I've just bought my first tank!

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JustinTanks

JustinTanks

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Hello everyone!

I am brand new here, just signed up a few moments ago and I'm hoping to get a lot of knowledge from this forum on my new adventure! I'm an avid gardener and someone who loves all creatures, and with being a permanent work-from-home employee, I thought the idea of taking on a reef tank would be a great new hobby. I've shuffled through the internet doing the best research I could to get a decent understanding of how a reef tank works, from the setup to cycling period to maintenance to stock. My head could probably explode from all the information. I did notice a lot of it is based on opinions but you never know if some of these outlets are getting affiliate perks to mention certain products or voice specific opinions so I thought joining a forum would help ween that out.
SO, I have decided to start off with the Fluval Evo 13.5G AIO system. I already saw people bashing it here and there but for myself personally, I'd like to start with a smaller tank where I can feel out this hobby with a somewhat lower cost before I'm like OK TIME TO UPGRADE! I plan on keeping it fairly stock, unless there is some additional stuff I can add that won't kill my wallet. Specifically the light, that's gonna have to stay for now unless I can add some extra to it without major $$. No AI Prime yet. This is the rundown of the stuff I was purchasing for this reef tank and hopefully someone will have some insight to tell me if these are decent items to start with.
Fluval Evo 13.5G AIO Tank
A RO/DI 50 GPD unit
Fluval Sea CP2 Circulation Pump
Fluval M50 Submersible Heater
Fluval Sea Mini Protein Skimmer
Instant Ocean Sea Salt (I've seen better for similar cost but not readily available nearby)
CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Sand

Those are the items I've come up with so far, amongst the basic things like a fish net, a siphon, water test kit, refractometer, thermometer, algae cleaner magnet, hikachi fish food, mysis shrimp, and a few other things. Any suggestions on things I could change or add to make this a successful adventure would be phenomenal. I'm planning on putting this setup on an Ikea BRIMNES cabinet with a countertop on it, and I'm going to rip out the interior and reinforce it with a 2x4 frame for extra stability. I also can't add a bunch of extra upgrade that need a bunch of electricity as I only have one outlet for this whole thing, haha. Hopefully once I get all of the items and get this set up, I can get additional feedback as time goes on to help build a really healthy reef with recommendations of the stock to add, maybe some lps corals, cleaner fish/shrimp/snails, anemone, etc.

Thank you in advance for any recommendations, suggestions and all helpful tips!
 
Last edited:
WWC
Welcome to the game! I hope you find it as interesting and rewarding as I have so far.

Sounds like you have a good handle on things. I’ve mostly heard positive things about the tank itself, like it’s a good starter. You may go farther than the base setup than you think. My LFS has the same tank with stock light and I’m kind of surprised by what they have in there. Mostly softies and a pair of clowns, but it’s legit.

Budget seems to be a concern for you right now and that is FAIR. There’s no shortage of upgrades and add ons in this hobby, but you have the basics covered. The only glaring gear thing I would add would be an auto top-off unit. The Fluval is covered, so your evaporation is less. Still, this will probably be your first upgrade. The other place I might upgrade is test kits. A lot of these “all parameters” kits seem good to get you off the ground but aren’t the best. Salifert tests are not fancy, but are cheap, simple, and seem to get few complaints on accuracy.

I think the best thing you can do starting off is to commit to a 10% weekly water change. It’s just a good proactive way to keep things from getting out of wack. Good luck!
 
Deltec
welcome captain GIF
Welcome to R2R! You’ll be upgrading real soon!;) If I have one tip, I highly recommend avoiding API test kits, get a variety of Salifert, Red Sea and Hanna Checkers!
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Congratulations on the new tank and welcome to R2R!! ;Happy
 
ReefBot Lab, Automated Water Tester
Wow! Sounds like you really have a grasp on everything! :) I LOVE my little 13.5, so you won't hear any complaints from me. lol

The only thing I'm not a fan of is the sponge filter. I recently did a big clean of everything, and needless to say... I went on Amazon and bought the InTank filter basket. I had my suspicions about the sponge filter from the beginning. It's almost like one half of it was filthy and the other was untouched. Hopefully I'll have better water movement with the InTank basket! :)
 
Nutramar Foods
DirkCourage said:
Welcome to the game! I hope you find it as interesting and rewarding as I have so far.

Sounds like you have a good handle on things. I’ve mostly heard positive things about the tank itself, like it’s a good starter. You may go farther than the base setup than you think. My LFS has the same tank with stock light and I’m kind of surprised by what they have in there. Mostly softies and a pair of clowns, but it’s legit.

Budget seems to be a concern for you right now and that is FAIR. There’s no shortage of upgrades and add ons in this hobby, but you have the basics covered. The only glaring gear thing I would add would be an auto top-off unit. The Fluval is covered, so your evaporation is less. Still, this will probably be your first upgrade. The other place I might upgrade is test kits. A lot of these “all parameters” kits seem good to get you off the ground but aren’t the best. Salifert tests are not fancy, but are cheap, simple, and seem to get few complaints on accuracy.

I think the best thing you can do starting off is to commit to a 10% weekly water change. It’s just a good proactive way to keep things from getting out of wack. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thank you for the optimism, haha! I did a decent amount of research before officially telling myself "we're gonna do this" so hopefully that will help with longterm success. I'm not expecting anything major from this size tank but hopefully a few good fish and some interesting stuff to look at. For the ATO unit, do you have a particular one in mind? I'm trying to keep the set up to look as clean as possible without clutter everywhere, which has been one of my biggest concerns adding more items to this.

For test kits, I've definitely seen a lot of recommendations and salifert seems to be the most mentioned, do I need the whole combo kit or would I be able to get away with buying specific ones? Or maybe a cheaper option to get me off the ground initially to then recover funds, haha. I did add these seachem (sp?) ph alert and ammonia alert things to my shopping list to go in the tank which seemed to be the major things that can cause everything to die. I may be wrong but at least that's what I gathered.

Also, for water changes, I've seen people do 10% per week or 20% biweekly, is this something you just kinda have to figure out what your tank needs as you go along or should I just start off with 10% and stick with 10%?

If anyone else sees this reply to DirkCourage, please chime in any advice on the stuff I've brought up!
 
jackalexander said:
welcome captain GIF
Welcome to R2R! You’ll be upgrading real soon!;) If I have one tip, I highly recommend avoiding API test kits, get a variety of Salifert, Red Sea and Hanna Checkers!
Click to expand...
Jekyl said:
Welcome to R2R! As others have said get some salifert test kits. For lighting the nicrew 100w isn't expensive and will do the job.
Click to expand...
For the test kits, would I need every single parameter they can possibly check for or is there a select few that should be enough? Also like I mentioned in a separate reply, is there a test kit that can get me off the ground without a larger investment or should I just make sure to take the plunge on the right stuff before I even begin the tank?
 
Deltec
I second the ATO. I've found my salinity rose like crazy after a couple of days (before I had the ATO). ATO wise, I have the Duetto Dual-Sensor ATO from xP Aqua. I'm not too sure if I like it yet. It's leaking where I have the valve between the tubes, but it may be user error on my part. (I had the husband set it up for me, which is where I went wrong lolololol don't tell him I said that).

But I've read through your list, and I think I have everything you do! I love the protein skimmer and the powerhead! I decided to stick with the Fluval brand for everything (except that InTank basket I purchased)!

And I have the RedSea kits. I have pH, the algae control kit, and the reef care kit. I think you should be set with those. I think they're a little pricier than the Salifert kits, but they're SO cool. It's like a mini chemistry set!
 
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IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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