Lula Mae's full circle 5.5--the end.

[fishfreak0114]

I'm sure those shrimp are in there!  Who knows, you may have looked right at them already and not even known

[Weetabix7]

14 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Well then, I could pack at least 5 in this tank!

 

Valerie has picked the area between the rics and acans and usually is on the big green and purple ric so it will be interesting to see the chosen spot of the new guy when I put him in!

 

Yeah, pretty disappointing!  Good to know a future wrasse will probably eat fine if UPS doesn't lose it first.   Anywhere is far for shipping for me lol.  Unless I buy a Nano Box someday, that ships from NC!

 

I haven't actually seen the pom pom or one of the shrimp since I added them...hope they are ok!

 

I have the tank on a little end table from Walmart and the GBG's are in my little 2.3 which is currently set up underneath said table lol.  Not ideal but working with the space I've got (it's not much haha).  Part of the reason I chose to quarantine was because of the baby clownfish I bought back in May who was sick with I-don't-know-what from the nasty-tank LFS I should've known better than to buy from (that cute face did me in...).  So until the tank's been fish free for a good long while, I don't want to add anything that might contract whatever she had.  And I'm having to do that cause I didn't quarantine the first time around.  Derp.

 

In other exciting news, I now have a place to live (that does not involve couch surfing lol)!  And will be moving some stuff in tomorrow, and the tanks on Tuesday if all goes according to tentative plan.  Hooray!  It's also a good 20 minutes closer to work so that will be really nice.  I'm also really excited because I'm allowed to paint the walls!  I've never had that option before.  I picked out paint for the master bedroom and paint for the trim but anything else will have to wait...paint's expensive! 

 

OMG, so excited for you about the new place!!!!!! 

[Lula_Mae]

11 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

I'm sure those shrimp are in there!  Who knows, you may have looked right at them already and not even known

lol maybe so, though I've seen the one hanging out on the soap dish.  Haven't seen the other though...or the pom pom.  It's clearly not an attention-lover like Shelby lol.

 

10 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

OMG, so excited for you about the new place!!!!!! 

Me too!  Picked out living room and kitchen paint today.  Not sure when all this painting is gonna get done lol.  Also got some stuffs moved in, went to hook up my modem for internet and found out they didn't include the cable I need lol.  Violet is bunking over there by herself tonight!  She's probably perfectly happy about that...

[Lula_Mae]

If anyone is needing AquaClear 70 or 110 filters, they are currently an Amazon Prime Day deal--just scored a 70 for potential future projects for $34!!!  So if you have Prime, check it out!

[vlangel]

So excited for you about the new 'live' arrivals.  I am happy this order worked out.  Now hoping everyone settles in well.

[Lula_Mae]

On 7/11/2017 at 3:47 PM, vlangel said:

So excited for you about the new 'live' arrivals.  I am happy this order worked out.  Now hoping everyone settles in well.

Me too!  My sister is currently babysitting everything while I've been working and staying at the new apartment.  Hope it's all ok...  Been a busy few days lol.

[Lula_Mae]

I have bad news. The gobies and the green porcelain crab are gone.  I'd left them at my parents' house until I could come fetch them and was going to do that today.  First thing I noticed was the air pump sounded really loud, and second thing I noticed was the water was super cloudy and I thought, "That's not good..."  Investigation revealed that the airline powering my little sponge filter had somehow come loose so for the last day or two, there was no circulation or filtration...I found the very dead gobies and then found the crab and gave it the sniff test, just in case...definitely dead.  I was so upset.  I'm feeling really discouraged right now because all of my efforts at keeping saltwater fish have gone ridiculously badly.  I was planning to start a larger tank in the near future so I could keep a few fish, but what's the point if I can't keep any of them alive?  Fortunately, the 5.5 still looks good, my family has been topping it off and they now know to let me know if it makes unusual noises lol.  One Pederson is still MIA but the other is out and loving the soap dish frag rack so I am sure the one is dead.  Probably the sluggish one whose bag was packed directly beside the ice pack.   Haven't seen the pom pom either but they are notoriously reclusive so I'm not panicking yet.  Will panic if I don't find it when I move the tank next week lol.

 

I miss my little guys already.  Just a few days and I had fallen totally in love with them! RIP fishies and crab.

[Weetabix7]

3 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

I have bad news. The gobies and the green porcelain crab are gone.  I'd left them at my parents' house until I could come fetch them and was going to do that today.  First thing I noticed was the air pump sounded really loud, and second thing I noticed was the water was super cloudy and I thought, "That's not good..."  Investigation revealed that the airline powering my little sponge filter had somehow come loose so for the last day or two, there was no circulation or filtration...I found the very dead gobies and then found the crab and gave it the sniff test, just in case...definitely dead.  I was so upset.  I'm feeling really discouraged right now because all of my efforts at keeping saltwater fish have gone ridiculously badly.  I was planning to start a larger tank in the near future so I could keep a few fish, but what's the point if I can't keep any of them alive?  Fortunately, the 5.5 still looks good, my family has been topping it off and they now know to let me know if it makes unusual noises lol.  One Pederson is still MIA but the other is out and loving the soap dish frag rack so I am sure the one is dead.  Probably the sluggish one whose bag was packed directly beside the ice pack.   Haven't seen the pom pom either but they are notoriously reclusive so I'm not panicking yet.  Will panic if I don't find it when I move the tank next week lol.

 

I miss my little guys already.  Just a few days and I had fallen totally in love with them! RIP fishies and crab.

 

Oh nooooo, I'm so sorry!!!!!!!!

That stinks, I can totally understand you being discouraged. 

On the other hand, it didn't happen cause of anything you did wrong, so you know it's not cause of your care. 

Maybe for now focusing on getting moved and settled and keeping your current livestock healthy, then see where you're at once you're fully in the new place. 

[frahny]

I'm sorry, that's no fun at all! We all get knocked down, just be sure to get back up:)

[fishfreak0114]

Oh no, I'm so sorry   Don't be discouraged!  Losing fish sucks, but once you get some happy healthy fish into your tank, they'll be there a long time to bring you joy!  I totally feel you though, I've lost at least one fish for every fish in my tank (hard to find healthy fish near me), and it really made me want to stop attempting to add fish to my tank.  I'm so glad I kept at it though, because now I have happy fish!  Once you settle into your new place, I say give it another try!

[Lula_Mae]

1 hour ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Oh nooooo, I'm so sorry!!!!!!!!

That stinks, I can totally understand you being discouraged. 

On the other hand, it didn't happen cause of anything you did wrong, so you know it's not cause of your care. 

Maybe for now focusing on getting moved and settled and keeping your current livestock healthy, then see where you're at once you're fully in the new place. 

 

1 hour ago, frahny said:

I'm sorry, that's no fun at all! We all get knocked down, just be sure to get back up:)

 

1 hour ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Oh no, I'm so sorry   Don't be discouraged!  Losing fish sucks, but once you get some happy healthy fish into your tank, they'll be there a long time to bring you joy!  I totally feel you though, I've lost at least one fish for every fish in my tank (hard to find healthy fish near me), and it really made me want to stop attempting to add fish to my tank.  I'm so glad I kept at it though, because now I have happy fish!  Once you settle into your new place, I say give it another try!

Thanks guys. It just feels like it's been a rough go lately.  Hopefully things will start looking up soon.  Maybe I'll focus on finishing everything I want for the 5.5 before I try a bigger tank or something.  I dunno.  Gonna take a couple days to regroup and go from there.

 

I think I need a betta in my life.  I miss my little Bojangles.

[SeaFurn]

So sorry to hear this LuLa. 

I think Weetie's got good advice for you. Hang in there. 

 

[cfaye@Delaware]

I send my prayers and thoughts......I am so sorry......this has been a sad day.

[debbeach13]

Sorry you are having such a rough patch. As others said finish moving then after you have settled in for awhile you will know when it is time to try again. 

[WV Reefer]

Sending you good vibes ~~~~~~

 

 

[TinyOcean]

Lula! Haven't been on in forever but the tank looked great! Sorry about the losses. Much love! Xo

[HammerLover]

On 15/07/2017 at 7:39 AM, Lula_Mae said:

I have bad news. The gobies and the green porcelain crab are gone.  I'd left them at my parents' house until I could come fetch them and was going to do that today.  First thing I noticed was the air pump sounded really loud, and second thing I noticed was the water was super cloudy and I thought, "That's not good..."  Investigation revealed that the airline powering my little sponge filter had somehow come loose so for the last day or two, there was no circulation or filtration...I found the very dead gobies and then found the crab and gave it the sniff test, just in case...definitely dead.  I was so upset.  I'm feeling really discouraged right now because all of my efforts at keeping saltwater fish have gone ridiculously badly.  I was planning to start a larger tank in the near future so I could keep a few fish, but what's the point if I can't keep any of them alive?  Fortunately, the 5.5 still looks good, my family has been topping it off and they now know to let me know if it makes unusual noises lol.  One Pederson is still MIA but the other is out and loving the soap dish frag rack so I am sure the one is dead.  Probably the sluggish one whose bag was packed directly beside the ice pack.   Haven't seen the pom pom either but they are notoriously reclusive so I'm not panicking yet.  Will panic if I don't find it when I move the tank next week lol.

 

I miss my little guys already.  Just a few days and I had fallen totally in love with them! RIP fishies and crab.

That's so sad to hear
I had losses too with gobies in my 5 gal that's why I decided to stick with clowns (I know its seriously overstock lol)

Dont give up on the crabs yet, my porcelains went missing for a month and I found them a week ago hiding at the rockwork lol. Sometimes you'll be surprised when you suddenly see them

[HammerLover]

And sorry for being so so inactive majors in Geology is really eating my internet time

I really really missed alot of updates  -____-

[Lula_Mae]

Thanks guys. Been a rough few days at work too. Learning new skills is hard lol.

 

On 7/15/2017 at 0:57 PM, TinyOcean said:

Lula! Haven't been on in forever but the tank looked great! Sorry about the losses. Much love! Xo

Tiny! Where ya been!  Grats on the upgrade.

 

15 hours ago, HammerLover said:

That's so sad to hear
I had losses too with gobies in my 5 gal that's why I decided to stick with clowns (I know its seriously overstock lol)

Dont give up on the crabs yet, my porcelains went missing for a month and I found them a week ago hiding at the rockwork lol. Sometimes you'll be surprised when you suddenly see them

Yeah the pom pom is probably fine, the green porcelain was definitely stinky-dead.  The shrimp wasn't doing well to start so I don't expect to find it when I move the tank later this week.

[TinyOcean]

Hey lady! I know I haven't been on and missed so much! Congratulations on the new place by the way! Yup I'm excited for this thing to get here haha I am having baby coral apocalypse! 

[gogeta]

Maybe a bigger tank might be better for you? More volume swings won't affect things as bad. I have never had a nano before, actually I've had some ridiculously large tanks. I'm only a couple months into the nano experience but the tiny mistakes I've made that would have never mattered on a bigger system have made ridiculous swings. Having all sizes of tanks these little tanks are definitely the hardest.

 

that being said the last lot was definitely not your fault so don't be discouraged. 

[Lula_Mae]

On 7/18/2017 at 5:25 AM, gogeta said:

Maybe a bigger tank might be better for you? More volume swings won't affect things as bad. I have never had a nano before, actually I've had some ridiculously large tanks. I'm only a couple months into the nano experience but the tiny mistakes I've made that would have never mattered on a bigger system have made ridiculous swings. Having all sizes of tanks these little tanks are definitely the hardest.

 

that being said the last lot was definitely not your fault so don't be discouraged. 

Well, the main tank hasn't really had an issue.  I'd like to set up a bigger system just to have more room for things but can't do that just yet.  I do think 1-2 days of no circulation or filtration would've been detrimental even in a larger tank, though.

[Lula_Mae]

Little tanky update...it's still at the parents' house cuz I can't seem to find a block of time where I can go do the take down and bring it over and set it up.  Hopefully next week. I did check on it a couple nights ago and it's doing well despite the lack of water changes and just being topped off.  I snapped a few pics to share.

 

First--I found this on my phone, it's the last shot I took of the GBG's and they were together so I thought it was too cute not to share.  RIP little cuties.

 

The anthelia has not only recovered from its trauma, it is rapidly multiplying...what have I done?

 

Grandis paly and GSP.  Please excuse the dirty glass in these pics, there is algae and spirorbid worms all over it because I haven't cleaned it in weeks.

 

Toadstool was closed up for a few days last week but I think it was just shedding.  Now it's good as new!  The grandis paly from Reef Gardener has suddenly opened and lightened a bunch the last couple weeks!  It's the one in the middle of the pic.

 

The surviving Pederson's hanging out on the green grandis paly.

 

These next two shots are not very good, it's a pic and then a cropped close-up, but I finally found the pom pom crab for the first time since putting it in.  First pic is for location/context, second is to show the nem and part of a leg of the pom pom crab lol.  It's in the little crevice just left of the sinularia.

 

 

FTS:

 

Lastly, I wanted to show the newest addition to the family, I went to Petco the other day and came out with this adorable baby betta boy!  I'm feeding him Omega One color mini pellets but may need to find something even smaller!  He's super cute and likes to explore his little tank.  No name yet.

 

 

[fishfreak0114]

The tank is looking awesome!  I absolutely love the grandis Palys!  Congrats on your new betta!  He's a cutie  

[StinkyBunny]

Nice Plakat Betta.