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pricewayne
2 minutes ago, Maddie said:

Well, bad news... It appears Ramen does have some sort of parasite. I came home to her being very distressed, with something on her chin. Unfortunately, I don't have a QT or medication available immediately, so it looks like she might not make it through the night. I feel like such a terrible fish mom! I have a spare 10 gallon, but no filter and only 5 gallons of sw. I could try a fw dip but I don't have the ability to transition slowly and I don't want to kill her with shock. 

I'm going to have to figure out a way to run a QT somewhere, even if it has to go in my closet. 

I'm so sorry to hear 😞

Maybe grab a HOB from Petco tomorrow?

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I actually work at the competition, so I can definitely do that. I just feel terrible that it's most likely going to be too late for Ramen... Once I get the QT set up, I might see if the other blue stripe they had is still there. The only problem is they only eat pods and I don't want to switch macros between the display and QT just in case. 

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pricewayne
Just now, Maddie said:

I actually work at the competition, so I can definitely do that. I just feel terrible that it's most likely going to be too late for Ramen... Once I get the QT set up, I might see if the other blue stripe they had is still there. The only problem is they only eat pods and I don't want to switch macros between the display and QT just in case. 

Could grab a bottle of pods to supplement the QT, perhaps... not sure if petco//smart sells bottled pods though so may have to do a LFS

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I know PetSmart doesn't... The closest LFS that sells them is half an hour out. I guess I'll do that. It'll have to wait a few weeks though. I know the LFS will QT in store for up to a week for me to get the QT set up, but bills. Adulting sucks. I have a piece of live rock in the display I can throw in the QT, plus some excess chaeto to hopefully bring some pods over and give some cover. 

I did manage to find some stress coat that I threw in, but I'm not sure it's going to help at this point. 

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54 minutes ago, Maddie said:

Ramen didn't make the night. 😭

Very unfortunate. 😞 Pipefish are very delicate in general, but hopefully you will have better luck next time! If it were me I would wait a bit before adding anything else though, just to give the nasties a chance to clear out of your system.

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1 hour ago, billygoat said:

Very unfortunate. 😞 Pipefish are very delicate in general, but hopefully you will have better luck next time! If it were me I would wait a bit before adding anything else though, just to give the nasties a chance to clear out of your system.

 

1 hour ago, pricewayne said:

Sorry to hear, Maddie ☹️

Thanks for the condolences. I plan to wait at least six weeks to add any fish, and quarantine them for close to that long to try and prevent any nasties. If the Bluestripe they have isn't there when I'm ready to buy again they'll order me one. 

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New quarantine tank! I had a spare Fluval Spec. I used a rock and extra macro, plus stability, so it should be good to go. The rock had a clam or small bivalve on it, which is cool! My display looks a bit cleaner now. Once it clears up I'll try to take a pic. 

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Looks great! I bet it's going to fill up with pods in no time with that Chaeto in there. The next pipefish you get will be in heaven. 😊

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2 hours ago, billygoat said:

Looks great! I bet it's going to fill up with pods in no time with that Chaeto in there. The next pipefish you get will be in heaven. 😊

I hope so! I ran to the LFS to get sw and check to see if the other Bluestripe was there. It was not, unfortunately. They're going to order me a couple, so we'll see if I get a pair! 

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Generally rocks are not put in qt to prevent leaching of meds.

 

 

Personally,  biospira has worked wonders for my qt setup.  That plus a seeded foam filter and a bit of DT filter floss. 

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17 hours ago, asting said:

Generally rocks are not put in qt to prevent leaching of meds.

 

 

Personally,  biospira has worked wonders for my qt setup.  That plus a seeded foam filter and a bit of DT filter floss. 

It's mostly to help populate the QT with pods, if I have to medicate I'll remove it. I saw tons of amphipods crawling around when I turned the light on, plus the mini feather dusters are all out too, so... So far, so good. 

I did add the extra bag of biomedia that came with the Evo to the QT. I've had it in there since it's been set up, plus Matrix and floss. So, in the QT back chambers I just have floss and biomedia. I asked them to order a couple Bluestripes when I picked my water up last night, so we'll see what happens!

In other news... Once its quarantining days are over, the 5 might become a dwarf seahorse tank if Dawn has any success with them and the PJ Reefs automatic feeder. 

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Looks great in there! I'm loving all that Codium. What's the temperature in your tank? I read that Codium does better at cooler temperatures (mid to low 70s), but it might depend a lot on the specific variety.

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3 minutes ago, billygoat said:

Looks great in there! I'm loving all that Codium. What's the temperature in your tank? I read that Codium does better at cooler temperatures (mid to low 70s), but it might depend a lot on the specific variety.

It runs a bit higher, at 78, but I might lower the temp to 74. Seahorses tend towards bacterial infections at higher temperatures, so I'm wondering if a lower temp might help keep that at bay in pipefish as well. 

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1 hour ago, Maddie said:

It runs a bit higher, at 78, but I might lower the temp to 74. Seahorses tend towards bacterial infections at higher temperatures, so I'm wondering if a lower temp might help keep that at bay in pipefish as well. 

I think everything you've got in there so far would do perfectly fine at 74, provided you ramp the temp down gradually of course. Pipefish are very closely related to seahorses so I have to imagine that the same conventional wisdom will hold true for them as well.

 

I actually was thinking of getting some Codium too but decided against it as my tank stays pretty warm and is likely to get even hotter later in the year. It's a shame because it really is an attractive macroalgae.

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11 hours ago, billygoat said:

I think everything you've got in there so far would do perfectly fine at 74, provided you ramp the temp down gradually of course. Pipefish are very closely related to seahorses so I have to imagine that the same conventional wisdom will hold true for them as well.

 

I actually was thinking of getting some Codium too but decided against it as my tank stays pretty warm and is likely to get even hotter later in the year. It's a shame because it really is an attractive macroalgae.

Well, it does fine in my tank at 78, so I think you would be fine. It has such a unique structure. If I do end up getting dwarf ponies, I'll be adding more of it to the 5 gallon for sure. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Small update. Everything has been doing well! Fish store trip today and a couple new additions were added to Mushroom Island. I also have a tiny baby blue shroom that popped up in the hole of the hermit shell the parent shrooms is attached to!

Still no pipefish. I was hoping to have them in time for my birthday, but it looks like I'll be doing without. 

I did however get an offer of a 125 gallon with custom stand extremely cheap, so I'm weighing the benefits of getting it now vs waiting until I'm in my own house. 

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Very pretty! That Codium is from GCE, correct? I will have to remember that, as I am interested in getting some for my own system (eventually). It looks like it's doing very well in your tank.

 

8 hours ago, Maddie said:

I did however get an offer of a 125 gallon with custom stand extremely cheap, so I'm weighing the benefits of getting it now vs waiting until I'm in my own house. 

If it's a good deal and you know for sure that you're going to want it at some point, I would buy it and just leave it in storage until you know for sure that you can fill it without having to move it again. I know it's excruciating to have a tank sitting around with no water in it (I have a beautiful 4g Waterbox languishing in a box on my bedroom floor), but I think it's definitely better to wait rather than have to set it up and then break it down again. Unless of course you're not going to move for many years yet... in which case I would probably cave and just set the tank up anyway. 😂

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The codium is going crazy, I'll need to bring it and some of the Dragon's Breath to my LFS soon. 

It probably won't be more than 5 years until I move out, and I'm sure I'll definitely want it. I have a feeling I'll end up with it, but we'll see. 

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2 hours ago, Maddie said:

The codium is going crazy, I'll need to bring it and some of the Dragon's Breath to my LFS soon. 

It probably won't be more than 5 years until I move out, and I'm sure I'll definitely want it. I have a feeling I'll end up with it, but we'll see. 

A year or two? Sure. 3 or 4 years? Just wait. Tank deals happen all the time. They are big, hard to move. Second hand values are 10-15% of new. Worst case, you pay $50-100 more and dont have to deal with moving it twice or storing for 3 years. 

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4 hours ago, asting said:

A year or two? Sure. 3 or 4 years? Just wait. Tank deals happen all the time. They are big, hard to move. Second hand values are 10-15% of new. Worst case, you pay $50-100 more and dont have to deal with moving it twice or storing for 3 years. 

I have a free place to store it, and the stand is oak, not the pressed board stuff we sell at my job. At $175.00, It's hard to beat. I'm still undecided, I have a few other things to pay for, so we shall see. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Good news and not so great news... My Dragon's Breath macro is going nuts, and the LFS's supplier keeps taking pipefish off their order. Probably going to be another few weeks until I can get them. In the meantime I'm supposed to be picking up a small Toadstool for the top middle rock.

Mushroom rock gets new inhabitants every few weeks, it seems. They have a big green Rhodactis that's crazy cool that I might have to pick up too. 

My Mermaid's fan also had a baby, right behind the first one so you can barely see it.

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