New to saltwater, any help advice?

[BluAqua4]

Hello everyone brand new here and to the saltwater hobby,recently set up a Fluval 13.5 Evo and I’m just beginning to cycle the tank.I would appreciate any suggestions to the tank concerning cycling,tank upgrades, CUC suggestions,and care requirements.I would like to down the road possibly have a few corals and probably a pair of clowns and a good CUC (beyond that I’m not sure if I can keep anything else without overpopulating the tank so any suggestions I’d appreciate it as well)

Tank Specs:

-10lbs of dry Caribsea rock
-Approximately 2 - 2 1/2 inches of Caribsea sand
-Stock lighting and lid for now (I know once I upgrade the light I basically need to upgrade the lid ofc as well so I’m just holding off on it for now)
-Filteration: Intank chamber 1 in order Intanks filter floss,some coarse filter floss,Marinepure gems. Intank chamber 2 just has 1lb of Caribsea rock in there as of now.
-I have a 75w heater in the last chamber set to 79 degrees and an upgraded Sicce Syncra 1.0 return pump set to the max atm not sure if it needs to be tweaked but I’d appreciate advice on it if anything.
-Saltwater is sourced from my lfs at the moment
-Doing water test with the API master saltwater kit for cycling(Any suggestions on what would be a good kit upgrade?Without breaking the bank too much)

Again this is my first saltwater tank,I have experience with freshwater but this is a brand new playing field so I’d appreciate any advice.Eventually plan on upgrading the return pump’s nozzle heads to a VCA dual 1/4 in as well unless you guys have better suggestions.Thanks for any help in advance!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Well done, very good for a first SW tank! My suggestion is to add a small powerhead inside the tank to help with water movement, get salifert tests to go forward, at least nitrate, phosphate and alkalinity to start. Get a rodi machine as top priority, avoid buying LFS water, who knows how often then clean their filters, we have to control our own water quality.

Good luck!

 

[Sophie"s mom]

ALL of @mojo Rising's advice! The R/O system alone will go a long way! Definitely a powerhead, I would do 2. One aimed at the surface for gas exchange, and another for flow in the tank. Looks great for a first tank for sure.

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef and to saltwater! That's a great start, good luck with your tank!

 

[Tinnerito]

Hello everyone brand new here and to the saltwater hobby,recently set up a Fluval 13.5 Evo and I’m just beginning to cycle the tank.I would appreciate any suggestions to the tank concerning cycling,tank upgrades, CUC suggestions,and care requirements.I would like to down the road possibly have a few corals and probably a pair of clowns and a good CUC (beyond that I’m not sure if I can keep anything else without overpopulating the tank so any suggestions I’d appreciate it as well)

Tank Specs:

-10lbs of dry Caribsea rock
-Approximately 2 - 2 1/2 inches of Caribsea sand
-Stock lighting and lid for now (I know once I upgrade the light I basically need to upgrade the lid ofc as well so I’m just holding off on it for now)
-Filteration: Intank chamber 1 in order Intanks filter floss,some coarse filter floss,Marinepure gems. Intank chamber 2 just has 1lb of Caribsea rock in there as of now.
-I have a 75w heater in the last chamber set to 79 degrees and an upgraded Sicce Syncra 1.0 return pump set to the max atm not sure if it needs to be tweaked but I’d appreciate advice on it if anything.
-Saltwater is sourced from my lfs at the moment
-Doing water test with the API master saltwater kit for cycling(Any suggestions on what would be a good kit upgrade?Without breaking the bank too much)

Again this is my first saltwater tank,I have experience with freshwater but this is a brand new playing field so I’d appreciate any advice.Eventually plan on upgrading the return pump’s nozzle heads to a VCA dual 1/4 in as well unless you guys have better suggestions.Thanks for any help in advance!

Welcome to the hobby!! I'm relatively new aswell so let's learn together! Your tank looks great though. A word of advice from me would be to try not to take too much advice from your local reef shops, and just keep in mind although they often are trying to help you, they also just want you to buy stuff. So just watch out because I fell victim to a lot of terrible reef shop advice! The best way to learn in my opinion is simply experience, and adjusting your tank conditions according to its health.

 

[kevgib67]

I highly recommend watching on YouTube BRS 52 weeks of reefing. It gives you step by step advice on setting up and maintaining a reef tank and is very detailed.

 

[00W]

Good advice given above!
Only thing I can say is just move slowly with what you do and have a good time doing it!
Welcome Welcome to R2R!

 

[BluAqua4]

Well done, very good for a first SW tank! My suggestion is to add a small powerhead inside the tank to help with water movement, get salifert tests to go forward, at least nitrate, phosphate and alkalinity to start. Get a rodi machine as top priority, avoid buying LFS water, who knows how often then clean their filters, we have to control our own water quality.

Good luck!

Thank you for the suggestions!When it comes to the powerhead any brand recommendations?Same thing for the RODI machine?

 

[BluAqua4]

ALL of @mojo Rising's advice! The R/O system alone will go a long way! Definitely a powerhead, I would do 2. One aimed at the surface for gas exchange, and another for flow in the tank. Looks great for a first tank for sure.

Thank you! Any suggestions for which powerheads to go for this size tank?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Tunze makes a very nice smaller powerhead. They can be a little pricier than some, but Tunze is awesome equipment.

 

[BluAqua4]

Welcome to the hobby!! I'm relatively new aswell so let's learn together! Your tank looks great though. A word of advice from me would be to try not to take too much advice from your local reef shops, and just keep in mind although they often are trying to help you, they also just want you to buy stuff. So just watch out because I fell victim to a lot of terrible reef shop advice! The best way to learn in my opinion is simply experience, and adjusting your tank conditions according to its health.

Thank you and ofc, for now the only reliance I have on them is for rodi water but once I figure out what Rodi system would be good for my situation it’ll be great.I definitely want to be more self reliant as I have a freshwater tank as well and it would be so much easier doing water changes.But I’m learning nonetheless so far everything I’ve put together is research I’ve done,setups I followed,and skimming through forums.

 

[BluAqua4]

Tunze makes a very nice smaller powerhead. They can be a little pricier than some, but Tunze is awesome equipment.

Yeah I’ve heard Tunze is pretty good I was thinking down the road saving up to get one of there ATO systems as well once I get a different lid.But for the powerhead are you talking about the Turbelle Nanostream Pump 6015?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Yeah I’ve heard Tunze is pretty good I was thinking down the road saving up to get one of there ATO systems as well once I get a different lid.But for the powerhead are you talking about the Turbelle Nanostream Pump 6015?

YEs! THat is the one. Also, there ATO is amazing! I have the Tunze Osmolator 3. I believe it is their newest one. I can not say enough good about it.

 

[BluAqua4]

YEs! THat is the one. Also, there ATO is amazing! I have the Tunze Osmolator 3. I believe it is their newest one. I can not say enough good about it.

Alright awesome!Sorry for so much back and forth I’m just making sure I can get as much knowledge from others as I don’t think there are many other local saltwater tank peeps around me.

 

[BluAqua4]

Also should I go with a dual VCA 1/4 RFG or just a single 1/2 RFG I want to make the inside somewhat sleek and I have an upgraded syncra 1.0 pump.Plan on getting at least 1 tunze powerhead for now as well

 

[BluAqua4]

Hey guys little update, got a powerhead and dual 1/4 vca random flow generators.Recently added in 1 cleaner shrimp,a turbo snail,and 3 cerith snails(starting to get a light brown algae on sand and rocks believe it’s detritus?)Is this a good start to my CUC?What else should I add?Any help is appreciated!

 

[jrawk1120]

Personally, I would raise the rock off of the sand. Get a little arch in there. Just aesthetics though. Personally I think it adds better flow but I’m no scientist.

If you’ve got a power head and ato , you should be set for hardware imo. I keep ceramic rings, and sponge in my chambers. I also have the small packet of chemi pure in there as well.

My stock list is 2 clowns, cleaner, 3 hermits, 2 snails, mandarin (eating frozen).

I have the ai prime over it with no lid or mesh. Keeping softies, lps and sps, and anemone.

 

[zwalter38]

Hey guys little update, got a powerhead and dual 1/4 vca random flow generators.Recently added in 1 cleaner shrimp,a turbo snail,and 3 cerith snails(starting to get a light brown algae on sand and rocks believe it’s detritus?)Is this a good start to my CUC?What else should I add?Any help is appreciated!

If it’s right after the cycle, the brown algae is most likely diatoms. Super common after the cycle most commonly referred to as the “ugly stage”. They consume silicates from the initial set up of the tank, but will eventually go away with patience in my experience. As for the cleanup crew, cerith snails are great. The turbo snail is definitely one of the bigger snails. They are generally recommended for larger tanks 30g and up id say but others may have a different opinion.

 

[BluAqua4]

Personally, I would raise the rock off of the sand. Get a little arch in there. Just aesthetics though. Personally I think it adds better flow but I’m no scientist.

If you’ve got a power head and ato , you should be set for hardware imo. I keep ceramic rings, and sponge in my chambers. I also have the small packet of chemi pure in there as well.

My stock list is 2 clowns, cleaner, 3 hermits, 2 snails, mandarin (eating frozen).

I have the ai prime over it with no lid or mesh. Keeping softies, lps and sps, and anemone.

Sadly I used epoxy so I can’t raise it as much as I’d like to but I’ll probably look into some different scape ideas but so far the circulation hasn’t been too bad fingers crosssed.

What kind of dragonet do you have?And does it interact well with the clowns?

 

[BluAqua4]

If it’s right after the cycle, the brown algae is most likely diatoms. Super common after the cycle most commonly referred to as the “ugly stage”. They consume silicates from the initial set up of the tank, but will eventually go away with patience in my experience. As for the cleanup crew, cerith snails are great. The turbo snail is definitely one of the bigger snails. They are generally recommended for larger tanks 30g and up id say but others may have a different opinion.

Yeah I figured it was just the beginning of the ugly stage but wanted to add some cuc since I didn’t have any at all.I know with time it’ll pass, as for the turbo snail once he gets too big I’ll probably see about swapping him out at my LFS since the owner is already on board with it.Is there anything else I should add to my CUC good recommendations for the future?