Shadow's 16G Disaster. Fumigation Poisoned the Tank and Crashed It.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Congrats on your new job. I know we sure do depend on them.

 

Thank you. I was forced to leave the last one due to harassment from my coworkers. Otherwise I'd have stuck on, but guess the universe had a different plan for me. Am now happy and eager to start over, plus I definitely can't wait for my first official paycheck!

[Snow_Phoenix]

Just to keep everyone posted, I love my new job. The people are great and respectful, plus the returns are quite high and I made my first official sale today.

 

On a more reef-related note, both tanks are doing great. And guess what popped up in my 30G? A 10-month-old deep red linkia starfish that I purchased a very long time ago with my very first nano (and assumed kicked the bucket but apparently not) cube. Looks like he hid in one of the rock crevices somewhere while I was shifting things in and out of tanks. He's grown quite big since I first got him, and is thriving on the sponges and biofilm in the tank.

 

I've spotted him three times now, but only managed to snap a photo of him once before he vanished. Will post up a pic of him when I can.

 

I recall having another green linkia a very long time ago with my first tank, but I haven't seen him for over six months, so I think it narfed a very long time ago. Still, it was a pleasant surprise to spot the red one after all these months. Now, if only other mysterious good critters keep popping up, I'd definitely be shell-shocked!

[Sunar357]

Awesome to hear on the job, Shadow! Congrats!

 

Nice to hear about the star also.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Awesome to hear on the job, Shadow! Congrats!

 

Nice to hear about the star also.

 

Thanks Sunar! And as I said, the star was definitely a pleasant surprise.

[Chew_Magna]

Just to keep everyone updated - I got a new job! Yay! I'll be starting some time tomorrow, and of course, my earnings will tend to peak based on my performance, so more money = more cool stuff to buy = more corals!

That must be nice! Where I come from my co-workers resentment of me peaks with my performance. The more I out perform them the more they hate me! LOL.

[Snow_Phoenix]

That must be nice! Where I come from my co-workers resentment of me peaks with my performance. The more I out perform them the more they hate me! LOL.

 

Yeah, that is great - but of course, you have to work hard and perform your best. My first day of field training was today, and although it was tiring, I learnt a lot and had some fun along the way.

 

LOL, reminds me of my old workplace. Full of jealousy and envy. Yucks!

[Chew_Magna]

LOL, reminds me of my old workplace. Full of jealousy and envy. Yucks!

Yeah that's how it is everywhere here. The people... ugh. If you know some thing someone else doesn't and you mention it you're "talking down" to them or trying to "show off."

 

Glad you found a nice job. It's my dream to work with professionals who put the profession, and not their own personal agendas or problems, ahead of all else.

[FlowerMama]

You and Chew definitely having something in common, thinking something kicked the bucket only to find it later, you the linkia, him with that coral. I did find 2 red preemie size mushrooms behind the rocks of my Evolve that I didnt' know I had. I put 1 each into the mantis tank.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Yeah that's how it is everywhere here. The people... ugh. If you know some thing someone else doesn't and you mention it you're "talking down" to them or trying to "show off."

 

Glad you found a nice job. It's my dream to work with professionals who put the profession, and not their own personal agendas or problems, ahead of all else.

 

I agree. Sometimes I feel it's not the job itself that's difficult, but rather the people you work with which can either support you or pull you down. My current workplace is full of positive energy so far - they even have a 'no zombies' policy in their contract lol.

 

You and Chew definitely having something in common, thinking something kicked the bucket only to find it later, you the linkia, him with that coral. I did find 2 red preemie size mushrooms behind the rocks of my Evolve that I didnt' know I had. I put 1 each into the mantis tank.

 

Yep. It definitely came as a total shock/surprise. I just spotted him a few minutes ago again before he slipped under the rockwork. He's quite shy so far and nocturnal as far as I can tell. And wow! Two preemie sized mushrooms are good! I always love finding new (and old) things in the tank. One thing about SW is that you should always expect the unexpected.

[Chew_Magna]

No zombie policy? Time for a new job...

[Snow_Phoenix]

No zombie policy? Time for a new job...

 

Lol, well it is UNICEF, so they do expect you to show some level of enthusiasm since you're interacting with the public on a daily basis.

[Chew_Magna]

Ooooh, so it's play nice with the zombies, but don't act like one yourself. Got it.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Ooooh, so it's play nice with the zombies, but don't act like one yourself. Got it.

 

Chew, you're cracking me up! LOL!

[Chew_Magna]

Chew, you're cracking me up! LOL!

[Snow_Phoenix]

I have a quick mandy question - would appreciate it if Mandy owners with at least six months of experience could chime in.

 

Are ORA spotted mandys easier to feed compared to ORA green mandarins?

 

My mentor is bringing either one today, and based on my readings, spotteds seem to have a better track record at adapting to tanks. Both mandys are fat, healthy and feeding on pellets, according to my friend. They're also 1+ year-old.

 

But I'll try to add frozen tidbits such as Tubifex, bloodworms and Ova to the mix.

 

Any advice/guidance would be appreciated.

 

Also, I might be connecting my 12G macro tank to the 30G sometime soon to seed it with more pods. So I'll probably have two fuges running at once. Mum's adamant that I keep Benny the sixline though. Worse come to worse, I'll shift him to the 12G temporarily.

[Chew_Magna]

Putting those two fish together is just begging for the mandy to starve to death. No matter how you swing it the wrasse will always get to the food first. It's like putting a rocket and a kid on a tricycle in a race together, there just is no competition. If you try broadcast feeding food will never get to the mandy. If you try pipette feeding the wrasse will be right there at the end of it, along with every other fish in the tank. If you try to rely on natural pods production the wrasse will simply eat them all before the mandy can, the six line can cover the tank 50 times for every one time the mandy does. Unless you get incredibly lucky and have a debilitated six line that's stuck in a wheelchair I don't see how it can work. They have the exact same diet and foraging habits, only the six line does it at 900 miles an hour while the mandy does it at 15mph.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Putting those two fish together is just begging for the mandy to starve to death. No matter how you swing it the wrasse will always get to the food first. It's like putting a rocket and a kid on a tricycle in a race together, there just is no competition. If you try broadcast feeding food will never get to the mandy. If you try pipette feeding the wrasse will be right there at the end of it, along with every other fish in the tank. If you try to rely on natural pods production the wrasse will simply eat them all before the mandy can, the six line can cover the tank 50 times for every one time the mandy does. Unless you get incredibly lucky and have a debilitated six line that's stuck in a wheelchair I don't see how it can work. They have the exact same diet and foraging habits, only the six line does it at 900 miles an hour while the mandy does it at 15mph.

 

Shoot. I was worried about that. Thanks for chiming in, Chew. I guess I'll wait on the Mandy again and maybe put him/her in the macro 12G once that tank is established enough. Although I have heard success stories about people keeping Mandys and sixlines in the same tank, the system is usually large enough (I'm talking about 90Gs++) to host both.

[Chew_Magna]

It's just too much of a risk in a small tank like that and you'd have to be incredibly lucky and get the perfect combination of fish for it to work. I think if you plumbed the tanks together with another dedicated refugium then maybe. Both of those fish are pod eating monsters. If they were in separate tanks and the mandy was trained then you might be able to pull it off in the 12g. But the tanks would still need to be plumbed together for the sake of water quality.

[Snow_Phoenix]

It's just too much of a risk in a small tank like that and you'd have to be incredibly lucky and get the perfect combination of fish for it to work. I think if you plumbed the tanks together with another dedicated refugium then maybe. Both of those fish are pod eating monsters. If they were in separate tanks and the mandy was trained then you might be able to pull it off in the 12g. But the tanks would still need to be plumbed together for the sake of water quality.

 

Got it. And the mandy is trained, but as you mentioned, water quality comes first. I'm planning on fusing the tanks first before adding the dragonet though, so don't worry. I'll do more reading and researching in the meantime.

 

I'm actually quite pleased that this tank is going fairly well. All the fish are quite healthy as well and have mini pot-bellies.

[Chew_Magna]

The only other thing I can think of is that it might need to be re-trained when you get it. They have a history of losing their training when they're moved to a new home.

[Snow_Phoenix]

The only other thing I can think of is that it might need to be re-trained when you get it. They have a history of losing their training when they're moved to a new home.

 

Noted. Which is why I'm keeping everything in the freezer and trying to cultivate some pods as well. I think I'll pick up some BBS right before I get the dragonet as well.

[Tamberav]

Chew is 100% correct on everything Even a shrimp and clownfish, ect can learn to steal all the mandy's food. I don't even have hermit crabs with my mandy or nass snails (just slow algae snails). I have seen nass snails congregate on a mandy's food and they give up and swim away.

 

If you remember, I started out having my mandarin in my 40B and ended up setting up a dedicated tank for it. The tank was too big with too many fish (and too many snails) to out compete the mandy for frozen/prepared food and too small for the mandy to live off pods. Really awkward size tbh..

 

Best thing to do would to be plumb the tanks together, let the macro grow in to a forest, add the mandy to the 12g and only add fish with it that won't steal the mandy's frozen food when you feed it. That would basically be similar to my setup and I can tell you, it is perfect since the whole tank is centered around the mandy.

 

Also no fish in the fuge/sump but I don't think you have any in there.

[metrokat]

I just wanted to chime in that frozen foods are frozen foods. They are not live which is the primary food of choice for mandarins. If you can get LIVE brine shrimp and live black worms to have on hand in case the mandarin is shy, that would be good. Or hatch BBS

[Snow_Phoenix]

Chew is 100% correct on everything Even a shrimp and clownfish, ect can learn to steal all the mandy's food. I don't even have hermit crabs with my mandy or nass snails (just slow algae snails). I have seen nass snails congregate on a mandy's food and they give up and swim away.

 

If you remember, I started out having my mandarin in my 40B and ended up setting up a dedicated tank for it. The tank was too big with too many fish (and too many snails) to out compete the mandy for frozen/prepared food and too small for the mandy to live off pods. Really awkward size tbh..

 

Best thing to do would to be plumb the tanks together, let the macro grow in to a forest, add the mandy to the 12g and only add fish with it that won't steal the mandy's frozen food when you feed it. That would basically be similar to my setup and I can tell you, it is perfect since the whole tank is centered around the mandy.

 

Also no fish in the fuge/sump but I don't think you have any in there.

 

 

I just wanted to chime in that frozen foods are frozen foods. They are not live which is the primary food of choice for mandarins. If you can get LIVE brine shrimp and live black worms to have on hand in case the mandarin is shy, that would be good. Or hatch BBS

 

Thank you for both of your responses. I'll probably hatch some BBS and try to get live blackworms/brownworms from the store near my house as a precaution. Right now I'm just going to sit back and enjoy both tanks. No sense in putting in a dragonet when the tanks aren't fused and not established yet.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Well, things have taken a steep turn this morning. But before I give the bad news, a quick update with some positive pics:

 

My Tuxedo busy munching on some seaweed:

 

 

 

My blue-legged hermit with a new shell:

 

 

 

New kid on the block - meet Ocean, my Yellowtail Damsel:

 

 

 

Meet my new Choco Chip Starfish, Nim, in the sump:

 

 

 

FTS on 6/12/2013:

 

 

 

And here's the bad news. One of my Gonis appears to be dying. Polyps have receeded completely and the coral looks like hell, although nothing else is affected and the params are in check. The other goni colony is doing well.

 

 

 

FTS on 9/12/2013:

 

 

 

Anyone can help me? Would love to know why my Goni has suddenly decided to kick the bucket overnight. I always target feed it mysis and phyto every twice a week.