NEW NANO TANK BUILD. Fluval evo 13.5!

Bsnow0053

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Alright so here it goes....again.

This isn't my first tank but I have not been in the hobby for about 5 years now. My first tank was a 75 gallon with a 20long under for the sump setup I built. Now long story short it was up and running good everything was going smooth had some good livestock some corals were growing and about 7-8 months in had a mishap with filling a 5 gal bucket, ended up forgetting it overflowed and neighbors under me in an apartment were not happy, needless to say I was looking for a new home for me and the fish...the fish I ended up giving back to my local fish store after they repeatedly told me they can give me anything for them, I said I just want them to not die haha. They took them back and the one guy was really cool since I was there like everyday. He told he was gunna keep my yellow eyed tang in his home tank and if I ever wanted it back he would bring it to me...it was an awesome lfs.

So anyway here I am 5 years later in a different lfs and seeing all these nano tank setups and how it's the new thing now and alot of people are starting to do them. So since my last tank I said I'd never do one again until I owned my own house and could build one in the wall. Don't have my own house have a bigger apartment though and saw these tanks and couldn't pass it up. Kinda wish I woulda went with a different tank, but honestly this one is perfect to start getting back into it.

So heres what I'm working with so far more to come down the road but for now we only have a few upgrades and this is what I'm going to work with for alittle to see how things go.

Tank is fluval evo 13.5
Stock return pump
75w orlushy heater from Amazon
Stock light
1x 10lb live sand
I think almost 13 pounds of live rock which I guess may be to much but I don't think it looks to crowded and the one rock is just super dense

Upgrades
Intake media basket chamber 1
Hygger mini wave maker ( love it )
2 waterproof led strips with 18 leds 9 white 6500k 9 blue actinic under the hood with the stock light

Think that's pretty much it for the tank setup.

I started the cycle on 03/27/2021 and I started it with Dr tims one and only which I already had a bottle of fritz-zyme turbo start 900 in the mail being shipped but couldnt wait so I ended up adding that as well figured couldn't hurt since both are pretty hard to overdose. Anyway so I've been testing daily and I feel like my ammonia never got that high highest ready from the api master test kit was 1.0 ppms which I feel isn't high enough but the cycle has somewhat started cause the nitrites have hit .5 ppm as of today and nitrates are up to from my eyes 5 possible even 10 ppms so seems like it's going through the nitrogen process, correct me if I'm worng. I'm still pretty much a beginner just like to get addicted things and search the web for hours about anything and everything.

So anyway this is going to be my nano tank journal and any criticism is completely welcome, sometimes the truth hurts but it's also a learning process. So please tell me if I'm doing something wrong or any ideas are completely welcome as well. Hope everyone enjoys!!

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Bsnow0053

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Just some more picks of the setup
 

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Bsnow0053

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You’re going to love that little Evo!
Great setups!
Welcome to the forum “Fellow Evo Keeper”!
Thanks brotha can't wait...but be patient is what they say but I'm not sure if I should throw a raw shrimp in too. Not sure if my cycle really started..I'm stuck
 

Mike from TN

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Give it some time. Meanwhile, look around here on the forum and absorb all the info you can. Lots of very knowledgeable people here that are always willing to help out. Check out others build threads for ideas also.
 
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Bsnow0053

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Give it some time. Meanwhile, look around here on the forum and absorb all the info you can. Lots of very knowledgeable people here that are always willing to help out. Check out others build threads for ideas also.
Thanks man will
 
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Bsnow0053

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I have an evo myself! Get ready for algae.... it's coming soon. But when you get over it the tank looks really nice.
Haha yea been trying to keep my lights off all the time right now cause no livestock just to try to keep the bloom down when it starts but we'll see how bad it gets
 
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Bsnow0053

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So I ended up throwing a shrimp in lastnight to see if maybe I could jump the ammonia up again and to get some different bacteria then what was in there, today my parameters were definitely higher so I had a pretty big spike in nitrites and nitrates ammonia is only up alittle if any so looks like I'm on the right track as of now so we'll see how long it takes to go back down
 
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Bsnow0053

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Ok so wanted to just start this off by saying....shoulda went bigger.
Every day I just sit there looking at the tank thinking about what I want and its just to much for the little tank was going to buy a jbj 20gal rimless AIO but ended up going with this due to the fact it came with everything...little did I know so did the jbj. Which brings me to the update so I've gone and pretty much upgraded most of the stuff it comes with other then the light.

UPGRADES
-Intank media basket chamber 1
-Hygger mini wave maker
-2x 6w led bars 18leds 9 white 7000k 9 blue
-Waiting on sicce silent .5 should be here tomorrow
- 1 rfg on the stock return nozzle, probably going to just get a 1/2inch lock line rfg and run one bigger one
Also waiting on the ATO and the inkbird thermostat

So that's really it for the update, just got ammonium chloride from Dr tims because I think I messed it up by putting one and only and fryz zyme turbo 900 and a raw shrimp. Took the raw shrimp out after one day ammonia was high and nitrites and nitrates have been sitting high ever since. The next day ammonia was back down to .25 but everything else was high. So going to just dose it with his directions and see where it goes.






PXL_20210408_024456638.MP.jpg PXL_20210408_024112779.MP.jpg PXL_20210408_024136659.jpg PXL_20210408_024059703.jpg
 
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Bsnow0053

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So just wanted to give alittle update on the tank, finally got it completely cycled getting everything down within 24 hours. Now my question is this morning and by that I mean 14 hours ago exactly pretty much I still had 1ppm nitrite and about 80ppm nitrate, now 14 hours later everything is reading zeros give or take.

Edit: nevermind I have about 40 ppm nitrates slightly higher maybe, found out I was doing the api liquid nitrate test wrong ;"newb" PXL_20210423_033016236.jpg
Took two test of nitrite and nitrate cause I didn't know if I messed something up or what but I have zero nitrates and I just don't know how? Now I did have little spots of diatoms popping up so I've been coving the tank with a towel during the day to keep all light out. Idk any advise would be cool!
 
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Bsnow0053

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Oh also I'll be sure to post pics tomorrow night after I get my pair of designer clowns that are coming in!!! Super excited
 
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Bsnow0053

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Couple pics of the new pair Darth and Padme

They are SA Fancy Snowflake Extreme w/ Bulletholes Super Blue bonded pair! Ordered them from CoralreefTN awesome customer service answer every one of my questions with 24hrs. PXL_20210423_191314259.PORTRAIT.jpg PXL_20210423_191455883.PORTRAIT.jpg
 

alpha199

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Welcome to the 13.5 family man!!! There are quite a few of us that have made posts on the 13.5 if you want ideas or want to learn our hard lessons.
 
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Bsnow0053

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Welcome to the 13.5 family man!!! There are quite a few of us that have made posts on the 13.5 if you want ideas or want to learn our hard lessons.
hahah yes brother ive seen alot of um! watching a bunch to be honest... but thanks man. i have like ocd and add when it comes to hobbys haha so i was on here months before i set another tank up getting ideas and seeing what i wanted to do and refreshing myself with everything.

so far so good, was getting a diatom bloom hard yesterday so did a 35% water change lastnight cleared up by this morning. doing about one a week so far!
 
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Bsnow0053

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So I do have a white spot on one of my clowns faces, the female to be exact. I've been really inspecting her the last two days not sure if it was just like sand or something but it's still there and not falling off so now I'm starting to get worried, and pretty sure my male has a parasite cause his poo has been white. So I already ordered some parizpro and some fritz fixick just incase.
It's the one spot on her face and not sure but almost looks like there could be a small spot on her back that I know I couldnt get with the camera but also looks like it could just be one of her scales messed up too

PXL_20210501_134547941.PORTRAIT.jpg
 
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Bsnow0053

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So I got a cuc a few days ago and they're all doing good keeping my tank clean. But I noticed on the one trochus snail *I think* has what looks like a small clam attached to it and also has like what I would say a mini volcano looking thing that pulses with a few like feather like tubes that come out of it, super cool just wondering if it's normal? PXL_20210502_121453991.MP.jpg
 
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