EngineMonkey’s First Salt Tank. Evo 13.5

EngineMonkey · Oct 14, 2024

Started my first Saltwater tank a couple of weeks ago and figured it’s not too late to document my progress since I’ve been lurking here for a minute to research.

At first I placed several Carib-sea rocks on top of each other but I wasn’t loving the setup so we got a piece of live rock from the LFS. Right away I increased the flow with a Sicce 1 and a Sicce Voyager nano. I also replaced the light with the Fluval Marine 3.0. I had to cut one side of light mounts to make it fit in the stock light slot.

We currently have a Clown, a Yellow Watchman Goby, 2 hermits, and 2 Snails in the tank. I’ve dosed pods twice to hopefully get a decent pod population started (along with starting a culture on the side).
This week I’m hoping to add roughly 10lbs of live rock from KPA to replace the rock structure on the right.

After that I’m hoping to get a Duncan, GSP, and maybe a few other frags.

Gumbies R Us · Oct 15, 2024

Following along!

EngineMonkey · Oct 19, 2024

I work long shifts so I’m away from the tank 48hrs a week, this week it was 72. I came home to two things. Red Cyanobacteria on some of the sand, and 10lbs of live rock shipped in water from KPA. We did a 30% water change and spot cleaned the sand. I was able to remove the red spots rather easily.

Then we set up a 10G tank to observe what hitchhikers arrived on the live rock. I got the premium rock and boy was there some life on these rocks!

Things that I’ve found so far, 2 tiny crabs (I am sure there is more), a yellow worm that I believe I have narrowed down to be a “Eulalia Viridis”, I saw some tentacles that appeared to belong to a brittle star, and twice I’ve heard a double clicking sound from the rocks that I’m thinking may be pistol shrimp? I then decided to use hope as a tactic and put everything in the tank for the sake of biodiversity. I’d say 75% of the surface area of these rocks aren’t visible to me any more and the 25% that I can see is full of life that I keep discovering. I can only wonder what else is in there that I will never see now. I think I have found 2 clams, or maybe they are just Bi-valves?

The first picture is one of the “Clams” in question.
In the second picture the yellow circle is another “Clam” in question. As I was watching the one circled in yellow I watched the shell completely close suddenly.

In the second picture, I have no clue what the two items circled in red are. The one on top appears to be solid yellow leaves, it kind of looks like the same shape as a cactus. The bottom item circled is a light blue color. I haven’t been able to find anything on what this is.

The following two pictures appear to be tiny feather dusters or corals?

Turbinate or sponge?

And the yellow worm.

And here is how the scape looks currently. I’m so happy with this rock that I think I’m going to get rid of the rock on the right and add 10 more lbs of this rock. I believe that should give me enough to be able to create a cool structure that will provide plenty of hiding spaces, life, and room for coral when that time comes.

EngineMonkey · Oct 20, 2024

Found 3 Brittle Stars last night…. I didn’t expect them to be such fast movers!

LafondReef · Oct 20, 2024

On the EVO I was able to adapt this light into the top cover with some minor tweaks. Worked good for me for the time I was using it. My only complaint was the evaporated water and lack of ATO.. loved the tank.
I keep it as a future hobby or emergency setup

EngineMonkey · Oct 20, 2024

That’s the same light that I’ve got on mine currently. I haven’t worried too much about the ATO since it seems like weekly maintenance has kept that in check easily enough. I imagine if I get a Kraken lid I might feel differently.

IceNein · Oct 20, 2024

I got a $90 Reefbreeders ATO, and it has been a wise investment. The smaller the tank, the larger the salinity swing from losing water due to evaporation.

With a nano tank, evaporation puts you on a timeline to when you MUST add water to avoid uncovering your return pump. For me that turned out to be about three days. Four days if I wanted to push it and risk the pump. If you buy an ATO and a 5 gallon jug from Walmart, you will never have to worry about top off water ever again.

LafondReef · Oct 21, 2024

I often feel the smaller the tank the closer to a tidal pool environment you get. Without an ATO attached your salinity swing can be treacherous for trying to grow and maintain hard to keep creatures. With that in mind, keep it simple and enjoy hardy stuff while enjoying the hobby. Life in a tidal pool is just as interesting as it gets and you have room to adapt to errors.