Ivan M's minimalist Evolve 4

[Ivan_M]

This weekend I set up a new Evolve 4, all stock with a single mushroom rock (Discosoma nummiforme). Let's see how this evolves!

 

 

[Javious]

I see what you did there! I just picked up a 2 for my desk at work. Most likely going minimalist with either shrooms or zoos.

[tetraodon]

theres an evolve thread stickie, take a look

[Ivan_M]

Thanks!

 

I did look at the sticky; most informative. I am not new to (reading) the forum.

[Ivan_M]

A better picture of the coloration. The striping is now more pronounced.

 

 

A look into the pump compartment. On right, a 50W pre-set 78F Tetra heater. The wattage is overkill, but room temperature drops are not unheard-of here in winter. Blue deep in the water on left is a piece of 1/2"-thick Marineland filter pad material that is wrapped around the pump to reduce noise. The stock pump itself is essentially silent, but the walls and floor of the Evolve resonate when the pump is within an inch from them in water, i.e. always if it is unshielded in the back compartment. Using a filter pad in this manner was recommended on another forum by an Aqueon R&D fellow who himself keeps an Evolve pico reef.

 

[Ivan_M]

The position of the light fixture attached as intended by the manufacturer (and indeed common in today's setups - see the photo in the first post) breaks all rules of aquarium illumination. Although I was able to make a photograph yesterday that showed the striping on my Discosoma, it barely showed to the eye in the normal viewing position. Here the stock light is simply laid down on the top near the front, where it should be. The beautiful striping and the three colors are now immediately visible.

 

 

 

The light is back to where it was for now - for the sake of the overall appearance - but the positioning may be my first concern if the time comes to replace it.

[BattleAthletics]

Lol illu would like this.

[Ivan_M]

The corallimorphs expanded to what I believe is their full size today.

 

 

[Ivan_M]

Water levels, evaporation, and exchange

 

Although I hope that with the biomass I have (half of it, no doubt, in the piece of the maricultured rock on which the corallimorphs came) filtration should not be a big issue, I made certain that my water level allows the Evolve system to operate properly. With this in mind I fill, with the pump off, to the top of the return nozzle in the display area. With the pump on the lowest setting and the filter cartridge in place, the steady-state levels are as follows: a small waterfall from the display area into the filter chamber; a small drop through the filter cartridge, and a waterfall of a variable height (depending on evaporation and potentially on the exact pump output) from the back of the filter chamber into the return pump chamber. I'd seen unmodified Evolves set up differently, and the Aqueon user's manual is not specific in this regard, so I thought this deserved a mention.

 

A look into the back compartment showing the water level drops across the outflow grid of the display area, filter cartridge, and the outflow notch of the filter chamber. The return pump hose and the heater are on the right. The cord next to the filter is for the thermometer probe.

 

When the level in the pump chamber drops, due to evaporation, below the plastic top of the heater, the latter shuts off. This is also a good time to adjust salinity. This happens every 3 or 4 days in the present weather conditions. Since the pump output is potentially variable, I shut it off and allow the water levels equilibrate in all chambers. At this point in evaporation the water with the pump off still forms a continuous surface through the outflow grid of the display chamber and over outflow notch of the filter chamber. I then add distilled water from a Walmart 1 gallon jug to the original level (top of the nozzle holder in the display chamber).

 

Although I have not yet done any, I intend to combine topping up with water changes: let the pump run for a while to mix in the added distilled water, shut it off again to equilibrate the levels, take out a jug (12 ounces, ~3-4% of the actual water volume in this "Evolve 4", which is nowhere near 4 gallons but rather 2.5-3 depending on how you fill it) and top up again to the original level with fresh salt water. I use Petco Real Ocean water.

[Ivan_M]

One Month Update

 

Not a great deal of change. Something is mowing hair algae clean, except where they are between the polyps of some kind of encrusting hitchhiker octocoral on the left side of the rock. The octocoral has grown appreciably. The hitchhiker brittle star steals food from the corallimorph under which it lives, but I am not sure these mushrooms actually eat anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

The last shot is a close-up of the two tentacles of the brittle star behind the mushroom on top left. There isn't a way to take a better shot of it; I've never seen its body. It seems to share a little cave with the mushroom.

[Ivan_M]

Two Months

 

The light is now a 10W 50/50 mini-compact that brings out the coloration better (the intensity of the blue stripes and the fluorescent green dots along the edge). The smallest mushroom on the side of the rock (a few millimeters, invisible in these pictures) grew dramatically after I managed to spot-feed it.

 

 

 

[hryder77]

love the simplicity of this! I'm digging this new-ish trend in the pico hobby lately. keep up the updates!

[andrewkw]

Yeah I like the simplicity too, don't get me wrong I love my jam packed pico and wish I could fit just one more coral in, but when I see tanks like this it makes me want another one...

[.Newman.]

When did I get an Evolve 4? (my name is Ivan too haha)

 

Very nice start. give it enough years and those shrooms should spread on the bottom as it gets covered in coralline and makes for a better attachment surface.

 

I recommend getting a few more shroom varieties on tiny pieces of rock and putting those right next to the center rock to make it look like it was all on that rock. I think that would help with more variety of color.

I don't know your vision with this tank - is it to stay minimalistic and just stick with that one rock and JUST those shrooms? or will you add stuff like zoas to that rock in the future? you can glue them, i think that can work. if you frag from some other tank you have.

[Ivan_M]

I appreciate the comments and advice. The "design" was basically an accident of my seeing the Evolves being almost given away for free and an irresistible rock at our small local store. In principle I would like to add some other mushrooms, but it will have to be another impulse buy. I also wanted zoas but have for now decided against them, as we have cats that can be too curious for their own good. The fear is the possibility of palytoxin poisoning, although I understand that it is not very likely.

 

The pictures below are from today.

 

 

 

Behind the mushrooms, on the far edge of the rock, in the middle of the frame, against the black wall notice the white tentacles of the hitchhiker brittle star sticking up from its hole.

[.Newman.]

hydroid city on the glass huh?

I wonder why their numbers have exploded like that considering you do not feed this tank, odd.

still looks great!

[Ivan_M]

Thanks! So these are hydroids? These things are white, flat, and branching on the glass. They are so hard they don't come off at all when I scrub off the algae. The tank gets one small cube of frozen baby brine shrimp a week, give or take, and occasionally some dried shrimp or fish food. The mushrooms rarely eat in any obvious manner but they seem to like the slightly polluted water better, in terms of their expansion and growth. That said, only two of the five mushrooms have grown, so I am not certain I am doing it right. Or maybe they are still adapting - the rock was clearly maricultured.

[.Newman.]

a razor blade should take them off the glass if you do not want them there.

 

sounds to me like you are doing things right with taking care of the tank.

[Ivan_M]

Thanks.

 

Well, who would have thought - another impulse buy happened today. A small colony of the pulsing Xenia. It is acclimating now. I'll try to keep it from encroaching on the first rock.

[Ivan_M]

Today's photos with the Xenia.