Hello there we are just starting out or nano reef build.
This will be my girlfriends first saltwater tank.As for me this is now going to be my 4th nano reef build,however i have not built or maintained a reef tank in the past 6-7 years.
We wanted something medium in size (for nano reefs) and i have always wanted to play around with an All in One ever since the first biocube came out so we decided on the Fluval Evo 13.5 as it checked many boxes on our list and came in at a great price at my LFS.
The base specs are 20lbs Fiji Pink live sand, 6.8lbs of "premium" live rock from LFS, and about 2-3lbs of "dry rock" that washed up on the shore a few months ago after one of the hurricanes. The only change ive made so far was replaced the stock pump with a Sicce 1.0 which drastically improved the flow and IMO should have been the GPH rate that the 13.5 came with from the factory, its the same exact pump for the evo 5 (rated a little under 140gph)
I have a media tray for the 1st chamber on order and waiting on that. Planning on running Seachem Matrix for bio and Chemipure Blue/Elite along with a good amount of filter floss, i will most likely run this in parallel with the stock media in chamber 2 for now. I will eventually order the chamber 2 media tray as well and change the media in that based on what the tank needs after its maturing more.
I also have random flow nozzles for the return to go on, super excited to see how it changes things up.
Anyways enjoy the 2 pictures of the pristine tank before the cycle begins, they are thumbnails so should open larger. Cant wait to see how this build evolves. Let me know what you guys think and any suggestions.
This will be my girlfriends first saltwater tank.As for me this is now going to be my 4th nano reef build,however i have not built or maintained a reef tank in the past 6-7 years.
We wanted something medium in size (for nano reefs) and i have always wanted to play around with an All in One ever since the first biocube came out so we decided on the Fluval Evo 13.5 as it checked many boxes on our list and came in at a great price at my LFS.
The base specs are 20lbs Fiji Pink live sand, 6.8lbs of "premium" live rock from LFS, and about 2-3lbs of "dry rock" that washed up on the shore a few months ago after one of the hurricanes. The only change ive made so far was replaced the stock pump with a Sicce 1.0 which drastically improved the flow and IMO should have been the GPH rate that the 13.5 came with from the factory, its the same exact pump for the evo 5 (rated a little under 140gph)
I have a media tray for the 1st chamber on order and waiting on that. Planning on running Seachem Matrix for bio and Chemipure Blue/Elite along with a good amount of filter floss, i will most likely run this in parallel with the stock media in chamber 2 for now. I will eventually order the chamber 2 media tray as well and change the media in that based on what the tank needs after its maturing more.
I also have random flow nozzles for the return to go on, super excited to see how it changes things up.
Anyways enjoy the 2 pictures of the pristine tank before the cycle begins, they are thumbnails so should open larger. Cant wait to see how this build evolves. Let me know what you guys think and any suggestions.
