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


Snow_Phoenix

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33 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Pickle had white, stringy poop this morning. 😔

 

I think she might still have some internal parasites (might not necessarily be worms, could be flagelletes) - so I'll be treating her with another round of prazi, but will add some metro with it. 

 

I've purchased some albendazole online as a back up - just in case this strain is prazi-resistant:

 

Screenshot_20220125-161138_Shopee.thumb.jpg.b8c2e66ebb61d1f48af6fa5639056b45.jpg

 

So it looks like Pickle will be in this QT for 2 weeks, as opposed to 1. Hope she makes it. 😕

What do you feed your fish out of interest?

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53 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

What do you feed your fish out of interest?

NLS 0.5mm pellets for this one because his mouth is still small. Formula One (S) and Hikari Seaweed (M) otherwise. Once Pickle is big enough, I'll switch him over. 😊

 

I used to feed Saki-Hikari too, but stopped because it crumbles too fast in saltwater when it sinks. And also gets contaminated with fungus very easily (weather here is very humid) despite being in a tightly sealed pack. 😕

 

For wet food, I feed ReefServe's liquid mysis, brine shrimp, copepods & rotifers. Also Hikari's brine shrimp & mysis - but once my current batch finishes, I'll be switching over to ReefServe fully. Mostly because Hikari's mysis is now rarely being imported into the country and the prices have increased too much. Plus, I prefer supporting my LFS - the ReefServe line was created and is being produced by them. 👍

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My albendazole should arrive either tomorrow or the day after. I decided to wait for the med. and then treat Pickle. Albendazole is slightly more stronger than Prazi (if I'm not mistaken), so it should take care of his internal parasites. 👍

 

I held back on the prazi + metro combo treatment because I was worried he *might have a prazi-resistant strain that would simply render the meds ineffective once again. That, and excessive use of the same med. itself will eventually increase his immune system's resistance towards it. 🤔

 

Plus, Pickle is alright. No weight or color loss, and he's swimming, eating & behaving normally. No sense in rushing treatment for now. 

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I treated him with albendazole this evening. The powder didn't dissolve fully in the water even though I pre-mixed it in a cup of tank water before adding it to the tank, so that was a bit difficult. Pickle appeared to be fine during treatment, although his breathing was a bit elevated. He also tried to eat some of the larger, undissolved albendazole particles, so that's a bit worrisome. :unsure:

I'll check on him again tomorrow morning - hopefully he'll be okay and not too stressed. Will be WCing the tank in 3 days, then add another dose of albendazole, but at half of the recommended dose this time. And I'll try to mix it up more thoroughly before adding it to the tank as well. 

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A quick update: Pickle is alright and eating a bit, but the albendazole has made the water a bit cloudy. I'm unsure if this is a bacterial bloom or simply the water being saturated with the med. 

 

This powdered form seems unusually concentrated - I dosed according to instructions (5g per 100L, so 1.9g for a 38L tank), but I feel it is a bit too much. 😕

 

I'll observe the fish - if he poops normally, I won't proceed with a second round of albendazole. I will WC the tank on Sunday though. Then keep Pickle in observation for another full week before shifting him out. 

 

I decided to move him to my nano. This tank will have a clown pair, but I'm gravitating between a percula/occy pair with unique markings (aquacultured, preferably) or either an orange or pink skunk clown pair. 🤔

 

I'm still aiming for a peaceful tank though. I don't think my foxface would appreciate any overly aggressive fish, which is why I'm avoiding tomatos, fires and maroons. 

 

Just waiting to see what type of fish will be back in stock after CNY. Quite anxious in a way, but I don't want to keep my hopes too high up because fish choices - especially reefsafe nanofish, have become severely limited here. 

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The water has cleared up considerably. Pickle pooped. A lot! 🙈

 

Happy to report it's normal though. No white, stringy stuff. He's not super active - probably because of all that meds in the water. Will continue to monitor him. My mum wanted me to permanently keep him in this tank though! 😅

 

Had to patiently explain that this nano is for QT purposes only. 😊

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51 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Maybe he was constipated? 

I'm starting to think so too. He seemed fine otherwise. I might move forward and do the WC tomorrow itself - I'm not too happy with having a heavily-medicated observation tank. And I noticed Pickle seems less active as well - he was doing really well before I dosed albendazole. I think this powdered form is too concentrated - might be better to use only half of the recommended dose in the future. 🤔

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I woke up this morning to find Pickle almost dead in the Observation Tank. :tears:

He was completely flat on one side at the bottom of the tank, not moving, and breathing very hard/gasping.

 

It's definitely the albendazole - the concentration was too high, and the original cloudiness I saw was most likely a bacterial bloom. I think the med killed off a significant portion of the biofilter too - I didn't check for ammonia because I had little time, and I wanted to concentrate on saving Pickle (if I could).

 

I quickly took a tiny plastic tank and filled it partially with tank water from my 10G nanoreef upstairs. I dropped two airstones into it to keep it aerated as much as possible, netted Pickle and quickly placed him in this makeshift tank. He was faring poorly and I had to check up on him every 10 mins to make sure he was still breathing. 😞

 

In the meantime, it was time for my weekly WC for my nanoreef, so I quickly WCed the tank and siphoned out as much detritus as possible. Between the time I spotted Pickle close to death to the time I had cleaned up all the equipment after the WC, it was roughly ~4 hours. It was quite stressful - because I couldn't rush too much cleaning up my nano or risk killing the animals in that tank.

 

Once the nanoreef was ready, I placed Pickle in a small breeder box and put the box in the tank. He's finally in an upright position and breathing less laboriously, but he's still hovering at the bottom of the box and not swimming. 😞

 

I feel quite...terrible, deep down inside. He was a perfectly fine, healthy fish, and I jumped the gun to treat him again, and quite nearly killed him. Even now, I'm not sure if he'll pull through the day (or night) for that matter.

 

I don't think I'll be using albendazole in the future again - not unless I absolutely have no choice, and even then, I'll only use 1/4 of the recommended dose. It's too strong. 

 

As for the Observation tank, I tossed out the floss in the sump, and removed everything - from the plastic plants to the PVC pipe and media blocks, and even LR, and hosed everything down. In the case of the plastic stuff, I washed it thoroughly with dilute soap and vinegar. For the media blocks, only vinegar, but the LRs were simply hosed down with tap water.

 

I'm drying out everything under the hot sun. Albendazole can leave traces in the tank - not as bad as copper, but I'm trying my best to reduce anything leftover from it. 

 

I'll be doing multiple WCs of the Observation tank from tomorrow onwards - basically flushing the system entirely to get rid of any excess meds. Once the the tank is re-filled with new SW and the rocks + media blocks are re-added, I'll toss in a large bag of carbon in the sump and also add a vial of bioptim bacteria - basically re-cycle the whole thing from scratch.

 

As for Pickle, I'll keep an eye on him, and I truly hope he makes it. I've grown rather fond of him. 

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2 minutes ago, Xj reefing said:

Hopefully pickle pulls through. He’s such a nice fish and definitely unique

I will check on him shortly. He looked a bit better just now, but I hope he makes it through the night. I miss watching him swim up to the glass to greet me every morning. He used to be very active & cheery for a small fish. 😕

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So sorry. I have no experience with albendazole... is it the same as Fenbendazole?

 

I have some Fenbendazole but it also makes the water very milky and its saftey on fish is not known so it's like a last choice for me to use. I know humble says NOT to use it on wrasse. I know it is very much NOT reef safe like prazi can be. I think he recommends a bath in it and transferred out. Maybe because of unknown saftey? 

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8 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

So sorry. I have no experience with albendazole... is it the same as Fenbendazole?

 

I have some Fenbendazole but it also makes the water very milky and its saftey on fish is not known so it's like a last choice for me to use. I know humble says NOT to use it on wrasse. I know it is very much NOT reef safe like prazi can be. I think he recommends a bath in it and transferred out. Maybe because of unknown saftey? 

I think it is similar to febendazole, although I'm not sure which one is more potent. This one certainly was. I wouldn't really classify it as a safe method to treat fish after this experience. Maybe at a lower dosage - perhaps, but only as a last resort. Best to stick with Prazi.

 

Pickle is now 50/50. I hope he recovers. He's so lethargic. 😢 

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45 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

So sorry. I have no experience with albendazole... is it the same as Fenbendazole?

 

I have some Fenbendazole but it also makes the water very milky and its saftey on fish is not known so it's like a last choice for me to use. I know humble says NOT to use it on wrasse. I know it is very much NOT reef safe like prazi can be. I think he recommends a bath in it and transferred out. Maybe because of unknown saftey? 

I've done fenbendazole in medicated foods, no ill effects on coral or fish, no clue about dosing it in the water column though.
Apparently levamisole and fenbendazole are actually in the same class of medication with the former largely being considered safe or even gentle.

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A pinch of good news - Pickle made it through the night! 😊

 

20220130_104818.thumb.jpg.b480e99e2ab13f55780d5c6272b48b95.jpg

 

We're not completely out of the woods yet, however. He's still hovering at the bottom of the breeder box, and I'm a bit worried that his swim bladder has issues due to the excessive meds. 

 

He does look a tiny *bit better than yesterday though. His breathing is more even, and he tried to nibble on my knuckles through the glass, thinking it was food. I hope he can make a full recovery. 

 

I won't be releasing him into my DT until he can swim normally. 👍

 

Caught Harvey out in the open today morning too:

 

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I can’t find my saron shrimp since I released him into the 80 but may just be acting like a shy saron shrimp. Lots of fish in there to make it hide.


I ordered another one for my 5g pico. Hope it makes it in shipping. 
 

Fingers crossed for pickle. 

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3 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

I can’t find my saron shrimp since I released him into the 80 but may just be acting like a shy saron shrimp. Lots of fish in there to make it hide.


I ordered another one for my 5g pico. Hope it makes it in shipping. 
 

Fingers crossed for pickle. 

I think it's easier to view them in smaller tanks. When I had a saron in my 60G, it was constantly hiding. Weeks would sweep by and I wouldn't be able to spot him until he randomly pops up one day. 😕

 

At least in my nano, I see my shrimp everyday. He's reasonably active and feels quite safe, so he's constantly up and about. My YCBS is far more cryptic. 😊

 

How's the pictus, btw? Still with you? 😊

 

Pickle is improving, but still not eating. He swam a little when I turned the pumps off to feed the rest of the critters. Still not 100% back to his usual self. Hope he starts eating soon, and won't lose too much weight in the interim. 

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5 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I think it's easier to view them in smaller tanks. When I had a saron in my 60G, it was constantly hiding. Weeks would sweep by and I wouldn't be able to spot him until he randomly pops up one day. 😕

 

At least in my nano, I see my shrimp everyday. He's reasonably active and feels quite safe, so he's constantly up and about. My YCBS is far more cryptic. 😊

 

How's the pictus, btw? Still with you? 😊

 

Pickle is improving, but still not eating. He swam a little when I turned the pumps off to feed the rest of the critters. Still not 100% back to his usual self. Hope he starts eating soon, and won't lose too much weight in the interim. 


pictus is doing great. Loving life in the big boy tank. Just so much to eat and do many blenny perches.  

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Pickle is getting stronger. 😊

 

20220131_102822.thumb.jpg.b71f4e5b98fb0414fa19fc469de33f25.jpg

 

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He still rests at the bottom of the breeder box, but at least his dorsal fin is up and no longer clamped, and he swims around from time to time. If he continues to improve & starts eating again, he'll be released into my DT. 

 

Very high chance he'll be a single clown because my 10G is packed with corals and most likely cannot accomodate a second clown. Once he has stabilized, his adventures will be moved to my nano's journal on the site. 😊👍

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I wasn't feeling too well this morning, but I did manage to drain most of the water from the QT-Observation tank. 

 

20220131_115452.thumb.jpg.d2c5a9486d746ba29035056ebd099175.jpg

 

I need a few more days to dry the media blocks out thoroughly before I can place them back in the sump. Same goes for the LR. 

 

I think the tank will be fully wet again by the end of this week. 👍

 

In the meantime, Pickle has recovered more of his vigor in the breeder box, and also ate a large helping of pellets today evening. 😊

 

20220131_175841.thumb.jpg.7fd52ca4165adc90928dbaf0c6498dca.jpg

 

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He's also almost back to his curious, swimming-self. 

 

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If he continues to improve, I plan on *tentatively releasing him into the DT either tomorrow or the day after. 

 

I'm mostly happy he's recovering swiftly from the overdose. 👍

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

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