I got new addition to my fluval Evo today, Alien Eye Chalice and Miyagi Tort. I found them from local Facebook group and just added them to the tank! It is fun to add colour to the aquarium, little bit at each time.
Alien Eye Chalice
Alien Eye Chalice is soft coral that is easy to care and grow. Placement is around medium to low in the aquarium, can live with many kind of light. However Alien Eye Chalice may loose colour when it’s placed too close to the light, so it’s better to avoid strong or direct light. Alien Eye Chalice could sting other corals, so make sure there are space around it.
For the feeding, Alien Eye Chalice eats small pieces of meaty marine foods. You can feed pellets or baby brine shrimp. If you feed frozen cube of shrimp to your fish, you can put them in a small container or cup, add some water. Pick the meaty water with eye dropper and spray around the coral.
Miyagi Tort
Miyagi Tort is SPS coral. Since Miyagi Tort is sensitive to environment change, so it is crutial to maintain stable water quality. Keep the stable temperature and avoid sudden change with chemical. It could lead them to stress or death. Miyagi Tort likes to be placed middle in the aquarium, but can be placed low. Feeding 1-2 times a week would be ideal, you can feed brine shrimp and amino acids.
My Fluval Evo 13.5 is about 2.5 years now, and there were build up mess. Red slime algae, green algae, green hair algae grew up on the live rock, wall, and even on the sand. Green Star Polyps grew up 3 times bigger in 2 years, and clown fish grew up bigger than anemone! When I upgraded my aquarium from Fluval Spec V (5 gal) to my current Fluval Evo 13.5, there were lots of space. I had cleaner shrimp and one clown fish at that time and they had enough swim area. However they grow and I had to declutter my Fluval Evo.
New Fluval Evo Set Up
Current issue of Fluval Evo
Red Slime Algae
Green Algae
Green Hair Algae
Aiptasia
Not enough swim space
Too much dust in the sand and on the rocks
Odd smell when I vacuum sand
Red Slime Algae
I worked on the Red Slime Algae first. It was making looks bad in the aquarium and not healthy for fish and corals there. I was sucking them up manually with dropper, however I acknowledged that it can not catch up! So I decided to use Red Slime Algae Remover. I was concerned what if it affect fish and coral… however it was all fine and all Red Slime Algae was gone in 2 weeks!
Clean Up Crew
Now I know Clean Up Crew is crucial to keep the aquarium clean. The store I got all my salt water aquarium and fish didn’t have any snail or crabs, so I didn’t get them when I started. The store closed down after and I didn’t know anywhere to buy anything about salt water aquarium until a few months ago. One day I found a store that has Snail and Hermit Crabs for salt water aquarium and I could finally add them! It worked like magic, the green algae was gone by snails and sand and rocks got cleaner by Hermit Crabs. Hermit Crabs even eat left over from fish, so the water quality can stay cleaner as well. Currently I have 5 Hermit Crabs, 2 Turbo snails, and 1 bamboo bee snail in my Fluval Evo 13.5 gal aquarium.
Hermit crab cleaning up Snail’s shell
Remove a live rock and deep clean up
It was hard to decide but I decided to remove one of big rock from aquarium. It was the biggest and I had it since my fist aquarium, but it had most green algae and clatter on it. So I decided to take off. In the same time, I removed all rock once and rinsed them in the fresh water quickly, and then deep clean the sand. The aquarium was like dust storm while cleaning up. However it seems a lot better after, there are more space to swim. Now I see the wave is too weak, I’m ordering new wavemaker to increase the flow.
soaking in Peroxide.
Aiptasia
Aiptasia started one day, it was only one when I noticed, however I didn’t know what that is at that time. I thought it’s pretty, I had no idea that was later spread whole my aquarium! I started seeing it stanging my clownfish, so I decided to get rid of them. I used Aiptasia Rx, it works instant and kills the aiptasia. However I could not use some of them that was too close to anemone. So now I’m ordering peppermint shrimp to eat them! Now it’s time to be patient….
Review my cleaning up routine
Beside all the work, I’m reviewing my cleaning up routine. It has been 5 gal water change every week, however it build up this mess. So now I increased the water change to twice/week, and will do the deep clean up the sand monthly. Hope it decrease all the issue. I will update later.
Aiptasia is anemone that appear in the reef tank. Since Aiptasia is anemone, it hitch hike in the aquarium to search the food. I saw it first time one little, and since I didn’t know what that is at that time, I left it till it grows bigger, and next I saw bunch of Aiptasia in my aquarium. Aiptasia was stinging my clown fish as well as they are expanding around her territory. Aiptasia is just like dandelion in the yard, if you see one, get rid of it before it expands!
How to get rid of Aiptasia
When I started to get rid of it, I tried to pick it up with tweezers. It got smaller but it came back again soon. Next, I removed the rock and pick it up with finger (wearing glove), it seemed disappeared, however again it came back soon. To get rid of Aiptasia, you need to make sure it’s gone from its root.
There are 2 methods that may work to get rid of Aiptasia.
One is Peppermint shrimp. Peppermint shrimp eat Aiptasia, however it will be up to shrimp. Some peppermint shrimp eat them but some are not. Peppermint shrimp is seasonal in the store, there are many in the Spring but might be hard to find it during the Winer time.
The other method is using Aiptasia Rx. It is reef safe and you can use it with other fish in the aquarium. It come with syringe, you can use it to put the liquid into Aiptasia. Aiptasia will be gone instant.
Is Aiptasia Rx safe?
I used Aiptasia Rx for my Fluval Evo 13.5, with clown fish and anemone in the same tank. I avoided around anemone as Aiptasia Rx is for Aiptasia which is also anemone. All other coral and fish have been fine after the Aiptasia, I could use it safely in my aquarium.
Before & After
I left some small Aiptasia around anemone for now, but all other anemone on the rock has gone!
I started Reef Aquarium with Fluval Spec V which is 5 gal salt water tank. It was ok for one small clown fish, but it didn’t have enough space for layout.
After one year, the clown fish grew up bigger and I upgraded to Fluval Evo 13.5. There were more space for the rocks and even for corals. Fluval Evo 13.5 is just perfect size for 1 or 2 small fish.
Layout is one of the fun part of new aquarium. I used some from my old aquarium, combined with new live rocks to make cave.
2017 June2017 June
Corals in Fluval Evo 13.5
I had some mushrooms that came with live rock, and placed Xenia and Star Polyps. Star Polyps were just perfect size to Fluval Evo 13.5 when it was new, however it grew a lot to take space in 2 years.
Xenia is a soft coral and it opens and close. It is pretty to have it in the aquarium and fun to watch. Xenia is also compatible with clown fish.
Placement
You can place the Xenia on it’s own rock, and keep it away from others. Make sure to keep it away at least 4 or 5 inches from other rock. Any type of grow that appears on the rock should be removed as well. Removal can be done by gently pulled out by waking a fingernail around the base of the corral to slowly loosen it. If you have Xenia for a long term in your tank, you may need to plan to trim down as they grow. Watch out for some aggressive corals such as Hammer Coral. Keep them away 4 to 5 inches from Xenia.
How to care Xenia Coral
Xenia Coral does not require feeding. Xenia grows with good lightning and good water quality. Keep the water temperature between 75F to 80F. If you have Xenia in Fluval Evo 13.5, you may want to upgrade the light to make sure Xenia stay in the tank.
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Live Rock $85
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