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

[Snow_Phoenix]

Cleo and Lily. 🥰

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Hmm. So I'm planning on doing another sand-siphoning sessions some time this week (tentatively). I'll be trimming the rubber tubing to a shorter length so that it'll be easier to get the siphon started this time. I'll stop once I've displaced around a max. of 20G of water (10G would be preferable though). 

 

I actually have a fine mesh net somewhere, which *might be able to assist in scooping out large portions of sand more quickly, but I'll have to search for it. Another option is the fishing net, but the holes in the netting *might be a little bit large and some grains of sand will inevitably pass through. Definitely will try to get rid of 2kg of sand at least. Wish me luck! 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Quite surprised this pavona frag actually started encrusting on the LR and growing in the tank. 😅

 

 

 

Even the forest fire sticks have begun to encrust. Growth rate might be slow, and colors might not be as vivid as the frags in my nano, but I'm a bit thrilled that this dirty tank can host a few hardy SPS species. 😊👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Lady and Lily. 🥰

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Hawke. 🥰

 

 

He's incredibly large now. Slightly over 5", quite possibly will hit 6" by the end of the year. Not a fussy eater either. 👍

 

Aquilla is still around 4.5+". I think she's hit her max. in terms of size:

 

 

Managed to get a shot of Lily *curving as she switched directions during swimming:

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Leathers! 🥰

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Neon green kenya tree coral with some PE:

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I also took a few FTSes. My cynarinas have been quite deflated and discolored for the past week though. 😕

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, sorry for the reflection in the glass! 😅

[debbeach13]

This tank is progressing very nicely!

[Snow_Phoenix]

26 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

This tank is progressing very nicely!

Thanks, Deb! Not sure how, but with the exception of the 2 cynarinas, everything else seems to be growing at a steady pace. I love my softie collection the most. Not sure when I'll head back to the store - I still am waiting for the new rocks/aquascape to be completed, but I might drop by for a visit in the upcoming weeks just to say hello to everyone there. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I managed to scoop out more sand today. I also tried a different method - I used two nets (one medium and one super small) to manually scoop out the sand from the tank.

 

It was surprisingly very, very easy to do and very quick to. I wager I'd managed to scoop out at least 3.5+kg of sand (or maybe even 4kg) and it only took around 30 mins. There was also minimal water displacement using this method, but there are several big downsides too.

 

When I scooped up the sand, a *lot of sediment was filtered out through the mesh of the net and landed all over the rocks. It also made the tank water incredibly cloudy, and beyond a certain point, I was blindly sticking the net into the tank and scooping the sand out, which is rather dangerous because I do have two lions and a foxface in there (and I can't see them at all).

 

The size and rigidity of the nets also makes it difficult to access the corners of the tank, or pockets of sand under the rocks. I had to manually lift out some of the rock ledges to get better access to the sandbed in those areas, and of course, that simply dislodges more dirt and contributes to the cloudiness of the water.

 

Hours later, and there's a layer of gunk all over the rocks and the water is still clearing up (might take a full day at this rate). The only way to get the rocks clean is do a proper WC of at *least 10G, which I'll try to tackle tomorrow (need to rest my ankle - it's throbbing). Despite all of these issues, I was very happy at how quickly and smoothly I could remove the sand from the tank, and how it was less messy too. 

 

It was also less stressful on my part. I think I'll be using this net-scooping technique until I can get all the major parts of the sandbed out. There will definitely be tiny layers of sand leftover, and those bits will be siphoned out using the gravity-tube-siphon method. 

 

My corals are very cranky however. I did knock a few digi sticks off by accident while I was poking around in the tank, and my leathers are sulking. Hopefully they'll perk up once a WC is done, and most of the gunk from the rocks have been removed. 

 

Sorry if there are no pics with this post - I'm quite embarrassed by the state of the tank atm. 

My fish appear okay for now, but they're definitely not too happy I upended their home in the afternoon. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Hawke today. 🥰

 

 

 

Corals still looking a bit peaky. 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Lady flaring her fins. 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

Lily says hello too. 😊

 

 

Not so sulky today:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Last night, one of my black mollies jumped out of the tank, which I thought was a bit odd. I cleaned the lil' guy up and put him back in. 🤷‍♀️

 

This morning, I woke up and discovered I had 3 mollies instead of the usual 4. I assumed the molly that jumped didn't make it, so I was trying to locate the body to remove it. I couldn't find it at all, which was a fairly bit odd - usually there are leftovers in the tank if a molly perishes in it. 

 

Instinct told me to check up on the lions - just in case. And then I spotted the large bulge in Lily's belly! 😅

 

Looks like the lions are finally recognizing the mollies as food, which is good. 👍

 

(That was probably why the eaten one jumped in the first place - Lily must have tried going after it and it panicked)

 

I'm planning on picking up more live shrimp soon though. Lady still hasn't eaten since the last batch of shrimp. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Finally purchased 3 small bags of shrimp! 🦐

 

Also, Hawke today looking fab. 😅

 

 

Absolutely love his colors. The lyretail is coming in quite well too. 🥰

[Snow_Phoenix]

Hi everyone - I worked from 11am to ~5pm today (with a super short lunch break squeezed in between) to siphon out *all the sand and sediment from the DT, *and perform a large 55G WC! 

 

The water was very cloudy while I was shuffling things in there to remove the sand:

 

 

I dried out 2 rocks under the hot sun, and also rescaped the tank to give it a bit of a makeover. 😅

 

 

 

 

 

The scape is now a reverse C-shape (from above) with mini arches and a lot of crevices. There is much, much more open space in the center which is currently being enjoyed by the open-column swimmers. 

 

Have to admit - my leg & back muscles are very sore atm, but I think it was worth the hassle. Despite my best efforts though, there is still a layer of sediment over most of the rocks and on some areas of the glass at the bottom of the tank. 😕

 

My corals are understandably upset - especially my red cynarina, which I accidently scooped up with a bunch of dirty sand & bagged up by accident. Eep. 

 

I'll try to take better pics tomorrow. I was too tired and sore to scrape the glass, so it's a bit dirty. Figured I'd tackle that in the upcoming days because it's not an emergency. 🤷‍♀️

 

Also, I did have a close call with being stung by both my foxface and one of the lions. Definitely not a great idea to stick a hand into cloudy water and move a bunch of rocks around. 🤦‍♀️

[Snow_Phoenix]

Cleaned the glass and did a small rescape today morning because I wasn't too happy over yesterday's mess. How the tank currently looks like, in reverse-C-shape formation & 1 island on the front left side:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know the floating rocks at the back seem super-scary, but it is surprisingly stable. The pieces are 'locked' to each other by making the projections on each rock fit into depressions of larger pieces. I admit I will feel better if I had some putty to fix it in place, but it seems to be okay for now. 

 

There is still some patches of sediment here and there. It's unavoidable and a bit unsightly, but that has been one of the drawbacks of going bare-bottom. 

 

My next mission will be to do a full clean out of the sump (barring the fuge). I already have the floss & carbon prepared, but siphoning out all the gunk/filthy water + making up new water to 'flush' the sump will probably take ~3.5 hours or so. It's not something I'll be able to do this week, because I need to rest & recover first. Maybe in 1.5 or ~2 weeks, I'll do the cleanout. 👍

 

My corals are still understandably unhappy. I had to move my kenya tree to the back, and the pineapple tree to the front. The neon-polyp toadstool is still sulking because it's orientated towards the back of the tank. So I *might have to shift it to a better location tomorrow. 🤔

 

The fish are good though. Foxy did sustain a few scrapes because she panicked when I stuck my hand into the tank too close to her. 😕

 

Otherwise, the fish seem to be exploring the new aquascape and are re-establishing new territories. Cleo the copperband is very active though. She's been exploring the rockwork non-stop and is in the constant hunt for food. 👍

 

I'll probably drop in a few shrimp for the lions either this evening or tomorrow morning. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

PE. 😁

 

 

 

 

Butterfly mode activated. 🦋

 

 

Cleo foraging for snacks. 💦

 

 

Buddies. 🥰

 

 

[debbeach13]

I like the new scape. Looks great for good flow.

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

I like the new scape. Looks great for good flow.

Flow's definitely improved, and thank you! I love this new scape too. Can finally see my fish swimming out in the open more clearly. 

If only then rocks weren't infested in vermetids, I'd keep them the way they are and abstain from purchasing new rocks. 

 

The corals seem to be slowly perking up too. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Had to adjust the scape a little. Never will I underestimate the power of a small urchin determined to move. 😅

 

 

Also, Foxy's huge! 👀

[Snow_Phoenix]

PJ. 😊

 

 

Aquilla. 😊

 

 

Hawke. 🥰

 

 

Pineapple tree coral. 😊

 

 

Cloves. 😊👍

 

 

^Also, a suspicious Cleo wondering what the human is up to again. 😅

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

A couple of leathers. 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

Lily. 🥰

 

 

Hawke. 😅

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

The shrimp snack bar was open today! We have a couple of hungry lions that were eventually sated by the live offerings. 👍

 

 

 

Hawke and PJ had some yummy shrimp too. 🥰

 

 

 

And this piece is sulking less and less as the days go by. 👍

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Picked up a daum's reef lobster from the store today.

 

 

Turns out it was a female, because it discharged a lot of hatchlings when we re-emptied the bag into a holding tank at the shop. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cir8ctdr3sC/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

Acclimating at home - a few babies came with her in the bag, when we re-bagged her. 😅

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cir83hQrMvU/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

They're super tiny too! 🦞

 

 

 

Proud mama. 🥰🦞

 

 

I'm temporarily keeping her in a breeder box in the 60G. I'm unsure if she can be safely released in this tank. She's almost at max. size, and my lions are still too small to eat her. But they will definitely try to go after her when they become bigger. 😕

 

I'm thinking of moving her to my 10G QT downstairs - where she can have the whole tank to herself, and most importantly, stay healthy and safe. 👍

 

I also traded in several coral frags from my nano for 4 trochus snails. 🥰

 

On top of all that, I picked up two more softies for this tank - a regular brownish toadstool and a purplish-pink kenya tree (previous one was too small a stub and unhealthy, and eventually melted away over a month ago). This frag is much larger and was quite healthy at the LFS. I'll take pics of them tomorrow. 

 

Hopefully they'll stop sulking soon! 😅