Fluval Evo 13.5 Build - First Aquarium!

[ralquist]

Think your feeling might be right. Might also try a small cleaner shrimp, may help. Sending positive vibes your way!

 

[WalkerLoves_TheOcean]

Think your feeling might be right. Might also try a small cleaner shrimp, may help. Sending positive vibes your way!

True, a cleaner shrimp might help, even if it doesn't it's a really cool addition to a tank!

 

[Ollie67]

Think your feeling might be right. Might also try a small cleaner shrimp, may help. Sending positive vibes your way!

Thank you!

I might add a cleaner shrimp to the list next time I stop by my LFS! I think it would be a nice addition to the fire shrimp, and might do an even better job LOL.

 

[NotReefsafe]

following

 

[ralquist]

Thank you!

I might add a cleaner shrimp to the list next time I stop by my LFS! I think it would be a nice addition to the fire shrimp, and might do an even better job LOL.

I did some reading, saw some people reported luck with the cleaner maybe picking that that growth. My fish loved swimming up to it while it picked them over. Very cool to watch, even would clean around your fingernails if you let it! (Not the best idea…but fun)

 

[Ollie67]

I did some reading, saw some people reported luck with the cleaner maybe picking that that growth. My fish loved swimming up to it while it picked them over. Very cool to watch, even would clean around your fingernails if you let it! (Not the best idea…but fun)

That's good news! My fire shrimp hasn't had much interaction with my clowns (at least when I look), I've seen them near him but not super close. Hopefully he'll help out! And lol, that's interesting

 

[Ollie67]

Here's some pictures I took earlier today when feeding! Today was kind of a lazy Saturday lol...

 

[WalkerLoves_TheOcean]

Here's some pictures I took earlier today when feeding! Today was kind of a lazy Saturday lol...

Everything is looking great!

 

[Ollie67]

Day 32 Update

Today I did some testing and a little maintenance. I topped off my ATO container and cleaned the glass as there was a good amount of green hair algae on the glass again and I have some in the sand now. I'm assuming this is the normal part of the ugly stage of a new tank, right?

Test results:
Alk - 8.5dkH
Nitrate - 42.9ppm
Phosphate: 0.87ppm
Salinity - 1.025 SG

I think my alkalinity is at a decent level, but my nitrate and phosphate seem super high again. Don't know why the nitrate spiked so high again, as I did a 50% water change 4 days ago and brought it back down to 9.7ppm. I have also been feeding every other day to keep it down and it still spiked. I might do a water change tomorrow to get it down again. Phosphate is also a bit high but I'm not too worried about that right now. Salinity has been pretty constant at 1.025 and 1.026 throughout the week (yay!).

Otherwise, everything else seems to be doing pretty good! The clowns have been doing pretty decent when I'm around, and during feeding they both ate a good amount. My clown that is sick seems to have another bump that appeared on the other side of his face now. The first bump seems the same or maybe a little smaller, so I'm just going to keep my eye on it. If it is lypho, it just has to run its course I guess... My Xenia coral has started to grow off the frag plug and onto my rock, and is much more open and dense now. So that's some good progress with it.

 

[ralquist]

What kind of foods are you using? Are you feeding the coral also?
Got crabs? Hehe
What is your current clean up crew?

Dang well hopefully it will start getting better. Speaking of food, selcon is a great additive for food when nursing them back to health!

Sorry for all the questions

 

[WalkerLoves_TheOcean]

What kind of foods are you using? Are you feeding the coral also?
Got crabs? Hehe
What is your current clean up crew?

Dang well hopefully it will start getting better. Speaking of food, selcon is a great additive for food when nursing them back to health!

Sorry for all the questions

Everything is looking great!

I am really sorry that your clown is not getting better... I am still hoping it gets better!

 

[Ollie67]

What kind of foods are you using? Are you feeding the coral also?
Got crabs? Hehe
What is your current clean up crew?

Dang well hopefully it will start getting better. Speaking of food, selcon is a great additive for food when nursing them back to health!

Sorry for all the questions

I do not feed the coral anything! Currently, I have only been using frozen spirulina brine shrimp when feeding. I cut up the cubes into 4 pieces and feed 1/4 a day. I'll put a link to it down below. Should I diversify? I do have TDO pellets which I don't use.

My current CUC is just:
-2 astrea snails (used to be 3 but one passed away last week)
-2 hermit crabs (they are small right now, red-legged)
At the end of this week I plan on picking up 3-4 more snails (trochus!) and possibly a nassarius if I can get one! Any other CUC recommendations to this shopping list? Or is it pretty good?

Also! Should I pick up a cleaner ship? I already have my fire shrimp, who is a cleaner, so I don't know if they would be compatible? I know you mentioned getting one to try and help with the clown, but honestly I don't know lol, my clowns don't go much near the fire shrimp...

And yes! I have selcon and glucan coming in tomorrow (supposed to come in today... F the USPS), which I will dose with my food!

No problem with the questions! I appreciate the all the help

Bio-Pure Frozen Spirulina Brine Shrimp

Whole brine shrimp gut loaded with spirulina algae and other natural algae, makes a quality, highly nutritious treat for all kinds of fish large and small. The gut-loading brine shrimp are packed with nutrients making it an ideal diet for new or finiky fish. Brine Shrimp are a very common food...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[ralquist]

That’s great, just wondering where your nitrates are coming from. A variety is the spice of life! Ha I believe they coexist fine, I haven’t personally had both though*. I know the cleaner gets large fairly quick, pretty active, and might compete for food even from coral given the chance.
As for CUC a few blue leg or scarlet herms, Cerith, nassarius, and trochus would be a great addition! Can’t remember but I’m thinking you got pods, if not that’s a must have!

 

[Ollie67]

That’s great, just wondering where your nitrates are coming from. A variety is the spice of life! Ha I believe they coexist fine, I haven’t personally had both though*. I know the cleaner gets large fairly quick, pretty active, and might compete for food even from coral given the chance.
As for CUC a few blue leg or scarlet herms, Cerith, nassarius, and trochus would be a great addition! Can’t remember but I’m thinking you got pods, if not that’s a must have!

Yeah I have no clue why it spikes so much, maybe it's from feeding and simply because it's a new tank. I'll have to think about getting a second shrimp haha.

And sounds good! I'll add some more CUC to my list. And YES I did add a bottle of pods- a pod buffet! There are a TON of pods covering all of my glass on each side, literally all along the glass. The clowns won't eat them all LOL

 

[Ollie67]

Day 33-35 Update

Hello all. Nothing too much has been happening, minus some parameters going up and down and my Xenia coral closing up for an unconfirmed reason. A few days ago I adjusted my powerhead a little so it's angled slightly towards the back glass. I noticed this improved the flow around the tank and was picking up more stuff from the scape and sand into the filtration. I'll attach a photo below. I also upped my lighting schedule to 51% from 41% so my corals get more light (the tradeoff is more algae unfortunately). I probably won't up the lighting for a long while, and once established I will most likely run 61% at most.

Other than that small change, I've just been cleaning the glass of algae, stirring the sand a little, changing filter floss, and did 2 water changes during this period in order to help lower nitrate. It's still a little high, last measured around ~30ppm. I ordered some more products to try and keep nitrate and phosphate stable, so we will see how that goes.

Livestock wise, my clowns have been doing good! The one still has those bumps, but seems fine. He has been eating normally and swimming around with his buddy. Shrimp is going well. My corals are doing fine too, minus my Xenia frag which has closed up, slumped over, and acted funny. Not sure why it's unhappy, it could be because of changing parameters or it closed up after I fed my frozen shrimp with selcon the other day. It clouded the tank and made my corals unhappy. Today the ends were still closed up, but the base was looking a little better. Will keep an eye on it.

Yesterday I made a quick pit-stop at my LFS on my way home to upgrade my CUC army to battle the increased algae growth. I added:
-3 Trochus Snails
-2 Nassarius Snails (Sand sifters )

Hopefully these guys help! So far they are doing fine and got to work right away. They are a great addition to my other two snails and two hermits in the tank.

I also did a bunch of tests yesterday to see where my parameters were at, here are the results:
pH: 7.9
Alk: 8.5dKH
Nitrate HR: 12.4ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
Phosphate: 0.78ppm
Magnesium: 1140ppm

Any suggestions or feedback would be great! Happy reefing!

 

[WalkerLoves_TheOcean]

Day 33-35 Update

Hello all. Nothing too much has been happening, minus some parameters going up and down and my Xenia coral closing up for an unconfirmed reason. A few days ago I adjusted my powerhead a little so it's angled slightly towards the back glass. I noticed this improved the flow around the tank and was picking up more stuff from the scape and sand into the filtration. I'll attach a photo below. I also upped my lighting schedule to 51% from 41% so my corals get more light (the tradeoff is more algae unfortunately). I probably won't up the lighting for a long while, and once established I will most likely run 61% at most.

Other than that small change, I've just been cleaning the glass of algae, stirring the sand a little, changing filter floss, and did 2 water changes during this period in order to help lower nitrate. It's still a little high, last measured around ~30ppm. I ordered some more products to try and keep nitrate and phosphate stable, so we will see how that goes.

Livestock wise, my clowns have been doing good! The one still has those bumps, but seems fine. He has been eating normally and swimming around with his buddy. Shrimp is going well. My corals are doing fine too, minus my Xenia frag which has closed up, slumped over, and acted funny. Not sure why it's unhappy, it could be because of changing parameters or it closed up after I fed my frozen shrimp with selcon the other day. It clouded the tank and made my corals unhappy. Today the ends were still closed up, but the base was looking a little better. Will keep an eye on it.

Yesterday I made a quick pit-stop at my LFS on my way home to upgrade my CUC army to battle the increased algae growth. I added:
-3 Trochus Snails
-2 Nassarius Snails (Sand sifters )

Hopefully these guys help! So far they are doing fine and got to work right away. They are a great addition to my other two snails and two hermits in the tank.

I also did a bunch of tests yesterday to see where my parameters were at, here are the results:
pH: 7.9
Alk: 8.5dKH
Nitrate HR: 12.4ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
Phosphate: 0.78ppm
Magnesium: 1140ppm

Any suggestions or feedback would be great! Happy reefing!

Glad to hear everything is going well!

 

[lil sumpin]

The nuisance algae creep up is inevitable. Many are repulsed by the sight of it and coupled with the feeling of “there must be something wrong”, you get all these quick fixes and chemical solutions to what is otherwise a natural process. Keeping the lights lowered for a bit longer until you’ve added more frags might be a good idea. Your tank is beginning its maturation process, you’ll see some different nuisance algae stages but as long as you’re consistent with weekly WCs and maintaining your parameters you will be fine. Don’t worry too much about the Xenia, it will probably come back outta nowhere. For nanos a WC is often enough to reduce N and P. What salt are you using?

 

[ralquist]

Day 33-35 Update

Hello all. Nothing too much has been happening, minus some parameters going up and down and my Xenia coral closing up for an unconfirmed reason. A few days ago I adjusted my powerhead a little so it's angled slightly towards the back glass. I noticed this improved the flow around the tank and was picking up more stuff from the scape and sand into the filtration. I'll attach a photo below. I also upped my lighting schedule to 51% from 41% so my corals get more light (the tradeoff is more algae unfortunately). I probably won't up the lighting for a long while, and once established I will most likely run 61% at most.

Other than that small change, I've just been cleaning the glass of algae, stirring the sand a little, changing filter floss, and did 2 water changes during this period in order to help lower nitrate. It's still a little high, last measured around ~30ppm. I ordered some more products to try and keep nitrate and phosphate stable, so we will see how that goes.

Livestock wise, my clowns have been doing good! The one still has those bumps, but seems fine. He has been eating normally and swimming around with his buddy. Shrimp is going well. My corals are doing fine too, minus my Xenia frag which has closed up, slumped over, and acted funny. Not sure why it's unhappy, it could be because of changing parameters or it closed up after I fed my frozen shrimp with selcon the other day. It clouded the tank and made my corals unhappy. Today the ends were still closed up, but the base was looking a little better. Will keep an eye on it.

Yesterday I made a quick pit-stop at my LFS on my way home to upgrade my CUC army to battle the increased algae growth. I added:
-3 Trochus Snails
-2 Nassarius Snails (Sand sifters )

Hopefully these guys help! So far they are doing fine and got to work right away. They are a great addition to my other two snails and two hermits in the tank.

I also did a bunch of tests yesterday to see where my parameters were at, here are the results:
pH: 7.9
Alk: 8.5dKH
Nitrate HR: 12.4ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
Phosphate: 0.78ppm
Magnesium: 1140ppm

Any suggestions or feedback would be great! Happy reefing!

Love the black outline on your clowns!! Beautiful!!

Remember this picture of your powerhead! When your system gets a few more miles you'll be longing for the days of a nice clean pump when the coralline algae starts!

 

[Ollie67]

The nuisance algae creep up is inevitable. Many are repulsed by the sight of it and coupled with the feeling of “there must be something wrong”, you get all these quick fixes and chemical solutions to what is otherwise a natural process. Keeping the lights lowered for a bit longer until you’ve added more frags might be a good idea. Your tank is beginning its maturation process, you’ll see some different nuisance algae stages but as long as you’re consistent with weekly WCs and maintaining your parameters you will be fine. Don’t worry too much about the Xenia, it will probably come back outta nowhere. For nanos a WC is often enough to reduce N and P. What salt are you using?

For sure, it's probably going to take its course over the next few weeks but hopefully, a few months down the road things will stabilize and bacteria & other cultures will be established and things will be stable! I'm going to keep up with weekly water changes and maintenance. And yeah, the Xenia is looking a bit better today, standing up straight and I can see all the branches. Just the heads are closed, so hopefully it will bounce back whenever it feels like it lol. Glad that it isn't dead.

I currently do buy premixed water, but I will be sure to ask what salt they use when I stop by tomorrow morning for more water. I've been asked before but I forgot and it would be good to know what salt. I'll get back to you!

 

[Ollie67]

Love the black outline on your clowns!! Beautiful!!

Remember this picture of your powerhead! When your system gets a few more miles you'll be longing for the days of a nice clean pump when the coralline algae starts!

Thank you, I think their patterns are so nice!

Haha, I have a picture from when I first added the powerhead, which I think is earlier up this thread, where there is zero gunk on it LOL. I guess it will be cool to see how it progresses through the journey.