Neto's Fluval Evo 13.5

[Netotek]

I thought I would start a build thread and hopefully I can get some good tips since this is my first swing at the bat in saltwater aquariums.

I have only done freshwater tanks in the past, 5,10, and 20 gallon tanks. I had a Betta in one, a Pea Puffer in another, and a mixed community tank (mainly Mollies). I had several generations of fish that were born and died in the community tank, which felt rewarding having fish breed and then having those fish grow up and breed and so on. Then it all went down hill. Betta died (natural causes, she was 4 years old), Pea Puffer got sick and no manner of treatment helped him and he passed (he was 2 years old). And to top it off 2 months later, the new HOB filter I purchased for my remaining tank caught fire when no one was home and almost burnt my house down. I was unable to save the community tank and I called it quits and got rid of all aquarium stuff. It's been 4 years since then.

Fast forward to May 2023, I bought a small fountain for my desk and something bit me. I think the sound of water splashing gave me fond memories of past tanks and the urge to try a saltwater tank. I've always wanted to have a clownfish in an aquarium, and I thought that If I'm going to try again then why not try for a clown. Imagine my surprise when I find out that it's one of the easiest of the saltwater fish to take care of. I want to correct any mistakes I've made in the past with previous tanks and really nail this tank from the get go.

Item list so far:
TANK
Fluval Sea Evo 13.5 Gallon

QT TANK
Fluval Sea Evo 5 Gallon

SALT
Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Sea Salt
Seachem Vibrant Sea Salt

LIGHTS
Stock Fluval Evo lights

FILTER/CIRCULATION
Stock Fluval sponge block and biofilfter and carbon bag
Stock Fluval Evo pump

HEATING
2 x Fluval M50 submersible heater
1 x Small topfin heater preset to 78F
Inkbird ITC-306A wifi temp controller

SAND/ROCK
10lbs of Caribsea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink Sand
11lbs of Dry Marco Rock for the aqua scape

TESTING
Coralife digital thermometer
Seachem Ammonia Alert
Salifert tests (pH, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates) - I know I need more tests but I'm not sure which ones, and I'm debating going for the Hanna checkers or just get the Salifert. But again I'm not sure which tests I will be doing all the time.
Coralife Deep-Six hydrometer
Hanna salinity/temp tester

ACCESSORIES
Nano Flipper Float
Seachem Prime
MicroBacter StartXLM
Seachem Reef Glue
Gravel Vacuum

STILL NEEDED
Wifi Power strip
AI Nero 3
LED light dimmer/timer
Protein Skimmer - I kind of want to get the stock one and be done with it, but I'm looking at the Bubble Magus Mini Q/Icecap K1 Nano. and then I would modify the lid or buy a 3d printed one.
Tunze Osmolator 3152
Seneye Reef Monitor
RO/DI system
Eheim 1000 pump

STOCKING PLAN
1 x Clownfish ( I plan on keeping a single one because I really dont want to have them breeding, and from what I read once they start you can't really stop them)
1 x Yellow Clown Goby
1 x Helfrichi Firefish
1 or 2 Sexy Shrimp

CUC
1 x Turbo Snail (more if needed)
2 x Cerith Snails (more if needed)

**CUC maybe**
1 x Fighting Conch (Not entirely sure about this one because of the size. My LFS says the ones they get grow up to 2" so I would think It would work. I like them tho so I'm looking into them. (My LFS link for reference: https://www.jlaquatics.com/fighting-conch-small.html ) and I think feeding algae wafer to them would be ok as long as I can keep the water ok)
1 x Tuxedo Urchin (Also not sure because of size, I could go either way with this one honestly)

My big thing with the CUC is that they don't breed, I've had snail explosions with freshwater tanks in the past and it was a pain.

Tank was started on May 13 and the cycle started on the 15th
I did a fishless cycle where I ghost fed marine pellets and dosed with the MicroBacter Start XLM
Ammonia spiked
Nitrites spiked
Nitrates spiked
Salinity has been 1.025 the entire time
pH has been stable at 8.1

Once the cycle completed, I did a 50% water change and tested my Parameters for good measure. And after the water change and my salinity is at 1.028. Boooo. I had been using the hydrometer which I found to be inaccurate after I bought the Hanna salinity checker. Salinity was actually at 1.023. I adjusted the salinity to 1.025 and let the tank settle overnight.

Tested the water again the next day, everything checked out so I went to my LFS and got my clownfish. His name is Kevin, named after the big blue bird in "Up"

He's been in the tank for a week now and seems to be doing well. No visible signs of illness, eating well, and swimming well. Seemed like he was a bit unsure the first day or so, but now he's swimming around casually checking things out. It was rewarding seeing him use the aquascape kinda like how I had envisioned and tried to plan for.
I've kept the lights off for the most part. I'll turn them on for a few hours during feeding time, I figure he can see the food better.
I find it interesting how his behavior changes with the light that is on.
With ambient room lighting he just chills out swimming around checking things out all over the tank and he looks relaxed, and he'll just hang out in front of the cave. I really like this because he's front and center for optimal viewing.
When the tank lights are on he's more alert, swims a bit with more purpose, and he hangs out by the overflow and he looks downward a bit, like he's trying to sit on the back wall and he'll occasionally swim in the front.
When the lights go out, he goes to the "bed" he's created. He chose a corner of the tank and has moved a fair amount of the sand out to create a crater and he'll head there and sleep through the night.

I've been testing every day and the water parameters has been super consistent. None of the parameters have gone up or down, just stable, which I'm taking as a good sign (although I know it's still early). The main thing I've been fighting with is the temperature. Since I've started turning the lights on for brief periods of time (2-4hours) and the stock light is heating the water a little bit. Also with the Fluval M50 heater and the little dial on top is impossible to adjust properly. So I bought the inkbird heater controller, should be here today sometime and hopefully that will help keep the temp more consistent.

I went out yesterday and picked up the Fluval Sea Evo 5 Gallon for my Quarantine Tank. I like that it's the smaller version of the display tank, and for the livestock that I'm planning to add to the display tank I think the size will be fine since I plan on going slow and one fish at a time. Plus when I start adding corals, the stock light should be good enough for the corals while they are in QT. I know I don't have a lot of space between the two tanks but I am going to take steps to avoid cross-contamination. I have limited space and I figured any QT is better than no QT. By my math I have to get this QT up and going right away so I can QT the inverts that I'm planning on adding next. I'm hoping that by keeping the lights off mostly, I'll be able to add the inverts before the tank explodes in algae.

Once I had everything in place I mounted the power bar to a board for now to raise it and create a permanent drip loop. I then did a bit of cable management to make things neat. I'm really liking how my little slice of reef is coming along.

THINGS I'VE LEARNT SO FAR
- I gotta do my research, I've learned a couple of things the hard way already. And there really is something to the "buy it once" theory
- Aquascaping is hard, and it's harder to do it underwater. Took some bad advice and filled the tank with water immediately to get the salt water mixed up in the tank itself before I even had the rock to scape with. But with resources like this site I was able to learn and ended up tinkering with it while it was cycling, and got it to a point where I'm really happy with it. I tried to account for flow, hiding places, overhangs, and potential spots for the corals to be placed with room for future growth.
-I'm in trouble. I'm a tech junkie and my wife says I'm happiest when I'm researching things. I have been endlessly watching youtube videos and researching all the fish and cuc.

I feel like my bank account will be emptying into this hobby fast. I feel like I will be upgrading a lot of this tank. I'll be adding to this thread as I go along.

If you made it this far, thank you I'll add some picture of the progress, The latest one is with the two tanks.

 

[Nick Steele]

I really like that aquascape you have going! Just one thing to be mindful on is how secure it is. I can’t really tell if you glue/epoxied the rocks together but if you’re adding a conch or even cuc in general I would secure the rocks with something to keep them from tipping.


Kevin is just doing what clownfish do btw especially in a new tank. They will explore in the “dark” until they are comfortable in the daylight and then it’s all over!

Have fun and go sloooooowwwwww! You’ll be happier in the long run.

 

[areohen]

Nice start. I started out with a fluval 13.5 and now i have a 25g peninsula and a 15g cube. I did have a conch in mine as well. You do need a slot of sand for it to roam. Which i see you do. Mine was very active and did a great job cleaning the sand and rocks. I dont know if that big rock in the middle is glued or epoxy down but my conch was pretty strong and would move things. You tank is still very new so at this point, i dont think you need a conch or an urchin for that matter. I would wait until your tank is more established.

Saltwater snails are harder to reproduce in saltwater tanks as opposed to freshwater. My cerith snails lay eggs all the time but they never hatch because either the fish will eat them or they will just get sucked up by the filter.

Some may say that having your QT tank so close to your display tank might not be the best thing to do because of the possibility of cross contamination but understandable if space is an issue.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Love the aquascape design!

 

[Netotek]

Thanks everyone for the compliments.

Yes, the aquascape has been glued down with generous amount of Seachem Reef Glue (Superglue?). I don't think it would hold if I picked up the middle rock and lifted it out, but I'm confident that it's solid. And I like the fact that people can't tell that it has been glued together. I glued some small pieces over the glue joints to hide the connections and make it look more nautral. The cave structure on the right is 7 different pieces. During the water changes I made sure to pour water over the areas that would de-stabilize the rock as a test, and it didn't move at all.

I'm glad that Kevin's behavior is normal, I can breathe a sigh of relief. For a bit I thought maybe the light was too strong and I should get the AI Blade so I can tune it better for him. I plan on making that upgrade but I was thinking I don't need that upgrade for a while.

I'm glad that snail breeding isn't as easy as freshwater. I like the snails just fine but not if they take over the tank in hordes.

The separation of the DT to the QT is not ideal I know. And cross contamination is a real concern, but space and location was a big issue and this was my best option. I bought the QT used so it actually came with a lot of duplicate items which I'll strictly used for QT only. I was also thinking of draping a sheet of clear poly anytime I need to do anything in the QT. I'm also debating getting a sheet of plexiglass to put another physical barrier between them but I'm not a big fan of that option.

And I will definitely take it sloow. my plan right now is to get the QT cycled and to QT the CUC team alpha (3 snails, 2 sexy shrimp). 45 days right? I don't want to infect Kevin with anything. Then once Team Alpha is in the display tank. I was planning on letting them all settle in for a month. After that, the Yellow Clown Goby would be next into the QT, then to the DT after the QT period.

 

[Netotek]

2nd week is in the books.
Water parameters are consistent and stable. Ammonia-0, Nitrite-0, pH-8.1, Nitrate-10, Salinity-1.024. I've been testing every day for two weeks and all parameters haven't changed at all.
I love the inkbird temperature controller. Since adding it, the temp has been consistent and I haven't had to mess with the heater at all.

The QT tank is cycling and hopefully will be ready soon. That way I can put the first round of CUC in QT. I have to do more research on QT's. My plan was to QT the inverts for 45 days but I spoke to someone at my LFS and they said that 72 days would be better for a CUC QT if I want to keep pests out of the DT. This seems like a really long time for a QT and the guy at the LFS said it wasn't worth the time and effort to QT. Se said that the fish in the store are all captive bred so the risk is low. and he said that the Inverts are kept in invert only systems with no fish so doing a QT on them would be overkill since the risk is very low. That being said I'm scared to death about introducing some sort of pests to the DT. So more research is where I'm headed.

I messed up and it's shaken my unsteady confidence. I've been feeding Kevin the clown once a day, 5-6pm, and he's been good and happy. Except on two occasions, I dropped in the brine shrimp, he went for it, and then he freaked out. Swimming all over the tank super quick and erratically, and for a brief moment like he was having a seizure. Shortly after that, he chilled out, regained composure, and cautiously picked at the food that was still in the water column. My best guess is that I gave him brain-freeze, maybe the food wasn't defrosted enough?
I have his food portioned out in the little sauce containers that come with take out (washed out, then soaked in vinegar, rinsed out, washed with vinegar gain, and rinse out one last time and left to dry.) Then I take 5ml of tank water and swoosh it around until it all separates.
I switched him to pellets which I had been supplementing his brine shrimp with but broadcast feeding doesn't work well with the pellets. 25% goes straight into the overflow, 50% of it sinks too fast for him to get it so he only gets maybe 25% of the food. And he'll occasionally try going for the pellets on the sand. I tried a feeding ring and 95% of it sank and he ate maybe 5%. I'm thinking of going back to the brine shrimp and just defrost it longer and more thoroughly, but I worry about the nutritional value. I don't know, I think I'm just freaking out. I keep watching him and sometimes he swims kinda on his side like at a 45 degree angle and I'm immediately looking up symptoms and maybe he has parasites? I'm probably overreacting. Most of the time he's upright and alert and fine. I see nothing on him, and he looks happy.

I have the light on for 2-3 hours around his feeding time to help him see the food better. But no more than that yet since I'm not ready for the CUC to go into the tank yet since they haven't even started the quarantine yet. And I don't want to have an algae explosion.

For my next steps I'm thinking of getting the Seneye Reef. I loathe the Salifert ammonia test. I want to check PAR before I get any corals. And my father in law just had his freshwater tank crash, and he figures it was the o2 levels that he didn't catch in time. I don't have a way of measuring o2 right now and the Seneye seems like the best option for me. I briefly debated going for an Apex but I think that's overkill for my Fluval 13.5.
The other item on the horizon is the Tunze 3152 nano osmolator ATO or the ramp timer that works with my lights. Evaporation on the DT is minimal but on the QT, evaporation is pretty bad.

Thanks for reading, and as always I welcome any and all advice

 

[Netotek]

Another week down and so far so good, and things are coming along.

Kevin the clown has been exploring more and I think he's a happy little clownfish. He's taken to making craters in the sand all over the place. First it was the corner he sleeps in, and now there's 3 more in different areas where he likes to hang out. He's also found a different cave hiding spot and he's declared it his bed, so he no longer sleeps in the corner of the tank. And according to my research, he's trying to host the black wall of the tank. At least it's near the front so he's always right there, he's of course created another crater in the sand there as well.
Water parameters have been consistent and I've been doing weekly 10-15% water changes.
Temp: 77.1
Salinity: 1.024
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 10

And we have started to see some growth as well. There is a brownish algae or something growing on all the rocks and sand. in little spots at first and it's filling in slowly. I only have the lights on for an hour around feeding time to help slow it down. I figure it's diatoms, and I'm hoping my CUC will take care of it once they get in there. Apparently QT'ing my inverts is more or less a waste of time, but it makes me feel better, so I'm going through with it.

The QT tank is still in it's cycle, I figure it'll be another week or so until it is ready for the first team of CUC members. Alpha Team will consist of 1 fighting conch, 1 tuxedo urchin, 1 nassarius snail, and 1 astrea snail. I added a glass container with sand and the tank is looking more and more ready.

 

[Aeiyr]

Another week down and so far so good, and things are coming along.

Kevin the clown has been exploring more and I think he's a happy little clownfish. He's taken to making craters in the sand all over the place. First it was the corner he sleeps in, and now there's 3 more in different areas where he likes to hang out. He's also found a different cave hiding spot and he's declared it his bed, so he no longer sleeps in the corner of the tank. And according to my research, he's trying to host the black wall of the tank. At least it's near the front so he's always right there, he's of course created another crater in the sand there as well.
Water parameters have been consistent and I've been doing weekly 10-15% water changes.
Temp: 77.1
Salinity: 1.024
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 10

And we have started to see some growth as well. There is a brownish algae or something growing on all the rocks and sand. in little spots at first and it's filling in slowly. I only have the lights on for an hour around feeding time to help slow it down. I figure it's diatoms, and I'm hoping my CUC will take care of it once they get in there. Apparently QT'ing my inverts is more or less a waste of time, but it makes me feel better, so I'm going through with it.

The QT tank is still in it's cycle, I figure it'll be another week or so until it is ready for the first team of CUC members. Alpha Team will consist of 1 fighting conch, 1 tuxedo urchin, 1 nassarius snail, and 1 astrea snail. I added a glass container with sand and the tank is looking more and more ready.

The brown is likely diatoms. It's honestly the 3asiest part of the ugliest to deal with and it will either be beginner food for DropTeam Alpha or vanish on its own before they even get there. Either way, Bravo team will never have to know about it, lol.

You're at the same stage I am on my IM 14g peninsula. But I'm actually about to do a bucket cycle on some new rock because I hate my rockscape (yours looks great and I'm jealous) once I cycle new rock in the bucket for a month I'm gonna replace my whole little scape. I have two mocha clowns, approx 2.5 and 2 inches named Macchiato and Wiggy (short for White Girl's Instagram)

Tank looks great man!

 

[Barncat]

Looking awesome, I love your archway!

 

[Netotek]

First month complete!
I had a bit of a scare when I saw 3 white spots on the clownfish. After looking it up online and asking my LFS, turns out I need not worry about it. He never stopped eating and was never scratching himself against anything. The only change I made was to switch him from Brine shrimp to Mysis Shrimp. And he seems to really like the mysis shrimp.
That being said, I am aggressively looking for a UV sterilizer to add to the system. I have earmarked the Coralife 5W inline unit (). Based on the measurements I figure that I can fit it between my return pump and the return nozzle in chamber 3.

I've picked up a couple things. Bought a used RO/DI system for $40, added new filters and stuff for another $110. It's a pretty good unit, with TDS meters, auto flush thing, booster pump and a pressure gauge. Took me about 45mins to make 7 gallons. It feels good being able to make water instead of buying water at the store. Although I will admit that after I created water I was nervous about using it since I really have no way of knowing if the system worked. But I made saltwater with is and did a water change and everything is ok.
He also sold me a Hanna Alkalinity checker, and after using it I knew what I had to do. I ran out of Nitrate Salifert tests, So I upgraded to the Hanna Checker for Nitrates and Ammonia. I hate the Salifert Ammonia test, I can never tell the color and the margin for error is so low. The new Hanna tests are fantastic, even though they take a bit longer to do the test.

My QT is still not ready. Ammonia went up and back down, Nitrate went up to 2, down to 1, and now it's back up to 4. I guess I just have to wait. I've dosed MicroBacter START XLM a few more times through the process to help. I just have to wait and be patient I think. I don't really have many more options than that. I have no experience in it but I would've thought that it was going to go faster than the bigger tank.

The brown stuff in the tank is spreading, and it's starting to produce tiny bubbles. I've been siphoning the sand lightly and it does a good job of keeping the sand pretty clean. I'd like to add team Alpha CUC but I want to do the QT for them. The folks at my LFS said that it can't hurt to QT the CUC but that ultimately its a waste of time. Likeliness of the inverts bringing in a disease or parasite is really small. All the fish they have are captive bred, and I've been visiting this store once or twice a week now for the past couple months and I have yet to see a sick fish of any kind.
I didn't quarantine the clownfish, and it came from the same water that the inverts are in right now. All that being said, the thought of not QT'ing the CUC makes me feel uneasy.

I'm hoping that the brown stuff is Diatoms like people say, and that the tank will be ok to wait for Alpha team to be added.


Next purchases I'm looking at are;
- Coralife 5W UV Sterilizer
- Tunze 3152 Nano Osmolator
- Seneye Reef monitor

 

[OverwhelmedOrchard]

I’m just starting my first reef tank, Fluval Evo 13.5, and posts like this give me lots of hope. Love your rock scape!

 

[Netotek]

Another week down, and everything is going well.

My Fluval Evo 5G QT finally finished the cycle today (took four weeks to the day). I did a 50% water change, and went to my LFS to get the first round of inverts.

Picked up a Tuxedo Urchin, and 4 Nassarius Snails. They didn't have any Fighting conches right now but they had a Wilson's Conch. I was very tempted to buy it, but I don't know anything about it so I resisted the impulse buy.

After acclimation, they are in the QT tank. I hope they do well over the next while. I guess I'll test the QT daily for a while to make sure it's ok. I fed the tank some brine shrimp and it was super cool to see the snails come out of the sand to eat. Now it's the countdown until I can put them into the DT.

Here's some photos of the new inhabitants and a short video of my clownfish eating.

 

[Netotek]

So it's been a while so here is another update.

Kevin the clown has been in the DT now for 12 weeks (3months) and is doing well. He eats well and I think he is growing, but I can't really tell as I never measured him or anything.

The Diatoms in the DT went away on it's own. Color me surprised, I thought that I was going to have a big problem but on it's own the rock cleared right up. There is some on the back wall still but that's it. I have slowly started to run the lights for longer as well. I really like looking at the tank and I figured that when I add the CUC, they should have something to clean up.

On that front, I only have the Tuxedo Urchin (Spike) left. He's been in there for 7 weeks (49 days), and since my temp is at 78F mostly, I'm going to keep him in there for the 75day fallow period. Then he will be the first friend for Kevin in the DT. I'm pretty excited to finally move him into the DT.
For some reason unknown to me, all 4 of the Nassarius snails died in the QT. Water parameters have been consistent and ok, I've been keeping up with water changes of 15-20% a week. The only thing I can think of is that the QT tank was too new and they were stressed, and as such they didn't eat enough. Honestly, I might have underestimated what it would take to have the snails, and I didn't create an environment for them to thrive. Hopefully now that the QT has been established for a bit, the next round of CUC will fair better.

Moving forward, my QT is doing well I think. There are so many copepods everywhere, and the rock has started to all turn a bit darker and I think it looks a bit purpley. I don't know what's going on but I'm taking it as a good sign and going with it.

I've been testing once a week at this point as everyone seems to be happy and doing well, and I've been keeping up with water changes once a week as well.

Much like everywhere else, we've been dealing with hot weather. I was going to be at work for longer than usual and I was worried about the tank getting too warm. I set the A/C in the room and figured that the heater would keep the tank at temp. Then while I'm at work (3 towns over) I got an alert on my phone from the Inkbird temp controller (ITC-306A), that the heater had been running for too long (I had it set for 6hours). Much to my surprise, I was able to adjust the heating time and see the temp in real time. I guess I didn't read the instructions well enough, but I didn't realize that I had remote abilities to control the tank! Absolutely fantastic, now I check the temp all the time when I'm at work and I can rest at ease.

Next steps, I have to think about what I will be adding to the tank next. Once Spike goes into the DT, I want to get something into the QT so it can quarantine for a while and then go into the DT. I feel like I'm ready to add corals but I'm not ready to start managing the magnesium, alk, calcium, and phosphates. So I think I'll be adding fish or CUC, but I am still undecided.

Here are some photos of the tanks today.

 

[Netotek]

So it's been a couple weeks, and I've made a couple changes.

I had an algea bloom shortly after my last post, and I figured that it was because I missed a week with my 10% water changes. So naturally I over-reacted and did a 25% water change, and I felt good about myself. That created a bit of a bacteria bloom I think because the water got pretty cloudy. And algea was slowed down only for a couple days and it came back (I was cleaning the glass every 12hours).
So now I was worried about O2 levels in the tank. I don't have any way of testing O2, I think pH is related to O2 but I don't know exactly. So I went out and bought a Protein skimmer (Fluval PS2 - Made for the Fluval Evo 13.5). I had read that the protein skimmer will increase O2 because of the bubbles it creates. I felt that with the protein skimmer in the tank I can rest assured that the O2 in the tank is good. I know there are mixed reviews on this particular protein skimmers, but I found it on sale and I still wanted to use the back part of the lid if I could. But so far so good! it is pulling stuff out of the tank. It takes a bit of faith and testing to get it right, but it's working and that's great. It does however produce a fair amount of noise, I don't really mind it but I would greatly enjoy having the noise gone. I run it constantly, perhaps I'll put it on a timer so it runs while I'm at work instead.

I also ended up adding an ATO to the tank as well. I picked up a Tunze Osmolator 3152 for the QT, and turns out it didn't fit. I might make some modifications to the sponge to make it fit but in the meantime I added it to the DT.

it barely fits. I have the 50w heater in that chamber as well, and I think it is now full.

I used an OXO cereal container and drilled a couple holes for the pump and it fits well. Evaporation in this tank is minimal, but with the protein skimmer I have noticed a slight increase. And now that I have an ATO I feel comfortable in changing the lid and upgrading the light. Although I don't plan on making those upgrades for a while yet.

After all that, the cloudiness gradually went away after 2-3 days, and the algae has been disappearing as well. As of today it's basically gone, I think its because of the skimmer.

Next will be Spike the Tuxedo Urchin, he is at 65days in QT. Fallow period is 76 I think, so he's almost ready to go into the DT. I'm looking forward to adding him to the DT and levelling up the tank.

Here are the tanks today.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

So it's been a couple weeks, and I've made a couple changes.

I had an algea bloom shortly after my last post, and I figured that it was because I missed a week with my 10% water changes. So naturally I over-reacted and did a 25% water change, and I felt good about myself. That created a bit of a bacteria bloom I think because the water got pretty cloudy. And algea was slowed down only for a couple days and it came back (I was cleaning the glass every 12hours).
So now I was worried about O2 levels in the tank. I don't have any way of testing O2, I think pH is related to O2 but I don't know exactly. So I went out and bought a Protein skimmer (Fluval PS2 - Made for the Fluval Evo 13.5). I had read that the protein skimmer will increase O2 because of the bubbles it creates. I felt that with the protein skimmer in the tank I can rest assured that the O2 in the tank is good. I know there are mixed reviews on this particular protein skimmers, but I found it on sale and I still wanted to use the back part of the lid if I could. But so far so good! it is pulling stuff out of the tank. It takes a bit of faith and testing to get it right, but it's working and that's great. It does however produce a fair amount of noise, I don't really mind it but I would greatly enjoy having the noise gone. I run it constantly, perhaps I'll put it on a timer so it runs while I'm at work instead.

I also ended up adding an ATO to the tank as well. I picked up a Tunze Osmolator 3152 for the QT, and turns out it didn't fit. I might make some modifications to the sponge to make it fit but in the meantime I added it to the DT.

it barely fits. I have the 50w heater in that chamber as well, and I think it is now full.

I used an OXO cereal container and drilled a couple holes for the pump and it fits well. Evaporation in this tank is minimal, but with the protein skimmer I have noticed a slight increase. And now that I have an ATO I feel comfortable in changing the lid and upgrading the light. Although I don't plan on making those upgrades for a while yet.

After all that, the cloudiness gradually went away after 2-3 days, and the algae has been disappearing as well. As of today it's basically gone, I think its because of the skimmer.

Next will be Spike the Tuxedo Urchin, he is at 65days in QT. Fallow period is 76 I think, so he's almost ready to go into the DT. I'm looking forward to adding him to the DT and levelling up the tank.

Here are the tanks today.

Glad to see the algae is gone!

 

[Netotek]

So I'm six months in, and I feel like I'm going sooo slow. Currently I have Kevin the Clown and Spike the Urchin in the tank, and they seem to be doing great.

Here's a bit of an update:
About a week after adding Spike to the DT, the water became real cloudy. And on top of that the sand and glass were being covered in this brown dusty stuff. I think it was Diatoms, I'm not sure. But the fix was to stop doing water changes as per the great people here on R2R. After about a month the water cleared right up and copepods appeared. the nitrates started to get high so I started on the water changes again.

I was planning on adding a Yellow Clown Goby next but I'm headed out of town for a week and I didn't want to have my house sitter responsible for the QT as well as the DT. So I decided to hold off and wait until December to get the next inhabitants to be QT'd. I hope they will be in stock otherwise I'm waiting for a while.

And with the trip looming I find myself wondering about monitoring solutions and the ability to act in a timely fashion. It's a decision between the Apex and a Seneye. I like the Seneye and I think it might be a better fit for a tank this size. The Apex seems like overkill for such a small tank, I don't look forward to trying to find space for the probes (especially since I don't want anything in the display), and it's so expensive. Well, they're both expensive, but what isn't in this hobby?

I know it's not much, but I love just sitting here and staring at the tank. Dreaming of the corals and livestock I want to add. I'll end off with some pictures of Kevin the Clown, I think he looks good but I have no base of reference. What do you think?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

So I'm six months in, and I feel like I'm going sooo slow. Currently I have Kevin the Clown and Spike the Urchin in the tank, and they seem to be doing great.

Here's a bit of an update:
About a week after adding Spike to the DT, the water became real cloudy. And on top of that the sand and glass were being covered in this brown dusty stuff. I think it was Diatoms, I'm not sure. But the fix was to stop doing water changes as per the great people here on R2R. After about a month the water cleared right up and copepods appeared. the nitrates started to get high so I started on the water changes again.

I was planning on adding a Yellow Clown Goby next but I'm headed out of town for a week and I didn't want to have my house sitter responsible for the QT as well as the DT. So I decided to hold off and wait until December to get the next inhabitants to be QT'd. I hope they will be in stock otherwise I'm waiting for a while.

And with the trip looming I find myself wondering about monitoring solutions and the ability to act in a timely fashion. It's a decision between the Apex and a Seneye. I like the Seneye and I think it might be a better fit for a tank this size. The Apex seems like overkill for such a small tank, I don't look forward to trying to find space for the probes (especially since I don't want anything in the display), and it's so expensive. Well, they're both expensive, but what isn't in this hobby?

I know it's not much, but I love just sitting here and staring at the tank. Dreaming of the corals and livestock I want to add. I'll end off with some pictures of Kevin the Clown, I think he looks good but I have no base of reference. What do you think?

Glad to see your fish and urchin are doing great!

 

[8-Bit Reefer]

Looks great! Love the rock work! Best of luck going forward!

 

[PizzaIan339]

I’ll be following along seems like a cool build! I just started me first tank as well! What coral are you planning to add first and when?

 

[lil sumpin]

Following! Slow and steady wins the race