Snow's 2.9G O.S.P.R. Mushroom Mansion

[MetaTank]

Sorry to hear you’ve been battling the flu for so long! That takes all the energy right outta ya, and I’m glad you are managing to keep the tank going at all during this time. I really hope you feel better soon, and considering that you’ve been so ill, everything looks good. Mojo is adorable btw, almost looks like he’s posing for the camera, lol. 

[Wendy]

Such beautiful shots! Your blenny, Miko, is so stinkin cute! Does he swim around a lot or just hang out in a particular spot?

 

Yuck, so sorry to hear you've been sick so long with the flu. Sending hope & prayers your way for you to kick it asap!

[Snow_Phoenix]

5 hours ago, Wendy said:

Such beautiful shots! Your blenny, Miko, is so stinkin cute! Does he swim around a lot or just hang out in a particular spot?

 

Yuck, so sorry to hear you've been sick so long with the flu. Sending hope & prayers your way for you to kick it asap!

Thanks! And he usually prefers to perch by my leather, although I have seen him hover in the upper water column for several seconds from time to time. 😊

 

Thank you for the well wishes too.

 

6 hours ago, MetaTank said:

Sorry to hear you’ve been battling the flu for so long! That takes all the energy right outta ya, and I’m glad you are managing to keep the tank going at all during this time. I really hope you feel better soon, and considering that you’ve been so ill, everything looks good. Mojo is adorable btw, almost looks like he’s posing for the camera, lol. 

Thanks for the well wishes - and yes, he is such a poser lol. 😅

[Snow_Phoenix]

Just got a new shroom today! It's cherry red with yellow highlights. I bought a frag that already had a second tiny head on it, and my manager tossed in another shroom (same type) as a freebie). Derp's currently wrestling the shroom pile into submission - I'll upload a pic when the shroom opens up. It was very pretty under blue LEDs at the LFS. Hope it'll look good in the tank.

 

I also saw a green/yellow bounce shroom (with tiny 'bounces') for RM 200 per head (!!!) - too pricey, so I didn't get it. There were also various assortment of yumas and rhodactis on sale, but most of them were premium and came as colonies. If they're fragging them and selling them head by head, I *might pick up some as long as it doesn't strain the wallet too much. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Okay, so this is a pic taken by my LFS of one of the frags I have (example):

 

 

I still can't take clear pic of mine because Derp keeps unearthing it. 🙄

 

This is the expensive bounce shroom they have at the store. The yellow bits are the 'bounces' that haven't quite popped up yet:

 

 

I passed on this because as beautiful as it is, it was way over my budget. There were other dual and tri-colored yumas though. Premium prices and considered rare. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Okay, so here is one which I just took a pic of. Still not 100% open. I just checked the rock it is on and there are actually *2 extra smaller heads at the side/back. The freebie my LFS gave me has *2 heads - so I actually have *5 very small shrooms. 

 

 

Can someone tell me what sort of shroom they are though? I thought it was some form of rhodactis, but the first frag has distinct yellow balls on the surface - like a bounce (but I don't think it is a bounce because otherwise I wouldn't have gotten it at only RM 15). Any ideas, guys? 

[Wonderboy]

Amplexidiscus? maybe a ricordea? Sorry, I don't know what kind, but it is very unique! I really love all the different shrooms you've found. A bounce has never been able to persuade me to pay that much either. As colorful as they are, they still look a tad too much like clown puke, IMO... unsymetrical, kind of barbaric - like fancy omoebas. I think that there are much more intricate patterns than any bounce out there, but what do I know about fads? I am getting older everyday 😅

 

Looking forward to seeing your new find post-Derp inspection  :]

[Snow_Phoenix]

27 minutes ago, Wonderboy said:

Amplexidiscus? maybe a ricordea? Sorry, I don't know what kind, but it is very unique! I really love all the different shrooms you've found. A bounce has never been able to persuade me to pay that much either. As colorful as they are, they still look a tad too much like clown puke, IMO... unsymetrical, kind of barbaric - like fancy omoebas. I think that there are much more intricate patterns than any bounce out there, but what do I know about fads? I am getting older everyday 😅

 

Looking forward to seeing your new find post-Derp inspection  :]

I don't think this is a ric though - because the rics were all in the second frag tank and priced much higher. I'm not sure what it is either, but I like it. Tbh, I feel the same way about some of the bounces I see online. The asymmetrical 'bubbles' do unnerve me a bit, but I'm not sure why. 

I'll try to collect more shrooms. Problem is the really gorgeous ones with multiple colors are very, very expensive. Unless my LFS decides to sell them per head instead of per colony, then I don't really consider them affordable. Would love to have a blue yuma though. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

I *think mine *might be this (still not sure):

 

https://www.reeflex.net/tiere/12119_Discosoma_sp_lava_lamp.htm

 

Will need the shroom to open fully and grow out a bit more to confirm. 

[Tamberav]

I love all the mushies too! I have been trying to get some but they are not readily available at the LFS here.

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Dare I hope there will be more of this little algae muncher soon? 😊

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I bought two new shrooms for the pico today: 

 

1. Green striped mushroom:

 

 

2. Bullseye rhodactis (not fully opened):

 

 

 

And this were the red lava lamp shrooms I purchased recently. They're still very small but otherwise doing well:

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Pics! 😋

 

Caught Prowler up and about today!

 

 

And there is a lot of coralline popping up on the rock. 😊

 

 

Other random stuff:

 

 

 

 

And of course, Derp:

 

[Wonderboy]

Everything's looking great - that bullseye is especially looking great!

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 minute ago, Wonderboy said:

Everything's looking great - that bullseye is especially looking great!

Thank you! I am planning on getting more morphs/colors soon. Stay tuned. 😎

[Wendy]

Those are some great looking shroons! The bullseye is awesome & those red lava lamp are pretty!

 

So great to see Prowler 😙😙

[WV Reefer]

16 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Pics! 😋

 

Caught Prowler up and about today!

 

 

And there is a lot of coralline popping up on the rock. 😊

 

 

Other random stuff:

 

 

 

 

And of course, Derp:

 

 

Great pic of Prowler and Derp! 😃

[Snow_Phoenix]

35 minutes ago, Wendy said:

Those are some great looking shroons! The bullseye is awesome & those red lava lamp are pretty!

 

So great to see Prowler 😙😙

Thanks! I love the Bullseye - might get more of those. I saw some 'rainbow' hairy shrooms too, but they haven't been fragged yet by my LFS, so I'm keeping an eye out for that one as well. There were some amazing Yumas at the store - there was this special green one with a trail of white 'bubbles' going for RM 50 per head. I just went fish shopping so I couldn't get it, but it's on my bucket list of things-to-buy. 

 

And yes, it was nice to see him too. 

31 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

 

Great pic of Prowler and Derp! 😃

Thank you! I had to wait 15 mins, crouched down by the side of the aquarium to get 3 shots of Prowler. That's it. He's probably not going to show up for another two weeks or so. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I stripped down the tank to do a deep scrub/deep cleaning after going for ~6 weeks with no WCs. My health kept dipping on and off for over a month, and I was left with quite bad fatigue/muscle ache and couldn't do any lifting. So I was stuck with multiple FW and SW systems which were kept stable only through extensive top-offs and dosing.

 

This was what literally grew in my filter when I lifted the hood off to clean out the floss. 😱

 

 

^That is a trailing jungle of fern caulerpa that anchored itself to my floss. 

 

And this was Prowler, looking miserable in 0.5" of water as I removed all the corals from the tank:

 

 

This was how the mushroom mansion looked like after the strip-clean:

 

 

Looks glum, huh? 😓

 

This is the rebooted version of the tank:

 

 

I shifted the main LR to the left and broke off the empty barnacle shell by accident. Moved the ex-zoa towers (ex- because my beautiful polyps were eaten by Derp and Grump - they tag-teamed me 🙄) to the far right. The towers still have sponges on them though, which was why I kept them. 

 

I will move out my green nepthea, acans and last zoa frag out of this tank once the 60G is WCed in a few days. 

 

So I guess wait for Mushroom Mansion V.02 to kick off? 😔

[Snow_Phoenix]

I just entered my bedroom and flipped the lights on, and the pico literally gave me a hell of a surprise:

 

My deep cleaning has unearthed a hidden monster hitchiker in my tank! 😱😮

 

I am quite shocked and amazed I didn't realize a snail this large has been living in the pico all this while - it is actually bigger than my Nassarius. (And also has a green foot).

 

Makes me wonder what else is going to come crawling out of the rocks. 😥

 

[TatorTaco]

That’s crazy! It’s amazing how some critters survive/thrive undetected for long periods of time, especially in small tanks. 

 

That snail must be related to “Where’s Waldo”!

[Wonderboy]

Awesome turf scrubber! I always try to get algae to grow in high flow areas like that for nutrient export  :]  I think the new layout looks good - I'm sure Prowler is happy to be anywhere else but in that holding cup   Hope you're feeling back up to par soon!

[Snow_Phoenix]

10 minutes ago, Wonderboy said:

Awesome turf scrubber! I always try to get algae to grow in high flow areas like that for nutrient export  :]  I think the new layout looks good - I'm sure Prowler is happy to be anywhere else but in that holding cup   Hope you're feeling back up to par soon!

Thank you! Unfortunately, I took down the turf-scrubber and clumped the caulerpa into a ball and stashed it into the empty barnacle shell, which I then wedged on the sandbed. Wanted to give the illusion of 'seaweed' growing from the sandbed - not sure if it will work because I saw Derp tinkering with the whole pile just now. Prowler's good - he's back to lurking behind the LR. Sometimes, I do catch a flash of a white fin in the tank late at night, so I assume he's out when the lights are out. Miko the blenny is doing fine as well. I'm hoping that with the WC schedule back to normal, the corals will start flourishing again. My finger leather sort-of  went into stasis when I didn't change the water. It didn't shrink, but it didn't pop out new 'fingers' either. 

 

And thanks - hoping to get stronger as the days move on! 🙂 

[Tempestas]

On 6/27/2019 at 2:15 PM, Snow_Phoenix said:

I just entered my bedroom and flipped the lights on, and the pico literally gave me a hell of a surprise:

 

My deep cleaning has unearthed a hidden monster hitchiker in my tank! 😱😮

 

I am quite shocked and amazed I didn't realize a snail this large has been living in the pico all this while - it is actually bigger than my Nassarius. (And also has a green foot).

 

Makes me wonder what else is going to come crawling out of the rocks. 😥

 

 

Hahaha. That's still better that me not realising I have a living mussel in my pico

[Snow_Phoenix]

16 minutes ago, Tempestas said:

 

Hahaha. That's still better that me not realising I have a living mussel in my pico

A mussel? That is so cool! I'm still half-expecting a mini swamp monster to pop out of the rocks next. Seriously, this tiny tank keeps surprising me every time I try to do a WC on it. 😮