Fluval Evo 13.5 Build - First Aquarium!

[Ollie67]

The coral look great, and make your tank look so much more colorful! The frogspawn looks awesome!

Thank you!!

 

[Ollie67]

Here are some more photos from today! The corals have seemed to have opened up more, minus the new zoas. They are still pretty upset. The duncans are also not fully open yet, but are no longer sliming. Loving the frogspawn, also my mushroom seems a bit larger too!

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Hey Ollie!

These are some spots that I think your new coral would look good in. I obviously can't tell the flow and lighting. These are just spots I think it would look good in. Keep in mind that the coral you are getting has a pretty powerful sting, so you want to try to position it a few inches away from nearby corals.

Also, how's your Duncan doing?

 

[Ollie67]

Hey Ollie!

These are some spots that I think your new coral would look good in. I obviously can't tell the flow and lighting. These are just spots I think it would look good in. Keep in mind that the coral you are getting has a pretty powerful sting, so you want to try to position it a few inches away from nearby corals.

Also, how's your Duncan doing?

Thank you SO much for the suggestions Walker! I'll be sure to keep in mind flow and lighting haha, but I managed to adjust the flow so its not as intense where my frogspawn is. I actually plan to put a torch (my other coral!!) to the right of my frogspawn kind of where you circled, just on the very edge. I am hoping it's enough space to where it does not STING my precious frog haha. Not sure where I might put the hammer. I thought that hammers didn't sting frogs, they sorta got along? I've seen them touch before.

I did end up moving stuff around last week. I just realized I haven't updated in a whileeeee, so I will do that later this week! I will post a current tank photo of today for reference, but I moved my red mushroom lower so it is no catching so much flow on one side. I also got rid of my brown button polyps... you can guess why lol. I currently have my duncan on a plug, but I could not cut the ceramic plug at all... I need like a diamond cutter I am thinking about just taking the duncan off the plug and gluing it sort of where the polyps are in the old picture. But the duncan itself is doing great! Today is the most open I have seen the heads, some of them are still babies!

Other corals are doing great too. My Xenia has 4 heads/stems now which is cool! Double than when I got it. My Marley zoas are finally starting to open up after over a week. Still small but showing some of their color.

 

[Ollie67]

Also, I've seen this guy in a couple of places on my rock. Is he friendly? I think I've read that these guys just surf around the rocks and are like CUC. I hope it's just not a flatworm or anything.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Thank you SO much for the suggestions Walker! I'll be sure to keep in mind flow and lighting haha, but I managed to adjust the flow so its not as intense where my frogspawn is. I actually plan to put a torch (my other coral!!) to the right of my frogspawn kind of where you circled, just on the very edge. I am hoping it's enough space to where it does not STING my precious frog haha. Not sure where I might put the hammer. I thought that hammers didn't sting frogs, they sorta got along? I've seen them touch before

No problem. Yes, you're right. Most euphyllia can be housed next to eachother, but there are some exceptions. Some can't, some can. I don't know what hammer and torch you are getting, so I can't say for sure that they will be fine. I would just look up the 3 euphyllia that you are going to have in your tank, and see if they are peaceful with other euphyllia.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

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Also, I've seen this guy in a couple of places on my rock. Is he friendly? I think I've read that these guys just surf around the rocks and are like CUC. I hope it's just not a flatworm or anything.

Hmm. Looks kind of like a flatworm to me. Hard to tell though, because the pictures are blurry. What do you think it is? My 1st guess would be a type of flatworm, my 2nd would be a limpet/stomatella. Also, not all flatworms are bad.

 

[Reef By Steele]

Also, I've seen this guy in a couple of places on my rock. Is he friendly? I think I've read that these guys just surf around the rocks and are like CUC. I hope it's just not a flatworm or anything.

If it has a shell
Could be a chiton

 

[Reef By Steele]

If it is all flesh I would get rid of it.

 

[Ollie67]

No problem. Yes, you're right. Most euphyllia cab be housed next to eachother, but there are some exceptions. Some can't, some can. I don't know what hammer and torch you are getting, so I can't say for sure that they will be fine. I would just look up the 3 euphyllia that you are going to have in your tank, and see if they are peaceful with other euphyllia.

The hammer I got is a peach branching aussie hammer, and I am pretty sure it will be safe next to my frog. The torch on the other hand might sting, so I will try and space it further away. Thanks for the tips!

I just took my duncan off the frag and glued it to my new spot. Definitely ticked it off... hopefully it'll open back up later lol. I used gloves but since it's a colony it's got heads all over so I had to touch some when they retracted.

 

[Ollie67]

If it has a shell
Could be a chiton

---

Hmm. Looks kind of like a flatworm to me. Hard to tell though, because the pictures are blurry. What do you think it is? My 1st guess would be a type of flatworm, my 2nd would be a limpet/stomatella. Also, not all flatworms are bad.

Thanks for the responses guys. I think it resembles a chiton very well, and I think that is what I was reading about a while ago. When I touched it, it was pretty hard. I remember a few weeks back I thought it was part of the rock lol. Until I started seeing it in different places. The shape and pattern resemble the chiton as well. Mine is pretty dark, almost like a black/grey. Doing some research it seems like a miniature chiton. Thanks again Steele, got worried especially since I have two more (kinda $$$ for me) euphyillia coming this week. Don't want any euphyillia flatworms.

 

[Ollie67]

Update 5/2/24

Hi everyone! I've been getting my new coral settled in from yesterday. All seem to be doing well! I've got some really cool stuff. My hammer is still settling in though so it's off to the side with low flow and light. My torch has been (and will be for a few weeks) on my frag holder in a lower flow area. It looks great and has opened up, however I did make a mistake the day of the shipment. Before dipping, I tried to get the torch off the frag with my bone cutters, but it was glued very odd- the glue was blobbed up on one side, and it caused my bone cutters to cut unevenly. I ended up cracking the skeleton all the way up to the tissue... I was very upset at myself, but I have little experience with such stuff. With some advice, I ended up gluing the skeleton together with reef glue as best as I could. The torch seems okay as of today and both heads are opened up. I should have cut the plug and left the torch on the disc, and I will most likely trim the plug before gluing on the rock when the time comes. I will be watching it for any issues and hoping there will be no disease.

I will provide an update with photos of my coral and tank later this week! Excited to share my haul.

Otherwise, this week I picked up a tiger pistol shrimp! I was at a different LFS this week and found a smaller sized one, and pulled the trigger. This guy will probably be the last critter I get for the tank. Once I got him acclimated, he instantly found a cave and started digging/moving sand right away. Now I have sand mounds near the rock he chose lol. My watchman goby found him and bonded with him practically right away. I was so surpised. Just after 2 hours I saw my watchman already bonded and next to my pistol shrimp. They share the cave now. I have some cool pictures!

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Update 5/2/24

Hi everyone! I've been getting my new coral settled in from yesterday. All seem to be doing well! I've got some really cool stuff. My hammer is still settling in though so it's off to the side with low flow and light. My torch has been (and will be for a few weeks) on my frag holder in a lower flow area. It looks great and has opened up, however I did make a mistake the day of the shipment. Before dipping, I tried to get the torch off the frag with my bone cutters, but it was glued very odd- the glue was blobbed up on one side, and it caused my bone cutters to cut unevenly. I ended up cracking the skeleton all the way up to the tissue... I was very upset at myself, but I have little experience with such stuff. With some advice, I ended up gluing the skeleton together with reef glue as best as I could. The torch seems okay as of today and both heads are opened up. I should have cut the plug and left the torch on the disc, and I will most likely trim the plug before gluing on the rock when the time comes. I will be watching it for any issues and hoping there will be no disease.

I will provide an update with photos of my coral and tank later this week! Excited to share my haul.

Otherwise, this week I picked up a tiger pistol shrimp! I was at a different LFS this week and found a smaller sized one, and pulled the trigger. This guy will probably be the last critter I get for the tank. Once I got him acclimated, he instantly found a cave and started digging/moving sand right away. Now I have sand mounds near the rock he chose lol. My watchman goby found him and bonded with him practically right away. I was so surpised. Just after 2 hours I saw my watchman already bonded and next to my pistol shrimp. They share the cave now. I have some cool pictures!

Awesome! Yeah, your torch should be fine if it's already opening back up. Biggest thing to watch out for is Brown Jelly Disease. Great update!

 

[Ollie67]

Here are two videos I caught of my watchman and pistol!

 

[Ollie67]

Awesome! Yeah, your torch should be fine if it's already opening back up. Biggest thing to watch out for is Brown Jelly Disease. Great update!

Yep! I've heard about it, but not really familiar with what to look for. Any advice? Here's a little sneak peek of the torch

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Yep! I've heard about it, but not really familiar with what to look for. Any advice? Here's a little sneak peek of the torch

Looks really good. Look for what's in the name, you will see "brown jelly" appear. It's most common in euphyllia. If you see it, take the coral out immediately, it will spread very fast to other corals. Treat it properly, but I have heard iodine dips work best. BJD will appear on dying tissue and stressed corals, again like I said on euphyllia they are very susceptible to it.

Just keep an eye out for it, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[Ollie67]

Looks really good. Look for what's in the name, you will see "brown jelly" appear. It's most common in euphyllia. If you see it, take the coral out immediately, it will spread very fast to other corals. Treat it properly, but I have heard iodine dips work best. BJD will appear on dying tissue and stressed corals, again like I said on euphyllia they are very susceptible to it.

Just keep an eye out for it, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Thanks! Yeah, I will keep an eye out. Bummer to hear it spread fast to other euphyllia, would not want it to get to my frog or hammer!

 

[Ollie67]

Day 101 Update

Hey all! Finally have some free time to update the thread. I think my last major update was around day 80. It's been a bit, but I can now officially say my tank has been up for 100 days!! Since then, I have been doing general maintenance including water changes and testing. Parameter-wise, not much has changed since last time. Today I finished arranging my corals and it has been a few days and they all have opened up! I also fed reef-roids (coral food) to my coral. Super cool to watch them close up, especially my duncan!

Now to what some of you have been waiting for! Here is a complete list of the coral I have added in the previous week:
-Peach Aussie Hammer
-Dragon Soul Torch
-Rainbow Acan
-Another Acan Lord (don't remember the specific type)
-Firework Clove Polyps

I also got some type of zoa (3 polyps) included in a giveaway, and am not too sure what type of zoa it is. I re-fragged it and have it in my rockscape for now! My hammer is a little closed as of now, but I will add a photo before I moved it onto the rock today. Let me know what you guys think!

Other than that, I started dosing All For Reef for dKH and other trace elements. This should keep my alk up, especially since I have all these new corals. I have also been slowly dosing BRS mag and calc supplements.

 

[Ollie67]

Also today, I dipped my torch in Seachem Reef Dip, which an Iodine solution that helps prevent diseases and does other things to support the coral. Hoping this will give my torch a better chance. It has been doing pretty good, after the dip the polyps did retract so I got a photo once in the tank. It does seem like the tissue on one side may have retracted due to stress possibly. My torch will be left alone now for a month or two before moving to the rock to ensure it heals up.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Day 101 Update

Hey all! Finally have some free time to update the thread. I think my last major update was around day 80. It's been a bit, but I can now officially say my tank has been up for 100 days!! Since then, I have been doing general maintenance including water changes and testing. Parameter-wise, not much has changed since last time. Today I finished arranging my corals and it has been a few days and they all have opened up! I also fed reef-roids (coral food) to my coral. Super cool to watch them close up, especially my duncan!

Now to what some of you have been waiting for! Here is a complete list of the coral I have added in the previous week:
-Peach Aussie Hammer
-Dragon Soul Torch
-Rainbow Acan
-Another Acan Lord (don't remember the specific type)
-Firework Clove Polyps

I also got some type of zoa (3 polyps) included in a giveaway, and am not too sure what type of zoa it is. I re-fragged it and have it in my rockscape for now! My hammer is a little closed as of now, but I will add a photo before I moved it onto the rock today. Let me know what you guys think!

Other than that, I started dosing All For Reef for dKH and other trace elements. This should keep my alk up, especially since I have all these new corals. I have also been slowly dosing BRS mag and calc supplements.

Awesome, Ollie! Everything looks healthy and awesome! All the colors in your tank are looking awesome!

Also today, I dipped my torch in Seachem Reef Dip, which an Iodine solution that helps prevent diseases and does other things to support the coral. Hoping this will give my torch a better chance. It has been doing pretty good, after the dip the polyps did retract so I got a photo once in the tank. It does seem like the tissue on one side may have retracted due to stress possibly. My torch will be left alone now for a month or two before moving to the rock to ensure it heals up.

Looks good. Good call doing the iodine dip. You are doing everything you can to heal this up. I am sure it will heal in no time!