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

[Snow_Phoenix]

The remaining 2 shrimp were dead and uneaten after I returned home so I tossed them out. The other fish were actively eating the frozen mysis-brine-pods cocktail I made last week.

 

The copperband mostly went after the pods - she prefers brine, but only if they are small. So I'll be picking up a new bottle of liquid brine from ReefServe soon. 👍

 

Also, the hawk was very active & eating well. So glad he made it through the night okay and made a full recovery from yesterday's fall. 

 

I also purchased a new tube of silicon today. Will attempt to patch up my broken breeder box later. 👍

 

[Ratvan]

Glad the lion is eating, be careful with your hands though. Those spines hurt even if its an accidental brushing against the skin (as i found out myself 😁)

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 hour ago, Ratvan said:

Glad the lion is eating, be careful with your hands though. Those spines hurt even if its an accidental brushing against the skin (as i found out myself 😁)

I read that it is inevitable for you to get stung at least once when you own a lionfish. But...I had a lionfish in a nano packed with corals once, and I took all the precautions (eyes on the fish at all times whenever I needed to stick my hands in the tank) and was lucky enough to avoid getting stung. 

 

The 60G has more open areas, but it also has shadowy overhangs and a lot of crevices a tiny lion could take refuge in. I'm actually a bit worried about keeping a venomous fish in this tank, but I've been managing okay so far with the foxface, so hopefully I won't accidently brush up against the lion. 

 

Did hot water ease the pain of your sting? 

[Ratvan]

Just now, Snow_Phoenix said:

I read that it is inevitable for you to get stung at least once when you own a lionfish. But...I had a lionfish in a nano packed with corals once, and I took all the precautions (eyes on the fish at all times whenever I needed to stick my hands in the tank) and was lucky enough to avoid getting stung. 

 

The 60G has more open areas, but it also has shadowy overhangs and a lot of crevices a tiny lion could take refuge in. I'm actually a bit worried about keeping a venomous fish in this tank, but I've been managing okay so far with the foxface, so hopefully I won't accidently brush up against the lion. 

 

Did hot water ease the pain of your sting? 

Yeah hot water completely killed the pain after about 5-10 minutes. Well after i had to remove a small portion of the spine from my hand. Lesson learned. I picked up a bit of rock that typically Swim Shady was lurking under and got one in my finger. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Already prepared the necessary equipment for tomorrow's peroxide bath & the next TTM phase. 👍

 

 

I visited Tanjung Balau (an off-part of Desaru Beach) today. Very long trip to get there, but spotted some cool things like this large conical shell:

 

 

Tropical periwinkle snails! 🥰

 

 

Purple shore crab staying well-hidden in one of the crevices of one of the tidepools:

 

 

Check out how beautiful/dangerous/craggy the rocks are:

 

 

Had a really fun time. Spotted various types of critters including several fish. Only succeeded in netting one, which turned out to be a (suspected) sergeant major damsel fry. 

 

I almost netted a sand dragonet and ultra-tiny yellow line goby, but it was too hard - I'm not exactly the most coordinated person out there. 😕

 

Also spotted a lot of mudskippers literally *flying through the air from rock to rock, and making a loud 'splat!' everytime they landed on a new surface. 

 

I saw a few chalk gobies and blennies too, and unknown schools of tiny fish (one of which my dad managed to catch - it was silver and half the size of a guppy). 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

So I did bring back a few tiny critters from the tidepools. 🤐

 

Am currently keeping them in a tiny QT, outdoors and isolated from all my other marine animals. Got a bunch of intertidal hermits (Pagurus sp., I think), several periwinkles, a nerite, a money cowrie, and the tiny damsel (which incidently, ate the tinier silver fish in the holding tank otw back home  ) in a makeshift tank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The QT has a mini pump, cycled media blocks taken from the 10G AIO Observation tank and a few coral stones/river pebbles. 

 

I'm honestly not sure if the damsel will survive because it is too small, but I will try my best to raise it and grow it out in the Observation tank. Once/*If it hits 2.5" and goes through TTM successfully, only then I'll consider transferring it to the 60G. 🤔

 

As for the hermits, perhaps a nice, small, basic intertidal-palu on the sideporch table will be okay. I have 3 excess mangroves growing out in my fuge which could use better space & light. I actually just need to get some sand. Or I could just acclimate them & transfer all of them to my fuge (?) in 2 to 3 weeks.  🤷‍♀️

[debbeach13]

That sounds like a great day. A much-needed break from QT treatments. I am glad you got to go explore and see all those critters.

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

That sounds like a great day. A much-needed break from QT treatments. I am glad you got to go explore and see all those critters.

I am too! Have to say though - my toes are swollen because I kept bumping my feet against the rocks. Was worth it though! 😊👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Second peroxide bath & next phase of hybrid-TTM was completed this afternoon. My notes are quite disorganized this round. 😅

 

 

 

The fish in the acclimation bucket, prior to entry into the peroxide bath tanks:

 

 

 

Happy to say the cricket bin has been washed & the larger QT bin is back in place:

 

 

The QT-Observation tank needs a WC, but I'll only do it prior to adding my lion:

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Speaking of the lion, she has slowly developed quite the personality, so I'm renaming her 'Lady' because she truly is one. Here she was, during the peroxide bath:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Cleo the Copperband was relatively happy too. Her diet is improving, and she accepted more frozen food today than usual. 🥰

 

 

 

 

Hawke is a bit paled out - among all my fish, I think peroxide baths stresses him a little:

 

 

He's doing alright in the new bin, but I'll check back on him later. 👍

 

Oh, and remember these guys? 🤐

 

 

 

Turns out they're Diogenes sp., not Pagurus sp. They're still an intertidal species though, so I'll try to acquire some shirui sand online and see if I can set up a small palu with mangroves outdoors (hope my mum won't mind - eek!). 

 

All of them made it safely through the night. There are elevated areas so that they can easily climb out of the water anytime. I also added a lot of extra tiny hermit shells so that they can freely switch in and out of them. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Just realized I do have sand!!! 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

 

It's cream white reptisand - literally as fine as the sand on the beach. It's used in terrariums - I use it for my hamsters' sand baths. I don't have much of it on hand, but I'll order more. 

 

One small intertidal tank coming up! 💦

 

(Will set up a proper one once I can source out a nice secondhand acrylic/glass tank - I have a few rice bins which I can use, but they are opaque and you can't get a clear sideview of anything in it)

[Snow_Phoenix]

Mornin' everyone. There has been a small setback with the tiny tidepool tank-to-be. I did more digging on the reptisand and its suitability in a marine aquarium. The general consensus online seems to be that it's not a good idea because reptisand is rich in silicates and seems to cause a lot of issues in reef aquariums. 😕

 

Although I don't intend to host corals in the tidepool tank, I'd still love to plant some mangroves in it and *maybe add a small piece of LR & some macro (taken from the fuge of this 60G). Also, I'm worried the reptisand would affect the health of the crabs; I only wish I had researched more about it before purchasing 4kg of reptisand online today morning, while I was half-asleep. 🤦‍♀️

It's not a total loss though - I use reptisand for my hamsters, so this batch I ordered can be used for their sandboxes.

 

However, I ordered 6kg of fine aquarium sand (meant for SW tanks) online after realizing my error, so hopefully it'll arrive safely soon. 

 

For now, the tidepool tank is still small and restricted to a normal plastic one. 

 

I'll definitely start poking around some LFSes close to my home in the upcoming weeks to see if I can pick up a nice glass tank (preferably second-hand). 

 

All the critters are doing fine for now - even the tiny striped damsel is okay. I'll be dropping in a bit of sinking pellets later for the crabs to munch on.

 

Back to the QT tank, all 4 of my fish made it through the night alright after their second peroxide bath yesterday. 3 of them are eating, but Lady the lion remains fussy. I can't wait to transfer the 3 fish to their respective tanks - I need to plan out my WC for the 10G AIO Observation tank to host the lion soon. 🤔

I'll try dropping in another live shrimp into the breeder box - hopefully she'll be hungry enough to go after it. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Mum shot down the idea of getting a better tank for the crabs. ☹

 

As in, a total flat out no to getting a glass tank. 😔

 

Which leaves me with 2 options:

 

1. Make a tidepool setup in one of the opaque spare bins. 🤔

 

2. Sneakily buy a slightly-bigger-but-not-too-big-and-obvious plastic tank which looks *exactly the same (albeit a different size) like the one I have now & swap tanks when mum is not around. She *might notice the difference, being a mum, and well - you all know how attentive mums are in general 😅 - or she *might not. It's a gamble, honestly. 🤷‍♀️

 

Also, I'm going to try and feed Lady the lion shortly. Hope she eats! 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Dinner time! 🤐

 

 

She gulped the small one instantly. 

 

I literally had no time to film her eating. The bigger one is still in the breeder box, but I think it's too large for her. I mean, it's as big as she is:

 

 

QT is doing good overall. Tomorrow I'll be dosing Prazi and the day after, I *finally get to move 3 of these guys to their respective tanks. 

 

 

Lady will remain downstairs in the 10G AIO. Now that her appetite is perking up, I would love to have her eating consistently and put on more weight. 

 

I'm tentatively planning on getting more live shrimp and some feeder guppies/mollies (if I can get them at small sizes) on Monday. 

 

I still need to WC my 10G nanoreef, the 10G Observation Tank and clean up the DT of the 60G though! So much work to do, so little time. Will pace myself - I don't want to overexert myself and wind up with another anxiety attack. I'm stressed as it is, trying to keep up with the rigorous demands of the hybrid-TTM schedule. 😕

 

Will probably take another break from fish-purchasing for a while after these guys clear QT. I need some downtime to rest. 

 

In the meantime, I'll focus on adjusting my stocking list for this tank. Since we're leaning towards a predator setup, I'd like to get more of them, within the reasonable bioload & territorial limitations of the 60G. 🥰👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Next round of Prazi dosed & dead shrimp removed! 😊👍

 

 

 

I found her perching vertically when I opened the lid of the box. Quite interesting to watch. 👀

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

The ugly side of reefing. ☹

 

 

 

 

 

I truly hope Cleo the Copperband will eat these pesky, overgrown aiptasia. She will be added to this tank tomorrow. 

 

I still have a lot of fuzz on the rocks. Here's PJ:

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Foxy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beast: 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Kenya trees! 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cloves:

 

 

Cynarina:

 

 

Still need more CUC, I think. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

The final phase of hybrid-TTM is over for this batch of fish. All 4 of them made it through, and I'm quite relieved. 

 

Speedy the damsel has been added to the nano, but the remaining 3 have been added to the 60G:

 

 

 

 

 

Caught Cleo circling one of the aiptasia, but she hasn't gone for any of them yet:

 

 

Hawke has an interesting mottled pattern which I didn't quite notice while he was in QT. He's still a bit shy in this tank, but I think he'll grow more confident in time.

 

 

Cleo the copperband is very active. Even now, I'm watching her stick her snout into various different crevices in the LR, and she seems to be actively eating live pods. She appears slightly underweight to me, although her lateral lines are *not visible. 

 

I'll try to fatten up and my goal is to get her thick and chunky like Foxy. 😊

 

Puffy cynarina:

 

 

I'm actually having mild flu and was quite tired today. I still haven't cleaned out the QT bin, let alone WCed the 10G Observation tank, so I made the decision to add Lady the lionfish to this tank, in another breeder box. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Eyes of lightning, fins of venom. 🥰

 

 

Lady's colors are red under the blues of my Primes. 🥰

 

 

She's very curious and in her own way, I *think she begins to recognize me somewhat as the shrimp-feeder. 😅

 

 

 

 

Her fins are absolutely stunning:

 

 

 

 

And her spikes are simply gorgeous: 🥰

 

 

 

I have ordered some krill for her - it should arrive in a few days. 

 

I won't be acquiring any new fish for the next 1to 2 months - unless something truly unique comes in (eg. waspfish, ember/starry blenny etc.). The downtime will help me rest & recover from the stress of the last 2 weeks. 

 

Also, I'd like to focus my efforts on fattening up all my new fish, and weaning Lady onto frozen, if possible. I'm exhausted, but happy. I think the hybrid-TTMs were worth it, although it was hard on the fish (and me!). 

 

I'll probably pick up a few of my reserved corals at the LFS in 2+ weeks though. Hoping my rainbow cynarina will still be there for pick up. I have a few shroom frags to pick up too. Thinking of rebuilding my Mushroom Mountain again. 😊👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Some quick pics of the kenya tree under actinics today:

 

 

 

 

 

The base has become thicker and the branches are still developing new polyps every few days. 

 

My limited zoas and palys in the tank are still experiencing growth at a snail's pace, but at least all polyps have still retained their original color. 

 

I believe I still have 5x more stocking slots for fish in this tank before I cap it.  Here are some options I was looking into (pick only 5 of the combined lists, not all); I'll break these into several sections:

 

A. Clownfish 

 

1. Clarkii clownfish

2. Tomato clownfish

3. Sebae clownfish

4. Fire clownfish

 

B. Venomous fish

 

5. Cockatoo waspfish

6. Leaf fish (scorpionfish)

7. Fu Manchu lionfish

8. Fuzzy dwarf lionfish

9. Dwarf zebra lionfish (*male)

 

C. Blenny

 

10. Ember blenny

11. Starry blenny

12. Tribal blenny 

13. Lawnmower blenny

 

D. Sand-dweller

 

14. Bluespot watchman goby (*full-sized adult)

15. Sailfin Dragonet/Mother blenny*

 

*If I'm doing this fish, the specimen needs to be large enough so that it doesn't accidently get eaten. Also, it's a very big & difficult fish to train, let alone keep, so this is a very loose consideration on my part. 🤷‍♀️

 

I feel priority should be given to predators since I ended up pulling this tank that way in the end. 😅

 

I'd definitely love having a wasp and a leaf fish. I think...wasps can be ordered in, but not sure if my LFS will be willing to get me a leaf fish. 🤔

 

I can try. Also, there's always the option of getting a second lion, but it'll need to be roughly the same size as my present one. 🤔

 

A blenny is a definite must, if you ask me. 😅

 

If anyone out there has better thoughts or suggestions, please drop by and let me know. 🌺

[Tamberav]

the fish look great and seem to be settling in quickly 

[Snow_Phoenix]

7 hours ago, Tamberav said:

the fish look great and seem to be settling in quickly 

Indeed they are. Hope they made it through their first night okay. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Lady last night, during lights out:

 

 

I took the rest of the pics today under early morning blues. Here's Hawke (he's not blind, but his eyes are reflective when the light catches it at certain angles - I double-checked) :

 

 

 

 

Lady in her breeder box:

 

 

Cleo:

 

 

Foxy:

 

 

I feel like Cleo has lost some weight overnight. ☹

 

I'll be feeding the fish shortly. A mix of frozen mysis, pods & brine enriched with garlic. I'll try dropping in a live ghost shrimp in the breeder box as well. 👍