Fluval Sea EVO 13.5 - First Saltwater tank

[aerotiy]

My tank was started on 8/30/17.

I kept the stock light, filter media and pump and added Fluval's PS2 mini protein skimmer.

 

I used 10 pounds of Caribsea Fiji pink live reef sand and approximately 13 pounds of dry rock. Threw some fish food in there to decompose and lots of aquavitro seed to start the biofilter up and cure my rock.

 

After my nitrates started rising and ammonia and nitrite fell I did a large water change with seachem prime and more bacteria and added my first fish, a little ocellaris. It's been four days, he is doing great, swimming all over and eating everything put in the tank.

 

Excited to see how this turns out 

A few more pics. I can't figure out how to take a good picture with the blue lights on on this iPhone 

[Lugmos12]

yay for another Evo! love that arch in your rockscape ??

[Lula_Mae]

8 hours ago, aerotiy said:

My tank was started on 8/30/17.

I kept the stock light, filter media and pump and added Fluval's PS2 mini protein skimmer.

 

I used 10 pounds of Caribsea Fiji pink live reef sand and approximately 13 pounds of dry rock. Threw some fish food in there to decompose and lots of aquavitro seed to start the biofilter up and cure my rock.

 

After my nitrates started rising and ammonia and nitrite fell I did a large water change with seachem prime and more bacteria and added my first fish, a little ocellaris. It's been four days, he is doing great, swimming all over and eating everything put in the tank.

 

Excited to see how this turns out 

A few more pics. I can't figure out how to take a good picture with the blue lights on on this iPhone 

Cute little misbar clown!  I just picked up one myself last night.  The arch in your scape is really cool!  to Nano-Reef!

[aerotiy]

Thanks  I spent a good few hours fiddling with the rock to get it to a stable arch and it was frustrating but worth it in the end. Tank params are looking good so I'm thinking about another little fish but have to see what the LFS has.

[aerotiy]

Found a purple firefish at my LFS! He was hiding all day yesterday but he’s out and about eating today 

[aerotiy]

Added a scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp a few days ago! He loves hanging upside down under the rock structure. Diatom bloom also started so I added a small clean up crew of 3 Nerites and 2 Ceriths to see how they do. They move a little slow and the algae is growing fast so I might need more  Tested my water yesterday and everything is perfect so I ordered a few corals online that’ll be here on Friday. Got some zoas, a knopia, candy cane, and GSP; picked up Seachem’s reef fusion 1 & 2 for the candy cane so should be good to go!

Love the way the purple firefish looks, especially when the fins are all flared ?

[Lula_Mae]

If the Reef Fusion is a cal/alk dosing two-part, you probably won't even need it yet for just one LPS.  I'd just monitor your cal/alk to see if consumption becomes more than what's replenished by water changes.

[aerotiy]

13 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

If the Reef Fusion is a cal/alk dosing two-part, you probably won't even need it yet for just one LPS.  I'd just monitor your cal/alk to see if consumption becomes more than what's replenished by water changes.

Thanks I was going to monitor it closely after adding the LPS and see whats necessary. Just set up my new ATO system today; I got a Tunze Osmolator Nano. I wasn't sure where exactly the sensor should be in the water for it to work properly but I guess I'll just have to watch what happens over the next few days and make adjustments as needed.

[aerotiy]

I was going to use a bucket for my reservoir but I splurged and got a Trigger Systems 5 gallon crystal tank and I love the way it looks. The clamp for the water pump tubing unfortunately made it impossible to put the back chamber lid back on so I had to just tape it to the wall until I figure something out 

Edit: also forgot to mention I woke up to my very first shrimp molt this morning! I guess that means the cleaner is doing good?

[Felicia]

I'm using these clips by Command Strip to hold my auto-top off tubing and route it where I want it.  You can stick these to the wall, the tank, or the cabinet and they come off without damaging anything when you want to remove them.  They're also great for holding cords.  I got them at Home Depot, but I'm sure plenty of other places sell them.

 

[aerotiy]

1 hour ago, Felicia said:

I'm using these clips by Command Strip to hold my auto-top off tubing and route it where I want it.  You can stick these to the wall, the tank, or the cabinet and they come off without damaging anything when you want to remove them.  They're also great for holding cords.  I got them at Home Depot, but I'm sure plenty of other places sell them.

 

Omg why didn’t I think of these! ??‍♀️ Thank you so much!

[Felicia]

5 minutes ago, aerotiy said:

Omg why didn’t I think of these! ??‍♀️ Thank you so much!

You're very welcome! I just discovered these myself! I've been using the Command Strip Velcro type frame hangers for years to mount my controllers for my aquarium equipment but I hadn't seen these before. They work awesome for tubing and cords.

[aerotiy]

Got my first corals this morning! Brought them in as soon as they were delivered, let them float and put them all the way at the bottom of the tank. The green zoanthid was quickest to open up, only took about 30 min, followed by the red one. GSP is still a purple mat and the knopia polyps are mostly opened now. Not really sure what to make of the candy cane. It still has its colors but looks kind of shriveled. Pics attached! 

[aerotiy]

GSP making an entrance

[Lula_Mae]

The candy cane just looks mad to me.  Give it a few days and it should fluff up.  Nice finds!  If you didn't with these, I highly recommend a dip and pest inspection for future coral purchases to keep unwanted things from hitchhiking into your tanks.  It's a lesson many people have learned the hard way lol.

[aerotiy]

Yes, it puffed up for a little bit and then I left for a few hours and when I came back it was deflated again /: I read that you should start all corals at the bottom to get used to your lighting so I’m doing that but should I be concerned about flow? Also the GSPs I know people say will grow like crazy so I plan on keeping them off the main rock and on a little rock by the back chamber. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of current moving them around back there, am I gonna probably need a power head? Oh and thanks for the dipping info I’ll pick some up next time I’m at LFS

[aerotiy]

Upgraded the tank tonight! I was trying to find a timer that would allow me to control Fluval’s stock light but had no luck, so I went ahead and got a Current USA Orbit IC LED system. I love the effects and the control it gives me over the pump. It came with a ‘free’ 660 gph wavemaker so that was cool. I had to do away with Fluval’s lid though. IM’s DIY mesh screen lid kit is a lot more work than I had anticipated. I screwed up and made it a tad too long so it sits in the tank on one end and on top of the rim on the other end. Oh well can’t really fix it now . On a good note, taking away the back chamber cover allowed me to utilize the clamp for my ATO pump tubing! Is it okay to leave the back chambers open? 

[thespinningsadhu]

i have this tank and love it. nice arch. i’ve gone topless with the marine orbit and have not had issues with the back chambers being open. 

[Lula_Mae]

I have heard IM's kit can be hard to use.  If you decide to replace it in the future, I think people get window screen kits from a hardware store and mesh from BRS.  I believe it's considered much easier lol.

[aerotiy]

19 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

I have heard IM's kit can be hard to use.  If you decide to replace it in the future, I think people get window screen kits from a hardware store and mesh from BRS.  I believe it's considered much easier lol.

I’ll see what happens in the future. I didn’t think about the feeding and dosing though, there’s no easy way to do it with the screen lid...

 

All my corals seem to be doing good, open during the daytime and closing at night, is that normal? Really unsure about the candy cane, it was puffed up yesterday and today it’s been deflated all day. Unsure if I should move it up more towards the light at this point.

[Coral_chef]

have you testing your parameters?

[aerotiy]

59 minutes ago, Coral_chef said:

have you testing your parameters?

On 9/28 my parameters were:

pH: 7.9

Calcium: 465

Alk: 10.4 dkh

Magnesium: 1260

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 10 ppm (not sure how accurate API’s kit is, I have a salifert nitrate test on the way)

[aerotiy]

Did a 16% water change yesterday and moved the candy cane up from the sand bed, it looks a lot better today, the most puffed up I’ve seen it so far - hopefully this is a good sign and it stays happy. 

[Coral_chef]

Your alk is a little high and your mag is a little low. 

I kept my alk in the 10.8 range for a while when using premix saltwater my frogspawn hated it. Might be part of the issue. 

[aerotiy]

5 minutes ago, Coral_chef said:

Your alk is a little high and your mag is a little low. 

I kept my alk in the 10.8 range for a while when using premix saltwater my frogspawn hated it. Might be part of the issue. 

Hmmmm I use Red Sea Coral Pro which says it mixes to 11-12 dKH @35 ppt.. I thought the alk was actually low. Why does the salt mix so high if it should be less than 10?