Cycling my fluval evo 13.5

[Reef Jockey]

Welcome to the wonderful world of reefkeeping!! The Evo is a great tank to start with. I actually have one myself.
Back in the day when i had my 120, we cycled our tanks with just a piece of raw shrimp and toss it in your tank for a few weeks. lol ... times have changed..
I think you'll be just fine with your cycle and just have patience.

 

[Bobby1993]

nice!
Well it looks like your doing a great job!
it’s hard to explain. If it gets worse I’ll try with a picture. It’s not coming out great.
I got a lot of foam at the beginning but most of it is away. I did remove what I could from out the water.
There’s no way I’d ever trim corals, especially with having children in my house lol. That’s a great idea, I’ll do the same I think.


I notice you don’t have a wave maker in there. What return pump are you using ?

I just fed my tank again. I laid off for a few days as I think I was over doing it as my nitrates were high.

just waiting for the day I start to see some growth on the rocks and sand!

 

[Bobby1993]

Welcome to the wonderful world of reefkeeping!! The Evo is a great tank to start with. I actually have one myself.
Back in the day when i had my 120, we cycled our tanks with just a piece of raw shrimp and toss it in your tank for a few weeks. lol ... times have changed..
I think you'll be just fine with your cycle and just have patience.

Thank you, jocky! Absolutely, going to take my time. I have no intentions for rushing.
Would you mind sharing a picture of your evo ?

 

[Reef Jockey]

Thank you, jocky! Absolutely, going to take my time. I have no intentions for rushing.
Would you mind sharing a picture of your evo ?

alot different from the original Evo with a bunch of mods. you'll have time to research each and every one while waiting for your cycle.. lol

 

[Bobby1993]

alot different from the original Evo with a bunch of mods. you'll have time to research each and every one while waiting for your cycle.. lol

Wow very nice!! Are those mostly softies?
What wave maker is that?

yeah I’m already looking at mods

 

[Reef Jockey]

Wow very nice!! Are those mostly softies?
What wave maker is that?

yeah I’m already looking at mods

I have a mixed reef. softies, LPS, and a few SPS.
wave maker is a Hygger mini from amazon. i liked that wave maker for the low profile and the controllability

 

[Sharkbait19]

nice!
Well it looks like your doing a great job!
it’s hard to explain. If it gets worse I’ll try with a picture. It’s not coming out great.
I got a lot of foam at the beginning but most of it is away. I did remove what I could from out the water.
There’s no way I’d ever trim corals, especially with having children in my house lol. That’s a great idea, I’ll do the same I think.


I notice you don’t have a wave maker in there. What return pump are you using ?

I just fed my tank again. I laid off for a few days as I think I was over doing it as my nitrates were high.

just waiting for the day I start to see some growth on the rocks and sand!

No wavemaker and the stock pump. It’s adequate for most lps and softies, but I would probably need to upgrade if I wanted to keep sps.

 

[Bobby1993]

Sharkbait, Jocky,
Do any of you guys think it's worth buying a seneye reef down the line?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Sharkbait, Jocky,
Do any of you guys think it's worth buying a seneye reef down the line?

In a (much) bigger tank, 100%. In such a small tank though, it seems hard to justify spending more than you did on the tank for it imo. Essentially the tank isn’t big enough for equipment like that to be necessary. If I’m dealing with 75 gallons plus though, it may start to be much more viable for me. And it isn’t long until you start getting itched by the upgrade bug lol

 

[Reef Jockey]

In a (much) bigger tank, 100%. In such a small tank though, it seems hard to justify spending more than you did on the tank for it imo. Essentially the tank isn’t big enough for equipment like that to be necessary. If I’m dealing with 75 gallons plus though, it may start to be much more viable for me. And it isn’t long until you start getting itched by the upgrade bug lol

totally agree with Sharkbait.
invest in good basic equipment first.. these Evos are to small to justify spending that kind of money. a good light like the AI prime 16HD is more than the cost of the tank so upgrades will really add up

 

[Bobby1993]

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:

Hey Brandon/everyone ,
I think I have coralline algae growing. I’m pretty sure it isn’t the standard rock purple.

I rarely put my lights on. Should I start now maybe? What does this mean if it is Coralline?
It’s hard to tell in pictures maybe.
cheers

 

[Sharkbait19]

Hard to make out - it might be, or could be some other algae. You’ll really notice coralline when it starts growing on the glass and black wall. Whatever it is, it doesn’t look harmful!
Coralline is not harmful, but it can be hard to remove. It’s good because its growth is a sign the tank is maturing and good for coral growth.

 

[Bobby1993]

Hard to make out - it might be, or could be some other algae. You’ll really notice coralline when it starts growing on the glass and black wall. Whatever it is, it doesn’t look harmful!
Coralline is not harmful, but it can be hard to remove. It’s good because its growth is a sign the tank is maturing and good for coral growth.

Brilliant mate cheers

I like the look of coralline so I’m looking forward to it growing when the tank is mature. Do you remove yours ?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Brilliant mate cheers

I like the look of coralline so I’m looking forward to it growing when the tank is mature. Do you remove yours ?

Depends on where it is. On the glass right where I view the tank I’ll remove it, but if it isn’t in an annoying area (or right next to my torch coral) I leave it be.

 

[Bobby1993]

Depends on where it is. On the glass right where I view the tank I’ll remove it, but if it isn’t in an annoying area (or right next to my torch coral) I leave it be.

Should I start running the lights a little longer now or still leave them off?

 

[Sharkbait19]

How long are they?
10-12 hours is usually good.

 

[Bobby1993]

How long are they?
10-12 hours is usually good.

I usually do about 45 minutes a day.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Definitely up the lighting then. Probably best to do it slowly though, so over the course did a week or 2 add a bit more light every day just to acclimate things to the light (unless you don’t have any corals or algaes or inverts or such). The increase in light will increase algae growth and help to mature the tank.

 

[Bobby1993]

Definitely up the lighting then. Probably best to do it slowly though, so over the course did a week or 2 add a bit more light every day just to acclimate things to the light (unless you don’t have any corals or algaes or inverts or such). The increase in light will increase algae growth and help to mature the tank.

That’s good to know! Thanks shark

 

[Bobby1993]

@Sharkbait19 hi mate! Getting ready to add some CUC.
I went back on the messages from you and you say add emerald and hermit crabs. How much of each do you recon?
Also I have no algae in my tank what so ever, will they still live ? Lol