Lula Mae's 1.6ish gallons of whatever I want to put in it--tank updates and news and stuff

[Lula_Mae]

If worse comes to worst, I can throw together a small emergency tank with some cycled rock/rubble bits I've got.  Got an extra air pump the other day just in case.

[Rain24]

Oh, hurray! I was hoping for improvement soon!!!

[Lula_Mae]

17 hours ago, Rain24 said:

Oh, hurray! I was hoping for improvement soon!!!

Me too and things are looking better today!  Fingers crossed we are on the upswing!

 

Tank is looking good today!

 

GSP opening more.

Blastos looking much better!  My grandis paly has opened back up as well.

 

The new additions--a two-head blasto frag, and behind you can see the superman mushroom on its frag plug.

 

FTS

Everything got fed some brine shrimp last night and I think even my original blastos managed to eat a little bit, and what's left of the rics as well.  Soooo happy the tank is looking better!  I also fed Shelby a pellet using the forceps, and when I got close to her I dropped the pellet accidentally and she jumped onto the forceps and was hanging on like she was wrestling them into submission! She finally dropped and enjoyed her little snack.  She was LOVING the new blastos and constantly sitting on them last night lol.  They were not loving it as much as she was.

 

 

[Weetabix7]

That Shelby, such a character!!!

(kinda like her Mom, methinks  )

Sooooo happy to see things looking up!!

 

[Weetabix7]

Hey, just wanted to tell you real quick, this little HOB would be perfect for your tank: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9821

 

They're perfect for Picos, I've been using them for a while!!

[Lula_Mae]

6 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

That Shelby, such a character!!!

(kinda like her Mom, methinks  )

Sooooo happy to see things looking up!!

 

I know nothing...

 

Me too!!

 

2 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Hey, just wanted to tell you real quick, this little HOB would be perfect for your tank: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9821

 

They're perfect for Picos, I've been using them for a while!!

I have actually had that one in the past...the one I have currently will not stay on for more than a few seconds.  Not sure what the deal is.  I have been thinking about putting an AquaClear on it, maybe as a mini fuge, but things are a little up in the air at work so I'm gonna wait and see before I go spending much more money. 

 

Although I would've ordered one with my DFS order the other week if they'd been in stock!

 

[Wingsong]

I'm so sorry about the loss!!! It's the worst when you don't know what is causing stuff to keep melting. At least there are a few Blastos, etc hanging on. And Shelby came out on the other side! Hopefully everything can hang in there from here on out and start the regrowing process.

 

I also had pest treatment recently and was very worried about the tanks, the guy just put down some non-spray bait in corners though and everything has been fine. So my guess is, unless you accidentally came into contact with the bait, that didn't have anything to do with it? It was probably the heat spike, and/or a chain reaction once one started melting. The survivors just don't care about temperature as much or were able to withstand it. Who knows with reefs, honestly. I'm just glad your tank wasn't a total loss and you still have a few cherished pieces. RIP the shrooms, though.

 

Hope everything keeps stabilizing and you don't lose any more!

[Lula_Mae]

10 hours ago, Wingsong said:

I'm so sorry about the loss!!! It's the worst when you don't know what is causing stuff to keep melting. At least there are a few Blastos, etc hanging on. And Shelby came out on the other side! Hopefully everything can hang in there from here on out and start the regrowing process.

 

I also had pest treatment recently and was very worried about the tanks, the guy just put down some non-spray bait in corners though and everything has been fine. So my guess is, unless you accidentally came into contact with the bait, that didn't have anything to do with it? It was probably the heat spike, and/or a chain reaction once one started melting. The survivors just don't care about temperature as much or were able to withstand it. Who knows with reefs, honestly. I'm just glad your tank wasn't a total loss and you still have a few cherished pieces. RIP the shrooms, though.

 

Hope everything keeps stabilizing and you don't lose any more!

Thanks, Wingsong.  I actually woke up yesterday to discover the "old" blastos completely gone, almost as if they had been eaten!  The rest of the rics were gone too.  Today I got fired and came home and found the new blastos cleaned out just like the old ones!  Do pom poms eat corals?  I didn't think they ever did but Shelby is the only thing in the tank!

 

What a crappy couple of weeks.  Ugh.

[Wingsong]

Whaaaat? That's crazy they've just vanished. I wonder if something got into your tank, if you have time after dark I might watch it with a flashlight/red light and see if you can find a nocturnal critter eating the corals. Then you have the fun process of catching whatever that pest might be... Sorry about the job and further coral loss. I hope whatever is causing the deaths you can get straightened out asap.

[Lula_Mae]

Yeah I am wondering!  They just vanished--not slowly melting like they had been, but POOF!  gone.  So aggravated!  Argh.  Oh well.  And thanks.

[Weetabix7]

I honestly doubt it's the Pom-Pom Crab, I've never ever heard of them doing that and I've seen them in multiple tanks. 

Peppermint shrimp are another story, but you don't have those. 

Is the GSP still there & opening?

[Lula_Mae]

Yeah, the GSP still is opening.  Zoas, superman shroom, trumpets all present and accounted for, for now.

[Lula_Mae]

My husband took me to a pet store today with the idea of getting me a little bit of live rock to use in rebooting the tank.  After chatting with the guy there we ended up coming home with something different...

 

Can you spot the newcomer?

 

Her name is Shirley and our hope is that she will split nems with Shelby so they both have some.

 

Meanwhile, Shelby was dancing round at the front...

 

The GSP continues to open...

 

But we came home to find the trumpets looking like this...

 

Is this brown jelly disease?  It looks like it might be to me, from pictures of other corals with it.

 

I'd noticed they looked a little funny last night so I carefully dipped them in a Lugol's solution (without getting the feather duster anywhere close to the iodine!), but this is much worse.  I should have known something was up when they weren't super interested in eating the other night when I fed brine shrimp to the blastos and trumpets and grandis paly.

 

Fortunately the frag came off the plug easily.  I dipped it in iodine and then cleaned off the infected head by blowing/suctioning out the goo.  Then I freshwater dipped for 5 mins (following something I'd read somewhere to try) and put it in a little QT betta tank with an air pump turned low.  If the remaining head survives then I'll keep it but the way things have gone lately, I'm not optimistic.  There were also little dots of some kind on the sides of it, white dots and brown dots, some of which came off when I brushed my finger on it.  They aren't too clear in the picture but you can see the reddish brown dots especially.

 

I'm so discouraged.  Seems like all my hard work and trying has been for naught and I'm about ready to give up.  Feels like I can't get a break lately!  Sigh.

 

[Weetabix7]

I have this sign on my wall that says, "Failure is the opportunity to begin again, only more intelligently."

I really believe this is true.

Failure isn't some big judgment on us that we've screwed up horribly or that we shouldn't be doing what we're doing (usually). 

I see it more as GLU (God/Life/the Universe) tapping us on the shoulder & telling us to shift direction or strategy a little, & I think that if we listen it can lead us to an even better place than we originally envisioned. 

It can be hard to see that when we're in the middle of the crisis & we're panicking & thinking, "OMG, what do I do to FIX this???".

So.... a little perspective:

It's still very early in this system's life. Today is exactly 2 months since you started the tank thread. 

I just checked & it was exactly 2 weeks ago that you lost the first Carlgreni & things started going downhill. 

In the last 2 weeks there's been a lot of chaos, including livestock loss, WC's, sand removal, new tank, new livestock. 

I think everything just needs some time, a pause, a chance to breathe & recover with no new changes for just a bit. 

A recovery period. 

Personally, I'd keep doing WC's but add nothing new & if at all possible I'd add some carbon in a HOB or something cause I think that would help w/stability. 

I'd also keep light low and stop feeding for a week. 

When you see that GSP open completely for 7 days in a row and have no new loss, you will know things have stabilized. 

 

I've noticed that almost every single Tank of the Month weathered a severe crisis at some point in it's life, recovered, learned from it & came back to become something special enough to be recognized and featured as a TOTM. 

@natalia_la_loca went through this too w/her beautiful Reefbowl when she treated the whole bowl w/peroxide to get rid of GHA. 

In her own words, "The corals were so pissed. I did a couple of water changes and was optimistic at first, but the next morning I woke up to a bowl of milk. The xenia had melted during the night (in retrospect, a blessing in disguise). The zoas, burned and bubbly from several minutes of peroxide hell, didn’t open for weeks."

That bowl is a thing of beauty now and is a source of inspiration and education for many of us on here now, but it had to weather that crisis and come back from it to become what it is now. 

 

So... this is discouraging, yes. Very discouraging, even. 

But the story's not over, this isn't the end (unless you choose that), and we're here to support you & encourage you. 

Just listen to GLU, learn and make a shift or two, and move forward and create a better story.  

 

A few moments later....

 

Wow. Ok, so I have this Bada$$ Daily Calendar & I can't believe what it said for today's date:

"Obstacles and challenges are the agents of growth. Nobody gets to be large and in charge without facing challenges and moving through them."

[Lula_Mae]

2 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

I have this sign on my wall that says, "Failure is the opportunity to begin again, only more intelligently."

I really believe this is true.

Failure isn't some big judgment on us that we've screwed up horribly or that we shouldn't be doing what we're doing (usually). 

I see it more as GLU (God/Life/the Universe) tapping us on the shoulder & telling us to shift direction or strategy a little, & I think that if we listen it can lead us to an even better place than we originally envisioned. 

It can be hard to see that when we're in the middle of the crisis & we're panicking & thinking, "OMG, what do I do to FIX this???".

So.... a little perspective:

It's still very early in this system's life. Today is exactly 2 months since you started the tank thread. 

I just checked & it was exactly 2 weeks ago that you lost the first Carlgreni & things started going downhill. 

In the last 2 weeks there's been a lot of chaos, including livestock loss, WC's, sand removal, new tank, new livestock. 

I think everything just needs some time, a pause, a chance to breathe & recover with no new changes for just a bit. 

A recovery period. 

Personally, I'd keep doing WC's but add nothing new & if at all possible I'd add some carbon in a HOB or something cause I think that would help w/stability. 

I'd also keep light low and stop feeding for a week. 

When you see that GSP open completely for 7 days in a row and have no new loss, you will know things have stabilized. 

 

I've noticed that almost every single Tank of the Month weathered a severe crisis at some point in it's life, recovered, learned from it & came back to become something special enough to be recognized and featured as a TOTM. 

@natalia_la_loca went through this too w/her beautiful Reefbowl when she treated the whole bowl w/peroxide to get rid of GHA. 

In her own words, "The corals were so pissed. I did a couple of water changes and was optimistic at first, but the next morning I woke up to a bowl of milk. The xenia had melted during the night (in retrospect, a blessing in disguise). The zoas, burned and bubbly from several minutes of peroxide hell, didn’t open for weeks."

That bowl is a thing of beauty now and is a source of inspiration and education for many of us on here now, but it had to weather that crisis and come back from it to become what it is now. 

 

So... this is discouraging, yes. Very discouraging, even. 

But the story's not over, this isn't the end (unless you choose that), and we're here to support you & encourage you. 

Just listen to GLU, learn and make a shift or two, and move forward and create a better story.  

 

A few moments later....

 

Wow. Ok, so I have this Bada$$ Daily Calendar & I can't believe what it said for today's date:

"Obstacles and challenges are the agents of growth. Nobody gets to be large and in charge without facing challenges and moving through them."

Thanks Weetie!   I was feeling pretty low last night.  I think all the tank stuff combined with losing my job without much warning just had me down a bit.

 

I did just spot one of the pom pom crabs and she only had one pom!  So hopefully they have shared!  The other is hiding under the big rock so I can't tell lol.

 

The bolded words are so true!  Time to pick myself up and move forward towards better things! 

 

Speaking of GLU speaking...on my way home from work after being fired, I had to ride a shuttle to the parking lot where my car was parked (large organization, not enough parking).  It slammed on the brakes with the driver exclaiming, just as we were driving in front of the human resources building.  I looked up and said something like, "Is this real life?!"  A van was parked in the road, door wide open, and a woman was squatting in the road with her rear end hanging out...she was peeing in the road!   My husband said there is no clearer sign from God that that job is not where I was supposed to be!

[Weetabix7]

Although I will say I had crazy stuff like that happen when I worked as a Phlebotomist and EKG Tech at a hospital. 

Told Hubby I should write a book titled "I Was a Medical Vampire", cause I got some great material from that job!! 

[Lula_Mae]

2 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Although I will say I had crazy stuff like that happen when I worked as a Phlebotomist and EKG Tech at a hospital. 

Told Hubby I should write a book titled "I Was a Medical Vampire", cause I got some great material from that job!! 

Lol I bet!  Some stories you have to live through to believe!

[Rain24]

5 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Although I will say I had crazy stuff like that happen when I worked as a Phlebotomist and EKG Tech at a hospital. 

Told Hubby I should write a book titled "I Was a Medical Vampire", cause I got some great material from that job!! 

Weetie...high five! I used to be an EKG Tech and then an Echo Tech at a hospital!

Lula Mae, I want to give you hug! We're here for you! <3

 

It's so cute that you got another pom pom crab. I hope we don't have any feature crab fights in the future.

[Weetabix7]

15 minutes ago, Rain24 said:

Weetie...high five! I used to be an EKG Tech and then an Echo Tech at a hospital!

Lula Mae, I want to give you hug! We're here for you! <3

 

It's so cute that you got another pom pom crab. I hope we don't have any feature crab fights in the future.

 

Noway, that's awesome!!!

We oughta compare stories someday....

I learned so much from that job, it showed me how good I am at connecting w/people and how much that matters to me. 

 

Sorry for detour, back to your regularly scheduled thread!!

[HammerLover]

You gotta check the failures of my cookie jar reef. At one point or another we always wanted to quit reefing and then we are still here haha

As long as you are doing your best and you didnt really intend in killing the livestocks, every failure is a step for us to improve and learn more. Majority of the TOTM as what is mentioned by Weetie, suffered a failure at some point. The best thing to do is probably let the tank settle. 2 months of no additions, continuous WC and regular observations will keep the tank back on track. I have learned alot of things in my cookie jar pico and it helped me in improving my reef setups in the near future.

 

SPOILER ALERT:NEW 5 gal pico reef with lots of shrimps coming!

woops did I say that

 

[Lula_Mae]

7 hours ago, Rain24 said:

Weetie...high five! I used to be an EKG Tech and then an Echo Tech at a hospital!

Lula Mae, I want to give you hug! We're here for you! <3

 

It's so cute that you got another pom pom crab. I hope we don't have any feature crab fights in the future.

Thanks Rain!  As to the bold...see below...

 

7 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Noway, that's awesome!!!

We oughta compare stories someday....

I learned so much from that job, it showed me how good I am at connecting w/people and how much that matters to me. 

 

Sorry for detour, back to your regularly scheduled thread!!

Lol no worries on the detour!

 

3 hours ago, HammerLover said:

You gotta check the failures of my cookie jar reef. At one point or another we always wanted to quit reefing and then we are still here haha

As long as you are doing your best and you didnt really intend in killing the livestocks, every failure is a step for us to improve and learn more. Majority of the TOTM as what is mentioned by Weetie, suffered a failure at some point. The best thing to do is probably let the tank settle. 2 months of no additions, continuous WC and regular observations will keep the tank back on track. I have learned alot of things in my cookie jar pico and it helped me in improving my reef setups in the near future.

 

SPOILER ALERT:NEW 5 gal pico reef with lots of shrimps coming!

woops did I say that

 

 

So uh, I was topping off tonight and uh, noticed this...

 

We watched them for a few minutes and realized...the crab on the bottom with poms, Shirley, was EATING SHELBY'S LEG!!!!!!   BAD SHIRLEY, BAD!!!  I am so mad right now!  Gonna call the LFS in the morning and see if we can return the little jerk, and hoping and praying Shelby makes it.  I feel terrible!!!  Here I was trying to help her and keep her from swiping any more coral and now she is missing a leg (or part of it)!  I'd heard sometimes pom poms would fight but didn't realize they could be so violent to one another!  Arrrrrgh!!!  Shirley's got herself banished to another betta tank with an air bubbler and a piece of cycled LR I had.  Ugh.  Jerky McJerkface!

[Weetabix7]

Holy Crap, I had no idea they would do stuff like that!!!!!! 

[HammerLover]

Ive never heard of pom pom crabs terrorizing other crabs to the point of eating them 

 

best thing to do is to seperate Shirley and bring her back to the LFS

[Lula_Mae]

3 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Holy Crap, I had no idea they would do stuff like that!!!!!! 

Me either!!!  My husband is the one who figured it out, I couldn't tell what they were doing.  I tried blowing them with a turkey baster, which they ignored, and it took me sticking my hand in the tank to get them to move and separate, and sure enough, Shelby was missing part of one of her left legs!   I feel so bad now!  My poor Shelby!

 

58 minutes ago, HammerLover said:

Ive never heard of pom pom crabs terrorizing other crabs to the point of eating them 

 

best thing to do is to seperate Shirley and bring her back to the LFS

Me either and I am astonished!  And mad lol.  Yeah that is the plan, gonna call and see if we can at least get store credit...I know I shouldn't really add anything but maybe they have a cheap mushroom frag or something, since we don't live close. 

 

Shelby is still alive and was huddling under the edge of the big rock this morning.  My poor girl!  Evil Shirley is too and is sulking in her betta tank at present.  Serves the little jerk right!

[Lula_Mae]

Currently trying to get Shirley-the-jerk-crab out of the hole in the rock she's hiding in.  Placed a pellet far enough away that she has to move to grab it.