My 1st SW build. Fluval Sea Evo 13.5

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10-01-2017, 08:53 PM
Ajohnsantos

My 1st SW build. Fluval Sea Evo 13.5

My very first SW. So Im a newbie and Im doing a nano. I know I shouldn't but I think I could! Any suggestions, guidance, comments will be appreciated.

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First initial set up by the window. Cycled with everything just stock filter media and chemipure blue. 11 lbs live rock, 20 lbs caribsea arag-alive, and Bio-spira.
Week 2.
After researching more. Moved it from by the window to my counter away from any sunlight.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6258d07aae.jpg
Added 2 clown fish, skunk cleaner shrimp and CUC. Also added Koralia nano 425.I know I did it too fast but I'm very impatient when it comes to this stuff but water parameters seemed fine.

To be continued. Im backtracking from when I started mid August.

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10-01-2017, 08:57 PM
ricenoodle

Get a good auto topoff and keep a close eye on your parameters, for a tank that small small changes happen fast. Research, Research, Research. I've always been a nano fan and it's entirely possible to do a badass tank, just have to keep a closer eye than normal on everything. On the plus side water changes are a piece of cake.
10-01-2017, 09:23 PM
Ajohnsantos

My 1st SW build. Fluval Sea Evo 13.5

So after maybe a month of cycling with the inhabitants and almost daily testing and stable I went to a local hobbyist and picked up some stuff.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...638ee6d362.jpg
Pretty bleached BTA (pretty much free)
Red shrooms
Green zoas
Gsp
Anthelia?

....
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f0291a243d.jpg
BTA moved ALOT! and is now stable here which Im okay with being hosted by the female clown and porcelain crab.
....
And for the most up to date photo taken and aquascape I think Im gonna stick with for awhile. And after some impulse buys at Aqua SD weekend sales and ebay. This is what I came up with.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1f57efc088.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...105fa2e593.jpg

And is now running current usa marine LED (swapping for the pro version) , tunze osmo nano ato w/ 3 gl kalk mix ro/di, koralia nano 425 & 240 w/ hydor wavemaker, in-tank media basket w/ filter floss, chemipure blue, marine pure spheres. Aqeon 100w heater set at 78. Red Sea coral pro salt.

Aiming for 2 gal water change a week but been doing more than that just because I can.

Water pars (redsea test kit)
1.025 salinity
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
5 nitrate
7-8 alkalinity

Haven't started testing for calcium and other stuff yet. Not quite there yet, just waiting for the redsea reef test kit.

More updates to come..

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10-01-2017, 09:27 PM
Ajohnsantos

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricenoodle

Get a good auto topoff and keep a close eye on your parameters, for a tank that small small changes happen fast. Research, Research, Research. I've always been a nano fan and it's entirely possible to do a badass tank, just have to keep a closer eye than normal on everything. On the plus side water changes are a piece of cake.

Thanks for the reply! Yeah ATO was the first thing I knew I needed to invest on. Got the Tunze osmo nano and its been working great! I Also mix kalk in the water for my ATO. Would this be enough to keep my alk and calcium and stuff?

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10-01-2017, 09:42 PM
sushi

I'd say you made a good decision going nano for the first tank. If you are diligent and read enough to have an idea of what is going on in the tank you won't really have problems. A larger tank might mask poor management anyway, so having a little tank like this will keep you on your toes a bit! When I was first looking at tanks people at the fish store were like "oh man your first tank you need a big one!!!"

Nope! Like you, I started with a nano and everything was fine. There was no way in hello I was going to spend thousands of dollars on some huge setup without even knowing if I liked reef tanks.

You tank looks great, especially for being a month or so old. As far as tips, I will say from my personal experience don't worry when your tank starts getting algae and cyano, it seems like every new tank goes through that before it is 18 months old. Secondly, don't be deceived by a healthy looking tank. Some problems can take months to really show that something is wrong. In particular I am talking about cleaning out your filter sponges every water change, and feeding your corals. I neglected to do these since my tank looked really great for over 6 months, but then things started dying.

Looks like you're off to a good start, and if things start to look off just post here and try not to worry :beer:
10-01-2017, 10:33 PM
Kris.C

Tank looks good, don't forget the most important thing about this hobby and that's .. wait for it ... having fun! Keep us posted bud.
10-02-2017, 01:15 PM
Ajohnsantos

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kris.C

Tank looks good, don't forget the most important thing about this hobby and that's .. wait for it ... having fun! Keep us posted bud.

Haha thanks! Its been a lot of late night research and non stop videos but Im definitely having fun and addicted!

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10-02-2017, 01:17 PM
Ajohnsantos

Quote:

Originally Posted by sushi

I'd say you made a good decision going nano for the first tank. If you are diligent and read enough to have an idea of what is going on in the tank you won't really have problems. A larger tank might mask poor management anyway, so having a little tank like this will keep you on your toes a bit! When I was first looking at tanks people at the fish store were like "oh man your first tank you need a big one!!!"

Nope! Like you, I started with a nano and everything was fine. There was no way in hello I was going to spend thousands of dollars on some huge setup without even knowing if I liked reef tanks.

You tank looks great, especially for being a month or so old. As far as tips, I will say from my personal experience don't worry when your tank starts getting algae and cyano, it seems like every new tank goes through that before it is 18 months old. Secondly, don't be deceived by a healthy looking tank. Some problems can take months to really show that something is wrong. In particular I am talking about cleaning out your filter sponges every water change, and feeding your corals. I neglected to do these since my tank looked really great for over 6 months, but then things started dying.

Looks like you're off to a good start, and if things start to look off just post here and try not to worry :beer:

Thanks for the reply. Thats definitely something Im scared of. Everything always looks good but Im scared for that one day I will look at it and everything will be SCREWED!

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10-02-2017, 02:21 PM
fijisrfr

Welcome & nice tank! Like the rest of us, you will live for the one or two days a month where you don't need to fuss with something!
PS
Get better lights!

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10-02-2017, 02:23 PM
Ajohnsantos

Quote:

Originally Posted by fijisrfr

Welcome & nice tank! Like the rest of us, you will live for the one or two days a month where you don't need to fuss with something!
PS
Get better lights!

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Haha thanks. Waiting for that black friday/cyber monday deal or maybe Ill put it on the wishlist for Xmas!

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10-02-2017, 02:26 PM
fijisrfr

You could put a cheap ( 100.00) Chinese light on it & get much better results. They are all over e-bay
( sorry Jeff)

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10-02-2017, 02:28 PM
Ajohnsantos

Quote:

Originally Posted by fijisrfr

You could put a cheap ( 100.00) Chinese light on it & get much better results. They are all over e-bay
( sorry Jeff)

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Will it really do much better than the current usa marine Pro? I really like the ramp timer it comes with.

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10-05-2017, 06:50 PM
garrettm

Looking great! Love the scape

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10-05-2017, 07:18 PM
Ajohnsantos

Tank update 5 Oct
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c5247429a8.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...37a7cc3394.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3f0867c020.jpg
Got lucky finding a used Vortech MP10 and its the best thing ever! Running in Lagoon & reef crest mode.

Questions -
Ive been slowly getting hair algae now and its adding up. I limit my feeding to once a day and I dose reef roids and phyto feast twice a week. I added phosguard and purigen along with chemipure blue (is this too much?). I also change the filter floss once-twice a week.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f6a014b67a.jpg
The phyto feast is for this fella.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...832c8eb3a5.jpg
This also happened for a few days now for some reason. I think after I added the purigen and phosguard.

Other than that everything seems to be doing just fine.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7ae7b57de6.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cf302c431a.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ebb256fd12.jpg
Let me know what you guys think! Thanks for all the great response so far.

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