Snow_Phoenix Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 A pair of male mother/sailfin dragonets at the LFS in 2016: My previous cynarina: I loved how poofy it looked. Miss it so much. Hoping the rainbow one will still be available - otherwise, a regular one would do. 😊👍 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 18, 2021 Author Share Posted December 18, 2021 This was my tank in 2019, under heavy whites: I was mostly looking back at all the older pics to try and recall how I spaced out the LPS. I had quite a few colonies, the arrangement seemed okay at that time, so I'll most likely try to emulate it again. 🤔 I'll try to rebuild a yuma bridge on the left ledge like before: But I'll dedicate the central ledge to discosomas & rhodactises of different colors instead of leaving it crowded with random chalice frags like before: I really like the red finger leather at the top. 🤔 If I can get a medium-sized softy for a reasonable price, I suppose I could try placing it there. The store did have some leftover green nepthea frags. 🤔 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 18, 2021 Author Share Posted December 18, 2021 A quick throwback to a spotted mandy that I kept in 2016: 😊 6 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 19, 2021 Author Share Posted December 19, 2021 This was a store branch of my primary LFS that used to operate near my home. It was the first marine store I've ever visited, and I miss it. I used to visit it almost every single week before it was forced to shut down due to the pandemic: Now I have to travel quite far to get to their main branch, and the drive is very strenuous and long, so I only make bimonthly trips. 😔 1 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 20, 2021 Author Share Posted December 20, 2021 Omg. So. Much. Want!!! 🥰 https://www.instagram.com/tv/CXpMhzYASdr/?utm_medium=copy_link 3 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 20, 2021 Author Share Posted December 20, 2021 So um...the giant 'tunicate' that I have split open: I'm not sure what it really is right now (clam? oyster???), but I *think it might be dead. Just kinda leaving it in there since the surface is still full of life - there are asterinas, bristleworms, duster worms etc. on it. 🤷♀️ 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 The mangrove propagules are doing quite well. 🥰🌱 I am having issues with 3 of them though. 2 were putting out roots, but had minimal sprouts, so I shifted both propagules (planted together in 1 bottle full of LS) to the second filtration compartment, where the flow is very high and full of dirt. The last propagule is a total loss, I suspect. No growth or roots - and it's almost completely black. I shifted it to a different area of the fuge, under more direct light. Basically my last-ditch effort to try and make it recover somehow. 😕 I'd definitely like to order more propagules in the future - but I'll also need more sand & bottles. Will see how it goes. 🤷♀️ It's so, so tempting to set up a shallow lagoon-style nanotank with mangroves and macros, and maybe unique inverts. 👀 But I have too many tanks already - plus I'm not out of the woods yet with this tank, and Foxy is still in QT. Maybe, one day, in the future...but not today. 🌱 7 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 25, 2021 Author Share Posted December 25, 2021 Merry Christmas, everyone! 🥰 Some quick throwback pics: Hope all you have a great day ahead! 🌺 5 1 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted December 25, 2021 Share Posted December 25, 2021 Merry Christmas! Have a nice vacation. 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 25, 2021 Author Share Posted December 25, 2021 2 hours ago, debbeach13 said: Merry Christmas! Have a nice vacation. Thanks, Deb! Have a great day ahead. 🥰 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 26, 2021 Author Share Posted December 26, 2021 This was my first *trained spotted mandy in 2013, Michael, which ate live pods, frozen mysis + brine & pellets: He wasn't as chunky or large as Poseidon, but he was an amazing little fish regardless. 🥰 I also had to temporarily keep him in this almost-bare nano for a while as I tore down and sold off his original tank (30G DT + 16G sump - 2/3rds of which was converted into a fuge just for him) : I had him for ~1.5 years before I made a mistake of trusting the wrong person with his care & lost him. 😔 Long-term success with this species is quite challenging, but I'm looking forward to trying again. I miss my little dragons very much. 🌺 4 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted December 26, 2021 Share Posted December 26, 2021 7 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said: I'm looking forward to trying again. I am getting excited for you. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 26, 2021 Author Share Posted December 26, 2021 2 minutes ago, debbeach13 said: I am getting excited for you. I am too. Have to go in with a proper plan though - corals first, then adding foxy back into the DT, WCing the QT-observation tank (after the cycle), and only then slowly getting new fish to be added into a QT (TTM 2 weeks + 1 week in QT-observation tank). Might take a while. 🤔 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 27, 2021 Author Share Posted December 27, 2021 Tiny edit made to the title of this thread, to reflect my home and the future livestock coming to this tank. I'm tentatively planning on WCing the sump soon, then give it a few days and WC the DT. Once that is done, I'll head over to the store to pick out some coral(s) and snails. If there's still a bit of cash leftover from the shopping, I'll try to pick up a shrimp and some crabs too! Quite excited. 😊 5 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 28, 2021 Author Share Posted December 28, 2021 Today is the 58th day of the tank going fallow. I think I'll wait for a min. of 76 days as opposed to 60 - just in case the Ich strain that I have in this system is one of the nasty ones that have a longer life cycle. 👍 Foxy is still doing okay in QT - she's active & eating well, but I'll need to WC her bin soon. 7 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 4 of the healthy mangrove shoots are growing very quickly: Still haven't plucked up the courage to toss out the single black propagule at the front. 😕 I'm also hoping the 2 problematic propagules at the back will still grow out somehow. They've put out some roots, but the tips are stumpy. Forgot to update this bit (or maybe I did - eh, can't recall. 😅 ) - but right before I left for my vacation, I picked up 2 small fake plants for the 10G QT-Observation tank: I think these are more suitable due to their smaller size, and they take up less space in the tank too. The cycle is going well for now. 😊👍 Foxy is doing good today too. She has become bolder and now anticipates food every time I move the bin lid. The bin is spotted with film algae though - I'll be cleaning it once a new batch of bioptim vials arrive via courier (which should be anytime this week). 4 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted January 3, 2022 Author Share Posted January 3, 2022 More bioptim vials have arrived: Foxy is still doing well in QT - her bin is up for a WC though. 🤔 Mangroves are doing well & still growing. I was planning on visiting my LFS this Thursday, but I'm getting my booster shot (tentatively) tomorrow, so I'll give myself a week to recover before driving to the LFS to pick up livestock. 👍 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 After nearly 2 weeks, I managed to WC Foxy's QT bin today, which was covered in algae since it is exposed to sunlight everyday: From a dorsal viewpoint, Foxy's thickened out even more, and her colors remain vibrant: I set up a new QT bin and quickly transfered her over: The bin does have 2 lids (which I weigh down with rocks and a heavy deco piece) and she's doing okay. 👍 I think I'll move her back to my 60G DT during the 3rd week of Jan. I will WC the main tank first before shifting her back in, so she'll be the first fish in. 4 Quote Link to comment
kimdawg Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Foxy is looking very fat and brightly colored. I am sure she will be glad to get back to her bigger home soon. 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 10 minutes ago, kimdawg said: Foxy is looking very fat and brightly colored. I am sure she will be glad to get back to her bigger home soon. Thanks, Kim! Yeah, I think she'll be much happier too. 😊 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 Also prepped up this mini tupperware of pellets for Foxy - her favorite Hikari Seaweed (size M) & Formula One: Should be enough to last 3 weeks. 😊👍 I purposely didn't add the NLS pellets because it's too small and more suitable for gobies & blennies. 5 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 Foxy in QT today: Her bin is indeed small. I had difficulty finding the right bin to house her. I have larger bins within the 10G to 20G range at home, but when I tried to put her in one of them, she freaked out very badly and kept banging against the inner walls of the bin & also lids. I'm not sure why. 😔 Eventually I settled on a small opaque bin (~4G) and she calmed down significantly afterwards. No more frantic darting around etc. She barely uses the PVC pipe too - unless at night, when she 'sleeps'. Otherwise she's up and about, and greets me every morning while I feed her & the other fish in the sideporch. She's actually a great fish. I'm thankful she's lasted this long and literally made it through hell, and I hope she'll be with me for years to come. 👍 6 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 Had a new bottle of chaetogro finally arrive: Nass snails feasting on a dead limpet: 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 Tiny Reggie (the green worm) is out: 4 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 4 mangrove shoots still growing well: Foxy is doing well today. Thinking of scaling back feeding from thrice a day to twice only, since she has thickened out a fair bit. We're on to Day 68 of fallow in the DT, so one more week and she'll back in her home, with a lot more space to swim in. I hope she'll still remain bold when she's in the DT. I remember making a fish list earlier in this thread, but I'll have to scroll back to find it. But the general idea is to have 10 fish or less, 2 of which will be dragonets & 2 of which will be a clown pair. Minus Foxy, that's 5 slots left for fish stocking. So I'll be focusing on a blenny and other nanofish like a tiny goby (or two). I do need a pest-eater to keep the bristleworm population in check, so it looks like a wrasse is a must. I estimate that'll leave 1 (or 2) slots for fish left - so I'll pick something small, peaceful and preferably not too expensive. 🤔 Definitely hoping to get a hold of a pygmy perchlet. Those guys are adorable. 🥰 6 Quote Link to comment
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