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

[Lula_Mae]

11 hours ago, ninjamyst said:

keep us updated on your LiveAquaria order!  I am tempted to get a few fish from them once I get back from vacation instead of waiting for my LFS to get them in stock.

My recent orders from them have been a little hit or miss lol. But I will not be adding any fish without quarantine for a long time after my experience this summer.

 

11 hours ago, StinkyBunny said:

Mine loves Mysis shrimp. That's my go to food for new arrivals.

Please, please be VERY careful with their fish. I'm not one for QTing fish, but theirs need to be.

I do have mysis and a few flake and pellet foods.

 

9 hours ago, gone_PHiSHin said:

Lula buy these pellets for your tailspot:

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/seaweed-extreme-hikari.html

 

they are very cheap for what you get, very small for the TSB's little mouths, and are 67% seaweed...which from my research and experience, you want a majority of the TSB's diet to consist of plant matter.  i have read that they often have a much shorter lifespan if their diet is based around meat and not veggie.  

 

i have had mine for 9 months in my IM10 and he loves these.  at first i had to soak the pellet in a drop of selcon to get him to eat it, now he will eat 3-6 pellets in a sitting, and they only get soaked a few times a month as a vitamin boost.  TSBs don't eat much in one sitting, relatively anyway, like say a clown would...so i turn off my pump and only add in one or two at a time until he is uninterested and lets the pellet hit the sand.  mine was very small when i got him so he would only eat a pellet or two at a time, so i fed him twice a day. 

 

my TSB also likes PE Pellets, '1 mm slow sinking', which is mostly PE mysis.  these pellets are also tiny, which is very important for TSBs when small, otherwise they spit it out.  he gets these about once or twice a week but mostly the Seaweed Extreme.  throughout the day he will certainly graze any algae you have growing in the tank, he's kept mine pretty much algae free.

 

i have tried Julian Sprung's Sea Veggies in purple and green and he just does not love them.  i have tried the clip, and i've tried cutting the sheet into very small pieces and he will occasionally eat a small piece or two but he is mostly uninterested (they have to be cut VERY small).  this sucks because i want his diet to consist of much more of this.  i've also soaked a few small pieces in Selcon, which helps, but not really.  my girlfriend gets pissed he "won't eat his veggies" and that they have to be cut up very small or he won't touch them, just like a little kid 

 

good luck with the guy, they are one of my absolute favorite nano fish.  mine got named Mowgli.  hope this helps!

Awesome!  I've looked at the PE Mysis pellets, and will have a look at the others too.  Very helpful to know, thanks!

 

9 hours ago, gone_PHiSHin said:

 

you may be thinking Diver's Den and not actual Live Aquaria?

@lkoechle got marine velvet from Diver's Den. Wiped out her whole tank.

 

 

6 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

My TSB devours mysis and flake.  He would nibble at nori when I used to put it in the tank.  If I remember correctly, it took him a while to start eating.  Try as many foods as you can.  I hope your critters arrive safely!

I did collect a variety when preparing for the bimaculatus blenny, though I don't have any seaweed.  Fingers crossed he comes in healthier than that guy did!

 

1 hour ago, StinkyBunny said:

I bought fish from both and have never had a fish live for very long or they bring in crap that wipes out everything in short order. They're the reason I got back into the business of transshipping fish and corals. That and there being no shops in the area. The closest store to me is 45 mins away.

 

Definitely try the veggie pellets. Ours would eat those after he got settled in the tank, can't remember which pellets we used, but Hikari makes great foods, I use them for my Koi and goldfish.

I think I have some Hikari M pellet sample somewhere, not sure if I have anything else.

[Lula_Mae]

I put the clown in the 5.5 last night so I can prep the QT for the blenny!  Was going to set up the 15 but was not happy with my spray paint job so that will have to wait.  Hmph.

[lkoechle]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

@lkoechle got marine velvet from Diver's Den. Wiped out her whole tank

True story.  should have qted,  but when you are paying more divers den you expect a healthy product I jave banned online ordering now.  No one can be trusted 

[gone_PHiSHin]

i don't understand how it is any different from a LFS?

 

no new fish can be trusted, which is why we quarantine and treat, right?

[StinkyBunny]

I got what we call in the trade Red Sea velvet, there's jack shit you can do to stop it. I've tried everything under the sun and couldn't stop it and I have access to all sorts of vet drugs and nada. Stupid damn Orange Skunk clowns, I love them to pieces, but they're plague magnets.

[sapling]

GL on the order @Lula_Mae !

My TSB never had a issue with my clown, and is actually always within a few inches of the clown usually when not in its hole or picking copepods. they were added the same time. I dont know if that affected their compatibility. I dont know if you had plans for them together, but just put it out there in case youre wondering.

[StinkyBunny]

10 hours ago, gone_PHiSHin said:

i don't understand how it is any different from a LFS?

 

no new fish can be trusted, which is why we quarantine and treat, right?

You can't trust a quarantined fish either, there's always the risk that they're carrying something. I bring in fish from all over the globe, Australia, Sri Lanka, Red Sea, The Philippines, Indonesia, Bali, The Solomon Islands, Vietnam, Haiti, Florida and Fiji. Fiji fish are SUPER clean as are The Philippines. Indo and Bali are dirty as a used needle laying in the gutter, their corals are the same way, chock full of cooties. Australia is hit or miss, it comes down to connecting flights and delays.

 

 Stress is what kills fish, weaken their immune system and you WILL have trouble at some point. Case and point, I can take a Powder Blue tang that I've had for 6 months, move it to another tank in the same system it's been in and I'd bet my shop that it'll have ich in the morning.

 

Some fish don't ship well, wrasses are HORRIBLE shippers, Copperband butterflies are another one. Cleaner wrasses come in and they look like they're dead, 20 mins into an hour acclimation and they're up and around, Powder Blues are the same way. Y'all would stroke out if you saw the way some fish came in. Unless it's gills are open and the water's milky, I never count a fish out. I got an order for a Gem tang a week ago and he was eating 10 mins after I dumped him in the system.

[gone_PHiSHin]

so then you are saying there is no point in quarantining a fish?

[TheBig053]

13 hours ago, lkoechle said:

True story.  should have qted,  but when you are paying more divers den you expect a healthy product I jave banned online ordering now.  No one can be trusted 

I have not online ordered a fish yet. I am terrified to because of this reason, but I think I may have to if I want my Starry Blenny for the new 20L.

2 hours ago, StinkyBunny said:

You can't trust a quarantined fish either, there's always the risk that they're carrying something. I bring in fish from all over the globe, Australia, Sri Lanka, Red Sea, The Philippines, Indonesia, Bali, The Solomon Islands, Vietnam, Haiti, Florida and Fiji. Fiji fish are SUPER clean as are The Philippines. Indo and Bali are dirty as a used needle laying in the gutter, their corals are the same way, chock full of cooties. Australia is hit or miss, it comes down to connecting flights and delays.

 

 Stress is what kills fish, weaken their immune system and you WILL have trouble at some point. Case and point, I can take a Powder Blue tang that I've had for 6 months, move it to another tank in the same system it's been in and I'd bet my shop that it'll have ich in the morning.

 

Some fish don't ship well, wrasses are HORRIBLE shippers, Copperband butterflies are another one. Cleaner wrasses come in and they look like they're dead, 20 mins into an hour acclimation and they're up and around, Powder Blues are the same way. Y'all would stroke out if you saw the way some fish came in. Unless it's gills are open and the water's milky, I never count a fish out. I got an order for a Gem tang a week ago and he was eating 10 mins after I dumped him in the system.

@StinkyBunny do you work for an LFS or an aquarium? Just curious. 

[StinkyBunny]

14 hours ago, TheBig053 said:

I have not online ordered a fish yet. I am terrified to because of this reason, but I think I may have to if I want my Starry Blenny for the new 20L.

@StinkyBunny do you work for an LFS or an aquarium? Just curious. 

I import fish and corals so I see all of the cooties that come down the pike. I've also had aquariums since 1974, I started my first marine tank in 1977, first reef tank in 1985.

[WV Reefer]

14 hours ago, TheBig053 said:

I have not online ordered a fish yet. I am terrified to because of this reason, but I think I may have to if I want my Starry Blenny for the new 20L.

I bought my Starry Blenny from Blue Zoo Aquatics.  They are great to deal with and I’ve yet to receive anything sketchy.  

[gone_PHiSHin]

On 11/2/2017 at 6:21 PM, gone_PHiSHin said:

so then you are saying there is no point in quarantining a fish?

 

[StinkyBunny]

On 11/2/2017 at 8:21 PM, gone_PHiSHin said:

so then you are saying there is no point in quarantining a fish?

No, it's a good idea, but what I'm saying is that you're NOT going to catch everything with a 6/8/10 week quarantine. The minute you stress that fish it could break with something. The minute you add a coral/rock/invert you could introduce something.If you don't have the facilities to quarantine then buying online is not  good choice where you can't observe a fish. For my personal tanks I bring something in, watch it for a week, then it's going to my tank if it's eating and healthy. i do a Prazi treatment in that week to clean out any internal parasites which are the leading cause of death in captive systems. They stress the animal and they succumb to the secondary infection. I see that all the time.

[sapling]

10 hours ago, StinkyBunny said:

No, it's a good idea, but what I'm saying is that you're NOT going to catch everything with a 6/8/10 week quarantine. The minute you stress that fish it could break with something. The minute you add a coral/rock/invert you could introduce something.If you don't have the facilities to quarantine then buying online is not  good choice where you can't observe a fish. For my personal tanks I bring something in, watch it for a week, then it's going to my tank if it's eating and healthy. i do a Prazi treatment in that week to clean out any internal parasites which are the leading cause of death in captive systems. They stress the animal and they succumb to the secondary infection. I see that all the time.

@StinkyBunny thats interesting to say, in freshwater I've always done a week of prophylactic treatments of new fish with general cure(prazi & metro), and ick x, but In saltwater I Have not practiced this because iirc, I was told not to. I've always seen any fish not in my care as possibly dirty, no matter the origin.

My question to you specifically though is could internal parasites be a common cause of fish not eating such for example, Court Jester Gobies and Blennies? Because I've read that like in the Case of Court Jester Gobies, Captive Bred never seem to have a problem eating, vs the Wild caught.

https://biotaaquariums.com/product/rainford-goby-court-jester/

An example of a CB court jester touted as being readily eating vs a Wild caught.

[StinkyBunny]

1 hour ago, sapling said:

@StinkyBunny thats interesting to say, in freshwater I've always done a week of prophylactic treatments of new fish with general cure(prazi & metro), and ick x, but In saltwater I Have not practiced this because iirc, I was told not to. I've always seen any fish not in my care as possibly dirty, no matter the origin.

My question to you specifically though is could internal parasites be a common cause of fish not eating such for example, Court Jester Gobies and Blennies? Because I've read that like in the Case of Court Jester Gobies, Captive Bred never seem to have a problem eating, vs the Wild caught.

https://biotaaquariums.com/product/rainford-goby-court-jester/

An example of a CB court jester touted as being readily eating vs a Wild caught.

Rainford gobies are a strange lot of fish, all sand sifting gobies are alive with internal parasites. My best guess on them is just the mere fact that they are constantly sifting through sand where all parasites settle at some point. I've kept Rainford's gobies a few times and never had an issue after a 2 week round of Prazi. I think they need an extended treatment just for that reason.  I doubt that any of the major wholesalers would put that effort into such low margin fish.

 

Goatfish, another sand sifter, don't seem to have the same issues and after a week of Prazi they're good.

[Lula_Mae]

On 11/2/2017 at 9:01 AM, gone_PHiSHin said:

i don't understand how it is any different from a LFS?

 

no new fish can be trusted, which is why we quarantine and treat, right?

Two week guarantee.

 

On 11/2/2017 at 4:45 PM, sapling said:

GL on the order @Lula_Mae !

My TSB never had a issue with my clown, and is actually always within a few inches of the clown usually when not in its hole or picking copepods. they were added the same time. I dont know if that affected their compatibility. I dont know if you had plans for them together, but just put it out there in case youre wondering.

Thanks!  I haven't decided if the TSB will be the permanent resident in the 5.5 or if he'll join the clown in the 15, but he's in quarantine till around Christmas at least so I've got time lol.

 

On 11/2/2017 at 10:23 PM, TheBig053 said:

I have not online ordered a fish yet. I am terrified to because of this reason, but I think I may have to if I want my Starry Blenny for the new 20L.

@StinkyBunny do you work for an LFS or an aquarium? Just curious. 

It's a little nerve wracking but I'd pick up a cheap tank (or use one you've got and set it up, I have a sponge filter I rigged up from an old AquaClear sponge and a cheap Tetra heater so it can be done economically.  Just some PVC pipes in there for hiding spots.

 

On 11/3/2017 at 1:03 PM, StinkyBunny said:

I import fish and corals so I see all of the cooties that come down the pike. I've also had aquariums since 1974, I started my first marine tank in 1977, first reef tank in 1985.

You've been reefing as long as I've been alive! You always have such interesting tidbits, I enjoy seeing your posts.

 

On 11/3/2017 at 1:12 PM, WV Reefer said:

I bought my Starry Blenny from Blue Zoo Aquatics.  They are great to deal with and I’ve yet to receive anything sketchy.  

STARRRRRLOOOORRRRDDD!

 

Update in next post.

[Lula_Mae]

Life's been kinda busy the last few weeks so the tank has suffered a bit of 'benign neglect' (excepting around the gorg incident ) so the algae is growing happily and I need to do some peroxiding soon.  May try fluconazole to get rid of the bryopsis but I need to do more research on it.  Sadly, I lost my beautiful purpleberry fantasy zoas from @Legendary Corals from the peroxide dip to kill the algae on the plug before adding to the jar.  The other frags survived (though the Blondies are still kinda pissed) and have been moved to the jar after they recovered.

 

After the gorg incident, my feather duster had disappeared and I thought he was dead until I peeked in the tank one night and saw this...

 

 

It's gotten even bigger in the last few days so I am sooo happy!  This little guy is a trooper!  I still miss Miracle Max who died a while back though, poor guy!

 

I realized I had never posted the FTS for October, so I'm sharing it now and will add it to the first post.  It was taken 10/26.

 

October 1st we went to PetSmart and picked up a mouse to celebrate our anniversary!  It was something we'd wanted to do for a long time.  We call him Reese because he reminds us of a Reese's peanut butter cup with his dark body and tan-brown belly.  He's bold and friendly and loves clambering upside down on the ceiling of his cage lol.  Here he is in his little go-home box:

 

One nice day we both had the day off so we decided to up and go to the zoo!  I hadn't been in years and last time the flamingos and birds were closed so I wanted to see them.

 

The bench across from the flamingos had a little sign and picture on it, it had been donated in memory of a young woman who loved the flamingos and had died recently and it was her birthday so someone had posted a little note to her.

 

We also saw the giraffes (my husband's favorite animal)!  They came out long enough for some pictures lol.

 

We also saw signs like this in a couple of places:

 

 

I don't think I ever posted a picture, but when I got the first squat lobster for the jar, I also ordered a Christmas tree worm rock!  Except for a small part of rock that died when a rock fell on it before I moved it to the front, it seems to be doing well so far!  They're sooo pretty!

 

Last week, I saw Gulf Coast Ecosystems had sargassum in stock!  So of course I ordered some, as well as a green lace gorgonian, two green rics and some virgin nerite and dwarf cerith snails which I split between the tanks.  I don't have a direct picture of them but they can be seen in the FTS I'll show later in the post.  I also ordered a new squat lobster for the jar, and the other stuff I shared earlier.  LiveAquaria contacted me to say the Pederson's was damaged and couldn't be shipped. Wonder if something ate him lol.  I also got the pom pom with white poms and the tailspot blenny!  The tailspot had stringy white poop in his bag. I've ordered some Prazipro which should arrive tomorrow.  Any other treatment suggestions appreciated lol.  He was rather traumatized by the process of getting him out of the bag and spent two days wedged between the sponge and tank wall.  Then he found a small piece of PVC.  Here's his cute little face peeking out of it!  Don't mind the dirtiness, I did clean the tank but tried to leave some film for him to graze on in case I couldn't get him eating right away.

 

 

 

He's still in stress coloration but starting to be a teensy bit braver.

 

The pom pom I added to the 5.5 because I thought it'd be big enough for two.  I was hoping no Shelby and Shirley situation would play out like last spring...

 

Unfortunately when I added him to the tank (and as he slowly sank down through the water, the clown kept dancing around like, "MAKE MORE THINGS FALL FROM THE SKY!!!" like it was the coolest thing ever ), he sank down between the middle and right hand rocks and immediately, who should come out but the other pom, right from that spot, carrying what appeared to be a small piece of toadstool in his right claw, waving angrily...you can see him on the rock, and if you look closely, the new crab is directly below him on the bottom of the tank.

 

I kept an eye on them for a while but they scattered and seemed ok so I went to bed.  When I got up, I saw this:

 

He came dancing across the front doing what looked suspiciously like a victory dance, and if you look closely the poms appear smaller than in the first pom pic of the new one.  I pulled a couple of rocks out and tried to find the other one but was unsuccessful.  I hope he's ok...

 

I had to move the as-yet not glued down digitata to be able to move the rocks and noticed the base has lost flesh and polyps, I think it may be STN?  It does appear to be slowly moving up the base. I've struggled with this guy since I got it, I think my original flow was too low and I couldn't find a good spot because the stupid plug was impossible and I finally broke it off and glued to rubble and tried it in the jar but it hated it and it likes this tank better but I have not been able to really make it happy.  One tip that died a bit at the very beginning keeps growing algae. Any advice appreciated, I will probably never be an SPS girl lol.

 

Behind it you can see Jacques chilling on one of his many thrones, the beautiful mushroom I got for my bday at the LFS!

 

My finicky purple centered purple and teal blasto is looking happy and its baby heads are getting bigger!

 

Finally, a slightly cattywompus FTS:

 

Enjoy!

[Lula_Mae]

Nearly forgot to add this--Violet got a bath tonight and it traumatized her so badly, first she tried to climb my arm, then she peed and pooped, and once we were done, I dried her off and she looked at me reproachfully with terrified eyes.  I let her climb in a snuggle sack and she napped on my lap for a good 2-3 hours.  Poor girl!

 

 

[WV Reefer]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

Nearly forgot to add this--Violet got a bath tonight and it traumatized her so badly, first she tried to climb my arm, then she peed and pooped, and once we were done, I dried her off and she looked at me reproachfully with terrified eyes.  I let her climb in a snuggle sack and she napped on my lap for a good 2-3 hours.  Poor girl!

 

 

Violet is the cutest!

 

you always get the crazy Pom Poms!...... I would put mine in and never see them again- yours go full gladiator every time lol

 

that Blenny is super cute peeking out.   

 

 

[Lula_Mae]

3 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

Violet is the cutest!

 

you always get the crazy Pom Poms!...... I would put mine in and never see them again- yours go full gladiator every time lol

 

that Blenny is super cute peeking out.   

 

 

Haha this is the first time I've seen the pom since I took out the bryopsis covered rock a few weeks ago, I see him maybe once a month!  Guess having fresh poms available brought out the the fighter in him...

 

Violet was so terrified by her bath, poor girl!  Clearly I need to get her used to it lol.  The soap I used is handmade for hedgies and designed to moisturize their skin, she's been scratching lately so I'm hoping it's just dry skin and not mites (though I need to find a vet who treats hedgies to get that checked out and make sure).  Her quills were very shiny from all the oils in it!

 

The blenny is super cute! My husband has nicknamed him Snoops, because he snoops lol.

[vlangel]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

Nearly forgot to add this--Violet got a bath tonight and it traumatized her so badly, first she tried to climb my arm, then she peed and pooped, and once we were done, I dried her off and she looked at me reproachfully with terrified eyes.  I let her climb in a snuggle sack and she napped on my lap for a good 2-3 hours.  Poor girl!

 

 

Despite the trauma she endured I was happy to read that it had a peaceful ending ?.

[Lula_Mae]

27 minutes ago, vlangel said:

Despite the trauma she endured I was happy to read that it had a peaceful ending ?.

I'm glad too, for all her grumpiness, she really is a very sweet-natured hedgehog.

[Lula_Mae]

Blenny is officially eating mysis.  He spit out the Hikari seaweed pellets except maybe one lol.  I did put a few in with the thawing mysis so I'm hoping he'll get accustomed to the taste (they dissolved so I will have to soak future pellets for a short period of time before feeding).  My prazipro arrived but I haven't opened it yet as I was working the last couple nights.  Tips for using would be appreciated, I've rarely medicated fish so I'm new to this game lol.

[Lula_Mae]

I just realized this tank has hit its six month tank-iversary!  Hooray!

[WV Reefer]

5 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

I just realized this tank has hit its six month tank-iversary!  Hooray!

Yay!!