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


Snow_Phoenix

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Murphs_Reef

Sweet cheers, i have a half assed attempt of a fuge but I'm really getting interested in it now. Yours looks amazing ❤️

  • Where in your sump do you have yours 
  • What colours settings do you use on lights and is it reverse lighting 
  • Do you have a sandbed or just rock
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Snow_Phoenix
15 minutes ago, Murphych said:

Sweet cheers, i have a half assed attempt of a fuge but I'm really getting interested in it now. Yours looks amazing ❤️

  • Where in your sump do you have yours 
  • What colours settings do you use on lights and is it reverse lighting 
  • Do you have a sandbed or just rock

1. I have it in the compartment right before the motor pump that feeds the water in the sump back up into the DT. This way the pods can get sucked up pretty quickly as well. But I don't have the fuge in the compartment with the pump (tried that once, and it was a disaster) because loose bits of macro/dirt tends to clog up the pump and cause the pump to overheat/fail. 

2. This might sound strange, but I'm actually using an ordinary cheap light with blue & white LEDs - which is *not meant for marine aquariums. This is the exact type/brand, although the length of my light is shorter:

 

SOBO Crystal LED Clip Lamp | Shopee Malaysia

 

The one I'm using is only 6W (if I'm not mistaken), but it's unusually bright. I only keep the fuge lights on on a reverse schedule from my main DT lights. So I usually turn it on around 6pm++ and turn it off when I wake up the following morning, which is highly variable and can be anywhere between 8am to 11+ am. 

 

3. Absolutely no sandbed in my fuge - just old, mature LR and a lot of types of macro full of microfauna. But there is a thick collection of detritus that accumulates at the bottom of the fuge - I do a deep clean of the fuge every 6 to 8 months. I try not to do this frequently because every time I clean out my fuge, I lose a *lot of microfauna - collonista snails, microbrittles, pods, asterina stars etc. that occupy the glass or rocks. So I try my best to keep the fuge as dirty as possible. More dirty = more microfauna = more tasty dragonet snacks. 🙂 

 

 

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Murphs_Reef

That's really great thanks 

I have a nicrew planted tank light. Just making some space so I can go from a cheato basket to a full fuge. Have some brittle stars, a jar of pods and some macro from the DT to add when I'm done. The tang keeps the macro right down in the DT so I'll have it before it's gone completely 🤣 

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Snow_Phoenix

Just what I needed to discover today on my rocks:

 

A thick, foot long green fireworm. Bristles are dark red and in 'tufts' along the sides. I shone a flashlight to confirm the color and it is as green as my spotted mandy, Poseidon. 😓

 

I have no idea how to get it out. A part of me just wishes that I could pitch the central ledge rock in the bin. 

 

I had plans to re-stock the tank with LPS by the end of this year, but now I can't do that. 😭

 

This would also explain why I lost so many shrooms & baby shrooms recently. I only have a small scattering of shrooms left. 😕

 

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Snow_Phoenix

Update: 

 

I did more digging - it's not...a fireworm. But quite high possibility it's a ragworm/clam worm (Nereis sp.).

 

It eats (?) other worms (?). I'm not sure. I need to do more reading.

 

Bearded fireworms have red *and white tufts, but this guy only had red tufts. And the pics of ragworms online look exactly like the worm I saw. 

 

I still don't like it. 😞 

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Snow_Phoenix

Another update: I just peeked - worm is still there. Closer look with a flashlight again and the 'tufts' are not tufts or bristles like a bristleworm. It looks like a cross between a tiny paddle & leg. Not quite sure how to explain it. The paddle-leg-thing seems to be a characteristic of Neries sp. species (ragworms).

 

Will observe it for now, because evidently it can deliver a powerful bite if disturbed. 

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Snow_Phoenix

Did a deep clean of the sump tank today. These are before & after pics. You can see how filthy the sump was before I cleaned it out - water literally looked like a mix of coffee & laterite soil. 🤢

 

The deep clean process took ~2.5 hours. I had to flush my sump repeatedly to remove as much of the dirt as possible. Then re-set evetything including my refugium.

 

Deep cleaning is essential and should be done yearly or twice per annum. My only concern is that I might have lost a lot of beneficial microfauna along the way, so  I'll have to replenish the fuge with a fresh batch of macroalgae.

 

Before deep cleaning:

 

20210525_144107.thumb.jpg.3d6d64b0fae129eeebbe4592dbc6398d.jpg

 

After deep cleaning:

 

20210525_144044.thumb.jpg.ec9e9bf702f6dc7a3b77818711702357.jpg

 

20210525_144020.thumb.jpg.fd1e9f71176ef6d33c0222c4f437d9fc.jpg

 

20210525_144001.thumb.jpg.594ca8c463b5f1f20453d3cd19cb237e.jpg

 

20210525_143915.thumb.jpg.7936cc7ef1908496a2f669e81b99bb78.jpg

 

Also have a really awful back ache right now, so I couldn't clean up the DT. Will try to do a 20G WC for the DT once I've recovered. 👍

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Snow_Phoenix

It's out again: :scarry:

 

I swear if it had lunged towards my dragonet, I'd have grabbed that damned rock & yeeted it out of my window. 🤢

 

I observed it for a bit - it appears to be blind and not photosensitive. Also appears to be scavenging my rocks for something (detritus & microfauna, maybe? 🤔 ). 

 

I admit I did try my luck and remove it with forceps. Actually managed to get a hold for it for a nanosecond, but it flattened itself and retreated back into a hole at lightning quick speed. 

 

Might try to see if I can make some sort of trap to catch it & remove it. It seems to be nocturnal though. Wonder why I haven't noticed it at all before this. 😕

 

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Snow_Phoenix
2 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Good luck catching that little bugger.

Not looking forward to it. Very high chance I'll be unable to get it out. But I'm going to try the bottle-trap method, on the off-chance that it *might work. 

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Snow_Phoenix

Someone really needs to lay off the pods a little. 🤭

 

20210527_101530.thumb.jpg.5c0bd6931d3815579b39a7f28530f635.jpg

 

20210527_101511.thumb.jpg.c48efb190f79c6a4235a5e9f88cd9225.jpg

 

Zoey still has visible lateral lines, but she has gained a *smidge of weight. She's doing okay though - very active & eating well:

 

20210527_101551.thumb.jpg.50b4976f52be8f92c0acc488607eafc1.jpg

 

20210527_101631.thumb.jpg.4233961e72695d437174729cd06ad54f.jpg

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Snow_Phoenix

My Ruby Dragonet, Orion, is not doing well. 😞

 

I managed to isolate him and move him to my 10G for rest & recovery, but I'll be honest - he doesn't look like he's going to make it.

 

He's lost quite a fair bit of weight recently, and I noticed his mouth cannot open/close properly these past few days. I'm not sure if he collided against the rock or glass (possibly spooked by something?) but he has been unable to eat anything. I've tried target feeding frozen & pellets - but he won't go for it. He's barely moving & is very lethargic too. My other fish in the 60G are okay, although both Zoey (the female mandarin) & Bella (the female scooter) can do with adding more weight. 

 

I'll try to isolate Bella next, but will put her in a breeder box within the 60G. The overspawning is a persistent issue and I've tried to catch her many, many times without any success. She still moves too fast for a net. 

 

Poseidon & Illaron - my male dragonets, are thankfully, still very thick and healthy for now. 

 

I truly wish I could repopulate my fuge with a fresh batch of macro & microfauna, but I'll have to wait a few more weeks until it's safe to step out. 

 

(Honestly, I'm not sure if I should try contacting my secondary LFS manager and asking him to meet me somewhere halfway (at a price) to take some macro off his hands)

 

Otherwise, all I can do for now is keep an eye on everything and maintain what I currently have. 

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Snow_Phoenix

It's with great sadness that I announce the passing of my little red dragon, Orion: 😭

 

20210602_094043.thumb.jpg.87510c4c69adbe0a890bc56560debdf5.jpg

 

R.I.P. : 05/09/20 - 02/06/21

 

I *almost had him for a full year. 

 

A lot of reefers have great trouble in keeping a wild ruby alive for more than six months - but Orion didn't die out of starvation. Yes, he had thinned out, but I checked his belly today and it was full - not pinched nor sunk in. 

 

I've been losing multiple marine fish of late - three dragonets (Titan & Hunter, the mandarins, Orion, the ruby dragonet & Panda, the platinum percula). 

 

All of the animals, with the exception of Titan, were established in my 60G & 10G, and stable & eating. 

 

I'll be blunt - this is my fault. I bought Titan, the XXL-size mandarinfish, and he died of a bacterial infection days later. A few days afterwards, my tanks were both hit with an outbreak of Black Ich. It wasn't very noticeable at first because it's hard to tell due to the color of the dragonets. 

 

But I noticed it on Orion - and for some reason, all of my dragonets are affected very badly by the parasite than the rest of the fish. I'm not sure why (?)

 

Dragonets have thick slime coats but my fish seem susceptible somehow. I'm going to dose PraziGold at half-dose in both tanks first (have to go slow with the nano because it is packed with corals), but I'll try to save as many fish as I can. 

 

I haven't really encountered Black Ich before, so I'm going by the treatments outlined by Humblefish (found an article by him on a different site) first. I just hope my remaining 4 dragonets make it. 

 

Very worried over Zoey & Bella because their immune system is down, and they're not at a healthy weight atm. 😔

 

I'm quite down & unwell again, tbh. But I'll try to WC 20G of the 60G if I can by the end of this week/next week. 

 

Right now, I'm just waiting it out. 

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ECLS Reefer
3 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

It's with great sadness that I announce the passing of my little red dragon, Orion: 😭

 

20210602_094043.thumb.jpg.87510c4c69adbe0a890bc56560debdf5.jpg

 

R.I.P. : 05/09/20 - 02/06/21

 

I *almost had him for a full year. 

 

A lot of reefers have great trouble in keeping a wild ruby alive for more than six months - but Orion didn't die out of starvation. Yes, he had thinned out, but I checked his belly today and it was full - not pinched nor sunk in. 

 

I've been losing multiple marine fish of late - three dragonets (Titan & Hunter, the mandarins, Orion, the ruby dragonet & Panda, the platinum percula). 

 

All of the animals, with the exception of Titan, were established in my 60G & 10G, and stable & eating. 

 

I'll be blunt - this is my fault. I bought Titan, the XXL-size mandarinfish, and he died of a bacterial infection days later. A few days afterwards, my tanks were both hit with an outbreak of Black Ich. It wasn't very noticeable at first because it's hard to tell due to the color of the dragonets. 

 

But I noticed it on Orion - and for some reason, all of my dragonets are affected very badly by the parasite than the rest of the fish. I'm not sure why (?)

 

Dragonets have thick slime coats but my fish seem susceptible somehow. I'm going to dose PraziGold at half-dose in both tanks first (have to go slow with the nano because it is packed with corals), but I'll try to save as many fish as I can. 

 

I haven't really encountered Black Ich before, so I'm going by the treatments outlined by Humblefish (found an article by him on a different site) first. I just hope my remaining 4 dragonets make it. 

 

Very worried over Zoey & Bella because they're immune system is down, and they're not at a healthy weight atm. 😔

 

I'm quite down & unwell again, tbh. But I'll try to WC 20G of the 60G if I can by the end of this week/next week. 

 

Right now, I'm just waiting it out. 

You can dose prazi in a stocked tank?

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Snow_Phoenix
1 hour ago, ECLS Reefer said:

You can dose prazi in a stocked tank?

Yes. I have done it before, but only at half the recommended dose. It will stress out some corals though (nems might not fare well at all) - so I don't recommend you do it when you can QT. 

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Snow_Phoenix
1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

So sorry to read about Orion. I hope the treatment works and the losses are done.

Me too. I haven't lost this many fish in such a short time frame for quite a while now. 😢 

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Snow_Phoenix
On 5/18/2021 at 11:35 PM, DevilDuck said:

Looks like almost enough food for me for a couple of months! 

Can you share your feeding schedule and food?

Hi, sorry for the very late reply - somehow missed your question. I've shared my feeding & food schedule several pages earlier, actually, but it might be a headache to track that specific post down because I've posted a lot ever since. 

 

I feed heavily every day - frozen helpings 2x to 3x a day, followed by dry food (pellets) every evening. The brand of the food I use doesn't actually matter, but the *size of it does. 

 

In the case of my dragonets, each fish is picky in a different way even though they've all been pellet-trained (Zoey the female mandarin is still getting there though!) - because you need food which is small enough to fit their mouths. For smaller dragonets, I use 0.5mm NLS pellets and tiny live/frozen BBS, frozen cyclops, frozen flower crab (ketam bunga) roe, frozen copepods, frozen rotifers & frozen mysis by ReefServe (local brand produced by my LFS, which produces very, very tiny food enough for even small-polyped corals like SPS). 

 

My larger dragonets will eat 1mm Formula One pellets (Ocean Nutrition) or 1mm Hikari-Saki pellets, all of the frozen food listed above, including frozen mysis & BS by Hikari. I'm mostly interested in the size, but these are the more common brands available in my country, so I'm making do with what I have. Hikari's line of frozen food is usually quite large, so you might need to blend it a bit (but not too much like slush) to get it down to the right size so that the dragonet can still be interested in it and eat it.

 

You *can add Selcon if you wish, but I noticed Selcon causes a nasty algae outbreak in my tank after being added directly to the food prior to feeding, so nowadays I add Selcon to the food in the container first, then mix it up & freeze the food, *then thaw the whole thing out *only when I want to feed the fish (hope this makes sense). 

 

Also, it's important to remember that each fish is different. Some fish will hate a specific type of food, but eat another type of food excessively. They have *preferences, and can be picky eaters (especially wild-caught dragonets - captive-bred dragonets aren't as fussy, and if you can get a captive-bred one, choose it over a wild-caught one), and you must be prepared to fail with this fish. There are fish that simply refused to eat or adapt to your aquarium, no matter how hard you try. 😞 

 

Another interesting option for live food are grindal worms and live black worms. Try to avoid tubifex because it's usually quite filthy and dies within seconds of hitting SW. Mosquito larvae is another option, but they move all over the place, so if your tank is very large, your dragonet might have a hard time tracking it down (they're slow, methodical eaters). 

 

Pellet-training is a hit or miss. Most of the time, a wild-caught dragonet will not accept pellets no matter what size pellets you use. Your best option will be to wean it onto frozen, especially mysis because the protein % is higher than BS. 

 

You *must supplement a dragonet's diet continuously with live pods. Building your aquarium around the needs of the fish (adding less fish that competes for food (especially wrasses, clowns etc.), adding a refugium or display macro *might just increase the higher chances of success for keeping this fish longer. Otherwise, you'll have to either culture your own pods (cheap, but time-consuming) or buy your pods (expensive, but quick) to seed the DT every now and then. 

 

If you're keeping multiple dragonets in a single system, try to add as many barriers-in-sight as possible. This is the one major thing that my system currently lacks, and it really shows because my most dominant dragonet has a habit of picking on my other more submissive dragonets from time to time. Barriers can include more rocks, corals etc - basically anything to block the line of sight of one fish from the other. Identify the *hotspots your dragonets frequent and feed them there. Dragonets have a habit of always returning to their same favorite spot to eat pods, so if you can *train them in the hotspot, they'll associate the area with food and it'll be easier to feed them. 

 

Best wishes, and I hope this helps! 

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Baby Bristle Worms™ $19.95. Order today!

 

At $20 per six worms, you could make a killing.

 

 

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

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