Good things come in small packages

[molsen187]

Hello everyone. I was really into this hobby and relatively active member here what must be 6-7 years ago now. After a tank crash and lots of moving around since then I'm finally ready to get back in the hobby. It's going to be a slow patient build with the goal being having it ready to add livestock in 6-7 months when my son is just becoming fascinated with life.

Tank: fluval 13.5g w Intank media rack for chamber 1.
Lighting: stock for right now but may upgrade to an A1 prime down the road it I plan on keeping sps.
Pump: stock at the moment but am definitely upgrading this before I set it up. Am open to suggestions or recommendations here. I was thinking a mj900 or 1200
Flow: plan on adding a Koralia nano 240gph powerhead as well.

Plan on starting with mostly base rock and seeing it. Will have between 10-15lbs of rock and 10-15 lbs of sand. I would like to have soft coral and acans mostly got coral. If going well will try sps possibly. Going to have 2 clowns and a,pack of sexy shrimp in here for livestock.

If anyone is familiar with this tank and has any advice/suggestions I'm all ears. I've done a fair bit of research on it. If anyone is familiar can you tell me if I should actually block the hole mid tank level on back wall? It seems to be a safeguard but read covering it drastically effects flow. I already scraped the honeycomb pattern off and tank looks much cleaner imo. Here are some pics right after I got it. Will post newer ones tomorrow.

 

[aresangel]

Welcome back to the forums! I have no experience with that tank but it looks well designed for its size! Are you in Plaistow or Fitchburg? Your other post/account said Fitchburg.
I look forward to seeing that tank wet!

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[molsen187]

I am in Fitchburg currently. I will have to update my profile. Thanks. The tank is solid from what I've seen and researched. Even the upgrades I'm doing aren't needed just preference. I got a mj900 today and some other gear. I'm slowly accumulating with the hopes of getting it wet by September. Still trying to come up with a,plan for my middle chamber.

 

[AlbertG]

i have the same tank for all most a year now and its doing good . i use the original sponge media in the center chamber that came with it and upgraded the return pump with a higher gallon per hour i found in my basement that fit with a little bit of tweaking .
i run the tank without a skimmer just a small water change when i remember and its doing fine .
i only have a pair of clowns and some softie on it . also bunch of wild caught ghost shrimps ,
no need for power heads if you upgrade the pump . the original pump after 6 months the GPH rate was dropping .
i also ran that tank open with a AI prime Led and the tanks was doing supper but lost 3 clowns by jumping out so i decide to put the cover back on and the original light .

 

[AlbertG]

 

[molsen187]

Thanks for the info. That's good to know about the powerhead as I hadn't purchased it yet. It can go down the list and I'll add if needed. I'm not a fan of sponge media .I was thinking of getting the media rack for the center chamber so I can have a fuge aspect. Might see if I can make my own. Did you plug the hole in the center? I've seen people do it and increase the flow but isn't it a fail safe?

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[molsen187]

That looks awesome!

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[AlbertG]

No i dint modify anything the system work ok like that i guess it could be better but i have pther tanks so i dint bother messing with it

 

[molsen187]

Think it looks great. The mods are definitely a preference thing which is why I'm looking for opinions. I'm still 50/50 in that hole lol

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[molsen187]

So I scraped all the honeycomb pattern off and I think the tank looks way cleaner. I picked up a mj900 and man was it a tight fit. Do you have to use the suction cups on it because I'll have to think of a way to pull thst off? I got a 100w heater and a test kit. Hoping to get sand and rock soon but still need to find a place to get good ro/di water. The pics aren't the best sorry. I'll try and get some better ones.
As of now I have the pump and heater on the 3rd chamber, still planning out the second chamber and have the media rack in 1st chamber. The wires will be way cleaner too this is just preliminary stuff.

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[molsen187]

Does anyone know if Marco rocks is still in business? I emailed them last week and haven't heard back and it seems off given how fast they used to respond.

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[Chris A.]

Not sure but I know they just updated their website with that over hang frag rock

 

[molsen187]

That's what I saw too. Maybe on vacation or really busy. I'll try again

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[AlbertG]

that bend on that hose going to restrict your flow . take that screen out and you be able to fit the pump straight.
i know you being cautious . but really nogthing ever got in there on my tank sxept for a pipe fish that scape and ended in there but was ok .

 

[Chris A.]

Me comes with a small screen as well


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[molsen187]

Thank you. I only our the screen because of the instructions [emoji23][emoji23]. I'm not concerned with stuff getting back there based on my planned stocking list

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[molsen187]

Went up to the petco in Nashua today and was actually pretty impressed with their salt water department. No visible pests in the tanks like aptasia. All fish looked healthy and happy. They had ro water for sale and premixed salt at 1.022. Has anyone used this water? Definitely interested in checking it out. They also seemed to have some nice aquaculture live rock. Can anyone vouch for their rock?

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[Chris A.]

No idea
Never seen any rock at petco

 

[molsen187]

I never had either until today. It looked really nice. It was porous had some nice sponge and stuff. Did not notice any aptasia. Easily best sw Sept at a petco I've ever seen.

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[molsen187]

I'm conflicted as part of me says hi for it but the other part knows all too well petco isn't usually reliable for salt.

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