Hi
I've just started my first marine tank (water added 08/04/19). The tank is a fluval evo 13.5, I'm planning on keeping the stock lighting as this tank is more of a test for me to see how successful I can be with a reef tank before potentially (in the distant future) moving on to a bigger tank with more expensive gear.
I have gone for an intank media chamber in the first chamber (running - filter floss, stock carbon, filter floss and then stock bio media).
The second chamber is currently empty (I have blocked the hole between the DT and this chamber to increase filtration efficiency). I have the second intank basket on order which I may use either for more bio media or perhaps a small fuge. If anyone has any suggestions for this chamber I'd love to hear about them.
The third chamber has the stock pump and a superfish nano 100w heater. I may look at upgrading the return pump but at the moment I have a hydor koralia nano 900 powerhead in the DT providing some extra flow from the other side of the tank.
I am using Caribsea live rock and paleosand (fine), my substrate layer is a little thick - this is to potentially allow for a smaller shrimp goby pair in the future.
So far my tank has not showed any signs of going through the "cycle", other than a reading of nitrates somewhere between 2 and 5 (all of my test kits are red sea).
I am using seed as a bacteria additive and have been ghost feeding. I have just ordered some liquid ammonia since that seems a more "scientific" and accurate test of the progress of the bacteria in the tank.
Water parameters are:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - between 2-5
pH - 8.0
Alkalinity - 8
Salinity - 1.024
Temperature - 26.0
I have carried out one large water change (25 litre). My salinity and pH were slightly lower 1.022 and 7.6-7.8, I believe this was due to the fact that I did not allow my sand and rock to fully dry out after pre rinsing it in tap water...silly mistake.
If anybody has any suggestions or advice regarding the tank, equipment or reefing in general I am always grateful for other people's insights. Conversely if anybody has any questions about the tank I will do my best to answer with my limited knowledge [emoji1].
I've just started my first marine tank (water added 08/04/19). The tank is a fluval evo 13.5, I'm planning on keeping the stock lighting as this tank is more of a test for me to see how successful I can be with a reef tank before potentially (in the distant future) moving on to a bigger tank with more expensive gear.
I have gone for an intank media chamber in the first chamber (running - filter floss, stock carbon, filter floss and then stock bio media).
The second chamber is currently empty (I have blocked the hole between the DT and this chamber to increase filtration efficiency). I have the second intank basket on order which I may use either for more bio media or perhaps a small fuge. If anyone has any suggestions for this chamber I'd love to hear about them.
The third chamber has the stock pump and a superfish nano 100w heater. I may look at upgrading the return pump but at the moment I have a hydor koralia nano 900 powerhead in the DT providing some extra flow from the other side of the tank.
I am using Caribsea live rock and paleosand (fine), my substrate layer is a little thick - this is to potentially allow for a smaller shrimp goby pair in the future.
So far my tank has not showed any signs of going through the "cycle", other than a reading of nitrates somewhere between 2 and 5 (all of my test kits are red sea).
I am using seed as a bacteria additive and have been ghost feeding. I have just ordered some liquid ammonia since that seems a more "scientific" and accurate test of the progress of the bacteria in the tank.
Water parameters are:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - between 2-5
pH - 8.0
Alkalinity - 8
Salinity - 1.024
Temperature - 26.0
I have carried out one large water change (25 litre). My salinity and pH were slightly lower 1.022 and 7.6-7.8, I believe this was due to the fact that I did not allow my sand and rock to fully dry out after pre rinsing it in tap water...silly mistake.
If anybody has any suggestions or advice regarding the tank, equipment or reefing in general I am always grateful for other people's insights. Conversely if anybody has any questions about the tank I will do my best to answer with my limited knowledge [emoji1].
