I’m asking questions that most would ask to determine root cause. Maybe someone else can chime if you provide more details.

 

[Ricksreeefs]

Cool! Love nano builds. Following!

 

[dsayo]

Day 182: The 6 month mark. Got me some SPS corals (birdsnest and monti). hopefully they grow well!

 

[dsayo]

Day 258: been a while since I’ve posted. Here’s my 8 1/2 month process so far

 

[James_O]

Insane progress man, good job!!

 

[dsayo]

Insane progress man, good job!!

Thanks man! Looking back it’s crazy to see how quick some of these corals grow.

 

[dsayo]

Pics of the new tank members:

Goby chilling on some gsp:

Royal Gramma:

 

[Twoddler]

Its come on really well, well done. Im still debating wether to get the AI light, but I just like the closed canopy

 

[dsayo]

Its come on really well, well done. Im still debating wether to get the AI light, but I just like the closed canopy

The AI light makes such a difference both in terms of looks and growth of the corals. I wouldn’t go back. Only downfall without the canopy is way more evaporation, so topping up more frequently. Also ended up having to spend to get a mesh lid - the goby jumped out too many times.

 

[dsayo]

Day 299: Here’s my 10 month progress. It continues to grow!! Had to re-scape slightly to accommodate some new corals. Can’t see it but currently growing through a outlaw hair algae outbreak - using Vibrant (on week 3 of dosing and seeing some improvement!)

Always wanted to share a top-down shot.

 

[Elise_]

Awesome tank! Look forward to following along! My fluval evo is just 6 months old, think I need to make a delayed build thread! I love reading and watching everyones tanks change!