Fluval Evo 13.5 with NSW build thread

[jfoahs04]

Tank is looking awesome!

Thanks!

 

[highfive52]

This is a pretty sleek little AIO. It’s the smallest reef I’ve ever owned (and I’ve never had a “big” one) and I can definitely feel the constraint when it comes to the rock work. But I’ve also never had a reef where the coral growth has taken off so quickly. This is a very new reef (just under 2 months), but it’s acting more mature than any other I’ve had at this point. I don’t know if that’s experience, live rock, the natural sea water, or some combination of everything, but I like it.

My big challenge is algae. Diatoms came and went quickly. I had some bubble algae on a pice of live rock from the start which spread a little and has since been reduced down to near nothing (with some effort). Honestly, I don’t hate the bubble algae as long as it doesn’t take over. Finally, I had a round of hair algae on the sand bed. That’s now largely receded. I attribute that to operator error. I have about 10 gallons of actual water volume and I’ve always been an over feeder. 10 gallons can’t compensate for the over feeding like a large system can. Nitrates and phosphates never read high, but that’s probably because the algae was consuming it. I dialed back the feeding, started changing out my filter fiber every two days (instead of weekly), and manually removed as much as possible. It’s mostly gone now - lesson learned. I haven’t seen any aiptasia since I removed the section of rock where the colony was growing. I’m hopeful, but it’ll be awhile before I feel confident about it.

In addition to my Tailspot Blenny, I now also have a small DaVinci clown. It’s tank raised and has a Nemo fin on its right side (or “starboard” since this is marine?). It makes him a little extra wiggly (which my fiancée loves), but he manages more than just fine. He eats like a pig. My favorite thing is that the the blenny seems to have taken to the little guy. I was worried about aggression (blenny was there first), but they are always hanging out together, they eat together, and even sleep together. The blenny had a few spots in the rocks where it used to sleep/hide. The clown took up residence by the thermometer in the back of the tank. Well, now the blenny sleeps next to him, “hiding” (not very well) behind the thermometer too. I had always said I’ll get a 3rd fish (likely a second clown), but 2 may be just fine.

Some photos:
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Trick to macro tanks is use tap water top off.

 

[jfoahs04]

Trick to macro tanks is use tap water top off.

Because it’s “dirtier?”

 

[jfoahs04]

• It’s been about a month since I last updated, but here’s where we are now:

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The good:

• Healthy livestock and growth on almost all my coral - all of which was purchased from reefers from this club.
• I love the Prime and the Nero 3.

The bad:

• I gave away my Gorgonian which was just not thriving in this little tank. I couldn’t get it to a spot where it was happy. It was gorgeous at first, but I think my algae issue frustrated it as it was shedding for 2 1/2 weeks straight.
• Some shoddy glue work with the SPS at the top of the tank. Should look better with time, but man I botched it.

The ugly:

• Algae. I’m leaning toward GHA, but could also possibly be Dino’s. I have a microscope coming next week to determine (and dictate my plan of attack), but right now it’s manual removal. It’s not awful, but I sure would like to get it under control before it gets much worse.

 

[ChrisV]

Looking good!

 

[jfoahs04]

Looking good!

Thanks!

 

[ChrisV]

Still using nsw for this? How's it going?

 

[jfoahs04]

Still using nsw for this? How's it going?

Just seeing this now (I must have missed the notification somehow).

Yes, I’m still using only NSW for this - I’m doing 5 gallon changes every week. Collecting in the winter has been challenging at times, but not as bad as I thought it would be. It takes me about 6 hours to heat a 5 gallon bucket to 78 degrees with a $12 eBay powerhead and a 50w Aqueon heater. Not bad.

I’m still seeing excellent coral growth and response to water changes. The extra polyp extension during a change, especially on the LPS, is really impressive. The opposite of the contraction I’m used to on previous tanks.

My biggest issues have had nothing to do with NSW. I had an ich battle over the Holidays and the tank has been fishless/fallow since early January. I fed the tank to keep the coral/inverts/CUC happy, but I over fed and phosphates jumped sky high (peaking at nearly .32 ppm according to my Hanna) over the course of about 2 weeks. I lost a beautiful purple tort to RTN and a birdsnest is only starting to recover. But thankfully, I’ve slowly worked it back into the acceptable range (0.06 as of this morning) and things seem to be doing much better. I’ll be start adding fish again in early April.

Some pics below and my ICP test results (note the still-high phosphate) from a few weeks ago:

 

[jfoahs04]

Just wanted to thank @Blue Light Aquatics for this pair of clowns. The first fish since going fallow in January. They’re healthy, eating like pigs, and active. Great experience and it’s nice to have fish again:

 

[jfoahs04]

I've been terrible about updating this thread, but today marks one year since I started this tank. I wrote out a detailed 1-year summary on R2R, but the long and short of it is that it's been a largely positive experience (with some hiccups), I'm happier with the results than I thought I would be, and I'm still collecting NSW and using it for weekly water changes (and I'm pretty happy with my tank's response). So here are some before and after shots:

August 4, 2021:

August 4, 2022:

 

[ChrisV]

I've been terrible about updating this thread, but today marks one year since I started this tank. I wrote out a detailed 1-year summary on R2R, but the long and short of it is that it's been a largely positive experience (with some hiccups), I'm happier with the results than I thought I would be, and I'm still collecting NSW and using it for weekly water changes (and I'm pretty happy with my tank's response). So here are some before and after shots:

August 4, 2021:
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August 4, 2022:
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largely positive ...I'll say! Looks great!

 

[jfoahs04]

largely positive ...I'll say! Looks great!

Thanks!