WarEagle88's Evo 13.5

WarEaglesReef · Jul 15, 2017

Went to visit a couple of my local fish stores today to get some advice on adding a sump to my new tank. Picked up this gorgeous little frag of ricordea at Aquatic Art. It was also coral feeding day, so it got some food right off the bat and seems pretty happy in the tank so far.

Also, I'm having some issues with the air intake in my skimmer today. Not sure if it's clogged with something or what, but even if I take the flow valve off and blow into the end of it it refuses to take in air. So it looks like my project for the evening will be taking that apart to figure out what's up.

And just because, here's a pic of my greedy micro lords asking for more food even though I just got done target feeding each head. Guess that explains how it exploded from 2 to 13 heads though. [emoji15] Haha.

WarEaglesReef · Jul 16, 2017

Sad day in the tank. Lost my little cleaner shrimp last night. Did all my water testing as soon as I got up and found him this morning, and everything is pretty much perfect aside from my calcium being a little bit higher than I'd like it.

Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, dKH 10.0, Ca 500, Mg 1320, PO4 .02, pH 8.0

I'm thinking it's got to be residual stress from the ATO malfunction last week where my salinity dipped really low. I'd had him for around 7 months, so I doubt it was old age. Pretty bummed about it. He was a fun little dude to have in the tank. I'll probably wait a few weeks just to make sure there aren't any underlying issues with the tank that I haven't figured out yet and then go pick up a new little cleaner. Already missing his bright color dancing around the tank.

Glad everything else seems unaffected.

reef-rc · Jul 16, 2017

Looking good.

WarEaglesReef · Jul 25, 2017

Looks like maybe I've got a new little toadstool leather growing underneath my large one. I wasn't aware that they split like that. Or perhaps it's from when the emerald crab chewed up the base? Wondering if maybe he left a bit separate from the main coral and that part is what's grown these tiny little polyps. Either way, cool!

Also, noticed my pH has been a bit low despite my dKH and Calcium levels being where they should. Ran an air pump for a few days with no success, so I picked up some aquavitro balance and dosed that this past weekend. Been perfectly stable between 8.2-8.4 since then, so I'm happy with that product purchase.

Got a new little cleaner shrimp this weekend as well. He's acclimated nicely and started to explore the tank instead of hiding all day. Quite a bit smaller than how big my last one had gotten...excited to watch the new little dude grow!

WarEaglesReef · Aug 25, 2017

Naked alien crab!

Had a very interesting occurrence in the neverending tank soap opera yesterday. Look up from my computer to see that my nassarius snails are all out and about and it wasn't feeding time so I thought maybe something had died that they were on the hunt for. Turns out my largest hermit crab had decided to molt in the middle of the day and couldn't make it safely back to his shell. He was being relentlessly chased around the tank by the cleaner shrimp and all the crabs and snails.

I tried putting his shell next to him on my leather coral he climbed up on to have the high ground, but the shrimp decided to lie in wait just on the other side of it, so he wouldn't hop back in. Ended up scooping him into a little Tupperware dish and put in his shell along with another one so that he could have time to pick one out without having to worry about getting picked on. He's now happily no longer naked in a new shell. Hopefully he's learned that molting during the day is not such a smart idea.

WarEaglesReef · Sep 14, 2017

Been a while since my last update here. The little evo has become largely self sustaining at this point which is really awesome. I know the MarinePure gets mixed reviews because of the aluminum leeching, but man does it do a killer job at denitrifying once it really gets established. I now do a water change about once every 2-3 weeks to replenish cal/alk/mg but my nitrates are constantly below 2ppm regardless of how much I feed which is really awesome. GFO does a stellar job of keeping my phosphates low and this tank has become a total breeze in the maintenance department.

Everything continues to grow like weeds and it looks like at some point soon I'll have to move some of the pieces over to my new RedSea tank so they can continue to grow. My hammer is in the process of splitting from 2 heads to 4, and my torch continues to divide at a pretty rapid rate. I'm thinking the Duncan will probably be one of the first ones I move as the 12 or so baby heads it's grown are rapidly expanding and there's just nowhere in this little tank that has room for them when they're full grown. Torch will probably move too as it doesn't play nice with the other euphyllias and the Hollywood Stunner chalice as well since it's nearly tripled in size. Not a bad problem to have considering the alternative though, eh?

I've thought about moving the majority of the coral out of this tank (aside from the pieces that have already firmly affixed themselves to the rocks) and turning it into an anemone tank for the clowns. Maybe move the rainford to the RedSea if I can catch him although I suppose he'd be just as happy with the nems since he mostly hangs out in his cave network under the rocks anyway. Thoughts?

WarEaglesReef · Sep 17, 2017

Finally got tired of the abysmal flow that the stock pump has, so while I was picking up some hermits to start the clean up crew on my new tank I grabbed a Sicce for the little Evo. Just got done installing it after giving the back compartments a good cleaning. The .5 was the perfect size in terms of flow. Much better surface agitation and movement through the back filter compartments but not so much that all my corals get blasted. [emoji2][emoji1360]

WarEaglesReef · Sep 19, 2017

Got something a little concerning happening with my purple montipora this week. A small section in the middle seems to be dying off. I decided to get out my needle nose pliers and crush the two vermetid snails that had been making that coral their home in case it's them that are causing this issue. Any other ideas on what might cause this to happen and what I can do to stop that from progressing? Other than that one spot that's appeared in the last week or so, the coral has good growth around the edges and the red monty right next door is unaffected.

Water parameters are all normal:
Ammonia & Nitrite both 0
Nitrate 2ppm
Calcium 450
Alk 8.4
Magnesium 1320
Phosphate .04
pH 8.2

WarEaglesReef · Sep 22, 2017

Cut a frag of a few polyps off of one of my zoa colonies to try out in the new tank. Definitely need to move my hollywood stunner chalice out of this evo soon. Growing WAY too fast and there's nowhere to put it since it's so aggressive. I moved it to the back where it could be away from all the other corals but then one of my clowns decided to chill out on it last night and got stung all over her stomach. Ideally I'd like to give the new tank a bit more time to get into a groove before putting sps in there, but I think I'll pretty much have no other choice with the chalice as the little nano tank is officially out of space. Eviction notice served for the chalice coral.

WarEaglesReef · Sep 24, 2017

Is there some sort of Corals Anonymous support group I can sign up for? Because clearly I have no self control. While out picking up some bangaii cardinals for my RedSea 250 today, I saw this wicked cool ricordea coral that I had to bring home with me even though my little Evo is packed. The color was just too cool to pass up. So it's in the Evo for now...will probably make a trip over to the bigger tank in a few weeks.

I mean, can you blame me? Look at that color!

WarEaglesReef · Sep 27, 2017

Well...sometime in the last week my little evo decided to have an alkalinity crash. Last week it was good at 9 dkH but yesterday morning I noticed a few of my corals were really unhappy and tested all my levels to see what was up. All spot on except for my KH which had fallen below 7. So I did a large water change and went out and got some alkalinity buffer. Guess I will need to start dosing this tank. Got a Hanna checker coming in the mail to be able to get a more accurate number and cross check with my RedSea test kit. Wish I'd taken some photos to be able to compare to now, but my torch and duncan corals look MUCH better today, and my acans and leathers are slowly coming back around. Crisis averted. ;Nailbiting

thaitopher · Sep 30, 2017

WarEagle88 said:
Is there some sort of Corals Anonymous support group I can sign up for? Because clearly I have no self control. While out picking up some bangaii cardinals for my RedSea 250 today, I saw this wicked cool ricordea coral that I had to bring home with me even though my little Evo is packed. The color was just too cool to pass up. So it's in the Evo for now...will probably make a trip over to the bigger tank in a few weeks.

I mean, can you blame me? Look at that color!

I am a big fan of the Ricordea. I have a bright orange one in my tank. I believe they are really hardy. My guy has doubled in size since I bought him 3 months ago. Your tank is looking great.

LoneStarReef · Sep 30, 2017

Good to hear you diverted the crisis. And it looks like things are getting better on the plains too!! Went to the Mizzou game last weekend. It was a blast.

Check put my build thread when you can. My 90 is about ready to be wet in a few weeks.

War Eagle!!

WarEagle88 said:
Well...sometime in the last week my little evo decided to have an alkalinity crash. Last week it was good at 9 dkH but yesterday morning I noticed a few of my corals were really unhappy and tested all my levels to see what was up. All spot on except for my KH which had fallen below 7. So I did a large water change and went out and got some alkalinity buffer. Guess I will need to start dosing this tank. Got a Hanna checker coming in the mail to be able to get a more accurate number and cross check with my RedSea test kit. Wish I'd taken some photos to be able to compare to now, but my torch and duncan corals look MUCH better today, and my acans and leathers are slowly coming back around. Crisis averted. ;Nailbiting

WarEaglesReef · Oct 2, 2017

LoneStarReef said:
Good to hear you diverted the crisis. And it looks like things are getting better on the plains too!! Went to the Mizzou game last weekend. It was a blast.

Check put my build thread when you can. My 90 is about ready to be wet in a few weeks.

War Eagle!!

War Eagle!!
Yes, so glad to be back at a stable Alk level. Corals are all happy again.

Happy the boys seem to be getting into their groove and playing well as a unit. Looking much better than our first three weeks, but I'm still nervous for our more difficult teams left on the schedule. This weekend's game will hopefully show me I have nothing to be worried about.

Excited to follow along with your build! Nice looking tank.

WarEaglesReef · Oct 8, 2017

Well...Evo evolution 2.0 is in full swing. Everything had just continued to grow like weeds (so thankful that's the issue rather than the opposite) that there just wasn't room for everyone anymore. I came home after the Auburn game last weekend to find my little green micro lords colony absolutely wrecked by the purple torch that had just gotten so big it was impossible to keep away from everything else. I moved it into my new Red Sea 250 where it could be all on its own and heal. It's doing really well and slowly growing back over the exposed skeleton. Here it is right after moving it.

Also, I'd noticed that everything has kind of gone dull in the tank? Levels of all the major parameters are all spot on, but I'm guessing there's got to be some trace elements that help with color that are low in the nano.

After the move of the first coral went so well, I just decided that most everything was so overgrown in the Evo that I moved most of it out and into the new large tank. So now, the little nano is looking pretty sparse. I left the frogspawn, hammer, and GSP on the little island, and the toadstool leather, both montis, and the ricordea on the large rock. The two other micro lords colonies, my green zoas, and my blasto are still on the sand, but I think I will move those over to join the green micro lords colony here soon so they can continue to grow out.

Since the Evo was so empty now, when I went to pick up a couple of shrimp for the big tank, I also picked up an anemone for the Evo since there was plenty of room for one now, and perhaps *fingers crossed* the clowns will eventually decide to move in.

Drip acclimated the little guy for about 45 minutes and then put him and the rock he came on in the tank. Here he is starting to open up juuuust a little bit and show some color.

When the moonlights came on it decided to take a walk off of the rock it came on and around towards the back. Closer to the clowns, which is cool, but further out of direct view which kind of sucks. I was really bummed I missed it moving. Settled in there and continued to open up under the deep blues.

Now we're on day two of anemone life in the tank and the clowns remain uninterested. I guess being hosted by the heater and powerhead in the corner is more appealing at the moment. Practicing patience to see if they will ever decide to make it their home as it continues to grow.

Perhaps I'll clear out all the remaining coral and get some rock flower nems and maybe a green bta and just turn this into an anemone only tank. Playing it by ear for now!

marktea · Oct 10, 2017

Great thread very well written and very interesting. A little tip to get the nem hosting. I have the same tank. My two clowns were not interested in the nem for a month until after it was introduced. I was told it was never going to happen, and after trying many different funny tactics like taping pictures to my tank and such, I finally started to believe it. Finally, I took a nice meaty shrimp and had my clown follow it on the tweezers I use to feed corals. He followed me all the way to the nem and made very slight, but noticeable, contact with the nem. Sure enough he was back every 10 minutes to brush up against it and the next day I couldn't get him to leave my bubble tip alone. And monkey see monkey do, my other clown was right behind him. Good luck don't give up. One clown is a percula and they aren't particularly known to host bubble tips

WarEaglesReef · Oct 10, 2017

marktea said:
Great thread very well written and very interesting. A little tip to get the nem hosting. I have the same tank. My two clowns were not interested in the nem for a month until after it was introduced. I was told it was never going to happen, and after trying many different funny tactics like taping pictures to my tank and such, I finally started to believe it. Finally, I took a nice meaty shrimp and had my clown follow it on the tweezers I use to feed corals. He followed me all the way to the nem and made very slight, but noticeable, contact with the nem. Sure enough he was back every 10 minutes to brush up against it and the next day I couldn't get him to leave my bubble tip alone. And monkey see monkey do, my other clown was right behind him. Good luck don't give up. One clown is a percula and they aren't particularly known to host bubble tips

Awesome. Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely have to try that. Both of my clowns are very shy (weird, but I'll take it over super aggressive) so it'll probably take some time to get them to come for food, but that's a great idea!

WarEaglesReef · Oct 10, 2017

Nem seems to be doing really well in the nano! Stretching out for a bit of light today, so perhaps it will move back up to the top of the rock at some point? It's been interesting watching it react to the light spectrum as it changes throughout the day. Neat little animals.

WarEaglesReef · Oct 25, 2017

Wish I could easily post video here...my sea urchin decided to spawn this evening after my weekly water change. Really interesting to see him gather all of his little tentacles at the top and then sway them apart all at the same time to disperse it into the water column. Lasted maybe 5 minutes and now my tank is ultra cloudy.

And in other exciting news, my female clownfish is maaaaaybe thinking about hosting in the new anemone. (Which will be great if it stops her from resting on my zoas and getting stung all over her stomach all the time) I've caught her periodically brushing up against it and swimming through it a few times this afternoon. I'm gonna be so stoked if she decides to move in so quickly. Fingers crossed!!