Fluval Evo 13.5 - First Marine Tank

[Bayshield]

Hi all,

I have had my tank for almost 3 months now so thought I would introduce myself to the community.  I have had freshwater fish since I was a kid, but have always wanted to a reef tank to grow corals, with a couple of fish to add some interest!

 

Given my current space limitations, the Fluval 13.5 ticked the bill, and I picked mine up towards the end of August.   I also purchased:

• CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink Sand
• Dry rock (I don't recall how many kilos - but was recommended by the LFS)
• 50L Premixed Salt Water
• Aqamai Wave Maker
• API Marine Test Kit

 

The first photo below shows the water straight after filling the tank, and the second is a fortnight later when I did my first water test - showing ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. The cycle was underway!

 

After six weeks, the tank was showing almost no Ammonia and no Nitirite.  I took a water sample to my LFS to confirm these readers with the intention of just buying some water to perform a water change (Nitrates were quite high at this point) but ended up coming home with a clown, firefish and a duncan coral.  All went well for about three weeks until i came down one morning and couldn't find the ClownFish.  Turns out he managed to jump out of the small feeding hole in the Evo lid during the middle of the night.

 

As a result I designed and 3d printed a lid to cover the feeding slot.

 

Since then I have added a small cleanup crew with 2 Nassarius snails and 1 hermit crab and a sand shifting starfish as well as replacing the clown.

 

At the eight week mark I started to get a lot of diatomes in the tank - probably a result of me over feeding the fish in the early days. I am continuing to do weekly water changes and the situation is improving gradually, although i do have a hair algae outbreak on my hands at the moment. 

 

On the weekend i replaced the Evo Lid with a DD Jump Guard as I wanted the tank to have a cleaner line and bought myself an early xmas present in a AI Prime HD 16 light.

 

Cheers

Aaron

[davidcalgary29]

It looks lovely! I can't really welcome you here, as I'm new too, but welcome!

[Julio Abreu]

Awesome! I've also started a Fluval Evo 13.5 some weeks ago...

Your setup looks great!!!

[Firefish15]

Welcome to the hobby, glad you’re having fun with it! 
 

Just a heads up, that sand sifting starfish will probably starve fairly quickly. They need large tanks with lots of mature sand bed to survive long term.

[NanoNick0107]

Looks great!! I just started mine as well! Are you willing to part with your 3D printed piece for the feeding hole? 
 

   Or possibly make another and I will buy it for mine. How long did you wait to add your corals to the tank?

[Caramon420]

Very good. Looks very nice with the new led. Did u have to make anything to cover the edges?

[NanoNick0107]

Hey guys just an update of what I did since you all helped me with some great tips!!

 

  I took all the rocks out in a bucket of tank water 10% of it and scrubbed them one by one with a toothbrush.

 

  Next my proper refractometer came in that actually worked and I got the salinity down to 1.025.

 

 I went to the LFS and bought some snails an emerald green crab (male turns out by research) and 2 clown fish.

 

  I bought a light controller for the factory light and set up a simulated sunrise and sender program that I customized the brightness of the lights and only have them running at 60% at the prime daylight hours. This has helped keep the green hair algae away and allowed the coralline algae to start growing on the rocks. 
 

   Since then I have slowly been adding corals to the tank and watching to ensure all the parameters are good and having great success now.

 

attached is a picture of the tank as it sits now.

still working on getting the flow right with the current USA wave maker as it seems to be strong even at the 30% mark. 
 

anybody else have suggestions if you are using this same wave maker?

 

thanks again everyone and I am sure the journey of sorrows is yet to strike again but for now .. I will enjoy.