MMacs Reef - Fluval Evo13.5

[mmac9]

How's it going everyone?! I am starting up a fresh restart in saltwater and I decided I would start an aquarium journal this time around. My first tank into the saltwater hobby was a 29 gallon I had it running for the past year. I had many mishaps along the way and learned a lot my first time around. My old tank had crazy algae problems/dinos/and pests, so I decided it was time for a fresh start and I wanted to do an AIO tank that wasn't going to take up a ton of space. So I am going to be using a Fluval 13.5 this time around right next to my desk.

 

Please leave any advice you have and follow me along my journey! 🙂

Tank:
Fluval Evo 13.5
Lighting:
-Current: Fluval Evo 13.5 Stock lights(I will be using this until I start adding corals)

-Planned: AI Prime

 

Planned Stocking:

Fish:

• Pair of Ocellaris Clownfish
• Possible Pistol Shrimp Goby Pair

Coral:

• LPS
• Softies

Inverts:

• 1 BTA
• 1 Rock Flower Anemone

Planned Filtration:
1st Chamber: 

• Mini Refugium
  • Filter Floss
  • CerMedia Marine Pure Bio-filter Media
  • Chaeto
  • Lighting: Innovative Marine ChaetoMax 2-n-1 Refugium LED Light

2nd Chamber:

• Chemi-pure Blue
• GFO
• Sponge

3rd Chamber:

• Heater
• Return Pump

Rock:

• 7-8 lbs of Dry Rock

Equipment:

• Powerhead: Voratech MP-10

 

Instagram:

@mmacs_reef

[mmac9]

Practice Aquascape in 10 gallon I have laying around.

[Daniel91]

Nice! I like the rock scape. May I suggest another small island?

[mmac9]

57 minutes ago, Daniel91 said:

Nice! I like the rock scape. May I suggest another small island?

I am thinking about it. Where would you put the other island? In the front?

[vlangel]

I like it just the way it is, myself.

[Gaze]

@mmac9 what’s the side view like? I’m a sucker for a dope arch doe

[mmac9]

Time for the mini refugium in the first chamber

[mmac9]

I’m a little bit behind on my updates as I started this journal after I had already set up the tank, but it’s cycled and I have my first fish. Which I had from my previous tank.

[mmac9]

On 10/17/2018 at 11:06 PM, reefsenpai said:

@mmac9 what’s the side view like? I’m a sucker for a dope arch doe

 

[Daniel91]

Looks really sleek. Can’t wait to see your next additions.

[Christopher Marks]

Welcome to the community @mmac9! 👋

 

Nice looking clownfish! Are you going to be transferring in anything else from your old 29 gallon system?

[mmac9]

59 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

Welcome to the community @mmac9! 👋

 

Nice looking clownfish! Are you going to be transferring in anything else from your old 29 gallon system?

Hi Christopher thanks! No that is pretty much all I am transferring. They were my only fish and all of my live rock and corals had pests/dinos all over it. 

 

So I am going for a clean start and trying to avoid my rookie mistakes this time around.

[Gaze]

@mmac9 How’s the mp10 on the tank?? Looks super clean but do you think it’s overkill? I’ll eventually get an AI Prime so I’m thinking between a mp10 or even the Nero 5 to keep in the AI family  but that would definitely be overkill..

[mmac9]

On 10/20/2018 at 11:43 PM, reefsenpai said:

@mmac9 How’s the mp10 on the tank?? Looks super clean but do you think it’s overkill? I’ll eventually get an AI Prime so I’m thinking between a mp10 or even the Nero 5 to keep in the AI family  but that would definitely be overkill..

Hey reef senapi! So far I like it a lot.  It is a bit overkill, but I enjoy having the ability to turn up the flow if I want to.  I am not gonna lie the main reason I am using it is because I had it left over from my last tank, but I like to be able to turn up the flow if I want to.  

 

From what I've been hearing the Nero 5 would really be overkill.

[mmac9]

Update 10/23/18

 

Clownfish: They are doing great. They have seemed to have picked a corner in which they always hide in under the power head.

 

 

 

Refugium:

I haven't had a ton of growth but there has definitely been some growth since my last update. I think once I start feeding more with the corals in that it will hopefully help it take off more.

 

I have been running the refugium light at night as I heard that is the best time for it to be run to keep the PH stable.

 

 

First Corals:

Last night I added my first corals. 

1. A neon green and purple hammer head: which is doing great it is already fully open

2. A Florida ricordea seen at the top.

3. A small BTA which is half hiding in the rock work atm. I have found it best to not touch anemone they will figure it out on their own.

 

I dipped all the corals in Revive which seemed to kill any hitch hikers and I scrapped off the green hair algae on the hammer coral.

[Daniel91]

Hey, nice additions - two things:

 

Hows your flow on that MP10? It may be a little too much for the clowns in your nano. One of my clowns love high area flow but the other one seems scared/avoids it.

They might also just like that spot but just keep an eye on it.

 

As a suggestion, remove those frag plugs especially the hammer one. It’s got an insane amount of hair algae on it and that will feed onto the rest of your reef. If you can’t refrag, then just leave them without plug.

[mmac9]

2 hours ago, Daniel91 said:

Hey, nice additions - two things:

 

Hows your flow on that MP10? It may be a little too much for the clowns in your nano. One of my clowns love high area flow but the other one seems scared/avoids it.

They might also just like that spot but just keep an eye on it.

 

As a suggestion, remove those frag plugs especially the hammer one. It’s got an insane amount of hair algae on it and that will feed onto the rest of your reef. If you can’t refrag, then just leave them without plug.

Hi Daniel,

 

Thanks for the advice. That kinda of advice is exactly why I started doing this aquarium journal. Just took of the frags off of the plugs thanks! 

 

I will also keep an eye on the clowns for the flow. I have it on 2 so I dont feel like it should be too much flow, but I could be wrong.

[Priyanka]

I am about to pick up a Fluval 13.5 from someone who used it for less than a year, and I am kind of on the same boat, too. This is going to be my first sw tank. I do have an empty 20g high but to run it as a sw right now will set me back at least $700-800 (it needs a hood + lights, powerhead and every single equipment) so I figured to go with the hardly used Fluval and then slowly upgrade the set up to the 20g later. Did my research, and it says the Fluval's stock equipment is decent, especially for the fowlr setup I have in mind. I am not 100% sure on that, because sources can be biased (or misinformed, or not enough experienced yet), so please tell me how the stock equipment is on the Fluval? Is modifying the equipment and adding a refugium necessary? I trust members of a reputable forum more than most Facebook users. Also, any rookie mistakes I should avoid? How? Sorry if I hijacked this post, but I wasn't sure about starting another Fluval post and ask the same redundant questions (and annoy everyone)! Thanks.

[Daniel91]

Hello, Priyanka

 

I thought I would give my .2cents to your question - all stock Fluval is more than fine for FOWLR (You will need a heater though). Even for most softies/lps. Modifications and Refugium is definitely not required off the bat - but keep your mind open for additional gear in case you want to venture into corals.

[Priyanka]

Thanks Daniel91! 

[Lula_Mae]

Interesting rock scape!  The arch is very cool.  MP10 may be a bit overkill but people have them on IM10's so you're probably fine lol.

 

On 10/24/2018 at 3:15 AM, Priyanka said:

I am about to pick up a Fluval 13.5 from someone who used it for less than a year, and I am kind of on the same boat, too. This is going to be my first sw tank. I do have an empty 20g high but to run it as a sw right now will set me back at least $700-800 (it needs a hood + lights, powerhead and every single equipment) so I figured to go with the hardly used Fluval and then slowly upgrade the set up to the 20g later. Did my research, and it says the Fluval's stock equipment is decent, especially for the fowlr setup I have in mind. I am not 100% sure on that, because sources can be biased (or misinformed, or not enough experienced yet), so please tell me how the stock equipment is on the Fluval? Is modifying the equipment and adding a refugium necessary? I trust members of a reputable forum more than most Facebook users. Also, any rookie mistakes I should avoid? How? Sorry if I hijacked this post, but I wasn't sure about starting another Fluval post and ask the same redundant questions (and annoy everyone)! Thanks.

The Fluval 13.5 is an excellent beginner tank right out of the box; it's even capable of keeping some corals.  In my opinion this setup is one of the best currently available options for people looking to get started in the hobby.  As you learn and grow as a reefer/saltwater aquarium keeper, you can add/change/modify things as needed but as it is you just need the tank setup and a heater as mentioned previously, and you are off to a great start.

[mmac9]

On 10/25/2018 at 10:53 PM, Lula_Mae said:

Interesting rock scape!  The arch is very cool.  MP10 may be a bit overkill but people have them on IM10's so you're probably fine lol.

 

The Fluval 13.5 is an excellent beginner tank right out of the box; it's even capable of keeping some corals.  In my opinion this setup is one of the best currently available options for people looking to get started in the hobby.  As you learn and grow as a reefer/saltwater aquarium keeper, you can add/change/modify things as needed but as it is you just need the tank setup and a heater as mentioned previously, and you are off to a great start.

Thank you! Yeah it's definitely overkill but I like to have the option to more flow than necessary if needed. My last tank was a 29 gallon and I almost felt like the mp10 wasn't enough flow.

[mmac9]

On 10/24/2018 at 3:15 AM, Priyanka said:

I am about to pick up a Fluval 13.5 from someone who used it for less than a year, and I am kind of on the same boat, too. This is going to be my first sw tank. I do have an empty 20g high but to run it as a sw right now will set me back at least $700-800 (it needs a hood + lights, powerhead and every single equipment) so I figured to go with the hardly used Fluval and then slowly upgrade the set up to the 20g later. Did my research, and it says the Fluval's stock equipment is decent, especially for the fowlr setup I have in mind. I am not 100% sure on that, because sources can be biased (or misinformed, or not enough experienced yet), so please tell me how the stock equipment is on the Fluval? Is modifying the equipment and adding a refugium necessary? I trust members of a reputable forum more than most Facebook users. Also, any rookie mistakes I should avoid? How? Sorry if I hijacked this post, but I wasn't sure about starting another Fluval post and ask the same redundant questions (and annoy everyone)! Thanks.

So far Priyanka, it has been good I will let you know if I have any trouble with it. But, so far my tank has been going great *knocks on wood*.