Rollthedicereef
New Member
After joining the hobby 2+ years ago in 2020 with a Fluval Evo 13.5g I decided I'm addicted enough to upgrade to a larger tank so I can keep more corals and fish.
I shopped around a lot looking at various tanks both off the shelf and custom, my ideal would be custom but I really don't want to spend that kind of money until I am in a more permanent home with more space so I can really do what I want to. I like the look of open top but the light spill into the room and constant evapouration is something I don't want to deal with.
Over months of research I kept coming back to the Fluval Flex, which I know may be seen as a little "basic" or "budget" but there was something about it's kinda tacky 90s curvy design with matching curvy stand that I warmed to as I felt it would fit in well with my kinda tacky home which takes a lot of design cues from 90s design, IKEA, Pee Wees Playhouse. There was an option for a Fluval stand with doors which is much more practical but it looked so bulky and awkwards with the tank so I just stuck with the curvy open tank and bought some colourful stacking plastic crates from Primark (£1.50 - 3 each) to store all my tools n stuff.
I'm a bit old fashioned with my lighting and prefer to have my tank lit up natural white and I guess I'm a bit old fashioned with coral too as soft corals are my favourite, so this larger tank will be mainly a soft coral tank (if anyone in the UK has any or knows of where to find unusual/rare soft corals, please let me know I'm always on the lookout).
Fish wise I have 2 clownfish - a common one and a blackstorm + a Royal Gramma. One of my biggest reasons for getting a larger tank was so I could get one of my favourite fish a Valentini Puffer so I will be adding one of those plus a Leopard Wrasse, Starcki Damselfish & Flame Hawkfish from Oasis Aquatics in Manchester, which is my LFS.
Equipment wise I have kept the stock light, added a Fluval M 150w heater plugged into a D-D Dual Temp Controller (an absolute must for any tropical tank, that thing has saved my tank from disaster a few times now) and upgraded the pump to a Innovative Marine MightyJet Midsize DC Pump.
In the future I would live to add a Vortech MP10 with battery back up supply.
I'm using Fritz Reef Pro Mix and making my RODI water with a 4 stage system from www.osmotics.co.uk
I removed the stock sponges and replaced them with Media baskets (and bottom intake covers) from 3DeepShop on Etsy.
I think that's everything intro wise, if I've missed anything you want to know feel free to ask and for now here's some photos of the set up and room it's in and the old Fluval Evo tank I replaced.
I shopped around a lot looking at various tanks both off the shelf and custom, my ideal would be custom but I really don't want to spend that kind of money until I am in a more permanent home with more space so I can really do what I want to. I like the look of open top but the light spill into the room and constant evapouration is something I don't want to deal with.
Over months of research I kept coming back to the Fluval Flex, which I know may be seen as a little "basic" or "budget" but there was something about it's kinda tacky 90s curvy design with matching curvy stand that I warmed to as I felt it would fit in well with my kinda tacky home which takes a lot of design cues from 90s design, IKEA, Pee Wees Playhouse. There was an option for a Fluval stand with doors which is much more practical but it looked so bulky and awkwards with the tank so I just stuck with the curvy open tank and bought some colourful stacking plastic crates from Primark (£1.50 - 3 each) to store all my tools n stuff.
I'm a bit old fashioned with my lighting and prefer to have my tank lit up natural white and I guess I'm a bit old fashioned with coral too as soft corals are my favourite, so this larger tank will be mainly a soft coral tank (if anyone in the UK has any or knows of where to find unusual/rare soft corals, please let me know I'm always on the lookout).
Fish wise I have 2 clownfish - a common one and a blackstorm + a Royal Gramma. One of my biggest reasons for getting a larger tank was so I could get one of my favourite fish a Valentini Puffer so I will be adding one of those plus a Leopard Wrasse, Starcki Damselfish & Flame Hawkfish from Oasis Aquatics in Manchester, which is my LFS.
Equipment wise I have kept the stock light, added a Fluval M 150w heater plugged into a D-D Dual Temp Controller (an absolute must for any tropical tank, that thing has saved my tank from disaster a few times now) and upgraded the pump to a Innovative Marine MightyJet Midsize DC Pump.
In the future I would live to add a Vortech MP10 with battery back up supply.
I'm using Fritz Reef Pro Mix and making my RODI water with a 4 stage system from www.osmotics.co.uk
I removed the stock sponges and replaced them with Media baskets (and bottom intake covers) from 3DeepShop on Etsy.
I think that's everything intro wise, if I've missed anything you want to know feel free to ask and for now here's some photos of the set up and room it's in and the old Fluval Evo tank I replaced.
