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Snow's 60G Secret Predatory Sanctum 🐲🐉 - Shutting Down


Snow_Phoenix

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Hmm. Looks like the weedy is too large for this tank, and possible tankmates. A cockatoo wasp or leaf scorp would be better choices at ~5.9" & 4"+ each. 🤔

 

A fuzzy dwarf lion would be ~6". Same goes for the marine betta. So these guys could be better tankmates - less chances of someone eating someone else by accident. 👀

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Can predators get along with prey? To a certain degree, they can, apparently. Took these pics of a leaf fish scorp in a macroalgae dominant tank full of ponies, pipefish, shrimpfish, clams and cardinals at the S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore in 2017. Enjoy! 🙂

 

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Just tested the lights to see if they're still working. So far everything is fine, but the inLed app. still can't support my updated android, so I can't use the wi-fi mode. Have to manually turn the light on/off. 😕

 

Tank with yellow filter lens:

 

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Tank without yellow filter lens:

 

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2 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Can predators get along with prey?

I'm sure they occasionally "lose" a few.  But if you keep predators well fed, they won't tend to hunt as often.

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4 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Hmm. Looks like the weedy is too large for this tank, and possible tankmates. A cockatoo wasp or leaf scorp would be better choices at ~5.9" & 4"+ each. 🤔

 

A fuzzy dwarf lion would be ~6". Same goes for the marine betta. So these guys could be better tankmates - less chances of someone eating someone else by accident. 👀

And now you have completed my fish wishlist (Cockatoo Wasp & Leaf Scorp) throw in a Pearly Jawfish and we're done 😆

 

Looks like things are progressing steadily with this restart/rebuild 

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1 hour ago, seabass said:

I'm sure they occasionally "lose" a few.  But if you keep predators well fed, they won't tend to hunt as often.

I figured so. But if my memory serves me correctly, this setup (the S.E.A. aquarium) is very wide and deep. You need a diver to actually go in and perform maintenance. And the macro is very, very dense. Smaller fish can blend in & hide more easily too. 

 

I don't think it is possible for most of us to emulate such a thing in our homes - space-wise alone, it's *almost impossible. Never mind the expenses! 😅

46 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

And now you have completed my fish wishlist (Cockatoo Wasp & Leaf Scorp) throw in a Pearly Jawfish and we're done 😆

 

Looks like things are progressing steadily with this restart/rebuild 

I truly hope this setup comes together. Can be tough to get wasps and scorps here. I've only seen them a few times at the store in the past. 

 

Jawfish are beautiful, but they do spit sand all over. I'd love to have a cynarina & few lobos on the sandbed, so will have to cross that fish out of the list. 😅

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4 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I figured so. But if my memory serves me correctly, this setup (the S.E.A. aquarium) is very wide and deep. You need a diver to actually go in and perform maintenance. And the macro is very, very dense. Smaller fish can blend in & hide more easily too. 

 

I don't think it is possible for most of us to emulate such a thing in our homes - space-wise alone, it's *almost impossible. Never mind the expenses! 😅

I truly hope this setup comes together. Can be tough to get wasps and scorps here. I've only seen them a few times at the store in the past. 

 

Jawfish are beautiful, but they do spit sand all over. I'd love to have a cynarina & few lobos on the sandbed, so will have to cross that fish out of the list. 😅

I'm a little surprised to hear that with the Waspfish, mind you i guess you can only catch what is collected i assume. My LFS seems to be venomous fish central at the moment with their stocking

 

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1 hour ago, Ratvan said:

I'm a little surprised to hear that with the Waspfish, mind you i guess you can only catch what is collected i assume. My LFS seems to be venomous fish central at the moment with their stocking

 

I think the waspfish are a bit more common compared to leaf fish - they always come in one at a time at the store though. 🤔

 

We're due for an Indo shipment soon. Should expect to see lots of fish at the store in the future. 😊

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Dropped by my LFS in the afternoon because I didn't want to be home alone on my birthday. Saw so many amazing things there, including these gorgeous clams:

 

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They had a cute tiny flame hawk in their main DT too:

 

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He's so adorable. 🥰

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And pretty much endless choices for all sorts of things:

 

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I'm thinking of picking up this pink yuma after Christmas, if it's still at the store then:

 

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Otherwise, I did purchase 11 frags for my nano, but I had my eye on several colonies for this tank, including this 1' foot long elegance:

 

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And giant 8" to 10" green frogspawn:

 

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However, the elegance looks a bit pinched on one side, so I'll wait on a new batch of them. As for the frogspawn, I haven't reserved or paid for it yet, but I do intend to pick it up after Christmas. 😊👍

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There were other LPS colonies too - including various brains, plates, fox corals, bubble corals, hammers, octospawns etc. 

 

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I did spot a large toadstool as well, but it appeared cranky:

 

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I'm not sure which LPS to choose, exactly, because I'm only aiming for 6 to 8 large pieces. But I'm definitely set on acquiring a frogspawn & elegance. 🥰

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12 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

🥳 Happy Birthday 🥳

 

That Flame Hawk is gorgeous 

Thanks, Matt. 🙂

 

And yes, he is! He's so teeny though - like literally less than 2". Turns out there's a long waiting list for him since many customers have expressed interest. My store manager has been trying to acquire another specimen, but he told me it's almost impossible. If ever he does, I'm sure the price will be quite high. 

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I forgot to mention - I spoke for a very long time to my LFS manager today. I was literally in the store for close to 1.5 hours. 

 

I showed him pics of the leaf fish and various other scorps. He told me he doesn't import those because of the venom - I think he was worried about handling them (or having one of the workers handle them) and get stung. He was also worried for *me, especially when I talked about doing a lionfish in a reef tank. I think his main concern was my safety. Because I am a bit clumsy when my hands are in the tank (knocking over things is pretty common) and there's a high chance I might get stung. Any other store would have done their best to push as many venomous fish orders as possible if I had requested it. But this store functions on a long-term friendship and mutual sense of honesty/respect to long-term customers like me - basically we're no longer just store-and-customer, we're *friends.

 

And friends like these don't lie. 

 

Strangely enough, my father expressed a similar concern - he was very worried about me sticking my hands in a tank with 6 to 7 venomous fish. 

 

So I did think it over a lot - both then, and now, and decided perhaps this is not right course for this tank - or rather, for me, in particular. 😕

 

Perhaps someday, I could have a dedicated 20G long with just a single lionfish and few corals, and nothing else, but for now, this 60G will have to be rebooted in a different way.

 

So I'll be scrapping off the predator theme (sorry everyone - I know how excited some of you were! I was too. :sad: ) and I think...I might end up diverting back to something I was actually quite decent at - the dragonets. 

 

I won't lie - dragonets can be extremely difficult and downright stressful at times, but this is actually one fish that I truly find rewarding. 

 

But now I have something I didn't have before - a chance to completely start over, including designing the tank to cater to this fish's specialized care and needs.

 

I'll be downsizing my original dragonet pairs idea from 4x pairs to 2x pairs. Most likely, I'll pursue a spotted mandy pair & scooter pair. I think for this tank, 4 dragonets worked the best. Anything more seemed to cause other issues. 

So here's a new day, and a new plan:

 

4x Dragonets

2x Clowns

2x Gobies

1x Blenny

1x Yellow Foxface

2x Mid-Column, Peaceful Swimmers (eg. dartfish, cardinals, peaceful wrasses, chromis etc.)

 

It's back to being a rojak tank, I guess. But the setup will be on the peaceful side with peaceful fish that can co-exist with each other. 

 

Tank will be be stocked with several LPS colonies, a few softies and some shrooms. 

 

I'll most likely stock corals first, then fish much later. I have time to still decide, and to still change my mind, if need be.

 

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38 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Happy Birthday. Sounds like the trip to the LFS was fun. I do think your friends there are leading you in the right direction by suggesting you not get venomous species. Hope you enjoy the rest of your special day.

Thanks, Deb. 🌺

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Happy Birthday!!!🐠  I have one in ten days.  I would spend all day in my fish store if they had that kind of stock, no wonder your tank is always full of beautiful corals.  I think it was a good idea to change to the new fish plan.  I have the problems with moving also, and would always be worried with that many venomous fish in the tank.  I do have a foxface but he is very predictable.

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Hmm. I think less dragonets = easier to maintain. 🤔

 

Perhaps 2x dragonets - a mandy and a scooter, would be better as opposed to pairs. Pairs do need a lot of extra work/extra food to keep them in spawning condition. I don't think I'm up to it any time soon. 😕

 

Fish list will keep changing, but here it goes again (*tentatively) :-

 

2x Dragonets (Spotted & Scooter)

2x Clownfish (Percula or Occy pair)

1x Blenny (Bicolor/Segmented/Starry/Rockskipper etc.)

2x Gobies (Tangaroa/YCG/GCG/Hi-Fin/Yasha etc.)

1x Yellow Foxface

1x Mid-Column Peaceful Swimmer (Dartfish/Yellow Tilefish/Cardinal/Yellow Coris or Pink-Streaked Wrasse)

1x Pygmy Perchlet*

 

*Might not be able to get this

 

Honestly, there are many options. And 9 to 10 fish seems to be enough. The tank can handle 15, but I skimmed through my older posts/pics on my FB, and I noticed the corals were the healthiest when I had less than 10 fish in the tank. The tank's balance shifted a lot when I started adding more fish - although, the type of fish added counts as well - fish with super-heavy bioloads usually cause a big dent (stability-wise) in the NO3/PO4 levels. 

 

So far, the yellow foxface will be the largest fish in the tank. With less fish added, and peaceful ones at that, I think she'll become bolder and I'll see her out in the open more. The corals will also provide barriers-in-sight to help the fish establish territories of their own, especially the dragonets and the gobies. 

10 hours ago, Xj reefing said:

Happy birthday. What ever you decide to do with the tank you will make it look and function great

 

10 hours ago, kimdawg said:

Happy Birthday!!!🐠  I have one in ten days.  I would spend all day in my fish store if they had that kind of stock, no wonder your tank is always full of beautiful corals.  I think it was a good idea to change to the new fish plan.  I have the problems with moving also, and would always be worried with that many venomous fish in the tank.  I do have a foxface but he is very predictable.

 

6 hours ago, A.m.P said:

Happy birthday, I'm sure if you take it slow and mull it over for a bit you'll come up with something that suits you and what you want to keep better than our suggestions.

Thank you all.

 

I'm definitely taking my time to mull it over and give it more thought. 

 

Currently deciding on future coral placements as well. 🙂 

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Regarding future coral placements, I *think...I'll do 2 LPS on the sandbed (a cynarina, and either a lobo or a symphyllia), 1 on either side of the front of the tank, on the rocks (an elegance and a frogspawn), and another 2 LPS towards the back of the tank, also on the rocks (perhaps a bubble, fox or hammer?). I'd like to dedicate the central ledge for various shrooms and simple softies such as cloves and even GSP. I'm actually not too concerned if they end up taking over the rocks - in fact, I just might love it! :lol:

There'll be gaps on some areas of the rocks on the side. Thinking of rebuilding a 'Bridge of Yumas' like before, on the left, but with different colors.

 

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As for the gaps on the rocks on the right side of the tank, I'll look into more softies that can encrust or spread out all over them - perhaps a different variety of clove, or GSP? I did see the store selling several blastos and acans, but as beautiful as they are, they seem to be a hit-or-miss with me. 

 

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I think simpler, easy-to-keep, understated beginner-level corals would be best. Not only will it be more budget-friendly, but they're usually more forgiving and have a tendency to grow out rather quickly. 

Since I already have my eye on the frogspawn at the store, there was something else that did draw my interest yesterday - it was this greenish-red cynarina with paler streaks. Classified as a rainbow cynarina with the potential to color up. A bit pricey, but if I have extra cash and can save up more, I *might actually nab that for the sandbed if it's still there when I return. 

There are a lot of ways to stock the system. I'm trying not to overthink it too much, but I gotta admit, I am a bit excited at the prospect of picking out LPS again. :happy:

 

I won't be touching any of the corals in my nano or shifting them over into this tank, because they're very, very content and stable there, and I'm quite content with the way things are in that tank as well. 

 

I personally don't think I'll be doing any SPS in the 60G. Monticaps are tempting, but they'll consume Alk and Ca like crazy once they plate out in earnest - which will then result in a scramble for me to hunt for a doser online. 

 

So LPS & softies...yay? :happy:

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Stirred the sandbed thoroughly today:

 

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Also turned on one of the lights and was quite politely surprised that the 'greenest' rock I had in the tank is now almost completely bare and rid of algae. 😊

 

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One of the nass. snail was actively cruising around:

 

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2 hours later, and the water was clear again:

 

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Prior to adding some corals, I'll WC both the DT & sump. Mostly to siphon out any excess detritus. 👍

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