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Well, bad news. Billy Frechette and John Dillinger (Billy and Dilly) killed poor little Willie. I saw them duking it out day before yesterday, but I figured Willie was giving it right back to them. However, they evidently ganged up on the poor little dude and killed him some time after I installed the new lid. He has already been returned to the hounds, so to speak. I'm so mad at the murdering clown pair, but I can't get rid of them-they're such a pretty pair. I guess the Evo will just have to be a clown only tank. Sure hope Billy doesn't ever turn on Dilly.IMG_6135.thumb.jpeg.065e2e0fb8aeae30c69c27479dc9ef6a.jpeg

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"Hey wasn't that fun, murdering that little funny lookin interloper? Yeah! It was fun, we're such evil little clowns!"Β IMG_6144.thumb.jpeg.9d1fa3d27ddb24985573250a78df7406.jpeg

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"Why are you taking pictures of us?!"

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Dilly wants to know why I'm stalking his woman.

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Relieved to finally be seeing lots of corraline algae growth in this tank!! Ph is slowly climbing towards 8, and the coralline is starting to take up the kH in the tank. Progress!!Β 

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33 minutes ago, DirtΓ© Sanchez said:

Relieved to finally be seeing lots of corraline algae growth in this tank!! Ph is slowly climbing towards 8, and the coralline is starting to take up the kH in the tank. Progress!!Β 

You may hate it eventually...... if I don't scrape my glass weekly,Β  its covered.Β  Purple rocks are pretty though.Β 

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35 minutes ago, jack1978 said:

You may hate it eventually...... if I don't scrape my glass weekly,Β  its covered.Β  Purple rocks are pretty though.Β 

I’ve been scraping it some- @WV ReeferΒ said it would make it spread faster. But I can’t get the back glass very easily so I figure that will just be purple.

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1 minute ago, DirtΓ© Sanchez said:

I’ve been scraping it some- @WV ReeferΒ said it would make it spread faster. But I can’t get the back glass very easily so I figure that will just be purple.

Oh yeah.Β  Scrape and let it go in the flow.Β  Itll spread.Β 

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6 minutes ago, jack1978 said:

Oh yeah.Β  Scrape and let it go in the flow.Β  Itll spread.Β 

It’s growing on the glass of the SCA too and I scrape that religiously- now it’s in the sump too. Guess that goes to show good progress?

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Added some new stuff to the Evo today!! Lurch the Urchin kickedΒ the bucket unfortunately and I super need algae eaters, so got two small pincushions.Β 
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4 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

I swear that particular kind of hair algae must have a commensal-relationship with blasto merletti's because I have NEVER seen a frag without it XD

Good to know because I worry about it getting worse, yet it never does

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1 hour ago, Amphrites said:

I swear that particular kind of hair algae must have a commensal-relationship with blasto merletti's because I have NEVER seen a frag without it XD

More than likely it's coming from a certain supplier. I'm not gonna put them on blast, but I've seen it only come from one place. I know the wild colonies I get don't have it, some have a brown leaf algae that lasts about .000002 seconds around a tang.

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11 minutes ago, StinkyBunny said:

More than likely it's coming from a certain supplier. I'm not gonna put them on blast, but I've seen it only come from one place. I know the wild colonies I get don't have it, some have a brown leaf algae that lasts about .000002 seconds around a tang.

I did order out for that teeny weeny blasto.Β 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Added some new corals finally, and happy to say they’ve been doing well (they went in about a week and a half ago). Hoping they continue to do well for me.Β 
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  • 3 weeks later...

Oh and almost forgot, we’ve had a new guy in there for a while- he’s burrowed in with the pistol and seems to be doing well! We’ve named him Tex since he’s a yellow rose antenna goby.Β 
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Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that this little tank is starting to thrive, I'd be ready to sit down in the corner and cry over the whole reef-keeping hobby. But finally, it seems to be turning a corner and looking neat in there. The weekly algae scrubbing and continued low phos levels seems to be beating the algae finally. Changing from using pellets to a mix of frozen, phyto, zoo, SW mix, a touch of garlic guard/selcon/Reef Roids/and spirulina has dropped the nitrates and phos levels to manageable with weekly water changes. Now just to wait for it to grow. The three fish and assorted inverts are a pleasure to watch, even though it's not stuffed with creatures. Hopefully someday it will grow to look like some of the pretty tanks on NR.

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The Evo is making me happy, when the SCA is patently not. Corals all look happy today, and got in a small plant light that will do red/red blue/or blue spectrum for the back chamber I'm using as a refugium. It's really a cute little light--I hope it helps boost the plant growth. The little bar light I'd had in there previously didn't seem to do much of anything for the macro.Β 

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GSP colony has really started to take off since I cleaned out all the GHA and glued it down.

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The two RFAs have evidently found their happy places on this rock.

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I'm loving this brave little toaster of a fish. Tex (who's final name will be Frank in honor of Frank Hamer)Β hasΒ finally connected his burrow all the way under the rock. I worry that he'll get busted by the murdering clowns Billy and Dilly, but so far he's been pretty quick about shooting back into his burrow.Β 

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FTS. This tank is basically 6 months old now! Have ordered some more coralline booster for it, trying to get more growth on that back wall and the back glass.IMG_6989.thumb.jpeg.ed5fce30c27517ed69cccf01b942ea28.jpeg

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New refugium light. Will have to unclamp it whenever I clean out the In Tank basket for chamber 1, but that shouldn't be too big a deal.Β 

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Glad to see things are doing well in here! I'm not sure if you've mentioned it already someplace, but have you considered adding a black vinyl backing to the rear-side of the tank? It could be a good option to hide some of your cords and such if you're planning on keeping the tank against the wall like that for the foreseeable future. I remember seeing it work out really well in @Sancho's system. Seems like a small thing but it can make a huge difference! 😊

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3 minutes ago, billygoat said:

Glad to see things are doing well in here! I'm not sure if you've mentioned it already someplace, but have you considered adding a black vinyl backing to the rear-side of the tank? It could be a good option to hide some of your cords and such if you're planning on keeping the tank against the wall like that for the foreseeable future. I remember seeing it work out really well in @Sancho's system. Seems like a small thing but it can make a huge difference! 😊

No, I hadn't thought about that, actually. I was hoping to get the back side covered in coralline, but the vinyl could be an easy trick. I wish, thinking back, that we had positioned the tank differently so that more of it could be seen. It's difficult to check on the back side because we have the peninsula sideways instead of front on.Β 

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At any rate, that's a good idea, and I may well check into that.Β 

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I just love this brave little dude πŸ₯°. Little Frank Hamer is a take no shizzle kinda guy, gives Billy Frechette and John Dillinger what for right back at them. And shoots back into his burrow in nothing flat!Β 
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1 minute ago, DirtΓ© Sanchez said:

I just love this brave little dude πŸ₯°. Little Frank Hamer is a take no shizzle kinda guy, gives Billy Frechette and John Dillinger what for right back at them. And shoots back into his burrow in nothing flat!Β 
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He doesn’t like the paparazzi. πŸ˜„

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1 minute ago, WV Reefer said:

He doesn’t like the paparazzi. πŸ˜„

Guess not!!! He bowed up to me once while I was standing there without the phone, too. He doesn't want me near his burrow, my big ugly giant self is bothering him. I'm SO glad he and the pistol bonded though, because that means he's gonna have a better chance against the murder clowns.Β 

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Forgot to say, the Evo turned six months old Monday!!! Some things have changed since I started it back up in June.

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Equipment:

Evo XII 13.5g tank w

Cobalt Neotherm 150W heater

Intank chamber 1 media holder

Sicce syncra 1.0 pump

Micmol Smart LED aquarium light

Grow LED plant light for chamber 2 refugium

Jebao 3 chamber dose pump

Acrylic 3 chamber dose chambers

Jebao SW4 wave pump

Smart Micro ATO

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Media:Β 

Seacham Phosguard

Intank filter floss

Handfull of chaeto in chamber 2

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Livestock/substrate and live rock:

Carib Sea Arag alive oolite sand, 15lbs

13 lbs pukani live rock

Whatever came on/in the live rock

dwarf blue legged hermits

electric blue hermit

halloween hermit

nassarius snails

banded trochus snails

nerite snails

bumble bee snails

Cerith snails

tiger sand conch snail

1 Randall's pistol shrimp

1 strawberry crab

emerald crabs (there's a TON of GHA)

2 pincushion urchins

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bonded pair black ice clowns

yellow rose antenna goby

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2 RFAs

small cocoa worm

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Corals (Such as I know the name for):

2 colonies multicolored zoanthids

1 small hammer

1 scroll montipora

1 small possible brain

1 chalice

1 two headed duncan

1 medium sized GSP colony

1 medium sized frogspawn colony

1 small cyphastrea

1 small mystery coral

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  • ECLS Reefer changed the title to Sister Margarets School for Wayward Girls 13.5g Evo (June 2021 TOTM). Random Update with Foto

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