Neto's Fluval Evo 5G Adventure

[Netotek]

This Build thread is for my QT tank.

I started this tank in hopes of having a QT tank for my 13.5G Fluval Evo DT. And I have been learning more and more along the way. I started seeing brown stuff growing on the rocks in my DT, and I saw the need for a CUC in the tank. After hours of research I decided to set up a QT for everything that goes into the DT. My thought was that the smaller version of the DT would be cool so I picked up a used Fluval Evo 5 Gallon set up.

Even though the tanks aren't far apart I've been keeping separate tools for everything that goes into the water, and good protocols for cross contamination.

I added some live sand to a container since I saw something similar online and it made cleanup in between the QT's easier.

After about a month the tank finished cycling, and I went a got the first round of CUC.
1 Tuxedo Urchin
4 Nasarius snails
My plan is to keep them in the QT for 45 days to help eliminate any diseases that they may be harboring.

I've been dealing with cloudy water since adding the livestock. and I've tried a few things.
1. reduced feeding and changing the Nori more frequently - No effect
2. added more carbon to the return chamber - No effect
3. increased frequency of the water changes - Little effect
4. Added an air stone in case there was low o2 due to a bacteria bloom - No effect

a little more research online and I saw somewhere that a lack of rock could be causing bacteria to remain in the water column. So I did more research on adding rock to an established tank. I went out and got some rocks, smashed them to pieces and glued them back together. I enjoy aqua scaping more than I'd like to admit, and I spent the better part of a day and a half playing with my rocks.

Once I was happy with the scape, I soaked the rocks in RODI water for 2 days while I worked up the nerve to make this change to the tank. Once I was ready, I drained the tank of 80% of the water, then moved the inhabitants to the container holding the water. I added the aquascape, added the sand, then I filled up the tank with water. I took the opportunity to do a 15% water change during this process.

As you can see, it got a bit cloudy. I waited a bit and then added the inhabitants back to the tank.

Here is the tank the next morning (today)

And that's where we are. I lost 2 snails one of them didn't make it through the first acclimation process when I put them in the tank the first time. And the second snail died for some unknown reason. I have been testing consistently and water has ben good. I feed brine and mysis shrimp daily, and change the Nori every other day. So I don't think it's a lack of food. I'm hoping that by adding a sand bottom that the snails will have a better environment.

Honestly I hated how the tank looked before, and now that it has rock and sand I love it. And since it's going to be more of an observation tank, I wanted to have something more pleasing to look at. Once these guys go to the DT, I might do another round of CUC members or go with a second fish. That is some time away so I'm still thinking about it.

 

[blaxsun]

Looks great!

 

[Netotek]

So the whole process of adding sand and rock was super stressful. I was crazy worried that I was messing something up. But I am loving the results. The tank cleared right up, and it's much more pleasant to look at than what I had before.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

So the whole process of adding sand and rock was super stressful. I was crazy worried that I was messing something up. But I am loving the results. The tank cleared right up, and it's much more pleasant to look at than what I had before.

Love the aquascape design!!

 

[Netotek]

Unexpected.

I came home from work today, and as usual I check out the tanks, and lo and behold, I have copepods!

They are super tiny, hard to photograph, and I only have an old magnifying glass. I'm surprised. The tank is almost 2 months old (from when I added the saltwater). I haven't seen any sign of them in the DT which is slightly older (3months).

The Tuxedo Urchin (named him Spike) is doing well. He's been eating lots and moves around, exploring the aquascape.

The Nassarius snails on the other hand are struggling. They don't move around too much, usually stuck to the glass. I don't know if they're eating, when I feed they don't really do anything. The only thing I notice is that they're in different spots than the last time I looked at them. Gotta do more research, I didn't think they would be difficult to care for so maybe I dropped the ball a bit.

The Journey continues..

 

[Lebowski_]

Nice scape

 

[Netotek]

It's been a while so time for an update. Thank you everyone for the kind words on the tank, it means alot

First off, I lost the last two snails. Honestly, I don't know why. My main thought process is that the tank was not old enough or established enough to sustain inverts. From what I gather, almost no one qt's their inverts. So perhaps my approach to it needed to be different. I will do better next time.

Spike the Tuxedo Urchin is still here and he looks healthy, and eats lots. At this point he has been in the tank for 65 days, pretty soon he'll be transferred into the DT. I have to look to see if I can just move him over or if I need to acclimate him to the new tank. The saltwater between the two tanks is coming from the same source, salinity is the same, temp might be a little bit different (78 vs 77.1). I have a few weeks before the transfer to look into it.

I've been keeping up with the water changes, mostly. I like to do 10% weekly, but I let is slip one week and did a 20% change then. I like the copepods growing on the glass so I haven't been very stringent in cleaning the glass. I added a bag of rock into the tank with hopes that the pods will attach themselves to the rocks. Then, after the qt is over, I will add the rocks to the chambers in the DT and hopefully the pods will reproduce. Fingers crossed!

I've noticed about 2 cups of evaporation a day on this tank. So I went out and got the Tunze Osmolator 3152. but it turns out that the sensor is too big for the return chamber. I think that if I modify it to use a different magnet, it might work..
In the meantime I installed the ATO on the DT and I am researching other options.

Next steps for the tank will be figuring out the ATO situation, and I'll be getting a light controller soon as well. I will be going away a few times soon so I want to automate as much as I can before leaving the care of the tanks to the house sitter.
And I need to look at what Is going into the QT tank next, or if I can leave the tank empty for a bit before QT'ing the next additions. I was thinking of a clown goby, wilson's conch, and more nassarius snails. Can one QT fish and inverts at the same time? Or maybe I'll QT them separately.. not sure yet.

Here's some pictures of the tank today.