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

[Snow_Phoenix]

3 hours ago, banasophia said:

Sorry you are going through tough times, Snow… hugs 💛

Thanks, Bana. I needed that. 🌺

[debbeach13]

3 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I strive to give Foxy (and all my other animals) the best care possible within my means (which isn't much to begin with). She's very healthy, well-fed and a good fish.

Good morning, Snow. Truer words were never spoken. Over the years I would have to say, that you are more dedicated to caring for and creating natural habitat than most. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

54 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Good morning, Snow. Truer words were never spoken. Over the years I would have to say, that you are more dedicated to caring for and creating natural habitat than most. 

Morning, Deb. Thanks for understanding as well. Very few truly know what I struggle with on a daily basis, but I've always tried to prioritize my animals over myself, and sometimes it does affect my health and overall well-being too. So far everything seems okay with the tank. It might not be the prettiest tank out there in the world, but I still love it. Fish appear alright too - I check on them every morning, evening and night. Hope you've been keeping well. 🌺

[debbeach13]

I am well. Thanks for asking. 

[Lebowski_]

16 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I appreciate your concern. But I strive to give Foxy (and all my other animals) the best care possible within my means (which isn't much to begin with). She's very healthy, well-fed and a good fish. She's also a survivor. If only I could cram everything that has happened in this tank within a single post to explain it better, I would, but then we'll both be stuck writing/reading a never-ending essay. 

Also, a *lot is going on my end atm (which I'm not inclined to share with the forum, and I'd respectfully ask you not to ask, if possible), and Foxy is one of the few animals I currently have that makes me smile - which I haven't been doing a lot these days. I love watching her, and she has an amazing personality for a fish. 
 

 

That's your choice. I worry about a fish that's 6" and will grow another 3", in a tank that is less than 4x it's length. Foxface's love to swim. 24" is not a lot of horizontal space, I've seen them zip around 6ft tanks and still look like they could use more space. I think sometimes we need to put our pet's ahead of ourselves. Anyways, your tankand your rules. Best of luck.

[Snow_Phoenix]

3 hours ago, Lebowski_ said:

I think sometimes we need to put our pet's ahead of ourselves.

I do put the needs of my animals before myself. Example: I woke up this morning at 8+ am and immediately started my day by prepping food for all of my animals, cleaning out enclosures/food bowls/water bottles and removing excess food & poop from all of my animals tanks, cages and enclosures. It is 11.46am atm, and I just sat down to eat my breakfast for 5 mins, and I'll be diving back to my pet-work and routine check up for all of my animals, fish included. In some homes, people are already having an early lunch and I'm trying to scarf down a small cup of morning coffee without choking. 

 

I'd appreciate it if you don't assume that just because I'm keeping a foxface in a cube tank, it automatically means I'm uncaring or unbothered, and not putting my fish's needs above my own. 😕

 

3 hours ago, Lebowski_ said:

 Anyways, your tankand your rules. Best of luck.

True. Good day to you too. 👍🌺

 

[debbeach13]

I think we understand your concern about the fish. I am just not loving the comment that implies Snow would put her needs above her pet's. 

Do you still have a tank up and running? I haven't seen any journal updates in years. 

[Lebowski_]

1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

I think we understand your concern about the fish. I am just not loving the comment that implies Snow would put her needs above her pet's. 

Do you still have a tank up and running? I haven't seen any journal updates in years. 

Edit - never mind. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

----

[seabass]

On 3/27/2023 at 6:32 AM, Snow_Phoenix said:

More baby molly fry pics inbound! There are a few new little guys in the mix too.

What's the plan for all of the mollies?  Feeder fish for the lions?  I imagine that they will continue to grow in numbers if left unchecked.

 

Have a great day.

[Snow_Phoenix]

4 minutes ago, seabass said:

What's the plan for all of the mollies?  Feeder fish for the lions?  I imagine that they will continue to grow in numbers if left unchecked.

 

Have a great day.

I think...I might move 2 of the largest, hardiest fry to my nano. They have a surprisingly robust immune system compared to my other marine fish.

I suppose the rest will need to be fed to the lions, but I do feel a bit bad/guilty. It's a shame not many would accept mollies in their fish stocking list, otherwise I'd gladly trade them in for free at my LFS and anyone else can just pick one or two up for their tanks. I can ask my store manager if he wants any for his frag tanks first though, but I need to wait until they grow a bit larger. 

They are getting a bit unchecked, I agree. Every time I look into my fuge, I'm positive I'm seeing more tiny ones. Main problem is getting them out without removing all the macro, LR and mangroves. They can swim very quickly if they sense danger (the shadow of my hand hovering over the fuge, for example), and can blend in very well with my chaeto. Their speckled bodies help a lot in camoflage. 

 

Have a good day as well, Seabass. If you have any pointers on how to safely remove these guys without upending my whole sump or hurting the fish, I'm all ears. 

[seabass]

I suppose you could try a plastic bottle fish trap of some sort.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Little Luna chasing after a spider on the glass. 😅

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Hi, everyone. I managed to catch & transfer 3 mollies to my nano today. 2 are juvis while 1 is still a fry and quarter the size of the others. 😅

 

 

I only managed to catch them by being extra sneaky and using a plastic mesh basket. Once I turned off the pumps, the juvis immediately headed over to the chaeto section for food like clockwork. I dipped the basket quickly into the water and some of the mollies immediately tried to dive into the wad of chaeto (the smarter ones took off towards the deeper water section near the mangroves). 

 

Since the juvis have grown bigger, they can no longer hide *in the chaeto itself, and can get easily trapped in it. So all I had to do was scoop them up and then transfer them over to my nanoreef. 😅👍

[debbeach13]

4 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Little Luna chasing after a spider on the glass. 😅

 

Awesome picture 

[Snow_Phoenix]

32 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Awesome picture 

Thanks, Deb! I just love how focused her eyes are in this. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I finally scraped the glass and could see my fish! 😅

 

Lovely Luna today. 🥰

 

 

 

Foxy peeking:

 

 

Galaxea thick as ever:

 

 

Toadstool leather:

 

 

I think this wound up being a predator-pest tank in a way. 😅

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Taken today. Galaxea (zoomed in shot) at 4+" now. 

 

 

Luna. 🥰

 

 

 

Mama molly (Sally) and the lead male sailfin molly (Ben) :

 

 

 

PJ:

 

Little leathers still growing out:

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Some bad news: Lady died overnight. She has been slowly going downhill after the loss of her bonded partner, Lily, (another dwarf zebra lion) months ago. Ever since then, I noticed changes in her behavior and appetite - if a fish was capable of 'feeling' sad, which I'm unsure if it's possible, then this was something akin to it. 😞

 

I tried my best to tempt her with various prepared food in the past, but she refused to go for it. I tried live food, but it wasn't enough. 

 

Luckily, Luna, my last lion - a dwarf *fuzzy, seems to be adapting better to this tank than my 2 previous dwarf zebras. Last night, I suspect my female molly released a whole bunch of fry - most of which was snapped up by Luna, because her belly was full at 1am (I couldn't sleep/rest, so I took some time to spy on my tank). All of my other fish were accounted for, including Lady, at that time, so I'm 110% sure Luna didn't accidently eat her tankmates. 

 

I'm not sure if I should continue to add lions to this tank. The dwarf zebras seem to be more sensitive compared to my dwarf fuzzy in terms of care and diet, which in turn affects their longevity. Maybe if I can get a hold of another dwarf fuzzy in the future, I can try to add another lion (?), but maybe not. I'm undecided on this front.

 

I'm itching to try keeping dragonets in this tank again, but Luna *might eat them. She's still very small at <3", but *never underestimate a predator - especially a lionfish. Unless the dragonet is of extreme size (wild specimens that get pulled in here can even hit up to 6"), then it's too big of a risk. The only dragonet species that will most likely be unable to be swallowed is the mother dragonet, but that fish can hit up 12" (?) in the wild, or so they say. In captivity, I'm unsure - I've hardly heard of anyone having success with this fish long-term, and it's a bit rare in the hobby. 

Otherwise, tank's chugging along at a steady pace. I've had an explosion of spaghetti worms recently, and many tiny duster worms have popped up all over the rocks as well. I also seem to have an aiptasia issue. Will need to manually eradicate those. 

[debbeach13]

Snow I am so sorry.

[Lebowski_]

Rest in Peace Lily - you were a beaut.

[Snow_Phoenix]

I just checked my sump and was quite shocked to find at least 20+ new fry (which I could see with my bare eyes) in there. I suspect there might be many more hidden within my chaeto. 🤐

 

 

I think I'll try to fish out a few using the mesh basket, then toss them back into the DT for Luna to eat. 

 

Problem is the fry are still so tiny that they can literally slip through the holes of the mesh basket and sink back into the chaeto. Might need to wait for them to grow a bit bigger before I can catch them and feed them to my fish. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

I scooped out some of the smaller fry yesterday using the mesh basket and dropped them in the DT. Also managed to scoop out one of the older juvi mollies too. Luna managed to hunt down a few of them and her belly was quite full (but not over-full) yesterday. My PJ cardinal had a few fry for dinner as well. Never seen such a *peaceful fish become so hell-bent on chasing down and eating smaller fish. At least he was sated by the end of the day, so... 🤷‍♀️

 

Tank is still infested with algae, but my blenny and foxface love grazing on the patches. So I'm not doing much to get rid of the algae, just maintaining everything as it is. I took 2 pics yesterday, but they're on my cellphone. Will try to upload them shortly. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Cluster of cloves:

 

 

Tiny toadstool leather:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Glass is quite dirty so pics are blurry - sorry! All pics taken as it is, without yellow (or any) lens filter of any sort. 👍

 

Luna looks amazing under heavy blues. She's red, but *extra-red when the lights power down for the day:

 

 

Two of my largest molly juvis in the fuge:

 

 

 

 

These survivors have grown quite big. They're also elusive when it comes to capture, so I let them be. 

 

I fed Luna some smaller molly fry yesterday instead. Just agitated the chaeto a little, a few lil' guys shot up, and I scooped them out with a small mesh basket before dropping them in the DT. 👍