Cycling my fluval evo 13.5

[Bobby1993]

Hi everyone, wondering if I can get some information on some questions I have, please.

Tonight I set up my Fluval Evo and it's currently cycling. No skimmer but stock filtration media. (no upgrades). I have ocean direct live sand and Caribsea liferock.
I do not want to go the route of adding a bacteria agent. I am happy to wait as long as I need for it to cycle on its own. Will this still fully cycle over time with the rock and sand i have in the tank? if so when should I expect bacteria to start forming?
Is there anything I need to know or add?

I'm confused with Skip and Stalled cycling. What would my way be classed as?

Thanks!

 

[Bobby1993]

I forgot to mention that my RO water was a 20 PPM. Will this cause me any problems now and/or in the future?

 

[brandon429]

I have an exact thread for this exact method. It’s tough:

no testing needed for any param


set up your tank, add three pinches of flake food ground into powder into the water one time

wait thirty days

cycled


reef for eight months, upgrade to a full huge reef with all the parts:

 

[brandon429]

Build Thread - My SPS Waterbox Peninsula Mini 15

Hi all. Long time member (I think I joined right around when R2R started or took off years ago) but got out of the hobby for about 6 years and now I am back! I don't see many build threads for the PM 15 (mostly the 25) so thought I'd share my journey here. This post will be a bit behind...

www.reef2reef.com

He did it your exact way.

your ro water won’t harm, but you’ll be manually cleaning algae off rocks and glass more often. More diatoms on sand, but it’s a nano so no big deal

youll be cleaning the system about 10% harder not much but a little compared to laser clean 0/0/0 prep water. Do your plan, it’ll work great. Typical testing doesn’t apply because this is a contact time cycle, not a 2 ppm spike and dose cycle, there are no guides for your type of cycle unless you consult web nerds who make guides off posts using your exact means. It’s a testless, done in 30 days cycle.

 

[Bobby1993]

Thanks for your reply guys!
Ill keep you posted throughout the cycle. Also is that a link I should follow “build thread-my sps water box”?

I’ll try reach for 0ppm on my RO.

 

[brandon429]

that link is there to show you that anyone who adds food to a system and waits 30 days is cycled.

if you read it start to finish it shows you how to make a perfect reef out of a feed only cycle. Since it’s a testless cycle there aren’t any updates to give as you wait thirty days then add a fish at the end.

You aren’t testing everyday during the cycle like when people add bottle bac, you aren’t testing at all be sure don’t mess that part up or you’ll be updating ‘why is my cycle not starting’

this is a time duration cycle so there aren’t spikes of ammonia etc to see during the wait.

Testing won’t do any good, you aren’t spiking ammonia be sure and read his example so you can see how easy this way of cycling is

 

[Bobby1993]

Hey Brandon, thanks for the info!
I contact a local LFS and they are making me pure RO water (hopefully).
Will I start again completely to avoid the more” hard cleaning” or will I save it for a 100% water change once cycled?
I have read through some of the article VERY briefly for now and he mentions a 100% WC.
Sorry to have to ask as it’s probably there but I won’t find time to read it all until the weekend as I’m working.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Welcome to the forum!
I’ve got the evo too! Great tank! I do recommend eventually getting the intank media baskets, as the stock filtration isn’t amazing (but it gets the job done). I don’t run a skimmer on mine with no problems.
So technically the live sand makes it already cycled, but I agree with Brandon that you want to wait before adding anything.
I used live rock and live sand in mine. Within a week I got some hardy inverts like hermits and an emerald crab. 30 days is a good timeline to wait for fish, and if all is well, you can start looking into hardy corals like leathers (don’t get 5 like I did though…they get big lol).
While still early, I will suggest quarantining all new fish, or buying quarantined fish. I made the mistake of skipping that step (and buying from petco), and within a month all my fish were dead of disease… expensive lesson there.

 

[Bobby1993]

Ah sweet! Thanks for your input! What media would you recommend I pop in the filter zone ?
I don’t have the carrier for it yet but wouldn’t mind putting all that I need in there now if that would work?

 

[Sharkbait19]

I got the baskets for chamber 1 and 2, you usually only need the one for 2, I just wanted both.
In mine I just have lots of filter floss, part of the old sponge that I cut up, carbon, and bacteria. It keeps the tank nice and clear and even helps a bit with algae.

 

[brandon429]

The only thing that matters is that your full complement of rocks sits in the stew for the whole month, add the extra filter compartment stuff anytime now or later. Reef tanks don’t require filters to work, the rocks are the filters we need, so whether or not the filter parts are cycled doesn’t matter. They work well for catching bits of waste out of the water so they can be removed in routine filter cleaning


the big water change is optional, is ok to skip or do. He did it just to start with very low waste no algae feed water.

 

[Bobby1993]

Perfect guys thanks that’s good to know!
Emptied my whole tank today. Changed the water and sand. I manage to get 5ppm RO water. Better than 20odd so that’ll keep it down slightly i hope.

if I have anymore questions about the cycle will I post it here or make another thread? I’m New to the forums chat.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Posting it here is fine!
You can make this your build thread too! I’d love to see some pics of the tank!

 

[Bobby1993]

Brilliant! ill post pictures tomorrow

Thanks again, yous have all been great. Its nice to know that there's somewhere to go for help.

Posting it here is fine!
You can make this your build thread too! I’d love to see some pics of the tank!

 

[Bobby1993]

@Sharkbait19 heres the tank

my rw8 wave maker from my last tank Is far too powerful even on the lowest setting which is annoying as it’s kicking up sand.
I bought this fluval one. It’s quite rubbish as there’s hardly any flow but it’ll do for now.
Lights only on for picture.
Haven’t started feeding yet as I’ve been away this weekend but will buy food tomorrow to start adding some daily!

 

[Bobby1993]

Posting it here is fine!
You can make this your build thread too! I’d love to see some pics of the tank!

Hey sharkbait, do you dose your tank at all? that's always been the confusing part for me. I will only be keeping softies. I use the red sea pro salt black lid. that has all elements in it but will I eventually need to dose it too?

What's your water change schedule like on your Evo? would love to see pics

 

[Spare time]

Welcome to the forum!
I’ve got the evo too! Great tank! I do recommend eventually getting the intank media baskets, as the stock filtration isn’t amazing (but it gets the job done). I don’t run a skimmer on mine with no problems.
So technically the live sand makes it already cycled, but I agree with Brandon that you want to wait before adding anything.
I used live rock and live sand in mine. Within a week I got some hardy inverts like hermits and an emerald crab. 30 days is a good timeline to wait for fish, and if all is well, you can start looking into hardy corals like leathers (don’t get 5 like I did though…they get big lol).
While still early, I will suggest quarantining all new fish, or buying quarantined fish. I made the mistake of skipping that step (and buying from petco), and within a month all my fish were dead of disease… expensive lesson there.

From my understanding, the live sand bacteria is freshwater bacteria and doesn't reproduce in our tanks (according to a brs video). They said this in one of their live videos.

 

[Sharkbait19]

From my understanding, the live sand bacteria is freshwater bacteria and doesn't reproduce in our tanks (according to a brs video). They said this in one of their live videos.

I can believe that…but it seems quite stupid that the companies would seed it with fresh bacteria. Kinda defeats the purpose. I’ll have to do some research there.

Hey sharkbait, do you dose your tank at all? that's always been the confusing part for me. I will only be keeping softies. I use the red sea pro salt black lid. that has all elements in it but will I eventually need to dose it too?

What's your water change schedule like on your Evo? would love to see pics

Early on I did 30% weekly. About 10 months in or so I switched to 30% every other week. I may vary slightly depending on what’s going on.
I don’t dose anything, I’ve never had a reason to (and I feel like once you start you have to keep going). And I’d be worried I’d screw up adding chemicals and make things worse. I’ve considered dosing iodide if I get another skunk cleaner shrimp though. I use instant ocean reef crystals. Chasing numbers can wind up crashing a tank with everything added. I’d personally only add something if the tank needs it.
Pic from a few weeks ago:

 

[Bobby1993]

I can believe that…but it seems quite stupid that the companies would seed it with fresh bacteria. Kinda defeats the purpose. I’ll have to do some research there.

Early on I did 30% weekly. About 10 months in or so I switched to 30% every other week. I may vary slightly depending on what’s going on.
I don’t dose anything, I’ve never had a reason to (and I feel like once you start you have to keep going). And I’d be worried I’d screw up adding chemicals and make things worse. I’ve considered dosing iodide if I get another skunk cleaner shrimp though. I use instant ocean reef crystals. Chasing numbers can wind up crashing a tank with everything added. I’d personally only add something if the tank needs it.
Pic from a few weeks ago:

that is absolutely stunning. Can't wait to gets corals. do you ever need to trim them?
That's good to know that you don't dose anything and your tank looks that great.

when doing water changes do you siphon the sand or simply just remove water from the top with a jug?

is all your rock at the back of the tank to allow more room at the front? if so, I take you don't clean the glass at the back?

Do you or did you test your water regularly to see what's going on? or can you just tell when something isn't right?

Right now the surface water in my tank has a strange film, any idea what that could be?

Sorry for all the questions! hope you don't mind

 

[Sharkbait19]

that is absolutely stunning. Can't wait to gets corals. do you ever need to trim them?
That's good to know that you don't dose anything and your tank looks that great.

when doing water changes do you siphon the sand or simply just remove water from the top with a jug?

is all your rock at the back of the tank to allow more room at the front? if so, I take you don't clean the glass at the back?

Do you or did you test your water regularly to see what's going on? or can you just tell when something isn't right?

Right now the surface water in my tank has a strange film, any idea what that could be?

Sorry for all the questions! hope you don't mind

What does the film look like? When I first set mine up there was foam at the top similar to sea foam. Seems like a regular occurrence in new tanks.
Some hypocritical advice here - you probably should be testing on a regular basis to ensure everything is on track. I don’t (mostly out of sheer laziness), but if a problem shows up I will test. I may be more inclined if I had better test kits (api is not the way to go). I am not nearly as experienced as other reefers on here (only been doing it for a year and a half), but I think that everyone soon figures out their tank. If certain corals act off you can generally tell something is up. My frogspawns will start to close up in the days before water change day, may just be coincidence but I take the hint.
I just remove water from the top with a jug. You can siphon substrate, but when you have a strong enough cuc and good flow, there really isn’t a need.
My rocks are close to the back (about 1-2 inches), so I can’t really fit my hand back there for algae. I try to do my best. Even towards the front it gets close near the bottom, and don’t get me started on the torch coral (it’s decided that I don’t go for the algae there).
Most of my corals are pretty low maintenance, my hardest are probably my torch and frogspawns. The sinularia leather out back could probably use a trim but I like how big it is.
I regularly have to pull out Xenia and trim the gsp to keep them from overwhelming the tank. I take the frags to the lfs for store credit.
Happy to help! Keep the questions coming!