Natalia’s Evo 13.5: alk spike aftermath

[seabass]

Ah yes Murphych, battling my own uglies (dinos) which the use of Vibrant might have contributed to.  It's a long story, but anybody interested can read about it here:

https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/topic/415598-vibrant-liquid-aquarium-cleaner-review/

[natalia_la_loca]

Yeah I’ve been using vibrant in the sculpture bowl to hopefully get rid of bubble algae before I move the corals to the Evo. It does seem to inhibit bubble algae but hasn’t eliminated it entirely. I’m reluctant to increase the dosage because of the experiences of Seabass and others and I really want to avoid using it in the Evo. 

 

The snails seem to be doing a pretty good job controlling the diatoms. 
 

Another thing that’s happening lately is the filter floss (my only form of mechanical filtration in the Evo rn) is filling up with crud super fast. This is from this morning...I changed it 24 hours ago?!

 

 

 

[dferrari13]

On 4/18/2021 at 7:54 AM, Murphych said:

Oh.. easy you will upset @seabass

Lol why?

[Murphs_Reef]

4 minutes ago, dferrari13 said:

Lol why?

Long story. Should have a look at his vibrant product review. 😂👍🏼

[natalia_la_loca]

The snails have done a great job with the diatoms. Water is a little cloudy though, maybe the dead zombie phyto was a dumb idea lol. The haze is whitish not green, so I’m assuming bacteria bloom. Also assuming that’s why the filter floss is gunking up so quickly. Nothing unusual is showing up on water tests. If anything, nutrients are a little too low.
 

Joey’s Reef Juice order arrived today, so I’m ditching the dead stuff and will see if live phyto helps. I’d like to avoid getting a UV sterilizer if possible. Not sure if adding some activated carbon would be a good idea at this point? Or should I just relax and let the cycle do its thing? Parameters give no indication that a water change is needed.

 

I’ve started moving frags to the rockscape and put the chaeto in a filter media bag. It still looks terrible but at least there’s no more chaeto bits flying everywhere.

 

I also added a feather duster worm and a mini feather duster, figuring they would like the phyto and the haze. They haven’t opened much though. Will hold off on further additions for now...

 

[DevilDuck]

It took me a while to realize that the weird yellowish-white montipora coral in the center was your media bag full of chaeto! 

[natalia_la_loca]

lmao yup, that’s a Jason Fox Mustard Monti

[natalia_la_loca]

Cloudy water has cleared up despite the fact that I’ve been dosing live phyto for the past week! Diatoms are gone too.

 

Joeys Reef Juice 4-species blend seems like a good product, it’s comparable to Algaebarn Ocean Magik but a lot cheaper. I’ve also started dosing a few drops of Brightwell coral aminos and the corals seem to like it. One of my zoa frags closed for about a week but is open again.

 

Liveaquaria had tiger pistol shrimps on sale, so I got one because I’m really interested in their earth moving abilities and I want to get a watchman goby. It started shoveling right away. I’ve been giving it a few pellets every day. 
 

 

 

 

 

[DevilDuck]

The ugly phase seems to be working itself out.

 

You inspired me to to try some live phyto! I've also been having issues with one of my zoa frags closing up for weeks at a time.

 

[natalia_la_loca]

1 hour ago, DevilDuck said:

The ugly phase seems to be working itself out.

 

You inspired me to to try some live phyto! I've also been having issues with one of my zoa frags closing up for weeks at a time.

 

Great! I can’t say for sure that live phyto makes a crucial difference, but I’m really interested in creating a system that mimics nature to some extent and phyto is at the bottom of the food chain. 
 

one thing I’ve noticed is that the bigger feather duster is turning slightly green which I imagine may be because of the phyto. It’s also moved the exit point of its crown under the gravel...I can’t tell if it’s abandoned its original tube entirely or not, but it seems to be doing okay.

 

here it is a day or two after arrival

 

and here it is now

 

[natalia_la_loca]

Btw I forgot to mention I also added Algaebarn’s bottled pink and purple coralline algae spores last week, mainly because I’m curious whether it will look any different to the coralline in my bowls (they say it has multiple species of both colors) and also grow as fast as they claim. Will observe and report.

[natalia_la_loca]

Big changes! I moved the Evo to its final location in the window where the sculpture bowl was. Holy cow I love nanos and picos, it was so easy.

 

 

and this week I’ve been moving more corals from the sculpture bowl to the Evo.

 

 

so far so good! The corals are looking pretty happy in there. And in this tank it’ll be a little easier to see my weird sculptures. I’m planning to move the rest of the corals, set up the fuge and work on the aquascape this weekend.

[DevilDuck]

Looking great!

[Jakesaw]

I'll be interested to see how your tank does with that window light.  I'd be afraid of algae growth, but the reef does reside in the sunlight! 

 

 

[natalia_la_loca]

19 hours ago, Jakesaw said:I'd be afraid of algae growth, but the reef does reside in the sunlight! 

 

 

Exactly! I’ve actually always kept my tanks in places that received some natural sunlight. My reefbowls are in front of a west facing window and get sunlight from west, south and east at different times of day. I figure if it’s worked for years in little bowls, it should work just as well in the Evo. 

[natalia_la_loca]

Finally! All corals have been transferred and the sculpture bowl has officially entered beastmode 🐺

 

 

Also set up the chaeto fuge in chamber 2, so that ugly bag of chaeto is finally out of the display. i still have to do a bunch of aquascaping and cord organizing but so far I’m very happy with it.
 

The water is cloudy again?! 🤨 but the corals look super happy.

[DevilDuck]

Wow, that took an amazing turn! Love the floating colonies, although the little figures kinda creep me out. 

[natalia_la_loca]

On 5/10/2021 at 2:48 PM, DevilDuck said:

Wow, that took an amazing turn! Love the floating colonies, although the little figures kinda creep me out. 

Haha yeah, that was more or less the intent with those figures. I could launch into conceptual art-speak about it but basically I’m interested in the weird and sometimes creepy ways that nature reclaims things.

[natalia_la_loca]

Aaaand we have fish 😍

 

First addition:

a yellow watchman goby. Paired with the pistol shrimp within 30 minutes 🥰 

 

Next, added an azure damsel and an orchid dottyback at the same time. So far no major aggression. They also completely ignore the goby and shrimp.
 

I’ve been feeding them a generous rotating mix of Rods Food coral blend, Avast reef jerky and Rods fish roe daily, but nitrate and phosphate are near zero.  I’m wondering if the phyto I’m dosing might be taking up the extra nutrients as I’ve read that can happen. It also might account for the near-total lack of nuisance algae. I did find some tiny bubble algae on a frag, which was immediately yanked, scrubbed and dipped in peroxide. I’ve also smothered a few vermetid snails on the bases of the frogspawn frags.

 

in a probably related issue, I removed the chaeto fuge because the chaeto was starting to die in there. I may not need chaeto given the amount of ornamental macro I have growing. If so, one less cord! Thinking I’ll fill that space in chamber 2 with live rock because all three of these fish hunt pods constantly. They demolished all the pods on the glass within days.

 

Other additions: 5 adorable strombus maculatus nano conchs (thanks @Tamberav!) In spite of how tiny they are I’m constantly seeing them go after film algae in spaces too small for the bigger snails. I really hope they breed.

 

and I’m super excited that a tiny chiton hitchhiked in on a zoa frag from the LFS. Here’s its little butt (or head idk) sticking out from under a Duncan frag. 
 

 

And finally the feather duster has fully abandoned its old tube and now lives in the sand bed. It’s open most of the time now so I guess it’s doing well!

 

[debbeach13]

Good luck with the new additions. Tank is looking great.

[Tamberav]

The tank is beautiful 😊

[natalia_la_loca]

Added a couple new corals from the LFS: the most neon-green Ricordea I’ve ever seen, and some interesting red zoas (in front of creepy statue). They look a lot like red people eaters but have mottled sky blue skirts, I really like them. I’m trying to get a killer color combo on that central rock.

 

BTW I’m in love with the dottyback’s lil mean face in this pic 😆 

Also the water is still cloudy and water changes + stopping phyto are not cutting it (plus, nutrients are already really low), so I broke down and bought a UV sterilizer. Hoping that helps clear things up without pissing off the corals, which still seem really happy in spite of (or maybe because of?) the murky water.

[Critteraholic]

I have a couple of questions, but first; THANK YOU!  Finding your reef bowl thread while I was looking at moss bowl designs was a sanity saver.  Thanks for taking the time to document everything, I know it's a time sink.

 

I noticed you're using the 12 watt ABI 38 par on this tank.  Is it enough for that size tank? Do you think you'll keep it?  And how high above the tank is it?  I appreciate any information you can give me. Thanks.

[natalia_la_loca]

3 hours ago, Critteraholic said:

I have a couple of questions, but first; THANK YOU!  Finding your reef bowl thread while I was looking at moss bowl designs was a sanity saver.  Thanks for taking the time to document everything, I know it's a time sink.

 

I noticed you're using the 12 watt ABI 38 par on this tank.  Is it enough for that size tank? Do you think you'll keep it?  And how high above the tank is it?  I appreciate any information you can give me. Thanks.

Hey thanks, glad you like it ☺️ Yeah, I think this light is more than enough for this tank. I have it 14” above the water line. It was 17” above the water line of the sculpture bowl and grew coral just fine in there for 3 years. I wouldn’t put it over a much wider tank because the spread isn’t great, but it works fine for the Fluval at this height. 

I have no plans to replace it. It’s super cheap, makes coral grow and look good, and lasts for years. I also like that I can put it in a conventional light fixture. And it’s high enough that I can do maintenance without bumping into it all the time. 

 

 

[Murphs_Reef]

Yeah that looks like a red people eater to me as well .. tank looks really good Nat.