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


Lula_Mae

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I'm so sorry this is happening. 

I've been where you are and I know how frustrating and discouraging it is. 

We build these captivating little underwater kingdoms that are so tough and fragile at the same time, and then get taken on a rollercoaster ride as their story plays out. 

They are tough in the sense that the corals and critters can take a lot, so much more than we give them credit for. 

Fragile in the sense that just one thing can set off a chain of events that seems to spiral downhill. 

That's where you're sitting now, but you have to remember, the toughness is still there too.

It's just waiting for things to stabilize so it can poke it's head back out. 

Life finds a way. 

(People are like that too.)

 

This happening isn't your fault, you had no control over the temp fluctuations that set off this chain of events, and when it started you did everything in your power to turn things around. 

As much as we all hate seeing the loss, we're here supporting you and we'll be here watching when things begin to turn the corner for the better. 

You just gotta give it time. 

Think of it as a mini Reef Hurricane. 

In nature, hurricanes happen and there's a lot of chaos & damage afterwards. 

But... there are always strong things that survive the storm, and beauty peeks it's head out again afterwards. 

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Quick p.s.-- While things are in recovery mode, might not hurt to go back to the original light, just to keep everything kinda low-key.

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9 hours ago, Needreefunds said:

Well this stinks. Unfortunately the hobby can break our hearts as easily as fill it. Glad things seem to be stabilizing. Hang in there. 

So very sadly true.  Hope it starts improving soon. :(

 

7 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

I'm so sorry this is happening. 

I've been where you are and I know how frustrating and discouraging it is. 

We build these captivating little underwater kingdoms that are so tough and fragile at the same time, and then get taken on a rollercoaster ride as their story plays out. 

They are tough in the sense that the corals and critters can take a lot, so much more than we give them credit for. 

Fragile in the sense that just one thing can set off a chain of events that seems to spiral downhill. 

That's where you're sitting now, but you have to remember, the toughness is still there too.

It's just waiting for things to stabilize so it can poke it's head back out. 

Life finds a way. 

(People are like that too.)

 

This happening isn't your fault, you had no control over the temp fluctuations that set off this chain of events, and when it started you did everything in your power to turn things around. 

As much as we all hate seeing the loss, we're here supporting you and we'll be here watching when things begin to turn the corner for the better. 

You just gotta give it time. 

Think of it as a mini Reef Hurricane. 

In nature, hurricanes happen and there's a lot of chaos & damage afterwards. 

But... there are always strong things that survive the storm, and beauty peeks it's head out again afterwards. 

 

Thanks Weetie. :happy:  I am hoping things improve.  Both St. Thomas look pretty rough right now, and this morning I found them both under the big rock and fished them out and now they are mad at me lol.  Hoping your GSP opens up soon, I hate that it had such a rough intro to my tank.  Think I should give it a Lugol's dip?  My superman mushroom has gone MIA again and I may or may not have spotted Shelby with it in her claw while ago (but when she ran out for food she was not holding it so I am not sure).

 

6 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Quick p.s.-- While things are in recovery mode, might not hurt to go back to the original light, just to keep everything kinda low-key.

I thought about that and may do that, I'd had the new light on since the LPS seem to respond so well to it, but the rics are still shrunken up so maybe a few days of lower intensity will help them out.

 

 

I did make a tank purchase today...literally.  I'd been thinking about upgrading to a slightly larger tank given my difficulty scaping with four different types of mushrooms that took up so much room in the tank, and this week cinched it for me.  A slightly larger tank will provide a little more stability, I hope, regarding temperatures and such, so I went back to the LFS where I got the original tank and got the next size up:

IMG_20170327_214545

 

It's by UP Aqua and is about 3.5 gallons, similar proportions to the tank I've got now, just a bit bigger.  I think the extra space (and 50% more volume lol) will help alleviate my scaping difficulties and also hopefully a little more stability.  Not sure when I'm going to try to transfer things over, the new tank needs a good cleaning after sitting on the shelf for months. :closedeyes: Also, it is really hard to write and draw on the phone screen with your finger lol.

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Oh and at the LFS they had a super-cool PEACH colored yuma!  I've never seen that color before and should have taken a pic.  The gal who worked there had already bought it. :lol:

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Aww just checked and realized my epoxying the rock to the gorg frag plug didn't work, and when I moved the fallen-over gorg, a huge chunk of flesh came off. :tears:

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Oh Lula Mae, I am so sorry to hear all that's happened in your tank. Maybe the new tank will fare better. 

 

Good or bad, it's helpful that you're documenting everything that's going on.

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1 hour ago, Rain24 said:

Oh Lula Mae, I am so sorry to hear all that's happened in your tank. Maybe the new tank will fare better. 

 

Good or bad, it's helpful that you're documenting everything that's going on.

Thanks, Rain.  Hopefully the new tank will be rid of any bad juju from the current tank lol.  I hope someone can learn from my struggles because then at least it won't all be in vain. :closedeyes:

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New tank, yaaaay!!

I love the writing on it, lol.

I'd personally just give the GSP time and not worry about a dip. I think it's staying closed cause of the tank issues. It'll be a good sign for the tank as a whole when you see it opening up a polyp or two. 

You'd be surprised how much documenting things will help even you down the road. I say this after reading through the struggles on all my own old tank threads. ;)

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5 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

New tank, yaaaay!!

I love the writing on it, lol.

I'd personally just give the GSP time and not worry about a dip. I think it's staying closed cause of the tank issues. It'll be a good sign for the tank as a whole when you see it opening up a polyp or two. 

You'd be surprised how much documenting things will help even you down the road. I say this after reading through the struggles on all my own old tank threads. ;)

Haha thanks, I did the little doodle and writing in my phone's editor just for fun.  I did read that GSP is famous for staying closed for days or weeks even just from small changes in the tank, so I feel a bit better about it.  I'll just focus on keeping it free of detritus for now and hope it perks up soon. 

 

One of the rics scared me because it let go of its frag plug last night and I didn't see it at first, but I found it on the bottom.  Phew!

 

I bought a bag of AquaClear carbon last night and decided to just rinse it (it sizzled... :unsure:) and then plopped it in the tank lol.

 

Blastos have had a little recession since the pictures the other day but a few heads are still hanging in there.  Fingers crossed for it.

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Well, I went ahead and did the tank transfer tonight.  I figured it can't get much worse than it already is so I went for it.  I did find something out...

 

This is with three gallons of distilled water... :huh:

IMG_20170328_221302235

 

I had to take some out to be able to fit the salt in! :lol:

 

My St. Thomas are gone...one is half a shroom and the other is turning into stringy brown goo.  I made the decision to leave them out since I work tomorrow and cannot be home to babysit the tank (will be gone close to 14 hours in total and don't want that fouling up the tank all day).

 

My beautiful shrooms. :tears:

IMG_20170328_233521206

 

I did find what's left of the superman mushroom.  I am 99% sure Shelby pinched it and decided not to use it. <_< She is officially pom-less now, whether she dropped the nems or they died, I don't know, but I know it's common for pom pom crabs to lose the poms after stress.

 

Here's the tank now with everything kinda haphazardly thrown in.  Don't mind the bag of AquaClear carbon...figured putting in somehow was better than not at all lol. :blush: I put a gang valve on the air line and turned the flow way down, and will be leaving the lights off tomorrow to give things a chance to recover.  The gorg looks terrible.  I dipped it in iodine but I think it's probably a total loss too.  The remaining rics are starting to disintegrate too.  I'll be down to the zoas, grandis paly (if it makes it, it's closed up mad right now) and the trumpets.  At least the feather duster and Shelby seem happy.  I dropped a pellet in for Shelby as an "I'm sorry" when I was done lol.

IMG_20170328_233613481_HDR

 

I did have a super-scary moment when only the big rock was left in the old tank...and I couldn't find Shelby! :o Nearly gave me a heart attack lol.  Found her hiding and nudged her off into the coral box where everything was waiting for transfer. :happy:

 

Here's to new beginnings.  I hope the new tank fares better than its predecessor. :(

 

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It's a new start! Crossing my fingers for better luck with the new tank! fingerscrossed

 

The important thing is that Shelby is okay! And I always thought feather dusters were sensitive. I guess not!

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5 hours ago, Rain24 said:

It's a new start! Crossing my fingers for better luck with the new tank! fingerscrossed

 

The important thing is that Shelby is okay! And I always thought feather dusters were sensitive. I guess not!

I thought so too!  It's weird to me that the snails and almost all the corals are dying but the duster and Shelby are just all like "Shake it off, man!"

 

Nature is so weird.

 

I am disappointed at how easily my "hardy" corals have melted and wonder how hot the tank got that day.  Or if the pest control chemicals got into the tank.  Or if somehow some copper or something got into the tank.  But then all those thoughts lead back to why are Shelby and the duster ok when most everything else is not?  Round and round it goes...hopefully reduced flow will be of aid to my poor sick corals that remain.

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I think going lights off for the day for a recovery day is smart. 

The GSP looks fine to me, and the Blastos look ok as well. Not great, but not awful, and salvageable. 

VERY glad Shelby is ok. 

Sorry for the loss of the beautiful Shrooms. :closedeyes:

I will keep an eye out for good deals on those & will let you know if I run across anything. 

Y'know, I'm wondering if maybe chemicals from pest treatment got in the tank. 

Was it covered really well?

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3 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

I think going lights off for the day for a recovery day is smart. 

The GSP looks fine to me, and the Blastos look ok as well. Not great, but not awful, and salvageable. 

VERY glad Shelby is ok. 

Sorry for the loss of the beautiful Shrooms. :closedeyes:

I will keep an eye out for good deals on those & will let you know if I run across anything. 

Y'know, I'm wondering if maybe chemicals from pest treatment got in the tank. 

Was it covered really well?

 

3 hours ago, Rain24 said:

I wondered the same thing if it was from the pest treatment.

I've actually wondered the same thing, but what I don't understand is why the duster and Shelby (and zoas and trumpets) seem unscathed and everything else died.  I had pulled out a thick folded fleece blanket to cover and my husband put it over the tank before he left for work.  Not sure when he took it off if he was careful not turn it over or anything (supposedly it's not a spray though, it's some kind of thing that goes along the edges of the cabinets/shelves/drawers/etc.).  Our instructions say to turn off pumps and filters and cover tanks with a towel...bettas haven't had an issue with it but vertebrates are a little different than inverts lol.  Violet just comes for a ride for a few hours when it happens since pets can't be inside the apartment.

 

Any ideas why corals would be so affected when the other inverts weren't?

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I left the light off for most of the day again and turned it on when I got home from work.  Don't think I've lost anything more yet and even some rics still seem alive.  Gorg still looks bad.  Blasto looks about the same.  Shelby and duster are happy lol.

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58 minutes ago, Rain24 said:

Easy does it. Give them a little time to rest and hopefully they'll bounce back!

 

Hope so!  It seems to have done something, because I just looked in the tank and what did I see?

 

IMG_20170331_003254

 

omgomgomg:haha::happydance:

 

Weetie's GSP is starting to open up (see the line of little polyps at the back)!!!  I think/hope this means we are finally on an upward swing!  (Apologies for the bad picture, it was hard to get a pic that showed the polyps!)

 

 

Oh, and I showed my husband and he said "Those weren't there an hour ago!" when he was peering into the tank.

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Hooraaaaay!!!

That's a really good sign!!

I use that one as an "indicator coral"; it starts closing up when things are off and will open back up when they improve. 

Kinda the whole "canary in a coal mine" idea. 

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Also, I've been meaning to ask, since you now have 2 or 3 different lights and bulbs, could you give your opinion on them and compare them?

I'm interested to hear your thoughts. 

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11 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Hooraaaaay!!!

That's a really good sign!!

I use that one as an "indicator coral"; it starts closing up when things are off and will open back up when they improve. 

Kinda the whole "canary in a coal mine" idea. 

I like it.  Maybe a good reason to keep it in the tank always! :lol:

 

9 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Also, I've been meaning to ask, since you now have 2 or 3 different lights and bulbs, could you give your opinion on them and compare them?

I'm interested to hear your thoughts. 

I will try to do that sometime.  I haven't put the ABI blue and white bulb over the tank yet with all that's happened, and I'll need to rig up a way to lift the bulb up higher to avoid burning/bleaching/melting anything lol.  The bulb from Reef Radiance is only 7w (compared to the ABI's 12w) and it was strong for the rics, I felt.

 

I went to the store today to look for a couple tester frags.  Got a couple at one store and went to another (the one I got Shelby and the gorg from) and while chatting with the guy I've talked to before, he asked about the tank, I told him what happened, he asked how my levels were and I said I hadn't owned test kits in years and he was like, "If you haven't tested, I wouldnt be adding any livestock."  Okie dokie then.  I knew from what he's told me previously he probably wouldn't sell me anything with a guarantee lol.  Too bad cuz they had a cute little pom pom, much smaller than Shelby.

 

I got home and what did I see?

IMG_20170331_184857131

 

omgomgomg Lookit my blastos, all puffy and out! 

 

Pics of new additions to come after I get them in the tank. ;)

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