JachPot Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Hi all, A bit about me. I'm originally from Oklahoma where I learned about aquariums from my time working at "Wet Pets by Steve." Big shout out to them for teaching me so much and giving me a strong basis. I've been all over the map with tanks both fresh and reef. My 2 favorites have been my shrimp dominated 55 gallon planted tank and my 29 gallon reef. I had to get rid of all of my tanks before grad school due to moving in with my future wife into rental houses and apartments as we moved around. I'm finally a home owner! So I'm dipping a toe back in with a Fluval Evo 13.5 for my office. This tank is not even cycled yet, and my wife is already asking when I'm putting a "big one" in the living room. 😁 Fair warning, I've been taking pictures of absolutely everything and I have a huge photo dump coming. I own a heavily modded Ender 3 (v1) printer and I'm attempting to print most of the Evo 13.5 mods in PETG. They'll be the grey additions to the tank. I do want to give one shoutout. I was deeply inspired by @DevilDuck His 13.5 was absolutely beautiful and I'm hoping to recreated some of that magic. Here we go! For post one: Here's the empty tank in all its glory, the absolutely sweet rock I found, and cat tax! Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 Mail day! (Let's pretend I'm not updating a back log all at once....) To start the tank I ordered a Sicce 1.0 silent pump to mix with the 3d printed RFG heads I had planned to make. I did this in order to skimp on the wavemaker and keep the display area as standard and uncrowded as possible. I was able to fit the Eheim Jager 50w heater in the same compartment (3) as the return pump to boot. I'm very happy about that. I 3d printed with grey (They didn't have black, and I don't have patience) PETG the standard plug for the 2nd chamber return. Here's also an in progress print of the turbine heads from thingiverse. I decided to go with the v2 design that had the branding for the maker, because I didn't really care. 1 Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 Slight detour off the fish tank story and into the 3d printing territory. Good lord have I lost some time on this end. Good thing I'm cycling. The short version is I hadn't used my printer in about a year before this and everything that broke could. My nozzle clogged, the clog caused the extruder bit to grind itself out so that it wouldn't feed filament. My BLTouch broke. Hurray! I uninstalled the BLTouch and put the zstopper back on. Installed a new extruder feeder and tuned it and put a new nozzle on. (Brass for now, but steel comes in tomorrow) After getting all that sorted, I've failed 2 prints about the 4-5 hour mark. The picture with the 3 rectangles is the chamber 2 media basket ($55 from InTank). I said why not print it for $4 worth of plastic? So far both attempts have come off the glass due to it not being heated evenly all the way to the edges. So the guy I taught how to 3d print said "Why don't you just print it vertical with a huge brim and supports." So here we are. I'm 11 hours into a ~31 hour print and all is going well. Fingers crossed I'll be able to get that installed soon. 1 Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 Final update of the quick spurt. Here was the last bit of mail I've received. A refractometer and the Sicce 1.0. The Sicce has been turned all the way down and installed. My flow is insane. The top is pretty turbulent with the back RFG nozzle pointed slightly up and the nozzle pointed at the rocks is blowing everything around nicely. I don't think I'll be needing a wavemaker. I originally installed this thing about probably 65% strength and it was ready to blow the walls off the tank. At the minimum it's still dead quiet and has probably 5x the flow of the basic pump it feels like. I used that super sweet rock I found with a caribsea Arch and got this super sturdy rockwork design. It's probably about 10 lbs total of live rock. I know it's not necessary, but in the mail I have some of the biomedia balls for added bacteria space. I've found getting the maximum amount of bacteria in the tanks makes them easier to handle. I plan to put filter floss with them to keep them clear of food and debris. I'll also probably give them a quick dip rinse in the main tank area every time I change out filter media to make sure they're clean and free of the bad stuff. I'm also planning on running chemipure blue in the filter as well. Quote Link to comment
Murphs_Reef Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Good to know 👍🏼. My daughter's Evo is waiting on the Sicce 1.0 to arrive in the post.. currently have the stock pump... Not sure how she's getting to sleep at night it's like a drill, horrible sound and terrible flow. She has a good bit of LPS now (Xmas upgrade from a smaller tank so got 9 new LPS pieces as well as the tank cause I'm a sucker 😂) so flow will want to be top end, so suspect I'll have it turned up a good bit .. 2 Quote Link to comment
DevilDuck Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Wow! Thanks so much for the shout-out @JachPot! That's high praise considering from someone with your experience and considering some other amazing tanks on the forums! I can't wait to see your tank and journal develops! Can you link out to the 3D models you created or used on Thingaverse? I think it will be helpful to other Evo 13.5 owners with access to 3D printers. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 4 hours ago, Murphych said: Good to know 👍🏼. My daughter's Evo is waiting on the Sicce 1.0 to arrive in the post.. currently have the stock pump... Not sure how she's getting to sleep at night it's like a drill, horrible sound and terrible flow. She has a good bit of LPS now (Xmas upgrade from a smaller tank so got 9 new LPS pieces as well as the tank cause I'm a sucker 😂) so flow will want to be top end, so suspect I'll have it turned up a good bit .. My Sicce is pretty dang quiet. My stock pump was dead quiet, but didn't move anything at all. It's a huge pain in the butt to install the Sicce down into that compartment, you have to put the powercable away from the the chamber 2 wall that sticks out give it a bit of an angle, and squeeze it by (it barely fits). So it's really annoying to put in and take out to adjust. I tried mine first like 1/4 turn from the minimum and it was wayyyy too much. If anything you might go to the very minimum and do like 1-2 "clicks" max. Mine has a tonnnnn of flow with the random flow generators. I'm very happy with not having a powerhead. 1 Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 2 hours ago, DevilDuck said: Wow! Thanks so much for the shout-out @JachPot! That's high praise considering from someone with your experience and considering some other amazing tanks on the forums! I can't wait to see your tank and journal develops! Can you link out to the 3D models you created or used on Thingaverse? I think it will be helpful to other Evo 13.5 owners with access to 3D printers. I'm coming back after a several year hiatus and there's a ton I've forgot and need to relearn. Skimming through your thread and following along it was clear to me that you did a great job with that tank. The end pictures are beautiful. I think it's good to recognize the spectacular tanks in this hobby! Great idea with the thingiverse links, so here they are and my comments on them. Some of them were also a pain, because they don't have an orientation guide so I had trial and error, or had to scour the comments. Stock orientation is fine for the plug Fluval Evo 13.5 plug: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2863195 ^Scale this up to 108%, put some superglue or epoxy around the edge and plug it in. 100% is too small. Orientate all random flow generators with the big end (end the water comes out) DOWN Fluval Evo 13.5 Random Flow Generators (1/2" and 3/4") https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4858544 ^These have some "branding" on the side, because the guy's original design was stolen so he made a "2021 redux" set. The 1/2" will fit on the loc line that comes with the tank stock if you pop off the 1/2 to 2 head (1/4") adapter. I have read many comments saying people used the 1/2" with a Sicce 1.0 and that's all they needed for the tank, no wavemaker. I haven't tried this, but thought I'd add it. 3/4" is included, I'm not sure why. Fluval Evo 13.5 Random Flow Generators (1/4" - Stock Loc Line size) https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4874842 ^Those are the 1/4" that fit directly on the stock loc line that comes with the tank. You pop the 2 flat heads off and put those on. They fit pretty well at stock size. (also has branding). I wanted to try this first since the Sicce is tuneable and I would be able to slow dial it up with the 2 heads. I felt I could get much better coverage than the default tank setup. Fluval Evo 13.5 Chamber 2 Media Basket https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3465980 ^Printing this one at up at stock size now. You have to orientate it vertically where the big flat bottom is on the print bed. You also need tree supports on. This is a beast of a print and I'm 20 hours into ~31. Future prints: Fluval Evo 13.5 Feed box w/ lid https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3334527 ^2 things on this, I've read horror stories of people losing fish, and I have a 14 lbs absolutely insanely smart and athletic Tuxedo cat (Pictured above). This is a must for me before I get fish. Fluval Evo 13.5 Water Director https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3536829 ^Upgrade over the stock one, works better with filter socks, media baskets, etc. (Not needed for the Chamber 1 box below) Fluval Evo 13.5 Chamber 1 Media Basket https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3770269 ^If I don't get a skimmer soon, I'll use this guy probably with extra filter floss. It comes with a flow director which is nice and shows some thought to the design. Thanks for the kind words guys! Today I repainted the office, so I have a dark purple wall behind the tank and it POPS now. Very nice upgrade. Just got to finish up the touch ups! 1 Quote Link to comment
Murphs_Reef Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 Interesting that yours stock pump was quiet. My daughter's stock pump is louder than all of the kit combined in my 90gallon which includes 2 wave pumps, a 4000 litre return pump, skimmer and 3 ai prime 16hd fans running all at full tilt. Quote Link to comment
DevilDuck Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 7 hours ago, Murphych said: Interesting that yours stock pump was quiet. My daughter's stock pump is louder than all of the kit combined in my 90gallon which includes 2 wave pumps, a 4000 litre return pump, skimmer and 3 ai prime 16hd fans running all at full tilt. My stock pump was silent also. You have to place it carefully in the compartment. I noticed it rattled more if the power line was touching the pump and the sidewall of the compartment or the lid. 1 Quote Link to comment
Murphs_Reef Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 1 hour ago, DevilDuck said: My stock pump was silent also. You have to place it carefully in the compartment. I noticed it rattled more if the power line was touching the pump and the sidewall of the compartment or the lid. I think it's a tolerance thing dude. As my idea of silent it not that.. I've had the pump apart and tested in the centre of my own sumpz power cables lifted out of the way, and it's got a good hum.. the same hum as the display in 2 of the fish stores I visit regular. As said my 90 gallon is absolutely silent and that's the measure I use. Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 Man oh man, what a wild deal that was..... So first things first, success! The 2nd chamber media box is printed and working! After about an hour of cleaning off the supports with an exacto knife kit and pliers the box is at a stage I am happy with. The fun? When I was sliding the box in I quickly realized it was stuck.... My plug had come too far through the wall and was catching on the bottom of the box. So I turned off the return pump and let the water settle. Then I carefully reached in and shaved back the plug with an exacto knife. Performing live surgery on plastic inside a tank is absolutely not fun. Luckily I was able to get 2 big shavings to come off and get removed. The box now fits! Attached are pictures of the box in progress through that 30+ hour print. Bonus picture of the wall I just painted. Decided to remodel the office before the tank was fully settled. Just finishing up the corners today and the room is finished! Next print: Feeding box with lid and then the Chamber 1 media box. I currently don't plan to run a skimmer, so I'm going to utilize as much of the back space as possible. Looking at that picture of the wall, it appears I have some paint fixing to do lol 2 Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 Quick little bonus post since it was a quick print! Made myself a little feeder box to prevent jumpers and to keep the cat from messing with the tank. 2 2 Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 19, 2022 Author Share Posted January 19, 2022 First water test today, my kit finally came in. I'm well aware of the stigma around API tests and I'm fine with using them for what they are, before anyone hops in here for that reason. My pH seems to be on the lower end of acceptable. I think this is because I only had the lights on for 30 minutes before I tested. I'll test again in 4-5 hours and see if that's true. I have a little ammonia and nitrite, very small if any noticeable nitrates. I'm a bit worried my initial ammonia load wasn't large enough from just using 2 pieces of liverock and caribsea sand. I'm looking for input here on what you guys think. My eventual stock list is probably just 2 juvenile clowns, a watchman goby, paired shrimp, and typical snails. I'm looking to get designer clowns, so I'm trying to be as safe as possible when introducing them. Quote Link to comment
codacodi Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 On 1/17/2022 at 1:54 PM, JachPot said: Mail day! (Let's pretend I'm not updating a back log all at once....) To start the tank I ordered a Sicce 1.0 silent pump to mix with the 3d printed RFG heads I had planned to make. I did this in order to skimp on the wavemaker and keep the display area as standard and uncrowded as possible. I was able to fit the Eheim Jager 50w heater in the same compartment (3) as the return pump to boot. I'm very happy about that. I 3d printed with grey (They didn't have black, and I don't have patience) PETG the standard plug for the 2nd chamber return. Here's also an in progress print of the turbine heads from thingiverse. I decided to go with the v2 design that had the branding for the maker, because I didn't really care. Ender3 FTW!! Where did you ding the RFG models? I wish to add one too. If you could link me to them, I'd appreciate it. Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 20, 2022 Author Share Posted January 20, 2022 14 minutes ago, codacodi said: Ender3 FTW!! Where did you ding the RFG models? I wish to add one too. If you could link me to them, I'd appreciate it. There's a massive post a few posts up with all the models I used. Make sure you use PETG or a reefsafe plastic. Orientate all random flow generators with the big end (end the water comes out) DOWN Fluval Evo 13.5 Random Flow Generators (1/2" and 3/4") https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4858544 ^These have some "branding" on the side, because the guy's original design was stolen so he made a "2021 redux" set. The 1/2" will fit on the loc line that comes with the tank stock if you pop off the 1/2 to 2 head (1/4") adapter. I have read many comments saying people used the 1/2" with a Sicce 1.0 and that's all they needed for the tank, no wavemaker. I haven't tried this, but thought I'd add it. 3/4" is included, I'm not sure why. Fluval Evo 13.5 Random Flow Generators (1/4" - Stock Loc Line size) https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4874842 ^Those are the 1/4" that fit directly on the stock loc line that comes with the tank. You pop the 2 flat heads off and put those on. They fit pretty well at stock size. (also has branding). I wanted to try this first since the Sicce is tuneable and I would be able to slow dial it up with the 2 heads. I felt I could get much better coverage than the default tank setup. 1 Quote Link to comment
codacodi Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 Thats awesome. Yeah I have a PETG roll specifically for this purpose. Gonna get that print going this evening. Thanks a bunch! Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 Finished up my 39 hour print of the chamber 1 media box! Again, it came out a little rough with supports and took me a solid 2 hours to clean it, but I'm happy with where it is at. I've stuffed it with filter floss and stirred up my sand a little bit to get some filtering of anything in the tank. I've noticed my pump seems to be blowing some air bubbles even though it's obviously fully submerged. I'm not sure what's going on there. I took out the Chemipure Blue to allow some phosphates in the future, I'll keep the bags back in case anything major happens. I'll be doing another water test later tonight to see where I'm at. I used some Seachem Reef Buffer to move my pH up towards 8.3-8.4 as it was right around 8.0. Edit: sad day, I pulled out the Sicce and turned it up. It was at minimum, I turned it probably about 1/3-1/2 of the way up. It lowered the water in the third chamber so significantly that I had to move the heater to the main tank. I'm not really upset about it, but since I have media boxes in chambers 1 and 2, it's where in at. I am considering removing the chamber 2 box and only using it in emergencies when I need to run additional media though. 2 Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 26, 2022 Author Share Posted January 26, 2022 Big change! After browsing around the aquascape thread for a week I realized I could do better.... So I present the new scape! (It's also wife approved) I get a ton more coral real estate out of this layout, higher PAR ratings on the top center rock. The big rock on the left has 4-5 predrilled plug holes on it, so putting corals in should be a dream! Water update: Nitrites have come and almost gone, nitrates are going up, ammonia is also right at 0. Almost cycled! 4 Quote Link to comment
kimdawg Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 I love the new rock scape. You have tons of places to put coral. 1 Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share Posted January 28, 2022 Oh yeah, as soon as I turned that rock up and showed my wife we both instantly agreed it was better. Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 Good news! Tank cycled, all it took was some patience! I started with a low bioload to just be careful. I'm not in the business of murdering fish. I went to my LFS with a plan, I wanted a Wheeler's Goby or a Yellow Watchman. Well, they had a highfin for $30 or a normal priced Yellow Watchman. I very happily took the highfin. He's a beautiful fish! He has settled in nicely and has found a lot of caves and tunnels in the rocks he likes. Unfortunately, he's also found he can fit through the overflow and he likes to go there every night and sleep on the filter floss. I'm working on a solution for this currently. My haul for the week: 1 two headed blue/red Acan (my choice) 1 two polyp bright orange zoa (wife's choice) 1 Highfin Goby 2 Astrea Snails 1 Bumblebee Snail 1 Nassarius Snail Unfortunately, I haven't seen the Nassarius since I put him in. I really like to watch their trunks as they drive around so that's been a bit of a bummer. The other snails have already been all over the tank and been a lot of fun to watch. I've been keeping parameters tests (mostly due to paranoia) the whole time to make sure Ammonia/Nitrites stay at 0 since this is my first fish after cycling. So far so good! The tank is now developing some diatoms and moving towards the ugly stage, so I'm planning on holding tight for the next week and seeing if it sets in and I can properly let it run its process before adding anything else. 4 Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Gorgeous Goby, and yes they will find the smallest gap to fit through regardless of where it is 2 Quote Link to comment
JachPot Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 On 2/1/2022 at 2:09 AM, Ratvan said: Gorgeous Goby, and yes they will find the smallest gap to fit through regardless of where it is That picture doesn't even do him justice, he's absolutely gorgeous. I was very ecstatic to get him. He's found a small hole in the side of the rock that opens into a larger "cavern" that nothing else can get in and he's absolutely loving it. He's already quit going in the filter. I had a question for everyone. The store I go to only feeds their frozen blend (not a problem, it's normal priced and they have a nano blend). I'd like to mix in some pellets. What do you all think would be a decent attempt brand wise to get the Goby to take to pellets? I know fish can be finicky, but has anyone had success with their goby on pellets? My old Wheeler's goby loved them. I think I had New Life spectrum previously. 1 Quote Link to comment
DevilDuck Posted February 3, 2022 Share Posted February 3, 2022 I also use new life spectrum and everything in my tank enjoys them. I have 4 types of gobies; Green Clown, Diamond, yellow watchman, and Randall’s. I also heard good things about TDO Chroma Boost from BRS. 1 Quote Link to comment
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