Fluval 13.5G. Pretty much a noob!

[mrugank90]

Hello,
I am not sure how many saw my post in the introduction but I am just repeating a few stuff.

After lurking in many forums for many months I finally decided to join because yesterday I did something crazy.
I drove 50 miles into the woods in New Jersey to buy a Fluval 13.5 from a guy looking to sell it.
If you are wondering why would I do that..well, he had the tank for less than 2 months.
It was a recently cycle completed tank with live rock & sand, all set up by a professional lfs. It also came with a heater.
Did I mention that he had a clown, puffer, yellow blenny and royal gramma (too much imo) few turbo snails and a starfish.
I got this for a bargain of $170 and about $60 for the travel (I dont own a car).

Although I missed on the entire cycling process and I am not too happy about taking this shortcut, I also realize that I probably got a decent deal.

It has been 24 hrs since I setup the tank again and the fish look pretty happy.

I have a few pressing questions that I hope somebody can guide me with.

1) I definitely see a few green hair algae. The tank is supposed to have 3 turbo snails but I dont see them at all since I put them in. Which are the best clean up crew I should add and how many. I was thinking of at-least 2 hermit crabs?

2) Every Fluval setup I have seen have upgraded their filtration due to the sponge which tends to harbor a lot of nitrates. I do not plan to put any corals for atleast a month or more. Can regular water changes and cleaning of the sponge push my need of better filtration for now?

3) Like I mentioned, I do not intend to put any corals for now, how would that affect my light timings if at all? Should I still stick to 10-12 hrs of day light?

4) I see a lot of brown/green muck on the walls, can I just scrape it of and clean it or is this some kind of algae (attaching picture)






5) Should I be adding a wavemaker right away or upgrade the pump or leave it as is till I decide to get any frags?

 

[mrugank90]

Thank You for looking at my post and I appreciate all the help.

 

[sdelgado5650]

First off i would remove any algae you can by hand without spreading it around. It will land somwhere you cant reach and grow wild. High flow tends to help, but some algae can be persistent. Bubble comes to mind. The bio load seems high for your tank. So imo frequent water changes till you see 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and low nitrates. By frequent i mean every day or every other day. The bacteria is likely to be diminished after a move so a little bottle of beneficial bacteria may help. If you arent testing I would start now or asap. At least the afore mentioned parameters. I also have a suggestion for your back wall. These fluvals have a safety feature. The slit in the back wall prevents overflow if the sponge becomes clogged. You'll need to plug up the slit in the back wall and also the one between the sponge area and return chamber. This will force water through the overflow thus skimming better than it does without the mod. Making an adjustable "gate" for the overflow helps as well. You can purchase one for the evo tanks on in-tankllc web site. Imo removing the sponge and going with a diy egg crate media rack or even an in-tank rack with floss and chemipure is the simplest way to run these tanks. Lighting plays a huge role in your algae blooms as well. Try putting it on a timer no more than 8-10 hrs. The light that comes stock isnt super capable and you may think about upgrading. People say algae is caused by the stock light, although i had no algae issues while running stock lighting. I now have an ai prime on my evo V i love it. I grow everything relatively fast and have great color as well.

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[Crusinjimbo]

I’m setting up a 13.5 as well and have no life in it while I toy with pumps and filtration mods. I have managed to fit a cobalt 1200 (295gph) in by removing a 1/4” from the inlet to make a bit of room. Moves way more water but appears to add about 1.5-2 degrees of temp to the water. I’ve also removed the sponge and am looking to try cheato in the center chamber. Have fun.

 

[mrugank90]

First off i would remove any algae you can by hand without spreading it around. It will land somwhere you cant reach and grow wild. High flow tends to help, but some algae can be persistent. Bubble comes to mind. The bio load seems high for your tank. So imo frequent water changes till you see 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and low nitrates. By frequent i mean every day or every other day. The bacteria is likely to be diminished after a move so a little bottle of beneficial bacteria may help. If you arent testing I would start now or asap. At least the afore mentioned parameters. I also have a suggestion for your back wall. These fluvals have a safety feature. The slit in the back wall prevents overflow if the sponge becomes clogged. You'll need to plug up the slit in the back wall and also the one between the sponge area and return chamber. This will force water through the overflow thus skimming better than it does without the mod. Making an adjustable "gate" for the overflow helps as well. You can purchase one for the evo tanks on in-tankllc web site. Imo removing the sponge and going with a diy egg crate media rack or even an in-tank rack with floss and chemipure is the simplest way to run these tanks. Lighting plays a huge role in your algae blooms as well. Try putting it on a timer no more than 8-10 hrs. The light that comes stock isnt super capable and you may think about upgrading. People say algae is caused by the stock light, although i had no algae issues while running stock lighting. I now have an ai prime on my evo V i love it. I grow everything relatively fast and have great color as well.

Sent from my SM-J700P using Tapatalk

Thanks for your quick response.
I am beginning water changes and water check today or tomorrow.
Regarding the small plug, do you know any safe material that I can use as a plug?
I saw the surface skimmer on the site and fluval gives a small attachment similar to that which I might be able to use for the same.
I will probably upgrade my lightning after a couple of months when I feel I am ready for some lps. I plan to do a DIY, keep myself occupied when it gets too cold to go out. So a timer for now is not an option.
Also, finding an eggcrate has been a major problem as the closest home depot is in the other end of the city. But that is definitely my priority right now.

 

[sdelgado5650]

I used coralife putty its like 10 bucks for a stick. Otherwise you would have to drain the tank to use 100% silicone let it cure for 24 hours. Not necessary if you can hide the grey color with rock work. Using the putty isnt pretty but it worked for me. if you cant find eggcrate just throw your media in the back chamber. the rack just forces water flow through the media making more contact.

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[sleepingdeep]

i pulled out all the filter media in the back and just run the ceramic media. i only have one fish though so i don't get a ton of bioload.

 

[LuizW13]

If you're going to use filter sponges for mechanical filtration, just remember to change it out every few days. I use a filter pad i bought on amazon, but some people will use pillow stuffing (no added chemicals) from WalMart.
If it interests you, there's this thing called an Ammonia badge, that you stick to the inside of the glass- it will give you a visual update on ammonia levels without you have to test the water. I used one during my initial setup/ quarantine.
I would suggest buying a scraper for the glass, I use the Tunze and it's awesome, and a longer scraper for that back wall. Turn the pump off, scrape the algae off and siphon it out while you the water change.
You'll eventually have to by a powerhead for your fish/corals- it also minimizes algae and junk from collecting all over the place.

 

[JRR1285]

That looks like a great start.

I would try to get a LFS to take that puffer since it is not really a good fit for a tank of this size. The chocolate chip starfish would also need to go if you want to have corals.

Other than that you should be good to go with some easier soft/LPS corals down the road.

 

[FilAm]

I have the same tank and set it up at the end of October as well. Take it slow and keep it simple. I recommend adding more rocks. I have about 17 pounds of rock; 5 lbs were live rocks from the start. Also, keep a log book of your progress. This is my first reef tank as well but I've had a 90 gallon Mbuna Cichlid tank in the past.

How is your tank doing now? Could you post an update?

With a upgraded but very basic filtration and stock lights; I have great success with 2 clowns, an emerald crab, a peppermint shrimp, a growing population of copepods and a decent clean up crew. For corals, I have 1 small branching hammerhead and another LPS frag that I forgot the name of that I added around Christmas.