Snow_Phoenix Posted March 7, 2019 Author Share Posted March 7, 2019 Just finalized the new tank's design today with my LFS manager: DT = 24" x 24" x 24" = 60G Sump = 20" x 18" x 16" = 25G Cabinet = Black matte, waterproof coating Pump = tbd (most likely Astro brand) Total cost including plumbing, set-up, delivery and pump = RM 1200 LR = purchased already LS = 10 kg = RM 28 (to be bought) Light = AI Prime HD 1x unit Refugium Light = Aquazonic LED 17 W (75% functioning - old light) No skimmer 1x bucket Fritz RPM salt (23kg) = RM 250 (to be bought) Wavemaker = tbd* (estimated cost will be RM 250) So total cost needed = RM 1.2K + RM 28 + RM 250 + Rm 250 = RM1728. Costly, but set up should be up by mid-April (latest). 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted March 7, 2019 Author Share Posted March 7, 2019 My good friend @Tamberav gave a very good point while I discussed with her and @WV Reefer - given the dimensions of my tank, the Prime will not be enough to cover whatever corals that lie on the sandbed. So she suggested shrooms, and yep, shrooms sounds good. Perhaps even a ring of NPS - gorgs, sponges and the like. I'm boosting up the height of the 20G LR pieces which are covered in corals by using the new LR pieces I acquired as base rock. Might need to do some chipping/breaking to get them into proper shape, but we'll see. The transfer of livestock will go in several parts. I'll transfer all the coral-encrusted LR from my 20G into the 60G on Day 1. The rocks from the fuge in the 20G will be transferred into the fuge chamber of the 25G sump of the 60G (I requested for a larger sump, so we're increasing it from 16G to 25G). The new LR rocks will be transferred into the 60G piece by piece. They would have finished cycling in the 1.5 to 2 months, but this is mostly in anticipation of of a nasty diatom/algae outbreak (or phosphate leach). Once all rocks and corals are in, I'll move the fish in pairs, every three days once. I think I have around 8 fish in total atm, so they'll go in according to sensitivity (meaning whoever who's not going to handle QT and isolation very well). Clownfish will most likely go in last because they're hardier. Meatball gets first seat. The sand will be completely new though. Everything else is about the same. So it'll just be one large TT-Upgrade combo. I'm worried about the SPS. My LFS recommended I use a bit of SW from my 20G in the 60G. Not sure if I should, because I'll be using the same salt (Fritz RPM) anyway. In months (or maybe a year to come), I'll add another unit of Prime HD to increase light coverage. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 15 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said: My good friend @Tamberav gave a very good point while I discussed with her and @WV Reefer - given the dimensions of my tank, the Prime will not be enough to cover whatever corals that lie on the sandbed. So she suggested shrooms, and yep, shrooms sounds good. Perhaps even a ring of NPS - gorgs, sponges and the like. I'm boosting up the height of the 20G LR pieces which are covered in corals by using the new LR pieces I acquired as base rock. Might need to do some chipping/breaking to get them into proper shape, but we'll see. The transfer of livestock will go in several parts. I'll transfer all the coral-encrusted LR from my 20G into the 60G on Day 1. The rocks from the fuge in the 20G will be transferred into the fuge chamber of the 25G sump of the 60G (I requested for a larger sump, so we're increasing it from 16G to 25G). The new LR rocks will be transferred into the 60G piece by piece. They would have finished cycling in the 1.5 to 2 months, but this is mostly in anticipation of of a nasty diatom/algae outbreak (or phosphate leach). Once all rocks and corals are in, I'll move the fish in pairs, every three days once. I think I have around 8 fish in total atm, so they'll go in according to sensitivity (meaning whoever who's not going to handle QT and isolation very well). Clownfish will most likely go in last because they're hardier. Meatball gets first seat. The sand will be completely new though. Everything else is about the same. So it'll just be one large TT-Upgrade combo. I'm worried about the SPS. My LFS recommended I use a bit of SW from my 20G in the 60G. Not sure if I should, because I'll be using the same salt (Fritz RPM) anyway. In months (or maybe a year to come), I'll add another unit of Prime HD to increase light coverage. 🙂 I cant wait to see it all set up!! 😃 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 27 minutes ago, WV Reefer said: I cant wait to see it all set up!! 😃 I'll have to create a new journal once it's here though. 😛 It's quite a big jump. I haven't had a mixed reef tank this large before. I don't know whether going skimmerless is going to be a good option, but I'm trying to maximize the space for LR to act as a pod factory for my Mandy. I'm building the tank around him, for his health and comfort. Stocking plans yet to be finalized - but I'm pulling everyone from the 20G over, bit by bit. 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 A mix of both good and bad news - we'll go with the bad news first. My grindal worm culture crashed some time early this evening so I did an emergency culture-transfer to new media. Unfortunately, there were very little viable worms left to make a colony so I don't have my hopes up. This is a major problem because the grindals were one of the food sources for my Mandy, Meatball, but most importantly, was the main food source for my spiny eels, Chip and Sandy, who are still not large enough to swallow bloodworms, let alone earthworms. Good news: I don't only culture grindals. I culture microworms as well as earthworms. Earthworms are way, way too large for a mandarin, but microworms are fine enough. I haven't however, tried it out with Meatball. Better news: My mandarin isn't dependent on grindals for survival. I got lucky. Meatball accepts live copepods as well as frozen crab roe ---> major bonus. Here he is today, eating some crab roe: He still hasn't fully accepted frozen brine or mysis. I'll try to step it up by trying out different types of food - paste, pellets, even frozen cyclops and see if we can progress from there. It's crucial that he eats, and he retains his fat rolls: So, I guess the main lesson here is: always, always have two to three cultures of everything you have, running at once, just in case one culture fails or is contaminated. I'm trying to learn how to culture Daphnia and copepods next. Not sure if Daphnia can survive in SW, but we'll see. 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted March 9, 2019 Author Share Posted March 9, 2019 I have some very bad news. I have a small breeder box that resides permanently in my 20G. The top of it juts above the waterline of my tank by approx. 1". I was away from my bedroom for 1 to 1.5 hours. When I returned, I took a peek at the tank (which is the norm - I usually do a headcount of all my fish before turning in for the night). I found Meatball plastered on the top of my breeder box lid. He was still wet and slimy, but had clearly been out of the water for some time. I quickly opened up the box and slipped him inside. He did this odd-twitchy jerk with his head and swam upside down for a while, I supported him for several seconds until he could reorientate himself. He was gasping for air, at the bottom of the box and grayed out. There was nothing much I could do except hope for the best that he pulled through the night.😞 He made it through the night. It's now 12:01 pm here, but he's paled out (no vibrant colors), sloughing off the mucus coating of his body excessively, immobile and not eating. I tried to target feed him live BBS and all he does is sit there, and breathe. He's no longer gasping, but is still breathing very badly. I suspect he has some sort of internal injury from either being out in the air or slamming on the box lid. He's in very, very bad shape. I'm quite crushed. I invested a lot of time, effort and even money $$$ into giving him the right food in the right amounts to prepare him for a nice, long, healthy life in the tank. It's such a nightmare thinking how much things have just changed in 1 to 1.5 hours. I had a healthy fish with so much potential turn into a nearly-dead fish. And yes, I do feel careless and guilty, although I know all fish jump. I'm unsure if he'll make it, but the prognosis doesn't look good. I'll keep you all updated. The only slice of good news out of this mess is that I found my Perchlet crouching in the fugebox. I slowly eased him back out of it and back into the DT, so he's okay, at least. 3 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 29 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said: I have some very bad news. I have a small breeder box that resides permanently in my 20G. The top of it juts above the waterline of my tank by approx. 1". I was away from my bedroom for 1 to 1.5 hours. When I returned, I took a peek at the tank (which is the norm - I usually do a headcount of all my fish before turning in for the night). I found Meatball plastered on the top of my breeder box lid. He was still wet and slimy, but had clearly been out of the water for some time. I quickly opened up the box and slipped him inside. He did this odd-twitchy jerk with his head and swam upside down for a while, I supported him for several seconds until he could reorientate himself. He was gasping for air, at the bottom of the box and grayed out. There was nothing much I could do except hope for the best that he pulled through the night.😞 He made it through the night. It's now 12:01 pm here, but he's paled out (no vibrant colors), sloughing off the mucus coating of his body excessively, immobile and not eating. I tried to target feed him live BBS and all does is sit there, and breathe. He's no longer gasping, but is still breathing very badly. I suspect he has some sort of internal injury from either being out in the air or slamming on the box lid. He's in very, very bad shape. I'm quite crushed. I invested a lot of time, effort and even money $$$ into giving him the right food in the right amounts to prepare him for a nice, long, healthy life in the tank. It's such a nightmare thinking how much things have just changed in 1 to 1.5 hours. I had a healthy fish with so much potential turn into a nearly-dead fish. And yes, I do feel careless and guilty, although I know all fish jump. I'm unsure if he'll make it, but the prognosis doesn't look good. I'll keep you all updated. The only slice of good news out of this mess is that I found my Perchlet crouching in the fugebox. I slowly eased him back out of it and back into the DT, so he's okay, at least. Hang in there Meatball!! 🤞🏻 Quote Link to comment
kimberbee Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Ah, no, Meatball! Silly fish, I hope he pulls through. 😞 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted March 9, 2019 Author Share Posted March 9, 2019 16 minutes ago, WV Reefer said: Hang in there Meatball!! 🤞🏻 9 minutes ago, kimberbee said: Ah, no, Meatball! Silly fish, I hope he pulls through. 😞 He's still alive and breathing. Only his right fin is fluttering. He can't move the left one. His slime coat is still peeling off very, very badly. And he looks shrunken. I don't know how to explain it. But it's just bad all the way. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 8 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said: He's still alive and breathing. Only his right fin is fluttering. He can't move the left one. His slime coat is still peeling off very, very badly. And he looks shrunken. I don't know how to explain it. But it's just bad all the way. He’s still alive so that’s a good thing. 🙂🤞🏻 Come on Meatball!!! 😊 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted March 9, 2019 Author Share Posted March 9, 2019 4 minutes ago, WV Reefer said: He’s still alive so that’s a good thing. 🙂🤞🏻 Come on Meatball!!! 😊 He's dying and bleeding internally right now. Just shot you a DM. Sorry everyone. 4 Quote Link to comment
kimberbee Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Ahh, poor Meatball. Sorry to hear he's getting worse! 1 1 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Oh so sad. Sorry for your loss. Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted March 10, 2019 Author Share Posted March 10, 2019 Dear all, Meatball just passed away a few mins ago. Thanks for all your support and encouragement. I appreciate it. -Snow 5 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 1 minute ago, Snow_Phoenix said: Dear all, Meatball just passed away a few mins ago. Thanks for all your support and encouragement. I appreciate it. -Snow RIP Meatball. 😞 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 We are here to cheer you up. Hi! 1 1 Quote Link to comment
kimberbee Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Sorry it's been a rough few days. 3 Quote Link to comment
DSFIRSTSLTWATER Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 I'm sorry to hear about meatball Here is a little dance to help you feel a little bit better 3 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 12 minutes ago, WV Reefer said: We are here to cheer you up. Hi! 10 minutes ago, kimberbee said: Sorry it's been a rough few days. Thank you. It has been a very difficult few days. 3 minutes ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said: I'm sorry to hear about meatball Here is a little dance to help you feel a little bit better Thanks. 2 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 I’m so sorry about Meatball! Hang in there!! 4 Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 On 3/9/2019 at 8:05 PM, WV Reefer said: RIP Meatball. 😞 Sorry to hear about meatball 😥. Difficult to lose a pet . a happy dance always makes me smile, so hopfully it makes ya smile a little bit too 4 1 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.