5 gallon Lagoon/Invert System - Dragonface Pipefish disaster :(

[Euler]

Hello,

 

Just wanted to share my five gallon lagoon-style tank. Let me know what you guys think!

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

Nice! What is the reddish yellow anemone like critter? Also, nice job using chaeto in a cosmetic fashion

[Euler]

6 minutes ago, AlmightyJoshaeus said:

Nice! What is the reddish yellow anemone like critter? Also, nice job using chaeto in a cosmetic fashion

Thanks! That is a sea apple. It's a type of sea cucumber.

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

Ahhh...it looks nice. How long have you had it? I thought that sea apples were challenging to keep

[Euler]

4 minutes ago, AlmightyJoshaeus said:

Ahhh...it looks nice. How long have you had it? I thought that sea apples were challenging to keep

Thanks. I just got it in January, but it's doing great so far. They are challenging to keep - they can poison the tank if they're stressed, and need to be fed phytoplankton multiple times per day

[Christopher Marks]

Welcome to the community @Euler!

 

A sea apple, wow! 😲 Those are absolutely incredible, I am impressed that you are keeping one! Any photos of your phytoplankton hatchery? How long has your nano reef been running?

 

Thanks for sharing!

[Euler]

6 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

Welcome to the community @Euler!

 

A sea apple, wow! 😲 Those are absolutely incredible, I am impressed that you are keeping one! Any photos of your phytoplankton hatchery? How long has your nano reef been running?

 

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the warm welcome Chris!

 

I actually don't culture phytoplankton (I used to but not anymore). Currently I use the fauna marin line of foods, specifically ultra clam and ultra min s, and these have been working great.

 

This tank has been running for a little over a year now.

[Euler]

Quick update

 

Tank is running fine, added a small red fromia starfish. I actually caught it everting its stomach on the glass - meaning that it's eating the algae or biofilm thats growing on it. Given that nobody really knows what these guys eat, I find that really interesting. 

 

[Euler]

More pics!

 

[Euler]

So on Saturday I added a little dragonface pipefish. Upon introduction, he was eating pods of the glass which I was stoked about.

 

However, the next day he spent the whole day hiding in a cave and today evening, he just started swimming erratically and died right in front of me 😞 

 

I'm not sure what the cause of death was. I haven't ruled out sea apple poisoning, but all the corals and inverts are doing fine, and the sea apple is looking normal - they usually only release their poison as a last resort. Maybe an internal parasite of some sort? That would explain the erratic swimming right before he died.

 

Anyways, I'm super bummed. I really thought it was gonna make it 😞