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

[Snow_Phoenix]

48 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Fantastic news!

Indeed! 🌺

[Tamberav]

If he is eating.. then I bet he will make a full recovery! 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Happy Lunar New Year, everyone! 🐯🐅

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^Literally what's going on outside the balcony right now. 😅

[Snow_Phoenix]

Got some pretty purple ones too! 🥰

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Still drying everything out under the hot sun. The media blocks are the hardest because they're porous. But the rocks appear dry so far:

 

 

Also planning to release Pickle into the DT, but I need to fix my lid first. I spotted a very tiny gap between the mesh and the glass. 

 

 

It doesn't look like much, but the one thing I've learnt over the years is that fish have a tendency to find the smallest of gaps and jump out through *that when I'm not around. 😕

 

So best to cover this gap with more mesh. Pickle isn't super small, but he can squeeze through if he flips out at the correct angle. 

 

Happy to report he's back to normal though! Swimming well with fins all perked up. Quite active in the breeder box. 😊

[Snow_Phoenix]

Taken exactly a year ago. I miss him so badly sometimes. 😔

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Hi everyone, Pickle has been released into my nano. He still needs to be fattened up (lateral lines showing a little), but he's cheerful as ever. 😊

 

 

 

 

 

His adventures will no longer be posted in this thread, but it will continue in my 10G's journal. Catch him on there, and wish him all the best! 🥰

[Ratvan]

10 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Hi everyone, Pickle has been released into my nano. He still needs to be fattened up (lateral lines showing a little), but he's cheerful as ever. 😊

 

 

 

 

 

His adventures will no longer be posted in this thread, but it will continue in my 10G's journal. Catch him on there, and wish him all the best! 🥰

Pickle has beautiful colouring and looks great against all that coral in the background

[Snow_Phoenix]

2 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Pickle has beautiful colouring and looks great against all that coral in the background

I'm secretly hoping he stays this shade. Mocha colored clowns usually change to flat black as they mature. With Pickle, only time will tell. 🤷‍♀️

[Snow_Phoenix]

Finally able to grow out my refugium after months: 

 

 

 

 

Spotted more limpets on the glass, and a stomatella too! 😊

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I also slowly re-set the Observation tank back up. First layer in the sump are all media blocks:

 

 

Second layer is floss and a 500g bag of carbon (overkill, I know) :

 

 

Layout for the DT is exactly the same:

 

 

Just need to get her wet & cycling again. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Observation tank is finally wet:

 

 

Layout is pretty much the same. I added a bioptim vial to start the cycle, but will throw in a bit of fish food as well. I'll be ghost-feeding this tank from time to time, then let it run on autopilot for 1+ month. 

 

Since there won't be any new fish to add to it anytime soon, I can pretty much just leave it as it is, and only WC the day before I add a fish that has been QTed. 👍

[seabass]

I'd consider adding a pure ammonium chloride or ammonia instead of ghost feeding.  The organics from ghost feeding could cause cyano or other problems.  It would also increase phosphate as well as nitrate.

 

The only affect of dosing ammonia is increased nitrate and a healthy biofilter.  You can do a water change prior to adding a fish to bring nitrate down to a healthy level.

[Snow_Phoenix]

6 minutes ago, seabass said:

I'd consider adding a pure ammonium chloride or ammonia instead of ghost feeding.  The organics from ghost feeding could cause cyano or other problems.  It would also increase phosphate as well as nitrate.

 

The only affect of dosing ammonia is increased nitrate and a healthy biofilter.  You can do a water change prior to adding a fish to bring nitrate down to a healthy level.

Where can I get ammonium chloride/ammonia? I've always wondered. Is there a specific product to look out for? 🤔

I used to cycle tanks with raw shrimp, actually. I still can - I usually remove the shrimp after 24 hours, and then let the cycle do its thing. 

Forgot to add - I'm keeping the lights off throughout the entire cycling process, so I *don't think I'll see any algae outbreaks (unless cyano can grow in the dark (?) ). The ghost feeding is very, very light - just less than a dozen 0.5mm NLS pellets twice a week. 

[seabass]

51 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Where can I get ammonium chloride/ammonia?

I'm not sure what's available in Malaysia.  However, some people use a common household cleaner (ammonia), containing pure 10% ammonia hydroxide with no scents, surfactants, or other added ingredients.  This is commonly used to feed the nitrogen cycle here in the U.S.  Lab grade ammonium chloride might also be available in Malaysia.  You'll just have to check.

 

1 hour ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I'm keeping the lights off throughout the entire cycling process, so I *don't think I'll see any algae outbreaks (unless cyano can grow in the dark (?)

Cyano is photosynthetic, so it can't grow in complete darkness.  I just prefer dosing ammonia or ammonium chloride because it's cleaner (no rotting food, DOC, DOM, phosphate, etc).  But I know many people that ghost feed; it's your call.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Yesterday. 😊

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Hi, everyone! I dropped by the store today to pick up some frags for my nano, and also managed to pick up 2 small softy frags for this tank - a green kenya tree and a pulsing (but refused to pulse ) xenia. 

 

 

I couldn't get any proper pics of the new corals in the tank since the lights were dimming for the night, but I will try to tomorrow. 

 

Also, guess what else I managed to pick up? 👀

 

 

Hint: had to set this up quickly - luckily my media is cycled this time! 😅

 

 

Yep, we have some new fish!!! 

 

 

All 3 of them are tiny and <2" each. It's a lawnmower blenny, pajama cardinal (<--- my first time keeping this fish; I've seen wild-caught ones at the store at 5"++ !!! ) and...a new mandy a.k.a. little dragon! 

 

My store manager sent out a general whatsapp video late last night about a new, but very small fish shipment. I was actually quite sick last night. 😕

 

But when I noticed there were a few mandys - especially spotted ones (!!!) in the shipment, I knew I had to drop by. So I pushed myself a little and saw 4 very tiny mandys in the same aquarium compartment. 

 

This *one was literally kicking the crap out of the other 3. Very feisty, bold, and very alert. He reminded me so much of a mini Poseidon, and boy, he's brutal. I knew then and there I had to try and bring this one home. 

 

My greatest worry is the QT period, which usually extends 3 to 4 weeks per fish. But for a dragonet, I will probably only do 3 or 4 days of observation-QT (post hybrid-TTM, which will take ~13 days) before moving him to the DT, which is full of live pods. 

 

It is also much easier to wean the fish onto prepared in the DT, when it has no proper competitors (*yet), barring my foxface. 

 

The blenny was unique. There were 3 tiny lawnmowers at the store. 2 were white, 1 was dark gray and more mottled. I picked the gray dude. Because he was quite active and held his ground against a tang, even though he's bite-size. 😅

 

As for the pajama - this particular fish used to unnerve me a little. Because of its red eyes (sounds weird, I know, which was why I never had one in any of my tanks). But I took a good look at this fish, and it was very healthy. Also - extremely peaceful. 

 

And it was the only one left. It has been there for ~3 weeks and no one wanted it, according to my worker-friend. Apparently it's not 'pretty' enough for most customers (?) 🤷‍♀️

 

So heck, I grabbed this third fish and stopped. I can't QT too many at a time, and 3 small fish is more than enough. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

They were actually okay when they went into the bin:

 

 

 

 

 

Apologies if the pics are too blurry, but the bin is opaque. 😕

 

The blenny's belly is quite pinched. The mandy is okay, the cardinal looks the healthiest so far. Will work on fattening all 3 up though! 

 

Hope all 3 of them make it. I have no plans on visiting the store anytime soon again, but I did put down a deposit for my 1st LPS - a medium-sized symphyllia. Will slowly restock the tank. Hoping to have half of the reef stocked by the end of this year. 👍

[debbeach13]

WOW that was a bit of a shopping spree. So happy that you got a new mandy for yourself. Good luck with all the new additions.

[Snow_Phoenix]

29 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

WOW that was a bit of a shopping spree. So happy that you got a new mandy for yourself. Good luck with all the new additions.

Yep, it was quite the spree - but the most amazing thing was that through some miracle, I managed to acquire everything within my budget, and still had some extra leftover to put down as a deposit for the brain coral that I was eyeing on since last year. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Just checked on all 3 fish in the QT - they're okay! 😊

 

Also, here's some screenshots of the kenya tree and xenia in the tank:

 

 

 

Foxy is ignoring them for now, which is good. I'll try acquiring more small softy frags in the future, as well as large LPS. I've been cautioned against adding any zoas due to Foxy, but I can frag some from my nano and add it to this tank as a test. 

 

If she doesn't eat it, I'll add a few to this in hopes of getting them to grow out over the rocks a bit. 👍

[Tamberav]

Love that green Kenya!

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 hour ago, Tamberav said:

Love that green Kenya!

It's quite bright. I saw the larger version at my LFS's main DT - it was around ~10" and looked really nice. 😊

 

Thinking of picking up more leather frags from the store in the future - including a weeping willow, toadstool & red finger leather (if they have it). 

 

I think once more fish are added to the tank, the nitrates will eventually increase and favor the growth of the various softies. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

Checked up on the new guys again (very blurry pics ahead) :

 

 

 

 

They seem to each have their spot in the tank, which is good. Caught the blenny perching on the pipes too - he likes the shelter of the fake plant a lot. 

 

I'll be dropping in some pods and a pinch of pellets later in the evening. I don't expect any of them to eat this early on, but I figured it's worth a shot. 🤷‍♀️

 

Already thinking up ways to train this new mandy. I'm a bit rusty, but I think I'll eventually get the hang of it. 

 

All fish are breathing normally,  which is good. No marks on their bodies too. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Happy fishies after their first meal of pellets & pods:

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZtph4dJTP7/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

(Only the cardinal ate. Still, 1 out of 3 isn't too bad! 😅 )