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Mfield16's Fluval Evo 13.5 Reef Tank


mfield16

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In 2013 I had just put my current house under contract, and knew I had no logical space for a 50g reef tank. I broke it all down, and only brought with me a 20g long low-tech planted tank. For 7 years I kept telling myself there was no space. 

 

Then, just browsing LetGo, I saw this dirty, ugly, hair algae overgrown Fluval Evo 13.5. This was Jan 9th 2020. On Jan 11th, the tank was in my living room. With 12lbs new Caribsea Real Life Rock, new live sand, and a very good cleaning, it looked brand new. I'll try to get a pic of it before purchasing. I re-homed the chocolate chip starfish and two firefish as well. I was left with two Wyoming Snowflake Clowns and Royal Gramma. 

 

Using the advice here, I kept the inherited HOB and rear chamber sponge filters going for a few weeks to reduce the chance of a new cycle, considering all new rock and sand were added. Pardon the pics, I am still trying to figure out the "Pro" mode on my Galaxy Note 10+ 

 

2020.01.10 FTS:

49526036018_2af0991cce_b.jpg20200112_094159 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

Display: 13.5g Fluval Evo
Lighting: Nano Box Reef Mini Tide Plus
Filtration: Poly, ChemiPure Elite, Purigen. InTank Chamber 1 basket.
Heater: 50W Fluval
Circulation: Tunze 1073.008, Aqamai KPS
ATO: AutoAqua Smart ATO Micro on the way!
Controller: Not yet!
Skimmer: Considering IceCap K1?

Dosing: Vibrant 1x/wk, MicroBacter7 1x/2wks

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The first additions to the tank, after a few days of testing to confirm there was no mini-cycle:

 

Trade-In reward for the chocolate chip star 😎:

49526769687_742f97dd3d_b.jpgScarlet Hermit: Jan 18th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

Zoas:

49526545851_18296fef61_b.jpgOrange Zoas: Jan 18th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

49526769272_0a629ea1df_b.jpgGreen Zoas: Jan 18th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

Hammer:

49526769217_4bb5656f99_b.jpg

Hammer: Jan 18th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

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34 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

Sounds like that little reef is in good hands now. How are all the fish doing now that the 'dust' has settled?

 🤞 

 

We've got Brienne and Tormund (Clowns), and "Granny" the Royal Gramma. 

 

The clowns generally exist in the bottom back corner, but will occasionally come out front. Too big to really hide, which is nice. It's always better with some kind of fish action.

 

49526033703_5f1a57bb46_b.jpg

Tormund and Brienne: Feb 11th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

Granny likes to stay hidden unless there is nobody within sight of the tank. Still will come out to eat if I drop pellets or mysis and leave the room. 😋

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Christopher Marks

With a little luck, maybe the clownfish will come to host the new torch coral in time. They're really a beautiful pair.

 

My royal gramma was always super shy too, back when I kept one ages ago. I had to sneak in my room to ever catch a glimpse of it!

 

Now that you've transitioned the tank over to new live rock and sand, are you planning to eventually phase out the HOB filter?

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13 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

With a little luck, maybe the clownfish will come to host the new torch coral in time. They're really a beautiful pair.

 

My royal gramma was always super shy too, back when I kept one ages ago. I had to sneak in my room to ever catch a glimpse of it!

 

Now that you've transitioned the tank over to new live rock and sand, are you planning to eventually phase out the HOB filter?

I really hope so. I know I won't be adding any Nems, so it's either the torch or they'll keep hosting the back glass. 🙄

 

The HOB stuck around for about 3.5 weeks until I knew I didn't get any mini cycles. It's gone now, thank god. What an eyesore. I will get some more pics up today. Everything so far is with a MicMol LED which was decent, but not very good. 

 

Here's a FTS 12 days in. Diatoms galore!😝

49526769122_0bc675a607_b.jpg

FTS: Jan 23rd 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

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The elusive Royal Gramma:

 

49526545421_55fb3be159_b.jpg

Royal Gramma: Jan 24th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

11 days after adding the hammer, looks like it's doubled in size!

 

49526545246_d4024efedd_b.jpg

Hammer: Jan 29th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

The CUC has been hard at work getting the algae under control. I don't think I cleaned the tank as well as I thought. The AIO divider is covered in HA. Not too bad. So I added a turbo since all I have are nerites, ceriths, and nassarius snails. I did keep a giant snail from the previous owner, but that thing doesn't leave the sand. I always see his little snorkel popping up, and once in a blue moon he erupts from the sand bed after a feeding. It's like a submarine exploding from the surface of the ocean. I'll try and snap a pic for ID next time. It's gotta be 2" long. 

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Order from SaltCritters came in. 

 

Rock Flower Nem. I think I am jumping the gun on this one as the tank is pretty young. Wish me luck.

49526545056_d46a8008f1_b.jpg

Saltcritters.com RFA: Jan 30th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

49526034673_e45d19d5c3_b.jpg

Palys: Jan 30th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

49526034323_7efa2d4ae5_b.jpg

Rainbow Acan Zoom: Feb 11th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

49526544551_48ec7565ac_b.jpg

GSP: : Feb 11th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

49526544306_f419edbffa_b.jpg

Ric: Feb 11th 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

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I had a little scare last night. I have plans to build my own stand so I have more space in the cabinet for an eventual ATO bucket, controller, etc. For now, I have a powerstrip sitting on the floor 2ft from the tank. Either one of my cats, or my girlfriend, ripped the plug from the wall late last night! 😫 I woke up to the tank at 70.1 deg, no lights, no flow. Thankfully, everything seems to be fine a day later. Phew. Damn cats.  

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On 2/12/2020 at 3:00 PM, mfield16 said:

I really hope so. I know I won't be adding any Nems, so it's either the torch or they'll keep hosting the back glass. 🙄

 

The HOB stuck around for about 3.5 weeks until I knew I didn't get any mini cycles. It's gone now, thank god. What an eyesore. I will get some more pics up today. Everything so far is with a MicMol LED which was decent, but not very good. 

 

Here's a FTS 12 days in. Diatoms galore!😝

49526769122_0bc675a607_b.jpg

FTS: Jan 23rd 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

What did you not like about the MicMol Aqua CC LED? I am considering getting one.

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2 hours ago, gotfrogs said:

What did you not like about the MicMol Aqua CC LED? I am considering getting one.

A few reasons. The mount forced me to use it on the long side of the tank. Aesthetically I wasn't a fan. 

 

Adjusting the intensity was a little annoying. The built in controller was easy enough, but app control is so much easier. 

 

Based on their website,  the PAR is good for LPS, and I'll eventually have a mixed LPS/SPS tank. 

 

My MicMol may go on a future frag tank.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quite a few additions since the last update. Weekly water changes are maintaining parameters quite well. Absolutely no sign of algae in the tank anymore. New additions:

 

49527130057_6daab136b1_b.jpgTorch Feb 12 2020 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

49568558248_32f1d61606_b.jpg20200221_175417 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

49606920113_93740b8d4c_b.jpg20200221_180139 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

49606920938_926cd33c24_b.jpg20200301_203124 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

49607681447_1cc6fcf308_b.jpg20200301_203117 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

49607433056_1626faaa5e_b.jpg20200301_203109 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

49606920243_22a0128d13_b.jpg20200227_220539 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Barely three months in, and I have already sourced a larger tank. This one may be turning into a IM Fusion 20 pretty soon. Just need to build a stand. Deciding whether to build it deep enough to hold an Fusion 40 for the inevitable future upgrade. 

 

Anyway, a few more additions. Not really seeing much coral growth, but everything is extended and looking good. I may start feeding corals more often. All my parameters are fine without dosing anything, even testing right before I do a water change. 

 

FTS (disregard the crappy DIY frag rack, but please enjoy the MIA honeycomb rim!)

 

49753322438_ba9cf57760_b.jpgFTS 2020.04.09 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

Free Purple Torch. I received a Hanna PO4 checker in a package deal, traded for this. Nothing Fancy, but free is free.

 

49753854911_d50d49f1dc_b.jpgPurple Torch 2020.04.09 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

 

Rasta Zoas:

 

49754192327_d79cc9220d_b.jpgRasta Zoas 2020.04.09 by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

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My torch is not extending as much, and one head barely comes out on the back portion. Haven't moved it, haven't changed the light. Gets indirect flow, no changes recently to flow. About a month ago I installed two random flow nozzles on the output and it seemed to love it. 

 

I snapped the frag off the rock, dipped it, and put it on the sand bed so I can see the one head that's not looking great. Very thin polyps, some are white. No idea what to do except monitor it and hope it's just the one damaged head. 

 

49780862561_26d9ac2815_b.jpgDying Torch by Mike Fielder, on Flickr

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