Fluval evo 13.5 first built thread

Danroo · Feb 21, 2022

Missed out on my first 20 gallon build thread so I decided to go for this one.
Originally I was looking for a quarantine tank but got tempted on buying everything when I saw it on sale at petco. Started with caribsea life rock and live sand. Probably only going to keep softies in it zoas, going to frag my toadstool and buy some new softies as well any recommendations for the stock lights is welcome.

I’m not going to upgrade the light but I will be adding a small powerhead just to get that extra flow.

im not sure what worked, did but I was able to cycle this tank in a day. I started with adding RODI water in the tank and let the salt mix for 30 minutes. Added the rocks and then the sand. Let the cloudiness disappear for the night. Next morning saw the salinity rose a bit and the temperature was at 80f. Let the tank run ideally for a full day and the next day I reduced the salinity.

got my first fish ( cause I had beneficial bacteria from my 20 gallon seachem matrix to be exact ). I had remaining turbo start sitting on my table for a year now even expired but it still had that nasty smell but weaker.

added that to the tank while the fish get acclimated. Added the fish left the lights closed for the whole process.

the next day I started testing ammonia, no ammonia surprisingly, fish is doing fine eating fine, it’s just looks a bit bored. Moved around a bit, but after awhile goes back to its spot.

no ammonia was alarming for me ( I know it’s weird ) so I added the matrix for my tank just to be safe for 6 hours and put it back on my tank cause my brittle star was freaking out in my 20 gallon.

we’ll long story short here’s my new project.

Sharkbait19 · Feb 21, 2022

Looks great! Can’t wait to see it grow!
Good corals are leathers, zoas, Xenia, gsp, shrooms, photosynthetic gorgs, and easier lps like favia, acan, and euphilia.

Danroo · Feb 22, 2022

Going to avoid mushrooms this time, they just don’t look that good to me. Debating about gsp or Xenia on the small live rock. Just gonna frag my toadstool and place it in this to see how it’ll do.

Danroo · Feb 25, 2022

Ugly stages already started compared to my fist tank which took a whole month or maybe more to start.

Danroo · Mar 11, 2022

Decided to do a little update. Tank is going great so far, added cleanup crew 5 hermit, 3 nassarius snails and an anemone (from petco ) was slightly bleached when I got it. Also decided to move my big clown. Making them both a pair. They already hosted the anemone while my previous anemone refused to grow.

Danroo · Mar 28, 2022

Decided to share some changes. Got rid of the stock light and my nem conveniently moved to the back side of the tank. Off, well took the opportunity to add some zoas and a toadstool.

Danroo · Apr 1, 2022

@Sharkbait19 did you deal with micro bubbles or slight cloudiness when you look at your tank from the front? Everyone and everything is fine it’s just weird that every time I lose or move my clowns to a different tank I’ve to deal with slight cloudy water. My main tank is crystal when I moved my female to this one. Any suggestions?

Sharkbait19 · Apr 1, 2022

What are you running for filtration?
I always had a bit of cloudiness, especially after cleaning the tank, bubbles I think would come to some getting caught on algae.
Clowns are messy - they certainly can cause issues.

Danroo · Apr 1, 2022

Sharkbait19 said:
What are you running for filtration?
I always had a bit of cloudiness, especially after cleaning the tank, bubbles I think would come to some getting caught on algae.
Clowns are messy - they certainly can cause issues.

The stock filtration. Added the Fluval skimmer to see much difference just lowered my nitrates and phosphates even more, hasn’t seen much difference in algae growth on the glass and the micro bubbles.

edit: forgot to mention added a filter floss in a bag as well.

Sharkbait19 · Apr 1, 2022

I always had algae problems on the glass - a few days after the water change the film came and a few days later it was green.
Look into the intank media baskets - they made a huge difference when I got them.

Danroo · Apr 1, 2022

What do you think about the pump upgrade got any suggestions for the media baskets? I did some research a while ago and someone said the stock foam bad blocks a lot of circulation, do you think it’s true?

Sharkbait19 · Apr 1, 2022

I never replaced the pump in mine - never even had a powerhead and the only thing I couldn’t keep was an acro.
The sponge definitely wound up causing more problems than it solved. I cut it up and used a bit in the basket, I also used filter floss, the bio balls, and periodically carbon.

Danroo · Apr 1, 2022

Im gonna get the basket from Amazon. Quite impressed with seachem matrix going to use that instead of this sponge. I’ve a powerhead for my stylophora doing great after being half bleached (Lack of light in main display ). The micro bubbles or the cloudiness is just an eyesore.