EagleEye’s 13.5 (after a decade-long hiatus)

EagleEye121

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Figured it’s about time I shared my tank story with everyone (thanks to the Red Sea giveaway ;))

After being out of the hobby for almost 10 years, working 100% from home due to Covid - aka staring at empty space in my basement and wanting to... “decorate” it with something - finally pushed me into getting my feet wet again. The value the fluval evo 13.5 offered was too good to pass up so I bought one in March. Believe it or not I actually kept the rock from that 10 gallon all this time knowing I’d eventually get it wet again.

The tank was set up in mid-March. Did a fishless cycle and added my first life in April - an emerald crab. Once I knew the tank was ready for more life, I slowly added snails and hermits, followed by 2 ocellaris clowns and some beginner corals.

Things went smooth for a while, then dinos reared their ugly head. I spent about a month trying different things to get rid of them, then I started dosing Seachem nitrogen and phosphorus which, for now, did the trick. :oops:* prays to the reef gods I didn’t just jinx myself*

Equipment:
Fluval Evo 13.5
Kessil A80 (thanks @Hypan)
In-tank chamber 1 media basket running filter floss, chemipure blue, purigen, and bio-media
Eheim compacton 1000 return
Hydor nano powerhead

Stock:
2 ocellaris clowns
1 yellowtail damsel
1 RBTA
1 fire red shrimp
1 emerald crab
3 blue-legged hermits
2 nassarius snails
4 astrea snails
“4” cerith snails
— in quotations because one decided to give birth during shipping and I got a bag full of 30+. That or the guy was feeling extra generous that day

Coral:
*Purple monti cap
*RR speckled green zoa colony
*Helm’s deep paly’s colony
—(thanks for the killer deal @Yellowsound)
Red lobo(?) - ID welcomed
Blue acan(?) - ID welcomed
Devil’s finger leather
GSP
Pulsing xenia
Duncan coral
Green ricordea

I probably left something out. Any questions, comments, advice I’m all ears!

thanks for reading!

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EagleEye121

EagleEye121

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Thinking of fragging the devil’s finger... I understand it’s a simple coral to frag but this will be my first ever attempt. Hoping to hear from some with experience fragging this and welcome any advice!

I have a frag rock I will be rubberbanding it to once complete.
 

najer

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Thinking of fragging the devil’s finger... I understand it’s a simple coral to frag but this will be my first ever attempt. Hoping to hear from some with experience fragging this and welcome any advice!

I have a frag rock I will be rubberbanding it to once complete.

Looking very nice, I love mine.
How tight is an Eheim 1000, I didn't get one because I didn't think it would fit?

Just use a new craft blade and cut off what you want, the more you can get the cut face touching rock the faster it will heal but don't band it too tightly.
Following.
 
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EagleEye121

EagleEye121

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Actually has some room to spare. It was tight getting past the opening from chamber 2 (since it’s bent toward chamber 3) but once past that there’s plenty of room.

Thanks for the advice. Hoping to get to it today or tomorrow. I read I need to include part of the base/stalk in the frag? Or could I just cut a finger off?
 

najer

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Actually has some room to spare. It was tight getting past the opening from chamber 2 (since it’s bent toward chamber 3) but once past that there’s plenty of room.

Thanks for the advice. Hoping to get to it today or tomorrow. I read I need to include part of the base/stalk in the frag? Or could I just cut a finger off?

You can cut as much as you want, larger frags recover more quickly ime.
 
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EagleEye121

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Seeing some really good growth on the paly’s, Duncan, and zoas. At least 5 new polyps on the palys (20+ Polyps), 2 on the Duncan (6 heads), and easily 10 or more on the zoas (~50-70 polyps) in about 4 weeks. I’m thrilled!
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I have those same orange zoas with the green mouth, and they are good growers. I started with one tiny polyp a couple of months ago and now I have 4 good sized polyps. I can only imagine how fast they'll grow now. Did you get a name for them when you bought them?
 
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EagleEye121

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Since I’m having some success with the monti cap (my first ever SPS), I’m deciding to test the waters with some others. I was one of the WWC cheesy slogan winners (I’m a dad joke machine ;) ) so that prompted me to place an order...

I got a lime green Monti hirsuta for $19... couldn’t pass it up. Couldn’t find much info on this species but figured since it’s a monti I should be able to handle it. Excited to see what the surprise frag will be!

Updated FTS
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EagleEye121

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Also... didn’t get to fragging the devil’s finger today. This thing is easily 5” tall and 5”+ across. Just takes up a little too much space. If I had more rubble rock I’d cut 3-4... maybe there’s a trip to the LFS in my near future....
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EagleEye121

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I have those same orange zoas with the green mouth, and they are good growers. I started with one tiny polyp a couple of months ago and now I have 4 good sized polyps. I can only imagine how fast they'll grow now. Did you get a name for them when you bought them?
I got them from a fellow R2R member. Sold as RR Speckled Green zoas.
Really happy with the growth rate so far
 
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EagleEye121

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Less than ideal update this morning. Came downstairs to see one of my clowns on the floor and the other nowhere to be found. I’ve looked everywhere and i can’t imagine the small CUC i have could eat away any signs of a 1.5” fish overnight. The damsel is acting normal, all corals and inverts look great. Water test will be done shortly to make sure ammonia and other parameters are still in check.

Is it possible my RBTA turned and ate the other, even though it’s barely bigger than the fish itself?
Did it jump out too and flop somewhere I can’t see?
Dare I say a bobbit worm?? The tank is 4 months old and all rock in it was dry for 10 years prior to putting in the tank in March. I can’t imagine there’s a pest in there big enough for this

any ideas??

EDIT 7/9: turns out both clowns went carpet surfing. Found the other behind the tank up against the stand... I’m betting the damsel got territorial and spooked them. He’s going back to the LFS once I’m ready to add another pair of clowns
 
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EagleEye121

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I should add that there is a glass panel over most of the tank. The only opening is probably 3” or less so a jumper caught me by surprising, even more so being a clown.

Could my 3 hermits, 1 emerald crab, fire shrimp, and handful of small bristleworms completely dispose of it in 12 hours?
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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