Ibob991's Evo 13.5

[ibob991]

Hey guys,
This will be my first build thread and my third attempt at a saltwater tank. My first tank (40g) was a gift from a relative that was upgrading tanks and that tank was semi successful as a FOWLR. After having success with that, I decided to go ahead and upgrade to a bigger tank so I could being my journey into keeping a reef. The tank has been running for about 2 years now and it is beyond saving at this point. I learned a lot about myself, money, and the hobby while trying to keep that tank afloat, but unfortunately it has come time to shut it down. I was dumping piles and piles of money into equipment and chemicals to try and bring the tank back from the edge, but it always seemed to be just out of reach. I couldn't bring myself to constantly go back and forth every day to try and put out the next "fire" in the tank. In reflection, it was many factors that has lead the tank down that path, mostly of the mistakes I made along the way or bad decisions. With all that being said, I am hoping that I can take that knowledge now and apply it properly to a nano tank.


I still have a ton of research to do specific to nano tanks, and I will use the time the tank is cycling to hopefully hit all these topics before I proceed. Please feel free to ask any questions or comments in the thread, I would love for this process to be an engaging experience with others that might already have a successful nano tank.




Tank : Fluval Evo 13.5
Pump: Sicce 0.5
Flow : RFG Nozzle
Light : Aqua Knight V2
ATO : Smart Micro ATO with Custom reservoir (5g)
Heater: Neo-Therm 50w
Rock: 15-20 lbs of dry liverock and Marinepure Gems
Substrate: Caribsea Bahama Oolite
Extras: Intank Media basket 1&2


Livestock: TBD ( Would like a Clown pair with a firefish pair and possibly a cleaner shrimp)

CUC: TBD (I would like to go crabless but I need to research further)

Coral: TBD (Most likely some soft with a few lps, no plans for sps)






Rock is currently bleaching outside, then it will be de-chloronate time , hopefully start aquascaping/cycle by the end of this week!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Hey guys,
This will be my first build thread and my third attempt at a saltwater tank. My first tank (40g) was a gift from a relative that was upgrading tanks and that tank was semi successful as a FOWLR. After having success with that, I decided to go ahead and upgrade to a bigger tank so I could being my journey into keeping a reef. The tank has been running for about 2 years now and it is beyond saving at this point. I learned a lot about myself, money, and the hobby while trying to keep that tank afloat, but unfortunately it has come time to shut it down. I was dumping piles and piles of money into equipment and chemicals to try and bring the tank back from the edge, but it always seemed to be just out of reach. I couldn't bring myself to constantly go back and forth every day to try and put out the next "fire" in the tank. In reflection, it was many factors that has lead the tank down that path, mostly of the mistakes I made along the way or bad decisions. With all that being said, I am hoping that I can take that knowledge now and apply it properly to a nano tank.


I still have a ton of research to do specific to nano tanks, and I will use the time the tank is cycling to hopefully hit all these topics before I proceed. Please feel free to ask any questions or comments in the thread, I would love for this process to be an engaging experience with others that might already have a successful nano tank.




Tank : Fluval Evo 13.5
Pump: Sicce 0.5
Flow : IM RFG Nozzle
Light : Aqua Knight V2
ATO : Smart Micro ATO with Custom reservoir (5g)
Heater: Neo-Therm 50w
Rock: 15-20 lbs of dry liverock and Marinepure Gems
Substrate: Caribsea Bahama Oolite
Extras: Intank Media basket 1&2


Livestock: TBD ( Would like a Clown pair with a firefish pair and possibly a cleaner shrimp)

CUC: TBD (I would like to go crabless but I need to research further)

Coral: TBD (Most likely some soft with a few lps, no plans for sps)






Rock is currently bleaching outside, then it will be de-chloronate time , hopefully start aquascaping/cycle by the end of this week!

Nice! Sounds like a sweet setup.

 

[ibob991]

Update: Rock went into rodi with prime tonight, will check tomorrow night and evaluate! I super glued the intank wall plug into the hole to block flow to chamber 2.

 

[ibob991]

Update 2: Rock soaked for 24 hrs in seachem prime to de-chlorinate (used about 1/3 of a bottle because I am paranoid about using rock after bleaching). One of the rocks (not used in the scape) still has a slight chlorine smell which is very suspect to me knowing how much prime was in essentially 3g of water. Going to try and source some chlorine test strips and will dose the tank directly if needed, but the rock used in the scape has no detectable smell. Settled on this design for the live rock, not 100% on the middle piece at the bottom but that is just shy of 10lb of live rock. I know I have a ton of extra space for bacteria on the marinepure in the sump, so I am going to sleep on it, but I have a feeling it will look much better with sand once it is in.

Side note: IM leveling mat is not sticking very well to my stand, going to tape it down.

 

[Sm51498]

As long as you let the rocks dry completely, the chlorine will off gas. Looks like a great start!

 

[ibob991]

As long as you let the rocks dry completely, the chlorine will off gas. Looks like a great start!

Yea, I think ill be extra paranoid and let the rock dry outside, raining here today so it will go out to dry tomorrow.

 

[ibob991]

I apologize for the lack of updates, my work schedule changed and had a few hiccups with delivery of supplies for the tank. As of now, the tank has been wet for 24hrs with live sand and has been dosed with a bottle of fritz turbo start. Will be posting a full update this weekend, so if your reading along stay tuned!