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


Snow_Phoenix

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Snow_Phoenix

Poseidon & new dude (taken this morning) :

 

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New dude appears to be an inch shorter than Poseidon, actually, which actually puts him at ~3.5", and not ~3" as I have originally estimated. Need to measure him when he presses up against the glass. He's still very skittish so it'll take some time before he gets used to me. 

 

I also expect him to lose some weight before regaining it after training. He's long, but not as thick as the other 2 dragonets. 🤔

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Snow_Phoenix

I had to euthanize Rocket this morning. Last night, he still had the noticeable open sore, but was staying hidden. I was planning on giving it a few more days because I just got my 1st dose of vaccine yesterday and was feeling a *bit unwell/having a sore arm afterwards. 

 

But when I noticed how bad his condition had deteriorated - he was literally missing a whole chunk of his body with his bones exposed, I knew it was time to go. 

 

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After euthanizing him, I tried to study his body more closely, but I'm mostly speechless:

 

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I've kept all sorts of fish for a long time, but I haven't come across something like this before. Rocket smelled like he was...decaying, even though he was still alive when I pulled him out of the tank. 

 

This actually reminded me of my first dog, Snow, who had necrotic mammary cancer. Before we had to put her down, she developed multiple open tumors that smelled like death. It was horrible because her cancer spread very quickly, and the visible tumors only occured within weeks. Rocket's death reminded me of Snow a lot today. 😔

 

But I don't think I could have done anything - open sores are difficult to treat, especially when they are as large as the one Rocket had. Most sites cautioned against using any meds because it might actually do more damage to the fish. 😔

 

Although I'm gutted deep down inside, I am a bit relieved that the fish is no longer suffering. 

 

I'm still monitoring the other inhabitants of the tank. Everyone is okay so far. 

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Critteraholic

How awful! And shocked is the right word. I've been doing fish for decades (freshwater, I've only been doing salt for a year) and I have never seen anything like this either. And it was still alive. Craziness. And I agree with the sites about medicating.  Sometimes in trying to save them, you actually kill them. I have had some luck with starting at a 1/4 dose taking 4 days to bring meds up to full. But it's not a for certain fix.  I hope things get better for you soon.

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Snow_Phoenix
24 minutes ago, Critteraholic said:

How awful! And shocked is the right word. I've been doing fish for decades (freshwater, I've only been doing salt for a year) and I have never seen anything like this either. And it was still alive. Craziness. And I agree with the sites about medicating.  Sometimes in trying to save them, you actually kill them. I have had some luck with starting at a 1/4 dose taking 4 days to bring meds up to full. But it's not a for certain fix.  I hope things get better for you soon.

I actually developed a fever about ~45 mins ago and my eyes are watery, but overall - I think I just need some rest. Mum told me not to exert myself and keep my hands out of the tank(s) for the next few days. But I had to euthanize Rocket - he was in an awful way. 

 

I think I might dose Prazi in the tank as a precaution (half dose, because the dragonets are quite sensitive), but I can't do any WCs anytime soon. I'm not really sure if adding meds to the tank will help in any way though. Because all the other fish are eating, swimming & acting normally - even the foxface. I'll keep an eye on them though. 

 

This is the major downside of acquiring wild-caught fish - they often come with diseases one way or another. 😞 

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Snow_Phoenix

On a more positive note, new dragon has started to follow the older dragon to his hunting grounds:

 

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And they both get along fine, thankfully. Poseidon is chunky as ever though. Dude literally has fat rolls on him:

 

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And I admit I'm secretly proud of him & progress. He eats a *lot though. Dragonets truly have very high metabolism (and poop a lot too). 

 

I think I'll stick to these 3 and cap it here. Poseidon can't get along well with any other mandys, and the scooters are fine on their own. Time to find a name for the new guy. 🤔

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Snow_Phoenix

Reggie just dropped by:

 

Take note that I only managed to start filming when 'half' of his body has moved on. I think once fully stretched, he's around 1.5' ft and not ~1' ft as I'd originally presumed. 😱

 

He may seem harmless now, but I'm back to feeling uncomfortable having something this large crawling around my rocks at night. Sigh. 

 

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Snow_Phoenix

I decided to name my new red dragon 🐲🐉 Mercury. 😊

 

Potato-quality screenshot of Mercury with his dorsal fin flared from the vid above:

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He followed Illaron for a bit & was mostly curious over the pellets. Not eating frozen yet, but already eating live pods actively. He did try 2 pellets out of curiosity - hopefully he'll acquire  a taste for it in the future. 

 

Monty:

 

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Coralline algae:

 

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Need to scrape the glass. Am waiting for another day because I had mild fever (again) today. Am feeling very tired though. 

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Snow_Phoenix
1 hour ago, Xj reefing said:

Could we get a full tank shot?

Perhaps tomorrow - the lights are already off for the day. Tank is very bare and hideous, actually. Just full of algae-ridden LR and dirty glass which is in dire need of scraping. 😕

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Snow_Phoenix
2 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Mercury looks great and seems to be adjusting very well.

Thanks, Deb. I think it helped a lot that he was in the store for quite some time, so he has adjusted to captivity better than - let's say, a newly caught & shipped wild ruby. I truly hope he'll live long and thrive in this tank, like my other 2 dragonets. :happy:

 

The only fish I'm currently looking out for is a Starry Blenny. I *might try my hand at another angelfish in the future, but I'll try to get a dwarf one - like a Coral Beauty, Vrolik's or Eibli, if possible. I still miss Rocket though. In the short time that I had him, he was actually a pretty amazing fish. 😞 

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Snow_Phoenix

Just double-checked the acquisition dates for the current inhabitants of this tank.

 

Tux, my tuxedo urchin - is actually the oldest thing I have in this tank. He was acquired on 22/04/2018, and is officially 3+ years-old, which is quite remarkable for an invert, I *think.

 

Goblin, my GCG, turns 3-years-old very soon. He was acquired on 30/09/2018.

 

My black female clown, Nero, will also turn 3-years-old this December. She was acquired on 07/12/2018.

 

Most of the rest have been with my for 2 years, and some of the newer acquisitions <1 year. Poseidon has only been with me for approx. ~1.5 years. Illaron was acquired a month later than Poseidon, so he's pushing the 1.5 year mark as well. 

 

Online sources are...conflicted regarding the max. age of dragonets in captivity. Most perish around the 5 year mark for some reason. They slow down, slowly lose their appetite and eventually starve themselves. 😞

 

So I'm hoping to get another 3 to 4 years with my little dragons. Honestly, anything beyond the 3 year mark is amazing, given how nothing from the wild usually survives past 3 years in captivity here. 

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Snow_Phoenix

I hadn't even realized my lids were broken & sunk in in the middle. Luckily I did hear something splash & hit (or rather land) on the lid: 😮

 

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Btw, dragonets can jump. My males have a habit of chasing their reflection (posturing) against the glass after a full meal, especially at night. 

 

They literally swim all the way from the bottom to the top - and my tank is 2'ft high. 

 

I'm so relieved that I caught this while I was still awake. Illaron is okay. He's breathing slowly, but I *think he should settle down overnight. Will keep a close eye on him. 

 

I've already fixed the lid - but I think I'll try to put an extra layer of mesh on top of it as a precaution. So close to losing him. 😓

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Snow_Phoenix

Someone wanted to see the tank the other day, so I took a pic of it today:

 

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It's quite bare and not pretty, but it's running okay and the fish are fine. It's mostly a FOWLR with the exception of a few oddball shrooms. Nothing fancy. 

 

Once things are more settled, I'll focus on picking up more snails, maybe a hermit or two, and a cleaner shrimp. 👍

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Snow_Phoenix

Here's Illaron chasing after his reflection after a full meal tonight:

 

He sometimes shoots all the way up to the top when he gets over-excited, which was probably how he wound up on *top of my sunk-in lids last time. 

 

I noticed all my male dragonets (present & past) do this either at night or early in the morning (mostly at night). And only the very healthy, fully-fed ones do this - the ones which were stressed, underweight or sick were never this active, let alone chasing after their own reflections. I take this as a good sign usually - that the fish is okay, and is content in a way. The posturing is fairly normal. If you have multiple male dragonets in a tank, they'll usually posture against one another, but sometimes this could lead to really ugly fights as well, which is why each tank does have its own limitations in how many dragonets could be added to it. 

 

Too many, and there'll be a lot of territorial disputes, even between bonded & mated pairs. 

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