Yet another Fluval Evo 13.5

[bratfink]

Hi all,

Just finished cycling a Fluval Evo 13.5.
Intended to be a reef nano, but it’s early days.
Basic setup:
Chamber 1 - Aqueon 50w heater, mini Skimmer
Chamber 2 - ATO return, stock filter sponge with carbon and bio max. Added 2 more bags of bio max in the bottom of chamber 2.
Chamber 3 - stock return pump, Tunze ATO sensor, temp probe, Ph probe.
Light - stock
Hood - stock
Power head - 240gph Hydor
Controller - Reef Keeper Lite

 

[bratfink]

Did a fish in cycle with 1 Royal Gramma and ATM colony. Took 2 weeks to get Nitrites down to basically zero (by Hanna ULR checker).
Added snails.
waiting to see how they do for a week before adding any crustaceans.
Nitrates currently hovering around 5ppm. Ammonia 0.02 ppm (so zero). Nitrite 64 ppb. pH 8.15, Temp 78.2. Salinity 35ppm.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hi all,

Just finished cycling a Fluval Evo 13.5.
Intended to be a reef nano, but it’s early days.
Basic setup:
Chamber 1 - Aqueon 50w heater, mini Skimmer
Chamber 2 - ATO return, stock filter sponge with carbon and bio max. Added 2 more bags of bio max in the bottom of chamber 2.
Chamber 3 - stock return pump, Tunze ATO sensor, temp probe, Ph probe.
Light - stock
Hood - stock
Power head - 240gph Hydor
Controller - Reef Keeper Lite

Love the aquascape design!!

 

[bratfink]

Love the aquascape design!!

Thanks,

I didn’t really go into the aqua scape.

it was pretty simple:
2 flat pieces of dry rock to for the base. 2 slightly larger rubbley bits of live rock to build the stack. And lastly 1 arch shaped piece of live rock across the 2 to complete the bridge.

Then I added a bag of live aragonite mix and filled the system with water.

Pretty pleased with it and the Gramma settled in straight away.

can’t wait to get some coral on it to start giving it more life.

 

[bratfink]

Update:
What have I done to the tank in the last week or so?
Nothing.
Just letting it find its way. Monitoring key levels. Tweaking light, skimmer and feeding timings.
Nitrite is still at zero, Nitrate has come back to 5. Seems to be stabilizing around there for the amount I feed.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Happy little gramma!

 

[bratfink]

1.5 months later….

I finally got annoyed enough with the stock lamp that I was prepared to go out and spend some money on a Kessil.
Got a mesh lid too. The ATO naturally runs more often now as evaporation has increased, but on the plus side temp rise through the day (from the stock lamp) is gone. The stock lamp was increasing temp by 1.5 deg through the day.
At this stage the only original parts in the setup are the pump and the foam block with carbon and whatever those bio blocks are.

Chemistry wise I seem to have settled into the following numbers

• Ammonia 0.01ppm (basically lower than the capability of the Hanna checker)
• Nitrite 5-10ppb
• Nitrate 5-10ppm
• Phosphate 0.01-0.03ppm

Salinity is kept to 35ppt
pH is 8.1 at night and as high as 8.4 at the end of the light cycle.
I do a 40% water change every 2 weeks.

No serious algae outbreaks, but there is a fairly consistent “fuzz” on some of the rocks.

the only thing I am not super happy about is I have large numbers of those small flatworms everywhere. They don’t seem to be doing much other than existing, not affecting coral or other inhabitants, but they are a little unsightly.

I have started adding coral. At the moment I am sticking to the easy stuff, mushrooms and Zoas. My daughter really liked a Chalis that was at the LFS but that died within a day of going in. Not sure what I did wrong, could have been over dip, could have been too much light.

That and the Nerite that died the first day it went in are the only fatalities so far. Even the 2 sacrificial hermit crabs I threw in for CUC are still doing good.

2 or so months ago I added a Golden Coral Banded Shrimp. Interesting crustacean, but not as active at the Skunk Cleaners. Seems happy and has molted a couple of times but doesn’t spend as much time actively picking through the rocks as I expected.

inhabitant number 1, the Royal Gramma, is still thriving. Spends way more time out in the open now.

 

[Reef Jockey]

awesome tank. i'm running the same tank with a much different setup.
looks like everything is coming along nicely

 

[bratfink]

Almost a year old.
There’s been some ups and downs. Had the hair algae outbreak, then cyano, then the dinos , more recently we’re back to the cyano.
Seem to have settled into mostly stable chemistry, but more recently I’ve noticed pH rising and I’m not sure what’s causing it, it’s reading 8.6 at the end of the light cycle. Haven’t ruled out a faulty pH probe yet. Certainly nothing is in distress, otherwise I would have intervened by now.

Livestock wise, the original Royal Gramma is still there, as is the original Coral Banded Shrimp and even the 2 original hermit crabs aswell and at least couple of the original trocus. The coral has all done pretty well too.

Other stuff has not been as successful. Tried a pistol goby combo, they went for a few weeks before the goby disappeared, then a few months later the shrimp quit clicking. Tried 2 Chromis, went ok for a couple of months, then they started fighting. Took the bullied one back to the shop before it got killed, then the other one upped and died for no reason.
I am trying a mocha clown now to see how she does.

 

[bratfink]

Recently swapped out the skimmer for the Bullet 1.
Much better. Quieter, better bubble action, more skimmate, and opened up space in chamber 1.

 

[bratfink]

Most of the cyano has gone now. Just a small patch here and there on the rocks, but the Trocus eat that.
Bit of green algae around, but that doesn’t bother me too much.

 

[Ollie67]

Most of the cyano has gone now. Just a small patch here and there on the rocks, but the Trocus eat that.
Bit of green algae around, but that doesn’t bother me too much.

Very nice! I love all the corals you have

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Most of the cyano has gone now. Just a small patch here and there on the rocks, but the Trocus eat that.
Bit of green algae around, but that doesn’t bother me too much.

Your tank is doing great! That green algae will go away soon!

 

[bratfink]

Thanks all.

Took some replicant coral to the LFS the other day and came home with this.

Pretty excited, my first plate coral!

 

[bratfink]

Algae pretty much all gone now. Here are some closeups

 

[bratfink]

GSP taking over. But the toadstool and the GSP seem to have come to an arrangement.