Evo 13.5 Build Thread!

Ori · Jun 11, 2018

Current stocking: 1 tailspot blenny, 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 pistol shrimp, 1 cleaner shrimp, 3 astaea snails, 1 trochus snail, 1 emerald crab

1 purple and green wall hammer, 1 golden branching hammer, rastas, rock covered in green zoas, Various palys and zoas, acans, blue sympodium, mushrooms

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I finally got my first saltwater set up, an Evo 13.5! Right now it’s got
- 6 lbs live rock
- Ocean direct live sand
- Stock everything else.. for now

I’m planning to add some more of rock in the near future, I’ll try to keep this thread updated

Mikedawg · Jun 11, 2018

Good start; a nice tank and many reefers on this blog have discussed upgrades you might want to consider.

hdsoftail1065 · Jun 11, 2018

Congrats on your first SW setup!!!

Ori · Jun 11, 2018

Mikedawg said:
Good start; a nice tank and many reefers on this blog have discussed upgrades you might want to consider.

Thanks! I’m very thankful for all the help and advice I’m getting here.

hdsoftail1065 said:
Congrats on your first SW setup!!!

Thanks! It’s super exciting to finally get into the world of SW!

Ori · Jun 17, 2018

Added more rock and I’m really happy with how it turned out! Also added a heater. No hitchhikers yet which is a little sad, but at least that means no pests. Tested the water and It’s cycled, which means I can add fish soon

It’s still a little cloudy from moving things around but it should be clear by morning.

Ori · Jun 25, 2018

Did a 50% water change to remove nitrates, and added this little guy! I acclimated him for 2 hours last night and he seems to be doing well. He’s spent all day perched under various ledges in hopes a fish will come get cleaned, so I stuck my hand in and he climbed all over it haha.

hdsoftail1065 · Jun 25, 2018

Looking nice!

Lovemyreef2015 · Jun 25, 2018

Your tank is looking good!

NY_Caveman · Jun 25, 2018

Ori said:
Did a 50% water change to remove nitrates, and added this little guy! I acclimated him for 2 hours last night and he seems to be doing well. He’s spent all day perched under various ledges in hopes a fish will come get cleaned, so I stuck my hand in and he climbed all over it haha.

That is great! They are my favorite reef inhabitants. In my experience they love to just hang upside down, swaying and waiting to clean and forage.

Ranjib · Jun 25, 2018

Love the rockscape

Mikedawg · Jun 25, 2018

Great start; be sure your cleaner shrimp gets enough to eat

Ori · Jul 2, 2018

Did a 10% water change today. The shrimp is doing great, my whole family loves him lol. I hand feed him flakes and he eats them right up.

Ori · Jul 13, 2018

Getting some algae growth! I’m actually quite fond of the green stuff, and I don’t mind the brown in moderation. I’m going on vacation for a week, and when I get back I’m gonna add a fish

Ranjib · Jul 13, 2018

Ori said:
Getting some algae growth! I’m actually quite fond of the green stuff, and I don’t mind the brown in moderation. I’m going on vacation for a week, and when I get back I’m gonna add a fish

Joy of new tank

Reminds me of my first tank . Let there be more algae . Don’t you have snails ?

Ori · Jul 13, 2018

Ranjib said:
Joy of new tank
Reminds me of my first tank . Let there be more algae . Don’t you have snails ?

No, no snails. Never bought any because I had no algae and none came on the live rock. I think my LFS dips their live rock or something because there were no hitchhikers .

JBKReef · Jul 13, 2018

Get some snails in there, will help with the algae control. Good luck with the first fish! I would strongly suggest a QT process for anything you bring in.

Wish my shrimp would clean my hand like that ;Bored It just ignores me and eats all the food I give my corals.

Ori · Jul 22, 2018

Got back from vacation and the algae really took off

. I did a water change and vaccumed it off the sand and scrubbed it all off the glass, put I think it looks pretty on the rock. I’m gonna get a couple trochus snails sometime to help keep it under control. Here’s the before and after:

The filter intake was so nasty, it had caught a collection of pet hair ;Yuck I really need to be more careful about not letting hair get in the tank lol.