Snow's Bridge of Flowers

[Snow_Phoenix]

The last five days since my previous post has been challenging. I transferred my clownfish successfully into the tank with no issue - she was eating well, swimming normally - everything was peachy-keen. Levels were good, livestock was flawless, corals were vibrant and healthy.

 

 

Then shit hit the fan, or rather the fan hit the shit in my case.

 

It started out like this - my ATO arrived with zero assemblage instructions, and was pretty much brandless - which is NOT the agreement I had with my supplier. I'm usually not one for harping on branded items, but cheap, pirated products from China don't last, and this is a prime example of one of them. I was meddling with the ATO setup on my tank when I accidently knocked over the clamp-fan clinging on to the back of the sump directly into the water.

 

What happens when an electric device hits saltwater?

 

1. The device gets spoilt immediately.

2. It fries/nukes everything in the tank.

 

This has happened once long before - me being clumsy and knocking something into an aquarium - so I learnt from my past to switch off the main power supply first before yanking out the fan. But when you have a fan making direct contact with your coral - in this case, my beautiful fox coral - there will be casualties.

 

I couldn't save 1/3 of my livestock. My clownfish was breathing hard and the first to die from the aftershock. My blenny was next, but miraculously pulled through after two days of lying on his side - he's a trooper. I managed to find the goby alive and unscathed as well. The inverts suffered the most. My fire shrimp was swimming erratically and crashing into things, and his feelers and legs were all so wrong - it was dreadful to watch. By the second day of the disaster, I had lost my lone hermit, my fire shrimp, my clownfish, one snail and a fair share of pods. Fox coral was 80% gone from where it was struck and then depreciated completely to skeleton, GSP didn't open fully since then, toadstool hasn't opened for five days, mushroom is pathetically small and 1/3 of the palys melted.

 

So I made a painful decision - I pulled the plug on the set, took out the rock and corals, got whoever who's alive out - all fish and inverts (the only guy I couldn't find but suspect -might- be alive is the Pistol shrimp), and left the tank to run on its own.

 

Livestock is now in QT and slowly recovering, and tank has been jumpstarted yesterday. I bought a new fan, but this time made sure to clamp it on the left side of the sump, where I'm least likely to knock it over while I fill up water on the right side of the sump every 2 to 3 days once (until I can figure out this stupid ATO thingy).

 

I guess I'm just very tired. My father took me to the LFS today in the industrial zone to get the new fan, and he was dropping hints about getting another tank - a predatory one - started up to put some lionfish in it - but I couldn't even bring myself to talk about the aquarium or reefing or anything to do with saltwater anymore.

 

Some days, I truly feel like I'm the bad luck brian of the reefing world. But shit happens.

 

And on a sidenote - my freshwater tank took a hit as well. I had a pair of female rainbow snakeheads (freshly purchased), and she goes tile-surfing, while the second succumbs to woolly mouth disease. Also, my 14" fire eel bashed through the lid and jumped - culprit turned out to be my paradise gourami, which was booted out of the tank afterwards.

 

Thankfully my eel was only half-dead when I found him on the floor and covered in a mucous bubble (stress-defense mechanism) - after some babying and TLC, he made a full recovery. Thank heavens for small mercies.

 

 

#rantover

[Astinus]

Just a heads up, Hyacinths are Crazy Expensive! (10,000.00+) A Leers Mcaw is in the 35-50K area.

Our Caique was just about 9-10 inches Beak to tail. Going to Goolgle the Galah Cockatoo.

Regarding 'Toos, they can become quite good at SCREAMING!

Damn, I'd love to get another Caique!

[Snow_Phoenix]

Just a heads up, Hyacinths are Crazy Expensive! (10,000.00+) A Leers Mcaw is in the 35-50K area.

Our Caique was just about 9-10 inches Beak to tail. Going to Goolgle the Galah Cockatoo.

Regarding 'Toos, they can become quite good at SCREAMING!

Damn, I'd love to get another Caique!

 

Yeah, I'm aware of it - it costs RM 120K per bird locally, if I use a local supplier. The cost is axed down by 1/3 or half if I import directly from overseas, so I'm thinking long and hard about it.

 

Lol, you should hear my sun conure when he screams. We call him the 'secret alarm' and 'orange chicken' at home. He can actually hear our main gate open from 70' ft away and raise quite a racket/welcome.

 

My caique still hasn't arrived and I'm a bit worried. I've been waiting for more than 2 weeks now.

[Astinus]

U are going to LOVE That Bird!!!!

We currently have a Maximilian Pionus, An African Grey (Timneh) and Blue Fronted Amazon

Saddly, the other day, Thursday, we lost our Goffin's Cockatoo

No idea how or why he/she died.

[Snow_Phoenix]

U are going to LOVE That Bird!!!!

We currently have a Maximilian Pionus, An African Grey (Timneh) and Blue Fronted Amazon

Saddly, the other day, Thursday, we lost our Goffin's Cockatoo

No idea how or why he/she died.

 

 

Very sorry for your loss. Birds are very delicate/sensitive creatures.

 

Nice flock though. I would have owned more animals, had I had more space and resources for them.

[Astinus]

Maybe in due time.

And thank you. I am feeling pretty sad.

Just mentioned to my Wife, Shar, about getting another Caique sometime

in the future.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Maybe in due time.

And thank you. I am feeling pretty sad.

Just mentioned to my Wife, Shar, about getting another Caique sometime

in the future.

 

I hope you do get one sometime. And don't forget to share pics too.

[Astinus]

Absolutely!! Caiques are truly Clowns of the Bird World.

[gena]

So sorry for the bad luck . The fox coral was a beauty. You should try another if you are up for it. It's a great coral. They get big but they are 100% peaceful so no worries about that! I'm determined to make mine fit in my new tank. It's home to my porcelain crab for one, and two...I just love it so much .

[FlowerMama]

Oh no, I completely get it, with what happened when I accidently knocked my Kessil into the water. Within 2 hrs it was nothing but death that no water change could fix. I felt emotionally sick and cried like I was mourning the death of my husband again. I'm so sorry.

[Snow_Phoenix]

So sorry for the bad luck . The fox coral was a beauty. You should try another if you are up for it. It's a great coral. They get big but they are 100% peaceful so no worries about that! I'm determined to make mine fit in my new tank. It's home to my porcelain crab for one, and two...I just love it so much .

 

Yes, it was. I may not be able to get one anytime soon - my LFS manager had no idea what it was because it was listed as a bubble coral the first time it arrived. Mine was home to my anemone shrimp - without a host, this species tends to deteriorate pretty quickly (based on my experience).

 

Do you have a pic of your fox coral? I'd love to see it.

 

 

 

Oh no, I completely get it, with what happened when I accidently knocked my Kessil into the water. Within 2 hrs it was nothing but death that no water change could fix. I felt emotionally sick and cried like I was mourning the death of my husband again. I'm so sorry.

 

I know - I remembered your Kessil incident when I watched my corals melt, and I instantly knew how bad you must have truly felt back then when you lost your tank too. It's never a pleasant feeling when something dies in the tank.

 

 

But a slice of good news today - the toadstool leather has began to slowly pop up and come crawling back to life. I might not have been able to save the fox or half the palys or even some of the fish and inverts, but I'm hoping that everyone else would pull through, given time to rest and recover.

 

 

I'm planning on picking up some chaeto very soon and somehow stuff it in the back compartment of the sump. Will swing by the LFS again in a few days.

[gena]

Yes, it was. I may not be able to get one anytime soon - my LFS manager had no idea what it was because it was listed as a bubble coral the first time it arrived. Mine was home to my anemone shrimp - without a host, this species tends to deteriorate pretty quickly (based on my experience).

 

Do you have a pic of your fox coral? I'd love to see it.

I didn't know that! Glad my porcelain crab took up residence in it then . I'll go find a pic and post it here for you. You can kind of see it in my avatar.

 

I do hope you'll be able to get another sooner rather than later .

[FlowerMama]

So glad to hear you may have some bounce-backs! That's encouraging! And I'm proud to say that after killing the previous nems, I had 4 males spawn yesterday, the first I've been able to sex them. I was so excited I cried. And then I sent videos to VIPReef in Miami to let him know. So now I hopefully will have a breeding tank while the fish I can't let back in till 1/1/31. I'm giving it a 12 wks time w/o fish as 8 wasn't enough.

 

And I had no idea either about fox corals & hosting. I guess I never saw a mouth on Gena's fox coral to even know where that is. And hers is fluffy!

[Snow_Phoenix]

I didn't know that! Glad my porcelain crab took up residence in it then . I'll go find a pic and post it here for you. You can kind of see it in my avatar.

 

I do hope you'll be able to get another sooner rather than later .

 

I like symbiotic relationships. I saw an emperor shrimp on sale the other day, but without any medusa worms. The shrimp was beautiful though.

 

Oh! I didn't realize the fluffy coral in your avatar was a fox coral - I genuinely thought it was another huge softie like a pineapple tree coral or nepthea. That is indeed, a very big and impressive coral!

 

And I hope so too.

 

So glad to hear you may have some bounce-backs! That's encouraging! And I'm proud to say that after killing the previous nems, I had 4 males spawn yesterday, the first I've been able to sex them. I was so excited I cried. And then I sent videos to VIPReef in Miami to let him know. So now I hopefully will have a breeding tank while the fish I can't let back in till 1/1/31. I'm giving it a 12 wks time w/o fish as 8 wasn't enough.

 

And I had no idea either about fox corals & hosting. I guess I never saw a mouth on Gena's fox coral to even know where that is. And hers is fluffy!

 

Yes, the leather looked better today - a few polyps finally surfaced although it looked very short and tiny like stubble. GSP is almost fully open as well - I think doing a 100% WC and removing all the fish/inverts helped a lot. I'll be re-adding everyone back in slowly, one step at a time.

 

And congrats on the spawning, Flower! That must have been super-exciting to watch!

 

Ich is never a fun thing to have - hope all your fish recover well from it.

 

Me neither until Gena mentioned it and I tried it out for myself.

[gena]

The fox coral actually has multiple mouths on it. I've never counted them but there has to be at least 6, if not more! I've seen it eat occasionally. Not recently though. I haven't been paying the tank much attention the last two weeks because of other things going on .

[Snow_Phoenix]

The fox coral actually has multiple mouths on it. I've never counted them but there has to be at least 6, if not more! I've seen it eat occasionally. Not recently though. I haven't been paying the tank much attention the last two weeks because of other things going on .

 

Yes, I realized my fox had multiple mouths on it as well. Wish mine somehow had pulled through the mess, but the fan made direct contact with it when it fell in. I'm still amazed my anemone shrimp lived to tell the tale. I wonder why some of the animals were more affected by the jolt than others and succumbed to it. Varying degrees of internal sensitivities, perhaps? Guess I'll never know.

[gena]

Yes, I realized my fox had multiple mouths on it as well. Wish mine somehow had pulled through the mess, but the fan made direct contact with it when it fell in. I'm still amazed my anemone shrimp lived to tell the tale. I wonder why some of the animals were more affected by the jolt than others and succumbed to it. Varying degrees of internal sensitivities, perhaps? Guess I'll never know.

Yeah...it is curious how some survive and some don't .

[Snow_Phoenix]

Yeah...it is curious how some survive and some don't .

 

 

 

A small reprieve and some good news though - a good friend of mine felt a bit bad over what happened to my tank and gave me two tiny chestnut cowries as CUC and two tiny coral frags. One's a red leather fingers softie (I think I've had this one some time ago) but I haven't figured out the second one. It's dark green with a purple rim where it encrusts on the rock, and has neon green 'eyes'.

 

Mystery coral (Without flash):

 

 

(With flash):

 

 

2" red leather:

 

 

This is one of the cowries. Check out the nice swarm of fresh pods above him.

 

 

The pod population is due to this - 500g of Chaeto being squashed into the sump. Please excuse the pipe - the LFS worker didn't do a good job of cutting it evenly when the aquarium was first fixed/set up.

 

 

This is how my tank looks like now. FTS on 19/10/2016.

 

 

 

My snail keeps pooping all over the sandbed (I put a snail in to test the water, along with the 2 cowries). He eats and craps incessantly.

[Gary.F]

I'm sorry about your setback. I know how a big loss can be demoralising to the point that it's hard to continue.

[Snow_Phoenix]

I'm sorry about your setback. I know how a big loss can be demoralising to the point that it's hard to continue.

 

This isn't my first setback, tbh, so I was better prepared for it. The tank is bouncing back slowly, so that's a good sign at least. Sometimes I'm amazed at the resilience of closed marine systems.

[vlangel]

Snow, I am sorry to hear about the light incident, :-(. I am glad that the tank is bouncing back. What you have left is looking pretty good.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Snow, I am sorry to hear about the light incident, :-(. I am glad that the tank is bouncing back. What you have left is looking pretty good.

 

Thank you, Dawn. I'm happy things are on the mend as well. How are things on your end? Is your upgrade progressing very well? I haven't looked through the thread completely, but I will as soon as I have some extra time.

[vlangel]

I was away the last 2 weekends and just got back home Monday night. I did get the stand primed and 1 coat of paint since getting home. My goal is to be transferred by Halloween.

 

Eve has adjusted much better than I would have expected since Adam's passing. She seems basically fine which takes the pressure off to rush this build. I did not want to get her pony friends just to put them through the trauma of changing tanks right away.

 

I am sad to report that I think Abraham is failing. He ate tonight but something is off and his tail is ragged and clamped which is never a good sign.

[FlowerMama]

Your mystery coral looks like a chalice.

[Snow_Phoenix]

I was away the last 2 weekends and just got back home Monday night. I did get the stand primed and 1 coat of paint since getting home. My goal is to be transferred by Halloween.

 

Eve has adjusted much better than I would have expected since Adam's passing. She seems basically fine which takes the pressure off to rush this build. I did not want to get her pony friends just to put them through the trauma of changing tanks right away.

 

I am sad to report that I think Abraham is failing. He ate tonight but something is off and his tail is ragged and clamped which is never a good sign.

 

Good to know your tank switch is progressing fairly well. Truly sorry to hear about Abraham - I hope he makes it. As for Eve, I do agree with you - moving tanks will definitely cause her a bit of stress, and adding more ponies right afterwards will elevate that, so it is best to do without as you've suggested.

 

Your mystery coral looks like a chalice.

 

Thank you! I googled up chalices online and found a match for my type - firefly echinopora chalice coral. Mine seems to be growing fairly quick - could have sworn it's edges are at least several mm longer than before.