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

[Snow_Phoenix]

Took a couple of pics of the new elegance as well - here are some close ups:

 

 

 

Swaying:

 

It was really huge today:

 

 

 

When I placed my hand on the glass for a size comparison shot, my phone auto-adjusted its settings to focus on the color of my hand, so it automatically neutralized most of the blue light in the background, which was pretty neat: 🤔

 

 

^So yep, that's the original color of the elegance - green, not blue. 🤗

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Took these under my early evening light settings (with a yellow lens filter), when the blue is not too strong yet:

 

Pink tipped mini elegance: 😊

 

 

Purple tipped large elegance: 

 

 

Cynarina:

 

 

The major LPS corner:

 

 

Adjusted my scape day before yesterday and placed the cup coral at the upper right corner, to let it grow out more:

 

 

And of course, it's only after this old container of NLS pellets is finished, and I'm about to throw it away did I realize that the pellets actually expired more than 1.5 years ago. 

 

 

Mein Gawds. I've been feeding my fish this and they loved it. Icarus, my ruby dragonet loves it the most. He even developed a small belly from it. Maybe the extra days give the food an...extra flavor? 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Also watched Spider prowl above the macro in the fuge: 

 

 

 

No sign of Titus, the new Mandy today evening. I caught a glimpse of him earlier though - I think he's very well hidden under the layers of rocks & macro. 

 

[Elizabeth94]

Eek! Spider gives me the goose bumps. I have arachnophobia and will say that crab was well named! Lol Still, really great shots. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

9 minutes ago, Elizabeth94 said:

Eek! Spider gives me the goose bumps. I have arachnophobia and will say that crab was well named! Lol Still, really great shots. 

I'm usually not too afraid of spiders - but I did find a molt of a pretty large one in the garden today, so yep - I'm sleeping with one eye open tonight. 🔪

[Snow_Phoenix]

He thinks I can't see him, but I do: 🤣

 

 

Also, I finally found Titus! Turns out he migrated from the fuges and to the filter floss area of the sump: 😅

 

He's actually doing quite well. I know it's hard to tell, but his belly appears quite full and he's very active, and eating live pods: 

 

(Pics taken from above) :

 

 

 

 

I actually saw him slip between the layers of floss to rest.  (And yes, my sump has cyano - with the amount of food I drop into the DT on a daily basis, it's not too surprising)

 

I noticed my other mandy, Poseidon, and scooters, Bella & Illaron kept swimming up the length of the back wall in the morning too:

 

The back wall has spirochaetes, sponges, tiny tunicates & pods - so it was possible that they were simply trying to see if they can grab a bite. 

 

Icarus, my ruby, was more sedate. Found him foraging the rocks near mushroom mountain. Was about to take a pic of him until Thanos swam into the frame and sat on him. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Goblin getting comfy: 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

Full tank video during today evening's feeding session of pellets - including the new Thera A+ NLS pellets:

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Mini pink-tipped elegance with brighter neon green body:

 

 

 

 

Larger purple-tipped elegance with duller (?) green body:

 

 

 

 

 

A sideview comparison of both corals:

 

 

The mini elegance definitely looks brighter & more attractive up close. The larger one actually has a pinched left corner, which is slowly recovering, but I still love it simply because it's huge, and I got it for a steal. 😎

[Snow_Phoenix]

This elegance has a secret: 😮

 

 

It has a new guest: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who loves it very much: 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

These were some earlier pics which I took without the clip-on lens: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goblin truly loves it. 🥰

[Snow_Phoenix]

I actually decided to measure how large this thing is - it's almost 11" from one end to the other when it's wide open like this:

 

 

This is without taking in the fact that it's not pressed up against the glass, and the skeleton is actually curved in a semi-crescent shape (so the coral is 'curved' as well). Otherwise, I won't be surprised if it's longer than half of my tank. 🤔

 

Up side by side:

 

 

This actually makes my giant bubble on the sandbed look so small. 😅

 

So tempting to pick up a 2nd large elegance and place it on the opposite side of the tank. I can easily move the pearl bubble coral to the top ledge - there's a spot up there which I *think it'll like. 🤔

[debbeach13]

Goblin looks so cute and happy.

[Snow_Phoenix]

10 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Goblin looks so cute and happy.

Yeah. He seems to really love the new elegance. Hardly leaves it now. 😊

[A.m.P]

That clown Goby is adorable

[Snow_Phoenix]

56 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

That clown Goby is adorable

Oh, he is. 🥰

[Snow_Phoenix]

Spyder in the fuge:

 

 

Good night: 😊

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Titus: 🥰

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Bella has gained more weight: 🥰

 

 

Goblin playing hide-and-seek in the elegance: 😅

 

 

Elegance coral up close: 😮

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Shadowing Icarus isn't easy:

 

 

 

 

Bella on the hunt:

 

 

Poseidon following along:

 

 

This happened so quickly, so the pic was blurry - but here are all 4 of my dragonets (!) in a single pic! 🤗 :

 

 

(And yes, Titus the blue mandy is still in the sump/fuge 😋)

[Snow_Phoenix]

A different perspective of Spyder in the fuge:

 

 

 

Two topviews: 

 

 

 

Some gray sponges growing on his back:

 

 

Did I mention I absolutely love this macro? 🥰

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Caught Titus prowling the fuge/sump: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He has a tendency to move between the fuges and the floss area, but seems to like the floss area the most:

 

I placed a large brain skeleton in the floss area to act as a 'dinner plate'. I'm basically going to start using the skeleton as the main training area to get him onto frozen first, then pellets (if I can). 

 

Right now, I'm giving him a few days to familiarize himself with the 'dinner plate', and not be scared of it. He's a very large male who's bold at night, but surprisingly skittish (swims straight into the layers of floss to hide) when he sees me coming. 

 

I'm trying to let him get used to me putting a syringe/pipette/baster in the water near the 'dinner plate'. Eventually, I will have to drop food on him this way, and I'm trying to make the experience as least stressful for him as possible. 

 

Mandarins can jump. I've seen these fish flip out of tanks when they're frightened or stressed, and wild specimens need to go through extra conditioning to adapt to captivity/aquarium-life. 

 

Really hoping he'll accept frozen soon, because I would love to keep him as healthy as possible, *long-term. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Good morning: 

 

 

🤗

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update #1:

 

A different perspective of the reef - the glass is very dirty though. 😅

 

 

Bo the fairy wrasse is a bit of a jerk. But I noticed my chromis is pretty much the *omega fish of the tank - he gets picked on by Bo from time to time:

 

Goblin was favoring the mini elegance today. He looked really comfy in it. 😊 :

 

 

 

I spotted him in the larger elegance later on: 😄

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update #2:

 

Poseidon on point: 🤗

 

 

 

 

Following hungry 🐲🐉 :

 

 

Cynarina with a seaweed pellet:

 

 

Brittlestarfish: 

 

I'll try to take some vids of feeding sessions involving *wet/frozen food in the future. Usually it's easier to shoot vids with pellets, because my hands aren't sticky/wet and I don't have to target feed the fish (I basically run after my dragonets with a baster - and this can take up to 30 mins before they become comfortable to eat - not too mention my entire arm gets soaked as I balance on a chair). I currently don't have a tripod stand for my phone to shoot vids, so maybe I'll broadcast-feed the tank and film the aftermath by hand? 🤔

 

I'll try to find a way. The feeding response is actually very strong when frozen pods and frozen BBS is used. I find it intriguing, and would definitely love to share that moment with anyone on here who's curious over how I try to maintain my fish. 😊

 

It's hard and time-consuming, but keeping each fish well-fed can be a challenge in a cube full of rocky crevices, where the nanofish hide in. I always overfeed than underfeed as a result, and my nitrates are extremely high. But as long the fish are fat & healthy, I'll keep doing it. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Just scraped the glass in the DT & sump. Also changed out the filter sock for a new one, and cleaned the old one thoroughly. 

 

I think I'll have to do another WC soon - might change up anywhere between 10G to 30G (depending on how strong I am on that day). 👍