Snow's 20G Lazarus Pit - One Last Tribute.

[WV Reefer]

[kimberbee]

[Tamberav]

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Thank you so much for all the dancing, everyone. Was a nice surprise to wake up to early in the morning. 

[kimberbee]

  

[Tamberav]

[WV Reefer]

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

[Sancho]

1 hour ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Thank you so much for all the dancing, everyone. Was a nice surprise to wake up to early in the morning. 

      

             

                    

                           

                                 

 

 

[Sancho]

Seriously sorry to hear about meatball. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

5 minutes ago, Sancho said:

Seriously sorry to hear about meatball. 

His loss was definitely devastating. I'm burying myself in work so that I don't think too much about him or my tank. I guess it is what it is. This hobby most certainly has its ups and downs. 9 years into it and there are still 'ouch' moments to it. Thankfully, the rest of my livestock are doing alright. 

[Sancho]

4 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

His loss was definitely devastating. I'm burying myself in work so that I don't think too much about him or my tank. I guess it is what it is. This hobby most certainly has its ups and downs. 9 years into it and there are still 'ouch' moments to it. Thankfully, the rest of my livestock are doing alright. 

Yeah that it does....But it still sucks ass to lose something you’ve put so much care and effort into. 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

23 minutes ago, Sancho said:

Yeah that it does....But it still sucks ass to lose something you’ve put so much care and effort into. 

 

 

It definitely does. 

[Tamberav]

[banasophia]

Awww... I’m so sorry, I just saw the sad news about Meatball... sending hugs your way.  😢🤗

[Snow_Phoenix]

3 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Awww... I’m so sorry, I just saw the sad news about Meatball... sending hugs your way.  😢🤗

Thank you, Bana. I love your tanks btw. They're very inspiring. And keeping that Mandy of yours chubby and healthy is definitely tough too. Great work!

[kimberbee]

30 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

I don't know what this is, but I don't like it!! 😕

[Tamberav]

14 minutes ago, kimberbee said:

I don't know what this is, but I don't like it!! 😕

haha something from Nick at Nite to give you nightmares.

[vlangel]

O no Snow, I am so sad for you!  To have a nice fat mandy that was eating and then to experience its loss from a fluke accident is so upsetting.  Unfortunately we just can not protect our pets from every potential mishap and its the risk we take when we get a pet.  Still, it always hurts.  😢

[Snow_Phoenix]

14 minutes ago, vlangel said:

O no Snow, I am so sad for you!  To have a nice fat mandy that was eating and then to experience its loss from a fluke accident is so upsetting.  Unfortunately we just can not protect our pets from every potential mishap and its the risk we take when we get a pet.  Still, it always hurts.  😢

It still stings. I admit I was on the verge of giving up. I even made preparations to cancel the upgrade, sell off everything and rehome all the fish. But I took the time off to reflect, and I was stunned when some of the people on NR reached out to me outside of the site. All the dancing emoticons caught me off guard too.

 

I guess I can't help getting attached to certain things - especially my animals. It's challenging enough reefing with multiple disabilities and diseases but I have to say, we really have a good forum with very supportive people in it. 

 

I've decided not to give up after today afternoon. I'll still push on. Plus, I don't think I can imagine rehoming my blenny or GCG. Those two have literally been through hell and back last year, and I'd love to keep them around for the rest of their days.

 

The upgrade will still happen, but there might be a delay. I'm getting all the equipment one by one. I've already purchased another box of Fritz RPM and 10kg of LS. I just need to get a bigger wavemaker too before I finalize the payment for the tank set. 

[vlangel]

1 hour ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

It still stings. I admit I was on the verge of giving up. I even made preparations to cancel the upgrade, sell off everything and rehome all the fish. But I took the time off to reflect, and I was stunned when some of the people on NR reached out to me outside of the site. All the dancing emoticons caught me off guard too.

 

I guess I can't help getting attached to certain things - especially my animals. It's challenging enough reefing with multiple disabilities and diseases but I have to say, we really have a good forum with very supportive people in it. 

 

I've decided not to give up after today afternoon. I'll still push on. Plus, I don't think I can imagine rehoming my blenny or GCG. Those two have literally been through hell and back last year, and I'd love to keep them around for the rest of their days.

 

The upgrade will still happen, but there might be a delay. I'm getting all the equipment one by one. I've already purchased another box of Fritz RPM and 10kg of LS. I just need to get a bigger wavemaker too before I finalize the payment for the tank set. 

Taking some time off was wise.  Any time we experience a traumatic event we should not jump into a change because the pain does lessen with some time.  You will feel joy in your tank again and taking your time with the upgrade may be a good thing.

[Snow_Phoenix]

4 minutes ago, vlangel said:

Taking some time off was wise.  Any time we experience a traumatic event we should not jump into a change because the pain does lessen with some time.  You will feel joy in your tank again and taking your time with the upgrade may be a good thing.

That is some very good advice and I appreciate it. I'm definitely taking it slow. Are you by any chance participating in the upcoming Pico contest? I'm thinking of joining in, just for the fun of it. 🙂 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Some random shots from the tank today (only the shot with my perchlet was taken few days ago, before Meatball passed away):

 

 

 

My green monticap is still bouncing back. There's a small white dead spot in the middle of the plate, but new flesh is slowly growing over it. As for the white edge that has died off, new flesh is also growing over it, but at a much, much slower rate. Other parts of the cap is still spreading out and growing normally under my lights.

 

Also, my RBTA decided to take a walk a few hours after I took these pics. It parked itself on my red monticap and was still walking, so I scooped it up and isolated it in a breeder box. Getting the crab to comply was harder - the little jerk pinched me (ouch!) and made a beeline for the rocks at the back of the tank. I found him trying to filter-feed from one of the LR outcrops at the far left of the tank few hours later, and after a little wild chase around the tank with my fingers, I scooped him up and placed him in the breeder box with the nem. I think I'll leave the pair of them in there until I upgrade. The nem was clearly obsessed with crawling towards the highest point in my tank to get to the light (I've just recently upped my UVs and blues), and I was more worried it would travel too far to the left and directly squish itself into my wavemaker. Once the upgrade is up, I'll let the nem choose a spot it's comfortable with in the tank, and *then arrange the corals around it. I think that would be a lot better for everything involved. 

 

----

 

Other non-reefing projects I'm still doing:

 

1. My baby spiny eels have all grown up! They still have more growing to do, but I'm proud at how far these two have made it:

 

 

2. This is another one of my favorites. Spot is probably the oldest FW fish I have with me right now, and has come a long way from being the juvenile eel I once brought home many years ago. The only reason he has lasted this long is because he has adapted fully to a captive diet and pretty much eats anything (except pellets) that I throw into the tank:

 

3. And these are some of the discus I raised from 2" juvis. They're not 'high-grade' - just rejected specimens from the farm that went for very low prices because either their markings were too dull, or their 'shape' wasn't right enough for discus enthusiasts:

 

 

I still think they're all wonderful fish, and as long as they're healthy and thriving, who cares if they don't conform to the usual standards of beauty? They still look good to me, so I'll keep keeping them regardless.

 

Lastly, this is my 70G FW tank. It's basically a barebones tank with a lot of PVC pipes thrown in specially for the eels and catfish that live in there. The tank gets exposed to strips of direct sunlight during hot seasons (like now), so there is a lot of algae covering the rocks, pipes and ornaments. I'm not too worried. It does look unsightly to some folks, but I have hillstream loaches in there - staunch algae eaters that are not known to live long in private aquariums unless you supply their diet with blanched zucchini or algae wafers. I supply wafers, but otherwise give them the organic food they need to survive.

 

 

I'm planning on rescaping though - to add more cover for the fish. But one project at a time. 

Add-On: Also planning on fixing the current filter and upgrading to a canister in the long run. I heard it's tougher to maintain, but it does help to keep the nitrates down. 

[WV Reefer]

16 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Some random shots from the tank today (only the shot with my perchlet was taken few days ago, before Meatball passed away):

 

 

 

My green monticap is still bouncing back. There's a small white dead spot in the middle of the plate, but new flesh is slowly growing over it. As for the white edge that has died off, new flesh is also growing over it, but at a much, much slower rate. Other parts of the cap is still spreading out and growing normally under my lights.

 

Also, my RBTA decided to take a walk a few hours after I took these pics. It parked itself on my red monticap and was still walking, so I scooped it up and isolated it in a breeder box. Getting the crab to comply was harder - the little jerk pinched me (ouch!) and made a beeline for the rocks at the back of the tank. I found him trying to filter-feed from one of the LR outcrops at the far left of the tank few hours later, and after a little wild chase around the tank with my fingers, I scooped him up and placed him in the breeder box with the nem. I think I'll leave the pair of them in there until I upgrade. The nem was clearly obsessed with crawling towards the highest point in my tank to get to the light (I've just recently upped my UVs and blues), and I was more worried it would travel too far to the left and directly squish itself into my wavemaker. Once the upgrade is up, I'll let the nem choose a spot it's comfortable with in the tank, and *then arrange the corals around it. I think that would be a lot better for everything involved. 

 

----

 

Other non-reefing projects I'm still doing:

 

1. My baby spiny eels have all grown up! They still have more growing to do, but I'm proud at how far these two have made it:

 

 

2. This is another one of my favorites. Spot is probably the oldest FW fish I have with me right now, and has come a long way from being the juvenile eel I once brought home many years ago. The only reason he has lasted this long is because he has adapted fully to a captive diet and pretty much eats anything (except pellets) that I throw into the tank:

 

3. And these are some of the discus I raised from 2" juvis. They're not 'high-grade' - just rejected specimens from the farm that went for very low prices because either their markings were too dull, or their 'shape' wasn't right enough for discus enthusiasts:

 

 

I still think they're all wonderful fish, and as long as they're healthy and thriving, who cares if they don't conform to the usual standards of beauty? They still look good to me, so I'll keep keeping them regardless.

 

Lastly, this is my 70G FW tank. It's basically a barebones tank with a lot of PVC pipes thrown in specially for the eels and catfish that live in there. The tank gets exposed to strips of direct sunlight during hot seasons (like now), so there is a lot of algae covering the rocks, pipes and ornaments. I'm not too worried. It does look unsightly to some folks, but I have hillstream loaches in there - staunch algae eaters that are not known to live long in private aquariums unless you supply their diet with blanched zucchini or algae wafers. I supply wafers, but otherwise give them the organic food they need to survive.

 

 

I'm planning on rescaping though - to add more cover for the fish. But one project at a time. 

Add-On: Also planning on fixing the current filter and upgrading to a canister in the long run. I heard it's tougher to maintain, but it does help to keep the nitrates down. 

 

Thanos is turning into a reef monster!! 🙂

 

i love that pic of the perchlet under the duster. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

3 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

 

Thanos is turning into a reef monster!! 🙂

 

i love that pic of the perchlet under the duster. 

Oh, yes. Want to bet he'll hit 6" once I transfer him into the 60G? He's a mammoth in fish-terms lol.