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


Snow_Phoenix

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Wow, beautiful photos and I love all your dragonets! They are always one of my favorites to watch hoover around the bottom of the LFS tanks but I've never worked up the courage to try one. What do you feed them, and how do you keep your pod population up with so many hungry little mouths?

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Snow_Phoenix
6 minutes ago, chipz said:

Wow, beautiful photos and I love all your dragonets! They are always one of my favorites to watch hoover around the bottom of the LFS tanks but I've never worked up the courage to try one. What do you feed them, and how do you keep your pod population up with so many hungry little mouths?

The rubys are still very new, so they'll need training. 

 

I feed them a mix of things: NLS pellets, Formula One pellets, Hikari Marine Seaweed pellets (this is mostly for the blennies), frozen BBS, frozen pods, frozen adult brine, frozen mysis & frozen flower crab roe. I usually add Selcon to the frozen food before feeding though. And I feed heavily everyday.

 

I have a refugium full of different types of macro in the sump tank - one whole compartment full of LR and different types of algae (and a spider decorator crab in there). I used to feed live mosquito larvae and live grindal worms, but I stopped. Now I only stick to pellets and frozen stuff. 

 

There are many other fish in the tank, so I have to overfeed to make sure each fish gets enough to eat. 

 

I'm a bit worried about the Rubys though. The male looks and acts fine, but the female doesn't move much and has a sunken belly from the store. Hope motivation kicks in and she accepts some pods - eventually. 😕 

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Snow_Phoenix

Cleo made it through her first night in the reef: 🤗

 

IMG_20200701_093957_765.thumb.jpg.f0731f85cc5fa2f7e8b8e92e7eb944ec.jpg

 

IMG_20200701_094117_970.thumb.jpg.9b156a28e0518597ae60a85d4cd4e6b5.jpg

 

She's still not as active as my male, Icarus, but I'm mostly glad that they are *both okay. 😊

 

Also, can you spot the little dragonet?

 

20200701_094151.thumb.jpg.75f3223ca43e23a426d373b0ad36eaf9.jpg

 

My cleaner shrimp also molted overnight. Doc is *huge now: 😮

 

IMG_20200701_094252_445.thumb.jpg.f3e85dac99e4614778adde52b5c89d18.jpg

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Icarus finally decided to explore the rockwork just now:

 

He's getting braver and has become even more active than before, which is good:

 

20200701_120554.thumb.jpg.eba6d8f9e1303cd92a9cfdd13aa0ffe8.jpg

 

IMG_20200701_120519_002.thumb.jpg.ea116a98065051b1b7940bd997ffe6ff.jpg

 

And he has also started to forage for pods:

 

Meanwhile, Cleo is still sheltering near the bubble coral and refuses to move. I'll try to target-feed her some frozen pods later - hopefully that'll entice her into moving, or better yet, eating. 👍

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Snow_Phoenix
1 hour ago, Ratvan said:

This thread needs to be re-titled "Here be Dragons"

Gorgeous little fish, and the tank looks great

 

'Dragon's Den' or 'Lair of the Dragons' was another two options I was looking into. 😉

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Snow_Phoenix

I love the sailfins that male scooters have - pic is blurry because Icarus raised it for only a sec and my fingers trembled (sorry!)

 

20200701_181703.thumb.jpg.6182939a08aee0e23dd8752398b277cf.jpg

 

20200701_181726.thumb.jpg.6fe046f36bf23f8256577c048be224ec.jpg

 

Also, I have a few interesting updates about the ruby pair. Cleo is still very timid, but she perked up a little when I broadcast-fed the tank some frozen pods mixed with phyto, zoo and selcon. I still haven't observed her actively moving about and eating though. Here's Icarus accompanying Cleo under the bubble coral:

 

IMG_20200701_181520_703.thumb.jpg.fa8a2b31e3d735a5ec8bc623c44fa5a5.jpg

 

An even more interesting development - Icarus tried out some pellets on his own, and tentatively, he *appears to like it:

 

I was worried the pellets might have been too large for his mouth, but he appears to be handling it quite well. He had a full belly after eating as well, which was good:

 

IMG_20200701_182501_009.thumb.jpg.92649e341e5df6da26373f1fb32726f8.jpg

 

20200701_182547.thumb.jpg.89a1217ce3269aab629368a3ae696b2e.jpg

 

The corals were quite happy with the mix of frozen and dry food today too. 😊

 

My cynarina actually has these cool neon green tentacles around its mouth:

 

IMG_20200701_182758_083.thumb.jpg.8cb3b8670d1d120391492c26aa7c9387.jpg

 

20200701_182828.thumb.jpg.69aaac48b66363ce93dc1e0deba499a4.jpg

 

Yellow yuma looked good too: 👍

 

IMG_20200701_182948_788.thumb.jpg.aebab3f2e45cce89f6088c0f2ecea2d5.jpg

 

Bonus update incoming! 🤗

 

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Alright, so here's the bonus update. It was quite amazing to watch the dragons get together to eat at one of the hotspots in the tank:

 

IMG_20200701_182330_194.thumb.jpg.bbf7f9be2a6ae5c21654abcc1b0e7f62.jpg

 

Poseidon was very hungry today: 😅

 

I'm actually learning a lot from the way different types of fish interact with other in this tank during the feeding session. Their behavior and adaptibility is also something that amazes me constantly. 😊

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Snow_Phoenix

Cleo's asleep out in the open, but Icarus is *missing: 

 

IMG_20200701_205926_130.thumb.jpg.bb5017ad61ed8595b727cbbdf462b649.jpg

 

Do these guys bury themselves in the sandbed like regular scooters do at night? I'm not sure. 🤔

 

I'll check the back chamber of the overflow, *just in case. They're so tiny that they can squeeze between the gaps of the overflow. I'm a little bit worried - but hopefully Icarus will pop up again tomorrow morning. 

 

He was doing very well today. 

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Found him! 😊

 

Used a torchlight and caught him faded out on the sandbed, behind some rocks. 👍

 

Also found my Saron, which is honestly freaking huge now and has very noticeable cirri down his back (indicating that the shrimp is indeed, a male). I believe he officially turns 2-years-old on July the 15th. Which is a little bit crazy, because I've never had such an old shrimp before. 🤔

 

Spotted an old molt tucked away behind the bubble coral too. Judging by the mottled pattern on the exoskeleton, it looks like my Saron has recently molted as well. 👍 

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Snow_Phoenix

Update #1:

 

The green blasto coral is recovering very well - it was skeletal after the crash, but nice to see it regrow again:

 

IMG_20200702_101335_830.thumb.jpg.d4ed83100d08c7ef7d431a4bd722b2ef.jpg

 

Rainbow yuma looked very happy this morning: 🥰

 

IMG_20200702_101604_307.thumb.jpg.972149c22ecb25939a34b939d469e451.jpg

 

I'm not sure what this is exactly, but I *think it's a small mussel/clam. It hitchiked on the rock amd started off very tiny, but it keeps growing now: 🤔

 

IMG_20200702_101500_465.thumb.jpg.1fa2375846dd490eb65716be4b83b956.jpg

 

A couple of shots of Poseidon today morning: 🥰

 

IMG_20200702_102305_726.thumb.jpg.b59d7d2d6fed93c7154311e23a031deb.jpg

 

20200702_102336.thumb.jpg.b7590e9462f16bec62cd51230121e45e.jpg

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Snow_Phoenix

Update #2:

 

Found Icarus and Cleo in a shadowy spot today morning:

 

IMG_20200702_101838_146.thumb.jpg.174a5e10a3ba86c5a0462fbab532fdf3.jpg

 

IMG_20200702_101838_150.thumb.jpg.25160bded8d56b1ecd6f433e561b2c2e.jpg

 

IMG_20200702_101838_147.thumb.jpg.208b9e007d33574ce560bc85c5232dfb.jpg

 

IMG_20200702_101838_149.thumb.jpg.73d85b990d4c2778d943f634359a5b11.jpg

 

Icarus is doing okay - active as usual, and still up for exploring the tank:

 

IMG_20200702_102123_074.thumb.jpg.f2a56231e1a900aeb1a5c3f599aef4f3.jpg

 

20200702_102151.thumb.jpg.5e4d74dc6d7237e9d51462a740be198c.jpg

 

Cleo barely moves, and has a sunken belly. I'm definitely worried for her. Rubys ship extremely poorly here, and most of them come in very sick and lethargic. Cleo doesn't appear sick, but she definitely is very lethargic, and is not making any effort to forage for pods: 😔

 

IMG_20200702_101930_372.thumb.jpg.3152d04aaee3c925d0f1d2534bfaa75b.jpg

 

This does concern me greatly, because I've seen dragonets waste away because they simply refuse to eat. If you scroll back on this very same thread, you will recall how much I struggled with trying to feed a very emaciated blue mandy that I picked up from the store, in hopes of rehabilitating it. 😔

 

I'm worried Cleo is going down that same path. Her body condition is not great, but at least I can't see her lateral lines *yet. I will keep trying to target feed her daily though. It's a bit difficult because she hides so well under the bubble coral, and the only way to access her is to poke the bubbles gently to get it to retract a little so that she'll be exposed for feeding. 

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16 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Alright, so here's the bonus update. It was quite amazing to watch the dragons get together to eat at one of the hotspots in the tank:

This is one of the coolest things I have since on NR in awhile. Thanks for sharing😊

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Snow_Phoenix

A small update on little Cleo - her condition is slipping downhill. 😞

 

She's now curled up under one of the rocks in the back corner of the tank, and barely moving. 

 

Buying dragonets is always a risk because they usually arrive very stressed or downright skinny here. And Rubys are the most expensive/sensitive of the lot. My only consolation is that Icarus is behaving and foraging normally. Still, I wouldn't consider him totally stable until I've had him for a couple of months at a healthy body weight. 

 

I'll do my best to motivate Cleo to eat/move - although I'm unsure how I'm supposed to *reach her. Earlier, she was seeking refuge under the giant bubble coral, and I could still see her clearly somewhat. Now, she's tucked away under the rockwork and too well-hidden. I don't think my 45cm long feeder tube can even reach her. So I'll have to figure out a way to gently coax her out of hiding, in hopes of getting her to eat as soon as possible. 

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I followed Icarus around for a bit after lunch - tried to catch him raising his sailfin, but he flashes it too quickly for my phone's camera to catch: 😕

 

IMG_20200702_143408_367.thumb.jpg.96d106ab2ef2b057e5c2b3c19e537a05.jpg

 

IMG_20200702_143408_366.thumb.jpg.ae566f395946b7982ac705080ac72934.jpg

 

IMG_20200702_143408_368.thumb.jpg.f65509caae74af5e430cf97fc3152256.jpg

 

Cup coral under heavy whites from the AI Prime:

 

IMG_20200702_143542_877.thumb.jpg.510b81aabed0ccd43d41f6d036609b4e.jpg

 

Thinking of tweaking the prime to increase the blues and UVs a little. I'm not sure why, but some of my shrooms are *still stretching for light, which is odd to me. Granted, the R60 covers the right half of the reef while the Prime covers the left half, and most of the shrooms are located on the left half. Will definitely adjust the settings to increase the light's intensity, a little bit at a time. 🤔

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Found the Big Guy perched on the nem box when I got up to turn on the pumps again after feeding the tank:

 

IMG_20200702_175134_408.thumb.jpg.3c7d4d067a460c3b0047bad8446393fd.jpg

 

IMG_20200702_175134_410.thumb.jpg.923460cf6e50ae678f6ca61a0c2f2657.jpg

 

It's so weird how the 'blue' in the shots differ when I take a pic away from the glass vs. a pic with my phone pressed up against the glass. Oh, well. 🤷‍♀️

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Took a few topview shots of the tank today for a change. The Mushroom Mountain & Yuma Bridge are still recovering:

 

20200703_120150.thumb.jpg.ad236b814cf193894db75270a05f0d69.jpg

 

20200703_120220.thumb.jpg.afa2c3810c606f09ba8b0aacbeb13eb3.jpg

 

IMG_20200703_120102_781.thumb.jpg.e38c7b16209765da47c7e590f01c3b8f.jpg

 

IMG_20200703_120102_782.thumb.jpg.e962780d42288109294801f111d8ca5b.jpg

 

Mummy eye's chalice is slowly turning green again too:

 

IMG_20200703_120447_093.thumb.jpg.b2c4d3a1db2e6a93086493e3a981b654.jpg

 

The Malayan rainbow acans have lost most of its colorful stripes and remain an almost-solid red:

 

IMG_20200703_120814_504.thumb.jpg.76da51ee6ad5aa359e35d29cddf26bf4.jpg

 

This is the only SPS left in the tank - a small chunk of red pavona, which is surprisingly growing, and hasn't lost its colors:

 

IMG_20200703_120846_825.thumb.jpg.320c9c9b379d0986b0425567a37eb5c3.jpg

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These are the other coral pieces that are doing well in this reef:

 

Trumpet coral & chalice:

 

IMG_20200703_120333_837.thumb.jpg.2e48b8f2d40597d74fa1fd806f6a9cfe.jpg

 

Green cup coral: 🥰

 

IMG_20200703_120723_590.thumb.jpg.1287fa2f18dc011eac453fa8df6d27db.jpg

 

Orange cynarina:

 

IMG_20200703_120533_759.thumb.jpg.d3a249d04123f4365b00773165bc4622.jpg

 

Pearl bubble coral:

 

IMG_20200703_120635_536.thumb.jpg.d466fea0da5a5d64cfd49e5c30e129b2.jpg

 

Regular bubble coral colony:

 

IMG_20200703_120948_024.thumb.jpg.c9477b75a1c420cdea456fd36cd3b60d.jpg

 

Topview of tank atm:

 

IMG_20200703_121152_787.thumb.jpg.9ba53c62c96430da0db2151226fa2fad.jpg

 

A *lot of work needs to be done to get this tank back on track. I doubt I could return it to what it once was, but perhaps if I stock up on corals *slowly, I can fill it out again with a different mix of corals. 👍

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Snow_Phoenix

Took a few topview shots - this time during the evening, where both my lights are on heavy blues: 🤗

 

IMG_20200703_172435_007.thumb.jpg.c5cd3d700dd61d7dcfa1e64b84f375aa.jpg

 

IMG_20200703_172640_162.thumb.jpg.3d7bdabe4ca328ba0fb203af6e67f46e.jpg

 

IMG_20200703_172640_159.thumb.jpg.00eb69418375720bcda47840df812871.jpg

 

IMG_20200703_172640_160.thumb.jpg.809ad6949f745dc926ba5f56ae59a333.jpg

 

IMG_20200703_172748_590.thumb.jpg.d2c4485e5cd92fbf67056393344d35a6.jpg

 

IMG_20200703_172926_938.thumb.jpg.e77ab6723656c03718b9053707540f5a.jpg

 

IMG_20200703_172926_939.thumb.jpg.f800ca27cb561e7a4983f49cdc56937a.jpg

 

I think the blues really makes some of the coral colors *pop, especially the orange of the cynarina. 😊👍

 

 

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Big update coming through - pic heavy! 

 

Cynarina was very round and puffy today evening:

 

IMG_20200704_173135_280.thumb.jpg.d124e19211a2b598689dad4f6cdc74e6.jpg

 

But tbh, I was more preoccupied following Icarus all around in hopes of getting him to raise his sailfin. Got one shot, so I took it:

 

IMG_20200704_173032_572.thumb.jpg.913f282f69b706aaaf019a52f1ddee47.jpg

 

But he made a duck-face, so...🤦‍♀️. Anyhow, here are more pics of Icarus - enjoy! 🤗 :

 

IMG_20200704_173032_573.thumb.jpg.fcff74bc252cc9251860a03955f61d34.jpg

 

IMG_20200704_173032_593.thumb.jpg.9a78ea97e426f79f287d43aed4daf23a.jpg

 

IMG_20200704_173032_591.thumb.jpg.41b83f7ef2dc2bfdcc51385067695660.jpg

 

IMG_20200704_173032_570.thumb.jpg.c57941cd8f383dfcce866cf3bae02a95.jpg

 

IMG_20200704_173032_571.thumb.jpg.d5509dcc08597ff436617a2d227f3c9d.jpg

 

20200704_173309.thumb.jpg.f1f134212bd0b64d0568a95f1d41b605.jpg

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Snow_Phoenix

Update #1:

 

Icarus flaring his fins today morning: 🥰

 

IMG_20200705_133225_257.thumb.jpg.95ef9148aaef15fe3f8f4f870add16c6.jpg

 

IMG_20200705_133225_258.thumb.jpg.f53c28be10c94950bfea0df8f4e33a96.jpg

 

Bubbly:

 

IMG_20200705_133334_299.thumb.jpg.006dce2a0ffb3c1217a72dd7c28d36dd.jpg

 

This is Illaron. It's usually hard to film him because he scoots around very quickly, and sticks to the rocks at the back of the tank:

 

IMG_20200705_133459_985.thumb.jpg.8026b368a39d9afa816e914600905844.jpg

 

20200705_133531.thumb.jpg.c11ccd4cddbf70638e4ddf53ea8cd81d.jpg

 

His body form isn't fantastic. Although his belly isn't sunken, and his lateral lines can't be seen, he could definitely use some fattening:

 

IMG_20200705_133459_987.thumb.jpg.2585ad24cff483513f5a5e8ff1f266be.jpg

 

From a dorsal-view, it looks awful. But I monitor him everyday and his belly is not sunken. Unlike Poseidon, Bella & Icarus, who have adapted to a captive diet quite well (*Icarus is still adjusting), Illaron isn't completely sold on pellets. 

 

I wanted to share his progress with all of you, because I don't want anyone thinking that I'm magically keeping all this wonderful fish at 'perfect' condition. Dragonets are a lot of hard work, and it can be very exhausting. 

 

What I'm currently doing is a far cry from success - simply because none of my dragonets have been with me long enough. Also, what works for me, might not necessarily work for someone else. I take shortcuts and risks - but I've always reefed that way, and it has blown up in my face a couple of times (case in point, the dead-sea-hare-debacle few months ago). 

 

Just wanted/needed to clarify this, because I received a few curious questions regarding my fish on SM a few times. 

 

Also, I'm trying to catch Cleo. Yes, she is still alive, but no, she's not doing well at all. Hardly moving, not eating & staying well-hidden. I'm trying to find a way to gently remove her from behind the giant bubble coral, and then isolate her in a breeder box, where I can concentrate on blasting her with pods in hopes of enticing her to eat. Quite frankly, she looks very weak. My cleaner shrimp stepped on her head just now and she didn't even swim away from him. 😔

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  • Snow_Phoenix changed the title to Snow's 60G Secret Predatory Sanctum 🐲🐉 - Shutting Down

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