Back in the game with a 13.5 Fluval evo

[Lindz]

Three unfortunately 

[Ash1176]

😞

im not the expert but the basic behind is: 

remove manually as much as you can with a syphon, and then treat the tank with Salifert flatworm exit, when they die off they will cause a spike, so go ahead and do a big water change (at least 20%) 

 

google melev’s reef flatworm exit for more details 

 

[Lindz]

45 minutes ago, Ash1176 said:

😞

im not the expert but the basic behind is: 

remove manually as much as you can with a syphon, and then treat the tank with Salifert flatworm exit, when they die off they will cause a spike, so go ahead and do a big water change (at least 20%) 

 

google melev’s reef flatworm exit for more details 

 

Yes I did read that, I might try natural first. With a malanurus wrasse I can gift it to a friend with a bigger tank later

[mipster]

I used the fluval evo to get back into the reef hobby as well and I love it. Love the name of your thread by the way, sounds familiar... hmmmm 🤔 

 

For upgrading the stock pump, the tunze 1073.02 and the sicce 1.0 both fit and are excellent pumps - proven quality. I'm running the tunze at the moment with random flow generators on the outputs but also have the sicce on hand for an upgrade. I also run a small wavemaker but only because I want SPS. For softies and lps, I doubt you would need both.

 

I don't run a protein skimmer. I feed VERY heavy and need to add some additional filtration because I have a sun coral that requires daily feeding. But with enough bio filtration, some mechanical filtration from your inTank media basket (the floss on the top) and maybe some chemical filtration with something like chemipure blue, you don't need a skimmer if you are taking care to carry out your regular water changes.

 

It is very easy to keep your temperature consistent with a temperature controller. I use an inkbird temp controller which has two plugs, one for the heater and one for the little fan I attached to my tank.

 

I got rid of the stock hood early so I could have a better light and I liked the look better but that was my plan from the beginning. The stock hood is fine for your lower demand corals that you would likely be starting with anyways to allow your tank to mature. Leave it with the stock and upgrade when you are ready to. @Ash1176 did a great hood modification which allowed him to keep the lid and boost his par. I recommend reading through his thread to find that bit if you're curious.

 

It looks like you're off to a great start with a great tank in my opinion!

[Lindz]

15 hours ago, mipster said:

I used the fluval evo to get back into the reef hobby as well and I love it. Love the name of your thread by the way, sounds familiar... hmmmm 🤔 

 

For upgrading the stock pump, the tunze 1073.02 and the sicce 1.0 both fit and are excellent pumps - proven quality. I'm running the tunze at the moment with random flow generators on the outputs but also have the sicce on hand for an upgrade. I also run a small wavemaker but only because I want SPS. For softies and lps, I doubt you would need both.

 

I don't run a protein skimmer. I feed VERY heavy and need to add some additional filtration because I have a sun coral that requires daily feeding. But with enough bio filtration, some mechanical filtration from your inTank media basket (the floss on the top) and maybe some chemical filtration with something like chemipure blue, you don't need a skimmer if you are taking care to carry out your regular water changes.

 

It is very easy to keep your temperature consistent with a temperature controller. I use an inkbird temp controller which has two plugs, one for the heater and one for the little fan I attached to my tank.

 

I got rid of the stock hood early so I could have a better light and I liked the look better but that was my plan from the beginning. The stock hood is fine for your lower demand corals that you would likely be starting with anyways to allow your tank to mature. Leave it with the stock and upgrade when you are ready to. @Ash1176 did a great hood modification which allowed him to keep the lid and boost his par. I recommend reading through his thread to find that bit if you're curious.

 

It looks like you're off to a great start with a great tank in my opinion!

Thanks so much! Yeah I saw your name after I did mine lol I have a flatworms problem at the moment. I need to see if I can figure out a different hood I can’t afford light right now 

[Ash1176]

Hahaha so maybe don’t do an upgrade under the hood.

this is me now... 

had to pull out the 2 truelumen actinic strips, their supposed to be waterproof, but I guess all the saltwater from splash back corroded the rubber layer and rust set in... 

I guess everything was too close to the water.

but honestly in hindsight, having the hood on is annoying, it’s so weird to lift up and makes the tank so hot. Wish I went with a prime from the start... I think I’ll be buying one soon...

Don’t get me wrong the hood light will work for you, in the meantime save up for a light for later in the future when you want that upgrade, that would be my 2 scents. 

[MarieH]

On 8/4/2020 at 11:58 AM, Lindz said:

has anyone had good luck with torch corals in this tank with the stock light?

Feed your torch, it will grow no problem.

[Lindz]

Is this a star polyp? 

[mipster]

Nope, that's a clove polyp

[Lindz]

2 minutes ago, mipster said:

Nope, that's a clove polyp

That’s what I thought stupid LFS said it was a Star polyp, well it seems to be doing ok 

[mipster]

you know what, looking again... it might actually be white star polyps which I didn't know was a colour morph that existed.

[Lindz]

5 minutes ago, mipster said:

you know what, looking again... it might actually be white star polyps which I didn't know was a colour morph that existed.

I don’t know it looks more like clove polys 

[mipster]

But look at the center and how the petals (for lack of better term) meet the center.

 

 

so hard to tell lol 

[Tired]

Looks like a clove polyp, or even a pipe organ coral. It is very similar to a star polyp, so it's somewhat understandable that they could get the two mixed up. 

 

Scare it gently by touching it with something or blowing on it with a pipette, and take a picture of what it looks like when it's closed up. 

[Lindz]

15 minutes ago, Tired said:

Looks like a clove polyp, or even a pipe organ coral. It is very similar to a star polyp, so it's somewhat understandable that they could get the two mixed up. 

 

Scare it gently by touching it with something or blowing on it with a pipette, and take a picture of what it looks like when it's closed up. 

 

[Lindz]

[Tired]

Yeah, I think you may have a pipe organ there. Pipe organ corals have a pink/red skeleton. They're neat corals, and IIRC not hard to keep? But you should probably read up on them so you can figure out where in the tank it would like to be placed.

[Lindz]

On 9/15/2020 at 5:06 PM, Tired said:

On 9/15/2020 at 5:30 PM, Tired said:

Yeah, I think you may have a pipe organ there. Pipe organ corals have a pink/red skeleton. They're neat corals, and IIRC not hard to keep? But you should probably read up on them so you can figure out where in the tank it would like to be placed.

Yes I think so too my tank is finally coming along 

[Lindz]

So I just found my goby who I thought was dead in the back chamber with the pump after a month. He seems to really want to get back there again. I’m not sure how he got there

[Tired]

Yep, that'll happen. Fish can get through intake slits into AIO back chambers. Block the intake with a sponge (that you clean frequently) to keep him from going back there again.

[Lindz]

39 minutes ago, Tired said:

Yep, that'll happen. Fish can get through intake slits into AIO back chambers. Block the intake with a sponge (that you clean frequently) to keep him from going back there again.

But I have an intank basket I’m not sure how he got into the pump chamber 

[Tired]

I would check for gaps elsewhere, including in your lid. Fish can fit through much smaller spaces than you'd think, even midair. If you don't have a tight lid, you should get one. 

[Bato367]

On 9/11/2020 at 6:34 AM, Ash1176 said:

Hahaha so maybe don’t do an upgrade under the hood.

this is me now... 

had to pull out the 2 truelumen actinic strips, their supposed to be waterproof, but I guess all the saltwater from splash back corroded the rubber layer and rust set in... 

I guess everything was too close to the water.

but honestly in hindsight, having the hood on is annoying, it’s so weird to lift up and makes the tank so hot. Wish I went with a prime from the start... I think I’ll be buying one soon...

Don’t get me wrong the hood light will work for you, in the meantime save up for a light for later in the future when you want that upgrade, that would be my 2 scents. 

Did the stock Fluval power supply power these additional LED strips as well? 

[Ash1176]

On 12/1/2020 at 4:19 PM, Bato367 said:

Did the stock Fluval power supply power these additional LED strips as well? 

No it didn’t, for the truelumens I had a spare power supply (that was the right voltage and amp)  and the glo-light has they’re own too... IMO taking off the hood was the best thing I ever did, but it’s absolutely fine to get you started