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

[debbeach13]

8 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Woke up this morning to this in my fuge/sump: 😨

I got one running around in my bedroom. Some times they just run into the house when I open the door. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

6 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

I got one running around in my bedroom. Some times they just run into the house when I open the door. 

We have plenty of them. We literally have one named Jerry that lives under our microwave, which is somewhat of our mini kitchen celebrity. 🦎

 

I'm actually not too fond of house lizards. Something about their flesh toned hue bothers me. I can tolerate other types of lizards fairly well though. I held a very large male green iguana once at a highland resort - he was heavy! 😄

[debbeach13]

Years ago a friend kept an iguana> Iggy had a 75 gallon tank but was loose in the house when ever they were home. He used to sit on my shoulder and nibble my ear. I could not believe how much he ate. I was not a big fan at first but over the years I ended liking him.

[ECLS Reefer]

9 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Goblin: 🥰

 

 

Nero: 🥰

 

 

 

Woke up this morning to this in my fuge/sump: 😨

 

 

 

It was already dead. 😕

He looks a little pickled 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Illaron (dude moves fast - could only get a backview shot of him) :

 

 

Thanos (love his expressions 😄) :

 

 

Random red shroom:

 

 

Thinking of putting in an order for a small female ruby dragonet soon. I'm not sure if the store can get anything in before the end of the year, but I hope they do. 

 

I'll also work on the aiptasia issue using some boiling concentrated lemon juice + vinegar, and maybe some glue, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough to kill the big one. 😕

 

I have had online suggestions from others to use a peppermint shrimp or filefish, but I'm very hesitant over adding anything non-reefsafe. I only have 2 healthy LPS left, and I swear, if one of the animals start munching on those, I'd just curl up in a mud pit and not come out for the next 6 months. 🤐

 

So, to recap:- 

 

1. Get Orion a girlfriend.

2. Kill tiny aiptasia with juice. 

3. Find safe way to kill big aiptasia. 

 

👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Poseidon cruising around with a splash: 💦

 

 

 

 

Coralline algae on the LR:

 

 

 

If only my urchin didn't keep eating it at the other rocks. 😕

[Snow_Phoenix]

Multiple updates coming through - pic heavy! 😊

 

I managed to shadow all 4 of my dragonets this morning and take some shots of each. 

 

Update #1: Orion. 

 

My littlest dragon of the reef was very active today - busy pecking away at pods on the rocks. Usually, he swims off & hides when he sees me coming, but I think he was simply too hungry today to bother. 😄

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's still quite lean, but he has gained roughly ~0.5" since he's been with me. Online research indicates that rubys can fetch up to 3", so I'm hoping he'll hit max. size next year. He's currently ~2" long. 🤗

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update #2: Bella. ❤

 

Bella is the only female dragonet in this reef atm, and she's lovely. She appears to be gravid again though. 🤔

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update #3: Illaron. 

 

Illaron has made a lot of progress since I first acquired him. Getting him onto prepared was tough, but once he adapted, he was much easier to feed & maintain. Right now, Illaron & Bella are roughly ~3" each. I believe they can grow bigger though, because I used to own a ~4" scooter some time ago, and I have seen larger ones at the store. 🤔

 

 

 

 

 

 

(And yes, he has orange lips. 🤭 )

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update #4: Poseidon. 💦

 

This guy was actively scoping out pods near Mushroom Mountain. He was shy at first, but eventually came out of hiding and began cruising around the rocks. 😄

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Among all my dragonets, Poseidon was the quickest to adapt to a captive diet. It was still tricky to get him to eat pellets & frozen stuff, but he now accepts it without too much of a fuss. 

 

He's also roughly ~3.75". He might hit 4" by the end of this year. Not sure. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update #5: Growth. 

 

I'm finally seeing the first true sign of growth & recovery in this tank after weeks. I noticed my rainbow yuma had dropped a baby, and it's very tiny:

 

 

But I'm very happy. If more things start grow out & multiply, especially the shrooms, then I can slowly start stocking up on some very cheap shroom frags to repopulate Mushroom Mountain soon. 🤗👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

The Big Guy: 😎

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Lil' red dragon with a full belly tonight:

 

 

Good night, NR. 🤗

[Snow_Phoenix]

Goblin peeking in:

 

 

Orion on the move:

 

 

Bicolor hammer appears to have grown a *bit. 🤔 :

 

 

 

Also spotted more new growth! Some new GSP polyps coming in from a previously thinned out/melted GSP mat:

 

 

I'll keep searching for more signs of growth. I thought of picking up a few simple shroom frags next week, but they just declared my city as a red zone for Covid, so I'm not sure if they'll restrict access to the highway leading up to my primary LFS. 😕

 

I also tinkered around with my light settings and am gradually increasing the UVs & blues every month (just around 2% or 3% increase each time). My schedule for my AI Prime HD is a bit wonky though:

 

 

I personally prefer the schedule of my R60:

 

 

But both lights have proven to both grow & support corals (including SPS) under these schedules. 🤔

 

I'm juggling with the idea of replacing my AI Prime with my PAR38 (54W) and using the Prime to support my 10G nano-to-come in Dec, because I need a strong light for all the SPS in that reef. Still not sure if the light-swap is a good idea because the PAR38 is extremely bright, cannot be dimmed or controlled by a timer. 

 

I'll definitely think about this very carefully first - I don't want to risk melting anything in any of my tanks, if possible. 

[Murphs_Reef]

3 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I also tinkered around with my light settings and am gradually increasing the UVs & blues every month (just around 2% or 3% increase each time). My schedule for my AI Prime HD is a bit wonky though:

 

 

I personally prefer the schedule of my R60:

 

 

🤔

 

Very intriguing. I'm have always had a lot more.red but think I may remove a lot of it.

[Snow_Phoenix]

2 hours ago, Grimes said:

 

Very intriguing. I'm have always had a lot more.red but think I may remove a lot of it.

I kept reading that red encourages algae growth so I use minimal of it. 🤔

 

Might rev up the blues in the R60 over time though. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

No longer sulking: 🤗

 

 

Mystery monti:

 

 

Yuma:

 

 

Another angle of Memphis filter feeding:

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHABVf5r4B2/?igshid=vf7059lg6gkx

 

Sapphire is actually a good companion when I need to focus on other things:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG_2rfRDHvJ/?igshid=10gley9942f76

[Murphs_Reef]

Will find our today what the mystery Monti is 👍🏼👍🏼

[Snow_Phoenix]

3 hours ago, Grimes said:

Will find our today what the mystery Monti is 👍🏼👍🏼

Thank you so much! 😊

[Snow_Phoenix]

It's finally here!!! 🤗

 

 

 

 

Took 3 weeks, but well worth the wait. The only things left to pick up are the sand and tank itself. 

 

Gotta check up on my tank order from the LFS first though. Thinking of an early pick up during the 3rd week of November, but I still need to wait for the rack to arrive first, haul the cabinet upstairs and reposition the current pico on the cabinet before I can do that. 🤔

 

So excited though! I can finally hoard more sticks to decorate the back wall of the new tank in the future! 😄

 

Add-On: Oops - wrong journal thread. Meant to post this in my pico thread, but I'm too lazy to correct it. Meh. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Also, back to the 60G - anyone seen a dragonet sleep-swim before? 😅

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHAkMpTjavZ/?igshid=1amy3zj467plp

 

^Returned home from church & went to my bedroom to that. Such a hilarious little fish. He's back to mooching on the sandbed now. 😅

[debbeach13]

That is a riot! 

[jack1978]

On 10/28/2020 at 3:18 AM, Snow_Phoenix said:

Illaron (dude moves fast - could only get a backview shot of him) :

 

 

Thanos (love his expressions 😄) :

 

 

Random red shroom:

 

 

Thinking of putting in an order for a small female ruby dragonet soon. I'm not sure if the store can get anything in before the end of the year, but I hope they do. 

 

I'll also work on the aiptasia issue using some boiling concentrated lemon juice + vinegar, and maybe some glue, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough to kill the big one. 😕

 

I have had online suggestions from others to use a peppermint shrimp or filefish, but I'm very hesitant over adding anything non-reefsafe. I only have 2 healthy LPS left, and I swear, if one of the animals start munching on those, I'd just curl up in a mud pit and not come out for the next 6 months. 🤐

 

So, to recap:- 

 

1. Get Orion a girlfriend.

2. Kill tiny aiptasia with juice. 

3. Find safe way to kill big aiptasia. 

 

👍

Can you get Bergies there?

They were the only thing that 100% eradicated all my aiptasia..... I had hundreds .... even my snails had them growing on their shells.

[Snow_Phoenix]

7 minutes ago, jack1978 said:

Can you get Bergies there?

They were the only thing that 100% eradicated all my aiptasia..... I had hundreds .... even my snails had them growing on their shells.

I'm not sure, but I'll try to see if I can. Otherwise, I'll order in a peppermint shrimp - they're super expensive, but I don't see much options. Just want to stop it before it spreads further. 😕

[jack1978]

3 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I'm not sure, but I'll try to see if I can. Otherwise, I'll order in a peppermint shrimp - they're super expensive, but I don't see much options. Just want to stop it before it spreads further. 😕

I used ReefTown ..    lots of great info on their site.