Another Fluval Evo build from Walnut Creek.

[WillU]

Hey everyone, building a Fluval Evo 13.5 after being out of the hobby for almost 10 years. I built a couple pico tanks and a biocube when I was younger.

Tank: Fluval Evo 13.5
Light: Fluval Marine 3.0
Pump: DCS 1200
Filtration: InTank Chamber One running filter floss, carbon & MarinePure Gems + InTank Chamber Two with live rock rubble.
Heater: Cobalt NeoTherm Pro 75w

Animals:
Firefish Goby
Wyoming White Clown
Mocha Storm Clown
Banggai Cardinal
Yasha Goby
Cleaner Shrimp
Randall's Pistol Shrimp
Short Spine Urchin
White Pincushion Urchin
Emerald Crab
Various snails and such for clean up crew

Coral:
Hairy Green Mushroom
GSP
Pulsing Xenia
Nuclear Palythoas
Green Zoa
Gatorade Zoa
Pink Zoa
Branching Hammer Coral
Torch Coral
Chyphastrea
Orange Yuma Mushroom
Bird of Paradise Birdsnest
Frost Skirt Acan

Looking forward to meeting people in the area.

 

[Srt4eric]

Welcome to the club!!!! Thanks for becoming a supporting member. Seems like this would be a good start to a tank journal. Want me to move this over there?

 

[WillU]

Welcome to the club!!!! Thanks for becoming a supporting member. Seems like this would be a good start to a tank journal. Want me to move this over there?

Thanks! That would be awesome, still trying to figure out how to navigate everywhere.

I heard about you all from Cali Kid because I asked if they have PAR meters and they told me you all loan them out. I saw I have to wait 60 days before I can queue up though.

 

[WillU]

Just a quick update!

I lost my nem and 1 clown after doing a water change and not heating the water enough. Really dumb mistake on my part, so I have another heater now that I use to heat my water.

I also lost my mandarin while I was in tahoe so not sure what happened...He may have starved but I was adding pods 2x a week and feeding frozen pods daily so really bummed about it.

I did add a Mocha Storm clown and some Orange Yuma's from a local reefer that I got for $40!

 

[Darkxerox]

Just a quick update!

I lost my nem and 1 clown after doing a water change and not heating the water enough. Really dumb mistake on my part, so I have another heater now that I use to heat my water.

I also lost my mandarin while I was in tahoe so not sure what happened...He may have starved but I was adding pods 2x a week and feeding frozen pods daily so really bummed about it.

I did add a Mocha Storm clown and some Orange Yuma's from a local reefer that I got for $40!

How much water have you been changing out at a time and what kind of filtration are you using prior to mixing? Usually room temp water won't drop temperatures too much after a change. Also with the heater in the mixing container, always be sure that it never is on while dry, I've made that mistake before!

 

[WillU]

How much water have you been changing out at a time and what kind of filtration are you using prior to mixing? Usually room temp water won't drop temperatures too much after a change. Also with the heater in the mixing container, always be sure that it never is on while dry, I've made that mistake before!

It's been really cold and I keep my water in the garage. I changed 20% with probably 50ish degree water. I don't mix my own water, I buy from CaliKid weekly and do the water change.

I do 20% once a week but now I'm heating the water to 78 degrees before doing the water change.

 

[Gabtron92]

It's been really cold and I keep my water in the garage. I changed 20% with probably 50ish degree water. I don't mix my own water, I buy from CaliKid weekly and do the water change.

I do 20% once a week but now I'm heating the water to 78 degrees before doing the water change.

I was doing 20 percent changes once a week and ended up dropping the nutrients too low! Of course we all have different situations but you might be able to switch to bi weekly!

 

[WillU]

I was doing 20 percent changes once a week and ended up dropping the nutrients too low! Of course we all have different situations but you might be able to switch to bi weekly!

I felt like I should do the water changes to keep my calcium and such from depleting since I don't dose any. My tank stays super clean so I feel like I could go bi-weekly but afraid to deplete calcium and other things the salt provides.

 

[Gabtron92]

I felt like I should do the water changes to keep my calcium and such from depleting since I don't dose any. My tank stays super clean so I feel like I could go bi-weekly but afraid to deplete calcium and other things the salt provides.

Oooo that’s a good point! Definitely check out your levels with a simple test kit! It’s so helpful to know where they are at. The first time I checked my calcium, without ever dosing, it was quite high! Surprised me

 

[Darkxerox]

I felt like I should do the water changes to keep my calcium and such from depleting since I don't dose any. My tank stays super clean so I feel like I could go bi-weekly but afraid to deplete calcium and other things the salt provides.

Yeah with a small tank and very low uptake with your two stony corals, you should be fine with just water changes.

 

[WillU]

Oooo that’s a good point! Definitely check out your levels with a simple test kit! It’s so helpful to know where they are at. The first time I checked my calcium, without ever dosing, it was quite high! Surprised me

Haha yeah, I need to get some better test kits. I have the API kit but it's pretty basic....Looking into the Hanna Checkers next

 

[WillU]

Yeah with a small tank and very low uptake with your two stony corals, you should be fine with just water changes.

I'm adding a birdsnest this weekend. You think just water changes will be sufficient? I don't plan for much more SPS anytime soon, I think after this I'm just going to wait for things to grow and fill in.

 

[Patio]

You might consider getting a test kit like @Gabtron92 suggested. It helps remove some guessing. There are some solid alkalinity kits around the 15$ mark like Salifert on chewydotcom or at your local fish shop.

 

[Darkxerox]

You can just monitor alkalinity for now with a salifert kit like @Patio suggested and if things do drop, you can add back with a balanced supplement like kalkwasser. But keep it simple!

 

[Srt4eric]

Haha yeah, I need to get some better test kits. I have the API kit but it's pretty basic....Looking into the Hanna Checkers next

You might win that hanna checker tomorrow!!!

 

[WillU]

You might win that hanna checker tomorrow!!!

Fingers crossed!

 

[WillU]

Picked up a Banggai Cardinal and a Yasha Goby today. Also picked up some Frost Skirt Acan and a pretty decent size Bird of Paradise Birdsnest frag.

I'll post some pics later.

Just planning to add a pistol shrimp at some point...I was going to get a tiger pistol but the guy at Aquatic Collection told me to wait for a Randall's Pistol as they pair better with the Yasha Goby.

 

[WillU]

 

[WillU]

 

[Darkxerox]

Picked up a Banggai Cardinal and a Yasha Goby today. Also picked up some Frost Skirt Acan and a pretty decent size Bird of Paradise Birdsnest frag.

I'll post some pics later.

Just planning to add a pistol shrimp at some point...I was going to get a tiger pistol but the guy at Aquatic Collection told me to wait for a Randall's Pistol as they pair better with the Yasha Goby.

I'd say give the tank a few months to stabilize as 4 fish in that size of a tank is a lot already.