LylaPico Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Hey, long time no see. I'm about to start a renovation on my evolve 4. I've had it for.....3 years now, and since I got bummed about my stubby clown dying, I haven't really done anything with it except keep it up and add a few snails or hermits when the old ones die off. Xenia has kind of taken over the back wall, I have too many Kenya trees that take up valuable space for more aesthetically pleasing corals. And my timer also broke so I've accidentally been leaving the lights on too long, creating a red slime algae bloom. Strategy: 1. Buy phosphate reducing media pad to reduce the red slime problem. 2. Buy a timer. It really is worth it. 3. Cut back the kenya trees (help someone.) 4. I have a few bare spaces in the sand I want to fill with tall corals? Like a sea whip or something. 5. add a few colors to the tank ( This will probably never be finished. lol 6. add a small goby or citron clown (this can't be completed until after I move (07/22/15) I don't want to stress the little guys out. I might still do this and move the Molly Miller Blenny to the biocube once I get it set up. 7. I'd like to put some gsp on the back wall to grow up it. 8. Get a new heater. I basically just to be more proactive. I mean I love my tank and the Kenya trees are kind of pretty and I do like the Xenia on the back wall but I just want more out of it. Like before Marlin (the stuby clown) died. [he died of a disease my lfs couldn't tell me which one. Although the rest of the tank was fine.] So I just kind of started this thread in hopes it would make me more proactive about getting the list above done. So here are the deets: Before: Equipment: Evolve 4 tank ($56) stock pump regular charcoal aqueon filter with a phosphaban filter behind it ($1. 30 for the filter $8 for the phosphaban pad) Solarflare Deep Blue professional LED goose neck light strip (15watt) ($54) Topfin 25 watt heater ($27) Aqueon 50watt heater ($30) digital thermometer($8) truelumen led strip ($14) Stock: Emerald crab (Gus)($7) 2 hermits: a white one (Casper) and a purple and orange one (Miranda)($4 for both) 1 Nerite snails($1.20) 2 nassarius snails($3.60) multiple baby Bristle stars and Astrea starfish (fo free) 1" black Live Sand ($16) 4.5 lbs Live Rock (Caribbean)($24) Fish: Molly Miller Blenny (Little F)(given to me) Coral: 2, about to be 4 (splitting), neon green trumpets ($10 at $5 each head) 2 striped neon green trumpets($10 at $5 each head) Trimmed Kenya trees (came on rock) Xenia taking over the back wall ($4 and it's been there forever.) 1 orange and green Ricordea($18) 1 green two-toned Ricordea ($18) 2 green Ricordea ($16 ea) 1 Orange Floridian Ricordea($25 ea) 2 Blue Floridian Ricordea (1 @ $22, 1@ $16) 1 head of Hammer coral ($10) GSP glued to the back wall ($20) Current money in/on tank: $402.10 Money not on/in or is old/didn't work out/died: (TBA) Currently: Also, this is Gus Link to comment
lkoechle Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Hey! Welcome back! I had a baby and turned my 4 into a freshwater. It just turned a year old! as well as my baby. lol The betta and shrimp I've been debating on giving away though because I really want to turn it into saltwater again. Check out the Evolve 4 thread. Turns out we were kind of on the cutting edge when they got real popular for picos. People have come up with way better mods then we thought of... Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 Hey! Welcome back! I had a baby and turned my 4 into a freshwater. It just turned a year old! as well as my baby. lol The betta and shrimp I've been debating on giving away though because I really want to turn it into saltwater again. Check out the Evolve 4 thread. Turns out we were kind of on the cutting edge when they got real popular for picos. People have come up with way better mods then we thought of... Hey, I've missed this place. I think I remember your 4. Awe! Congrats on the baby! You should turn it back into a salt! We could work on ours together! I'll have to check it out when I'm not in class and can sit there and fangirl over the mods. I'm sure since it's been out for a while that people have messed with everything and found optimal mods. I can't wait. I'm already geeking out. I plan to et some stuff tomorrow so I'll update again then with a few more pictures. Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Okay so I've completed 4 out of 7. I bought the phosphorous pad. The water does seem a little clearer and it doesn't seem like the cyano has gained any ground. So that's progress. I bought a timer. I live a very busy life which is probably what got me into this mess. I work 40+ hours a week and have 15 hours of classes a week. Then there's also homework. So the timer reallllllly is worth it. I cut back two of the smaller front Kenya Trees. I just cut as much as I could of them with scissors and removed them from the tank. I had read a few blogs and that's how they had done it, so hopefully they don't crow back from the little bit that's still on the rock. And I bought some stuff yesterday.... They were having an easter sale. It was so freaking hard not to get a fish. The guy at the lfs knows me though and reminded me I was moving in 3 and 1/2 months. Then I could come and blow as much money as I wanted. ( I love my lfs.) So what did I get?! I got soem GSP to go up the back wall. It was a pretty large chunk tool. bigger than a half dollar. They're already opening up, so they're doing great. I got the frag for $20. It was originally $30 but I go there so often and they know me by name..... I also got two heads of striped trumpet coral. I thought they were candy cane coral but when I got them under my lights, I saw the stripes. It looks pretty good. They were on sale for $5 a head!!! They had a million cleaner skunk shrimp and neon gobbies. I just wanted to bring them all home. Maybe when I move and get the 29 bio. Anyways, that's the update. I'll post pictures tomorrow. The lights are already off and everything is closed up. If anyone has any advice about the Kenya tree cutting, it would be appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 So here's an fts so you can see the two small Kenya Trees are gone and I'm debating turning the rock around a little bit or maybe restructuring. Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Here's the trumpet I bought. There's two heads on it, one is kinda small and hidden behind the other. (It's the lower frag.) Link to comment
ml86743 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Good luck with the renovation. Looks good so far! Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 And the gsp that I got. It's only been a day and it's opening up just fine. (The picture is sideways and I didn't want to take the time to fix it. lol) Good luck with the renovation. Looks good so far! Thank you! Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Fed the trumpets today. Here's the newest one. Also, Gus ate Miranda. . . Or at least I can't find Miranda and there were legs and a claw on the sand bed.... Link to comment
ml86743 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Nice trumpet! Everything going well so far? Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Nice trumpet! Everything going well so far? Yeah! Just been super busy with school work to be on. I know if I'm on here, hw won't get done. Yeah! So I guess I should update. The corals are looking good. I found Miranda (the dead/ not dead hermit crab). She must have been molting. It always amazes me how you can find carcass looking things that is just molt. So, I will be keepin Gus. One nerite snail and one cerith snail died. I've had them for a while so this isn't surprising. The trumpet in the back is showing more signs of splitting, like the membrane is creating a deep crease in it's roundness. I did a 10% water change before class this morning because I had a really bad dream that the red slime algae came back with a vengence and everything in the tank was just red. I woke up and ran to the tank and everything was fine, but a wc made me feel better. lol. The timer has really helped! I'll feed the trumpets tonight once the lights go out. Gus also likes it so I have to feed him a little first and then keep him away from the trumpets.... I'll post a picture tomorrow. Link to comment
cmccorkle2005 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 My wife texted me last night because she thought one of our scarlets had kicked the bucket but it was just molting - It is amazing how it looks like a carcass. Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 My wife texted me last night because she thought one of our scarlets had kicked the bucket but it was just molting - It is amazing how it looks like a carcass. Right? So scary. And I was just about to take Gus back to the lfs too. lol Link to comment
ml86743 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Yeah! Just been super busy with school work to be on. I know if I'm on here, hw won't get done. Yeah! So I guess I should update. The corals are looking good. I found Miranda (the dead/ not dead hermit crab). She must have been molting. It always amazes me how you can find carcass looking things that is just molt. So, I will be keepin Gus. One nerite snail and one cerith snail died. I've had them for a while so this isn't surprising. The trumpet in the back is showing more signs of splitting, like the membrane is creating a deep crease in it's roundness. I did a 10% water change before class this morning because I had a really bad dream that the red slime algae came back with a vengence and everything in the tank was just red. I woke up and ran to the tank and everything was fine, but a wc made me feel better. lol. The timer has really helped! I'll feed the trumpets tonight once the lights go out. Gus also likes it so I have to feed him a little first and then keep him away from the trumpets.... I'll post a picture tomorrow. I hear ya between work and class Its a tough schedule...But there's always time for the tank:) Ive done a few water changes around 3AM! Link to comment
cmccorkle2005 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Right? So scary. And I was just about to take Gus back to the lfs too. lol I know - My first thought was that my emerald crab went renegade on me :-) PS - Can't believe you got a pic of yours, haven't been able to get mine to come out long enough for a pic. Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 I hear ya between work and class Its a tough schedule...But there's always time for the tank:) Ive done a few water changes around 3AM! Livin that college life. Only for one more month though! Graduation is May 7th. Then I'll have more time to plan my biocube. I know - My first thought was that my emerald crab went renegade on me :-) PS - Can't believe you got a pic of yours, haven't been able to get mine to come out long enough for a pic. It was not easy and he deffinately kept moving around. I think there was some algae in the crevice between the Kenya tree and rock and that's the only thing that kept him still. I did find him picking on a snail and the smaller white hermit, so I'm just going to have to watch that closely. Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 Update Miranda survived. fts shows that the big Kenya Tree will most likely have to go. and this top shot shows just how much Xenia and Kenya Tree occupy my tank Link to comment
cmccorkle2005 Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 Wow - you do have tons of xenia. I had some in my last tank and they did pretty well - I like the way that pulse. Glad your crab showed up - rearraning rock is always kind of dicey. I have realized with this new tank I'm doing that I have built up too much and have made a wall - I'm gonna have to do some rearranging before the first corals go in in a month or so. Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 So got a couple of updates, got three new pieces and got rid of the gigantic Kenya Tree, moved the rock a bit and I'll post some pictures when I'm actually done. Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 So I rescaped a bit. Moved the rocks around. Turned the main rock so the splitting trumpet can be seen a little from the front. I cut off the large Kenya Tree in the front. I got two ricordea and 1 head of hammer coral today. The hammer was pretty upset when I put him in but after a couple of hours it started to stretch a bit. This is the splitting trumpet coral The blue ricordea The orange ricordea. It kind of looks like dippin' dots Here it is under blue light. and here's the upset hammer However, my heater died. It's resting at 72F but I put a supplemental beta heater in there until I can pick up a new one of the same type. Link to comment
Dark_ice Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 tagging along on this one, looking good Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 tagging along on this one, looking good Thank you! Link to comment
Thomas898 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 The orange ricordea. It kind of looks like dippin' dots Here it is under blue light. Ha I was thinking the same, saw them for the first time a week ago! Looks good under the blue Link to comment
LylaPico Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Ha I was thinking the same, saw them for the first time a week ago! Looks good under the blue my lfs got a whole new shipment of rics in. half of them are this orange rainbow type. I only had enough money to get a few things so I went ahead and got the purple (blue but it's totally purple) one to add color variation. I get paid Friday. Hopefully they still have a few left because I would love like 20 more of those buggers. Also, the one I got has 4 mouths on it. It looks like multiples scrunched together but it's really 1 that's about to divide so I only paid for 1. I LOVE MY LFS!!! Link to comment
cmccorkle2005 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 my lfs got a whole new shipment of rics in. half of them are this orange rainbow type. I only had enough money to get a few things so I went ahead and got the purple (blue but it's totally purple) one to add color variation. I get paid Friday. Hopefully they still have a few left because I would love like 20 more of those buggers. Also, the one I got has 4 mouths on it. It looks like multiples scrunched together but it's really 1 that's about to divide so I only paid for 1. I LOVE MY LFS!!! The ricordea is cool - have never seen that before. You will have to post a FTS now that you have rearranged Link to comment
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