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

[Snow_Phoenix]

Just now, debbeach13 said:

Sorry about Titus

I shouldn't have tried keeping him in the fuge/sump. Bad move on my part - I think he would have done better if I had just returned him. 😔

[Snow_Phoenix]

Good morning! Hoping today will be a better day - am planning on changing 20G of the DT in a short while:

 

 

The elegance is wide and happy so far:

 

 

A closer look:

 

 

 

Goblin peeking at what I'm doing:

 

 

Wavy:

 

I think changing the carbon and removing all remnants of anti-phosphate media helped. LPS appear larger/wider today. 😊👍

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Also spotted Bella on the hunt for pods:

 

 

 

 

And Thanos lurking behind the mini elegance:

 

 

🤗

[Snow_Phoenix]

So I WCed 20G of the DT today afternoon, and the corals look much happier:

 

Ultra puffy trumpet coral: 🤗

 

 

Rare snapshot of Illaron: 

 

 

The large elegance shrunk up a bit to poop: 😅

 

 

But Goblin didn't care, and still enjoyed playing in it: 😄

 

 

Also fed the tank pretty heavily - here's Poseidon & Bella taking turns to have a go at some pellets:

 

Bella was definitely very hungry today. 😅

 

I'm going to scale back on my overfeeding because there was still excessive amount of food even after I turned the pumps back on an hour later. 

 

Might drop by the LFS tomorrow or the day after. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Well, I noticed my mini elegance has deteriorated overnight. I noticed there were issues with it two days ago when I accidently knocked it sideways into the sandbed. 😕

 

 

When I was siphoning the water yesterday during the WC, it did release a few polyps (possible bail out). Today morning, Helios, my yellow coris:

 

 

Had been pecking at the floppy polyps every now and then:

 

It was definitely very strange. I'm not sure if the wrasse is seeing something I can't (maybe a parasite in the coral - like a tiny fireworm? 🤔) or if it simply senses that the coral *might be dying, so it's attempting to make a snack off any loose flesh it finds. 😕

 

All other LPS are okay though. Giant bubble colony is wide and bubbly as usual:

 

 

Pearl bubble retracted a little before the WC, but is now open again - hopefully it'll regrow in time:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

This is my largest turban snail - easily the size of a golf ball:

 

 

Poseidon: 🥰

 

 

Several shots of Icarus at different angles - he has been reclusive lately, but still eats normally and remains active: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Can you spot the largest & littlest fish of my reef? 🤗

 

 

Goblin staying well-hidden:

 

 

Bella has a distended belly. How curious. 🤔

 

 

Tic peeking from his burrow:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I took a couple of FTSes today on 18/8/20:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also took this quick FTV: 🤗

 

Vid is a bit skewed though - sorry! 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Fish traffic was at an all-time high during the evening feeding session: 

 

But I still managed to grab this ultra-quick vid of Illaron eating some pellets before moving on:

 

😊

[debbeach13]

Awesome photo's and video's. I hope the little elegance pulls through. Great feeding action of the fish

[Snow_Phoenix]

Everyone, my Bella is gravid - her belly is large and quite possibly literally full of eggs now: 

 

 

 

 

It's difficult to get a clear shot but oh boy, she has a bulge right there! I think she's going to get bigger! 😅

 

I did notice her & Illaron were acting a bit weird this past week - they'd swim up together and fall back down (rinse & repeat), and he'd raise his little dorsal fin at her - all after the lights dimmed down/went off for the night, but I was such a derp - I didn't realize that was actually spawning attempts. 🙄

 

I didn't even catch it on camera - but now that I know what to look out for, I'll try my best to film it. 

 

Mini 🐲🐉 otw - I'm so excited! 😄

 

(I have absolutely no idea how to raise dragonet fry, and don't have a proper live food source for them, so I'm going to skip any attempts to raise them for now. So yes, the eggs/fry will probably just be snacks for the larger fish in the tank. 😕)

 

Still happy though! 🤗

[Snow_Phoenix]

Several updates coming through - pic heavy. 😄

 

Update #1: Bella. 

 

Bella has been doing really well - her belly is still bulging a little, and at certain angles it looks as big as yesterday, but I think it's smaller. I'm monitoring her and so far her food intake today is higher than usual, and I have a sense she might be reabsorbing the eggs. (Or she released them late last night when I was asleep - I waited until midnight to observe her, but couldn't find both my scooters, so I gave up and went to bed) 😕

 

Nevertheless, I'm pleased that she's eating well, and has no issues swimming etc. I was worried her little belly would be a hindrance to her, but she's acting normally, so I think I'll just leave her be and continue doing what I've been doing for months. 

 

Here are several quick shots of her at different angles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update #2: Shadowing Bella

 

I took two quick vids of Bella eating during the evening session, and she's good so far:

 

Also spotted three of my dragonets having a short get together to pick off some food from the rocks: 🤗

 

 

Speaking of dragonets, I caught Poseidon hovering right next to Thanos for a bit: 😄

 

 

 

So far, these two are my chunkiest pair of fish in the reef. 

 

Also spotted Sushi doing a small swim-dance above the bubble coral, which was rather cute: 😊

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update #3: Icarus. 

 

Icarus has always been on the *lean side for a dragonet. I took several pics of him at different angles, and although he has gained a bit of weight since I first got him, I believe he can grow thicker and a *bit larger in time:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's still very shy. His territory is mostly the 'Ledge' in the back, center of the tank, and he hardly leaves it, except during nights - whereby he retires to the sandbed to sleep. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Updates! Lots of pics ahead, again. 😅

 

Update #1:

 

The Big Guy watching over the reef today: 

 

 

 

Goblin sneaking around in the cup coral:

 

 

It's very difficult to get a clear shot of Leopold - my camera simply refuses to focus on him: 😕

 

 

 

A closer look at some of my corals:

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update #2: 

 

Quick shots of my shrooms - yumas:

 

 

 

Superman shroom:

 

 

This used to be a blue & red chalice when I first got it. Now it's purple & red:

 

 

Growth rate is super slow though. My emerald mummy's eye & cherry garcia grow much quicker than this one. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update #3:

 

The dragon crew reporting in. 🐲🐉

 

A lot of activity today. Poseidon was chasing his reflection up & down the glass - he always does this in the early mornings/late evenings/after meals:

 

 

I tried to grab a pic of Illaron raising his dorsal fin but he did it very quickly, and I wasn't fast enough to get the shot: 😕

 

I believe Bella has already reabsorbed/released her eggs. Her belly is still full, but it no longer has that 'bulge'. Hoping she'll spawn again with Illaron in the future: 

 

 

Icarus, still shy as always:

 

 

🤗

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I dropped by the LFS today afternoon to pick up more macro for the fuge:

 

 

Because I had to bin half of mine since they were slathered in pest algae. The new macro is also full of critters like pods, sponges, microbrittles, asterina stars, collonista snails, bristleworms etc., so I do find it beneficial to introduce as many diverse microcritters to the fuge as possible. 👍

 

I also picked up a relatively large bicolor hammer colony for a steal, but it hasn't fully opened yet in the tank:

 

 

 

Once it does fully open, it should roughly be the size of my larger elegance coral (or slightly smaller). To give you an idea of how the coral more or less looks like, here's a pic of other colonies at my LFS (pic credit to my LFS) :

 

 

My original plan was to get two types at small sizes - a neon green & bicolor hammer, and line them up next to each other in the tank. But there were no small neon greens available, and everything was M to XL size. 

 

Since I love purple, I went with the bicolor. 😊

 

Also, I picked up a CB angel as well:

 

 

 

Quick backstory regarding this fish - it was kept for a year in another reefer's tank until his tank crashed due to cement dust contamination (he didn't cover his tank during a home renovation), so he sold off most of the survivors - coral & fish alike at my LFS. 

 

The angel has been pellet-trained and is pretty much well-behaved, according to my store. The previous tank had brains and acans, and it never went after any of them. It was also readily eating at the store, and very active. 👍

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I decided to bring it home - it's pretty much full grown at 4", and quite plump. 

 

Thanos flared white when the new fish went in - a territorial display, which was interesting to watch. 

 

 

As for the angel, it's a bit skittish, but it's already eating in the tank and seems to love pellets:

 

From what I've observed, it likes seeking shelter under the Ledge at the back of the tank. But it was keen on exploring the other archways as well, and constantly swimming. 😊

 

Tomorrow, I'll drop a seaweed strip in and hopefully it'll be interested in nipping that. I've decided to call him 'Beau', as in short for 'Beaumont' because it's easier to remember. 😅

 

Quick check on my older LPS finds them okay:

 

 

 

I've the smaller pearl bubble colony up to the Ledge, but I think it's a bit too close to the cup coral, so I'll adjust the positioning tomorrow. 👍

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Beau the angel was actively grazing on the rocks just a moment ago. Anyhow, here's one last shot for the day:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Hello. 😊

 

 

Illaron on the hunt for pods - yes, he is much leaner compared to Bella & Poseidon:

 

 

 

Bicolor hammer coral is still opening up for the day - here are some quick shots of it at different angles: 

 

 

 

 

 

😊

[Snow_Phoenix]

Photobomb! 

 

 

I tried to take more pics of Beau, but it's really hard because he's constantly on the move and only stops for a second to graze on the rocks before swimming off again:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I noticed a large white spot on the right side of his body, but I'm not too sure what it is - looks like a loose scale at a passing glance. 🤔

 

Could be, because he keeps swimming between the rocks at the back of the tank. I'll keep an eye on him, just in case. Need to feed the fish some frozen breakfast soon. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

I tired feeding a strip of seaweed on a clip to Beau, but he was quite hesitant about approaching the clip:

 

 

He did enjoying chomping on the GHA on my wavemaker though. Otherwise, he's grazing on the film algae covering the rocks. I gave up trying to get a clear pic of him because he moves very fast: 

 

 

 

He's very beautiful though. I love the dark blueness of him. 🥰

 

Checked up on the other fish on the reef and they're fine - here's Illaron giving me the duckface: 😅

 

 

Also took pics of my hammer colony from above - it's quite spread out, like a large mushroom/flower:

 

 

My elegance looks small from above, but it's anything but little:

 

 

I like the semi-crescent shape of the base rock, because it allows the coral to stretch wide open. 😊

[Snow_Phoenix]

Spyder trying so hard to blend into my fuge - dude still won't let go of his dream to spread cyano in the sump: 🤣

 

 

 

 

Then I took a closer look at his legs, and he has tiny grape caulerpas on them! 😅

 

 

 

 

I hope this means he'll eventually favor the correct algae in the fuge! 😄

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Mornin'. 😊