Snow's Bridge of Flowers

[metrokat]

Black market animal trade is disgusting. I've seen several documentaries and undercover stings about it, makes me hurl.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Black market animal trade is disgusting. I've seen several documentaries and undercover stings about it, makes me hurl.

 

It is really bad in certain areas. Also, depending on the type of animal procured from the wild - the exotic is usually tortured to some degree first before being sold. I remember watching a short video once of how traders would catch slow lorises from the wild and pull out their teeth without any anesthetic, so that they can't bite their future owners (slow lorises have mild venom in their saliva as a defense mechanism). Most of the animals don't survive due to the pain and trauma.

[Snow_Phoenix]

I might have gotten a little bit ahead of myself and snagged a few coral frags. I might have also incurred a diatom bloom, despite spacing out the additions (2 frags every 3 days). Well, here they are:

 

1. Little orange toadstool (I swear he's getting bigger by the day):

 

 

2. Green Star Polyp (GSP).

 

 

3. Thumbnail-sized orangish-red mushroom.

 

 

4. Implosion Green Palys (Cluster of 25+ heads).

 

 

5. Feather duster(s) - yes, I got two.

 

 

Also, a little bit of bad news, my Yumas aren't doing so well - they're partially bleached. I initially thought it was my lighting and quickly moved them under the arch, where there is shade. I noticed that around half the stock of the Yumas in the LFS where I bought it from is also bleached and pretty much white, so I don't know if these guys are sensitive or I just have horrible luck.

 

This was how they looked like yesterday - the one on the left has already detached from the rock and the right one was splitting (growing a new mouth):

 

 

Today morning I found the detached shroom being partially blended by my wavemaker. I pulled it out and placed it in a low flow area, but when I went to turn the lights off for the night for the tank today, I found this:

 

 

My first thought: Holy shit. My paly is a savage.

 

Is there any hope for that Yuma? I guess not.

 

Moving on, I've put in an order for an ATO and some dosing bottles.

 

And here is an older FTS:

 

 

Also, this next post is dedicated to Gena (if you're still reading this, I hope):

 

I got a new discus juvi!

 

 

Why did I get a new discus juvi? Because four of my other discus juvis ganged up and ATE the fifth juvi (no, I'm serious). It went downhill after my albino lace discus died due to disease. Something snapped in the hierarchy of the juvis, and they turned on the most dominant one. I tried isolating him but none of my QTs are well-established right now to hold a discus, so I had no choice but to watch him get pecked on for a few days. Next thing I know, he's dead with half of his flesh eaten and my blue diamond discus EATING him.

 

Unfortunately, discus are cichlids and need a group of five or more when they're younger, or else their pecking order gets screwed up. I dropped by the LFS and picked out the most dominant discus I could find, and he's slightly larger than my blue diamond. Best part is that he fit right into the grand pecking order once I slipped him into the tank.

 

Phew.

 

I also gathered some fresh recruits to join my kuhli loach army:

 

 

They're very playful and entertaining. Pretty much like puppies of the FW aquaria.

 

 

I loved them so much that I decided to add some gravel to my tank after cleaning it out, removing all the plants and fish, and then re-adding everyone back in. The loaches loved it:

 

 

 

One lil' guy even stuck his head into the sand:

 

 

Also, I have another favorite type of fish in this tank - Burmese border loach (Botia kubotai):

 

 

I apologize for posting FW pics, but I enjoy my tanks. Keeping them helps me alleviate any stress from the day, and I certainly enjoy both the FW and SW hobby each.

[WV Reefer]

I love my kuhli loaches, they are my favorite.

[Astinus]

Snow Phoenix, I am sorry to hear about the Yumas

BUT! Ur FW Fish are sweet

We had some Discus Several years ago, about 8 maybe 9 years ago.

[metrokat]

Loach army? that's awesome!

[vlangel]

Snow, your tank is very pretty and I love your FW creatures. I toyed with doing a planted tank with angels, neons and discus but never did.

[gena]

Wow...discus can be savages. I never would have guessed that! The new one is really pretty. It will mix in well with the others. You should do another FTS of all the discus . I love seeing their mix of colors.

 

Sorry about the yumas. IME they can be really tough to acclimate to a tank. You may have to go the maxi mini route for the bridge after-all. I can't get over how ginormous your snail looks in the tank .

[FlowerMama]

I love your bridge! Good luck w/ the toadstool. I like leathers.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Snow Phoenix, I am sorry to hear about the Yumas

BUT! Ur FW Fish are sweet

We had some Discus Several years ago, about 8 maybe 9 years ago.

 

I know. They looked so beautiful - pricey corals too.

 

Thank you, Astinus.

P.S. Just call me Snow.

 

Loach army? that's awesome!

 

Lol yeah. I have three dozen loaches in there, I estimate. They're all babies though - only about 1.5" to 2" each.

 

Snow, your tank is very pretty and I love your FW creatures. I toyed with doing a planted tank with angels, neons and discus but never did.

 

Thank you so much, Dawn. You could start out small - just a simple planted setup with moss and tiny fish like tetras, before moving on to bigger/more challenging fish. I find angels difficult to keep for some reason - they're horribly sensitive to parameter swings. But they look amazing when kept with discus.

 

Wow...discus can be savages. I never would have guessed that! The new one is really pretty. It will mix in well with the others. You should do another FTS of all the discus . I love seeing their mix of colors.

 

Sorry about the yumas. IME they can be really tough to acclimate to a tank. You may have to go the maxi mini route for the bridge after-all. I can't get over how ginormous your snail looks in the tank .

 

Neither did I, although I did read about it somewhere. And thank you - he's mixing in very well. Eating like a pro too. Oh, I have several pics and a vid - I'll upload them very soon.

 

Yes, looks like I'll be doing the carpets as you've mentioned. It will take some time before I can get my hands on a few specimens though.

 

Haha! That snail is extremely large, but very sluggish. He hardly budged ever since he's been in the tank, as compared to his smaller counterparts.

 

I love your bridge! Good luck w/ the toadstool. I like leathers.

 

Thank you, Flower! I like it too. Oh, and the leather is a looker. So many people wanted it at the LFS, but the worker kept it just for me. So glad to bring it back home.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Here's a quick treat about my discus tank (please forgive the lack of clarity of the pic - it is due to the cloudiness in the water because I just switched over from bare-bottom to full gravel yesterday):

 

 

 

 

Short vid up ahead - warning, the background is very, very noisy because I had two motors and one fan turned on all at once:

 

 

Hope this is okay.

 

-Snow.

[gena]

Oh my gosh....absolutely Fantastic!!!!! I just love those discus so much! One day...I will have a tank with them. In a sunroom .

[ricoh]

I spent some time with my little sister who just graduated from Law school in the UK. We had some delicious Japanese food - some sushi and a bento box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyhow, I took a trip to the LFS in hopes of getting a new adapter for my lightset, but the manager wasn't around so no new adapter yet.

 

However - a nice new shipment of fish came in and there were a few more tiny gobies on display (orangemark, orange spotted, Hi-Fin, sleeper banded, two spot, aurora, brown banded etc.) so I asked the girl working there if I could snag the new Hi-Fin that just arrived (the second Hi-Fin from last week's shipment apparently passed away this morning). She gave me a discount since the gobies from last week's shipment apparently weren't too healthy - today's batch was from a supplier in Singapore, so the fish were from a different source.

 

So I picked this cute fella up:

 

 

After acclimation, I quickly introduced him into the QT. I released the Pistol from the betta tank into the main QT display. Within less than 15 seconds, the pair found each other and stuck like glue near the ceramic shelter I have in there for the fish to hide/sleep in. I tried to feed them a mix of mysis and brine and both of them ate immediately without issue.

 

But! There was one problem. I think I figured out why my previous Hi-Fin died. It was my blenny. While I was target feeding the goby + pistol pair, the blenny attacked both of them. I shooed him off with the baster but he managed to rip off one of the Pistol's legs.

 

And then he tried to nip at the goby. I abandoned the baster, stuck my hand in the QT tank and somehow (don't ask me how), managed to cup him underwater and stick him in the betta tank. He's been giving me the stink eye every since, most likely plotting revenge in his tiny 1G holding jar.

 

I'll be deporting him back to the store either tomorrow or next Monday.

 

So no more bicolor blennies for me.

 

I think I'll just opt for a small species of combtooth blenny - does the Pictus blenny or Two Spot blenny or even TSB sound okay? They won't go apeshit on my goby, will they?

if u dont mind me asking where in uk did your sis graduate from?

[Snow_Phoenix]

Oh my gosh....absolutely Fantastic!!!!! I just love those discus so much! One day...I will have a tank with them. In a sunroom .

 

Be sure to upload some pics and vids once you do - I'd love to see that!

 

if u dont mind me asking where in uk did your sis graduate from?

 

Leeds.

[gena]

Be sure to upload some pics and vids once you do - I'd love to see that!

I don't currently have a sunroom, so it will definitely be awhile . But I totally will if/when I do!

[Snow_Phoenix]

The blenny and fire shrimp has been finally moved into the main DT today. And boy, is the blenny such a poser.

 

 

 

 

 

Btw, he has fangs. Really, really BIG ones. I call them mini-tusks, actually.

 

But he's cute. And he found a hole in the arch and hangs upside-down in the rockwork when I kill the lights for the night. What a goofball.

 

 

He also moves a bit like an eel rather than your standard, garden-variety blenny. All in all, a pretty neat fish.

 

I tried to snap a pic of the shrimp, but it moved to the back pretty quickly and I couldn't film it. I saw my Saron approaching it curiously several times, but so far they are both behaving.

 

Also, I spotted this pair again:

 

 

All is well so far. There are still diatoms, and I'm due for a WC, but other than that, everything is okay. However, my skimmate is the color of tea. Ewk.

 

Also, my ATO and few other dosing elements are en route to my house and should be arriving within the next few days.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Finally, these arrived in the post today:

 

 

[vlangel]

Your FW is so lush and those discus are lovely. I also love the arch in your SW tank. Blennies are cool fish. Most of them use those big teeth for scraping algae off rock. Thats why they are not a good choice in seahorse tanks even though most of them are peaceful. Seahorses can get algae on their skin and blennies will use those tusk to scrape it off and can cause an inadvertant injury.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Your FW is so lush and those discus are lovely. I also love the arch in your SW tank. Blennies are cool fish. Most of them use those big teeth for scraping algae off rock. Thats why they are not a good choice in seahorse tanks even though most of them are peaceful. Seahorses can get algae on their skin and blennies will use those tusk to scrape it off and can cause an inadvertant injury.

 

Thank you for the lovely comments, Dawn. I am still learning and trying my best to improve my setup for my FW fish. My fire eel is slowly outgrowing the tank though - I think I might need to upgrade to a 90G or bigger sometime next year. As for the arch - you have to thank artificial dry rock for that scape. Teehee.

 

I love blennies, but yes, they do graze aggressively.

 

Speaking of ponies, I saw the saddest sight at a not-so-good LFS downtown. They had two ponies in a tank - one was already dead at the bottom, and the last remaining pony was clinging on to the dead pony's body with no intention of leaving it. The tank was a small 1'ft x 1'ft x 1'ft with nothing for the ponies to hold on to. It was just bare. The clownfish in the adjoining tank were disease-ridden and had a peeling slime coat/frayed fins. All the tanks share the same water filtration source/backflow.

 

The manager tried to get me to buy the obviously malnourished/sick pony, but I refused. On one hand I feel really rotten seeing it that way, but I think it's worse trying to rescue an animal you can't really care for and end up killing it anyway. It was horrible - I didn't sleep all night thinking about that seahorse. Some shops just shouldn't sell animals, period.

[vlangel]

Thank you for the lovely comments, Dawn. I am still learning and trying my best to improve my setup for my FW fish. My fire eel is slowly outgrowing the tank though - I think I might need to upgrade to a 90G or bigger sometime next year. As for the arch - you have to thank artificial dry rock for that scape. Teehee.

 

I love blennies, but yes, they do graze aggressively.

 

Speaking of ponies, I saw the saddest sight at a not-so-good LFS downtown. They had two ponies in a tank - one was already dead on the bottom, and the last remaining pony was clinging on to the dead pony's body with no intention of leaving it. The tank was a small 1'ft x 1'ft x 1'ft with nothing for the ponies to hold on to. It was just bare. The clownfish in the adjoining tank were disease-ridden and had a peeling slime coat/frayed fins. All the tanks share the same water filtration source/backflow.

 

The manager tried to get me to buy the obviously malnourished/sick pony, but I refused. On one hand I feel really rotten seeing it that way, but I think it's worse trying to rescue an animal you can't really care for and end up killing it anyway. It was horrible - I didn't sleep all night thinking about that seahorse. Some shops just shouldn't sell animals, period.

You are welcome and your beautiful tank deserved such praise.

 

O my Snow, I am sorry that you had to see that sad sight with the seahorses. That hurts me just hearing about it. And you were right not to rescue the sick pony. Even if you could care for it chances are it could not be saved. The sooner a lfs like that goes out of buisness the better!

[Snow_Phoenix]

Sorry for the delay in posting, but I have been very busy of late. No one ever said writing a novel was going to be easy.

 

Moving along, I want to thank Gena personally for giving me a good idea on getting my next coral piece. It's this lovely fox coral which I purchased around five days ago:

 

 

And I also tried my hand at getting another white spotted anemone shrimp - this time it was a large female and she's heavily berried - and lo and behold! About a day later, I catch her hosting my fox coral:

 

 

Unfortunately, she doesn't like the lights very much and insists on facing backwards, so I can only get a pic of her butt. Oh, well.

 

Also, I finally managed to get a pic of my fire shrimp (check out his new buddy):

 

 

And I was incredibly lucky to get this pic (sorry for the lack of clarity):

 

 

See his fangs at the bottom jaw? That blenny ain't defenseless, I'm telling 'ya.

 

And my juvi male saron was spotted lingering about as well:

 

 

Then there's this awkward guy, who has successfully molted twice now and stays on the rock, singing hallelujah with his filter-feeding claws every now and then:

 

 

Oooh, and I'm also adding my clownfish to the tank today.

 

Topshot view of system for now (ignore the diatoms) on 10/10/2016:

 

 

 

Oh, and I had sushi last night for dinner. 'Twas delicious.

 

 

On a completely unrelated reefing note, I'm getting a black headed caique chick soon. I'm excited. I already have two little feathered miscreants at home and this will be my third.

[FlowerMama]

Great pics of your tank! Wow, that fox coral. It's gonna be huge!!! It's so pretty. All awesome pics of your tank. Wow, those fangs- you got a very cool picture! Yeah, I didn't know they had fangs. If there's a blenny thread, you need to find it and post your pic.

[Astinus]

OH MY! A Black Capped Caique! We had 1! We named him Merlin. What a CHARACTER!

It was suggested to keep him in a Larger Cage. The size u would keep an African Grey in.

They need that much room! Just for the antics! Ur Caique will keep u entertained for Hours on end!

[FlowerMama]

Well this sounds like an adventure! How big will they become?

[Snow_Phoenix]

Great pics of your tank! Wow, that fox coral. It's gonna be huge!!! It's so pretty. All awesome pics of your tank. Wow, those fangs- you got a very cool picture! Yeah, I didn't know they had fangs. If there's a blenny thread, you need to find it and post your pic.

 

Thank you, Flower. I'm not sure if there's a blenny thread on here yet. Might even consider starting one since I love looking at other blennies.

 

OH MY! A Black Capped Caique! We had 1! We named him Merlin. What a CHARACTER!

It was suggested to keep him in a Larger Cage. The size u would keep an African Grey in.

They need that much room! Just for the antics! Ur Caique will keep u entertained for Hours on end!

 

I know - I was thinking since it would be another 2 years or so before I can actually get a hyacinth, I might as well get a caique first. It was either this goofball or a Hahns macaw or even Galah Cockatoo. And noted on the cage size.

 

Well this sounds like an adventure! How big will they become?

 

Roughly around 14" long, if I'm not mistaken. I heard they are the clowns of the parrot world though!