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

[seabass]

3 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Do they have BTAs there?

I'm not sure if that would work as well.  IDK, maybe. 

However, that chart is far from being absolute.

 

I brought it back up again, because some of the clownfish (especially wild caught) will do better with a nem.  Ocellaris clowns being an exception.

[Snow_Phoenix]

4 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Do they have BTAs there? They get largish too actually but safer with other fish. I think a LTA taking up most of the tank mag pose a risk to your other fish tbh. 
 

I think the flowey coral is probably the best idea. I have seen clowns use Xenia or anthellia even for hosts. Maybe a wild clown would too since it’s the only option. 

 

We do! We have several types too - but they can be quite pricey. BTAs do have a tendency to walk around or sit on other corals though. I agree that the LTA takes up too much space - even if it doesn't move, it'll literally fill up the entire empty space of my sandbed. And yes, the chances of it swallowing my smaller fish - like my cardinal or hawk are quite high. 😕

My xenia remains small for some reason - the leathers seem to be faring better and growing out, but both the xenia and GSP have hit a standstill in terms of growth. Kinda sucks, but I haven't been able to successfully keep xenia in either this tank or my nano for some reason. 

I vaguely remember having a wild occy years ago that hosted a green goni. But that was in a 8G, and clowns are kinda weird in general - even the wild ones may or may not host anything, and I can't force a fish to do so. 🤔

 

40 minutes ago, seabass said:

I'm not sure if that would work as well.  IDK, maybe. 

However, that chart is far from being absolute.

 

I brought it back up again, because some of the clownfish (especially wild caught) will do better with a nem.  Ocellaris clowns being an exception.

That's actually a very informative chart - thanks for posting it! So looks like the only options are LTA and different types of carpets. All of which are stunning, but might be too big for this tank, unfortunately. 😞

 

I think I'll just stick with the 'flowery' corals. I'll see if I can drag up any old articles or threads online of any success stories of pairing a pink skunk with a host coral of some sort. That seems to be the safest option for the 60G. 

 

---

 

Also, the blenny made it overnight, but is completely flat against the floor of the bin. He's reached the point where he can't perch or assume a 'stand up' position. 

My clown is still okay, but still hiding. Just counting down the days so that I can release her into a proper tank. 

 

I'm also experiencing a lot of trouble with my outdoor tanks. Fish have been dying since last evening in both tanks, and I have a suspicion that the health department fogged my neighborhood (for dengue) while I was away. Usually I cover all my outdoor tanks with tarps when this happens, but I wasn't around for several hours, so there's a high chance I missed this.

 

WCs on this tank will have to wait. I'll be WCing both my outdoor tanks over the next few days and cleaning out the filters + running extra carbon.

 

When 1 or 2 small fish get caught in my filter once in a while, it's not unusual. But when larger, established fish like these die:

 

 

That sends up all sorts of red flags. I've had that torpedo barb since it was a 1" juvi. It was close to 5" and around ~2-years-old before it died suddenly yesterday, including one of my rummy nose tetras, and one of my older red pigeon discus (which did have its own issues and being treated for). Today morning I woke up to 2 dead red phantom tetras in the discus tank, and a dead tiger barb (?!) in my predator tank. All these fish were swimming, eating and behaving fine before I left the house in the afternoon. 😞

 

So I'll need to sort this out first to prevent more deaths. I love all my fish - even the tiny tetras that swim in schools. They might be *cheap and small, but I do treasure each one of them. So to lose so many over a few hours...it's heartbreaking. 😞 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Blurry pics ahead, but the fish enjoyed some shrimp and mollies for lunch today! 😊

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Under actinics. 💦

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

6 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

 

We do! We have several types too - but they can be quite pricey. BTAs do have a tendency to walk around or sit on other corals though. I agree that the LTA takes up too much space - even if it doesn't move, it'll literally fill up the entire empty space of my sandbed. And yes, the chances of it swallowing my smaller fish - like my cardinal or hawk are quite high. 😕

My xenia remains small for some reason - the leathers seem to be faring better and growing out, but both the xenia and GSP have hit a standstill in terms of growth. Kinda sucks, but I haven't been able to successfully keep xenia in either this tank or my nano for some reason. 

I vaguely remember having a wild occy years ago that hosted a green goni. But that was in a 8G, and clowns are kinda weird in general - even the wild ones may or may not host anything, and I can't force a fish to do so. 🤔

 

That's actually a very informative chart - thanks for posting it! So looks like the only options are LTA and different types of carpets. All of which are stunning, but might be too big for this tank, unfortunately. 😞

 

I think I'll just stick with the 'flowery' corals. I'll see if I can drag up any old articles or threads online of any success stories of pairing a pink skunk with a host coral of some sort. That seems to be the safest option for the 60G. 

 

---

 

Also, the blenny made it overnight, but is completely flat against the floor of the bin. He's reached the point where he can't perch or assume a 'stand up' position. 

My clown is still okay, but still hiding. Just counting down the days so that I can release her into a proper tank. 

 

I'm also experiencing a lot of trouble with my outdoor tanks. Fish have been dying since last evening in both tanks, and I have a suspicion that the health department fogged my neighborhood (for dengue) while I was away. Usually I cover all my outdoor tanks with tarps when this happens, but I wasn't around for several hours, so there's a high chance I missed this.

 

WCs on this tank will have to wait. I'll be WCing both my outdoor tanks over the next few days and cleaning out the filters + running extra carbon.

 

When 1 or 2 small fish get caught in my filter once in a while, it's not unusual. But when larger, established fish like these die:

 

 

That sends up all sorts of red flags. I've had that torpedo barb since it was a 1" juvi. It was close to 5" and around ~2-years-old before it died suddenly yesterday, including one of my rummy nose tetras, and one of my older red pigeon discus (which did have its own issues and being treated for). Today morning I woke up to 2 dead red phantom tetras in the discus tank, and a dead tiger barb (?!) in my predator tank. All these fish were swimming, eating and behaving fine before I left the house in the afternoon. 😞

 

So I'll need to sort this out first to prevent more deaths. I love all my fish - even the tiny tetras that swim in schools. They might be *cheap and small, but I do treasure each one of them. So to lose so many over a few hours...it's heartbreaking. 😞 

Update from this: lost another tiger barb in the FW predator tank. 110% sure they fogged my lane while I away yesterday because they came around and did it today evening, and my family & I scrambled to throw tarps & towels over my tanks and close all the doors and windows to prevent the fog from seeping into the house. 😕

 

The biggest kicker of the day? My dwarf hamster succumbed to his tumors this evening. And it was horrible to lose so many animals over 24 hours. I'm screaming internally, and I understand that death is a part life, but definitely a shitty day. 😔

 

I'm not sure how, but the blenny is still holding on QT. He's still flat on his side though. It'll be a miracle if he makes it through the night. 

[Tamberav]

So sorry. Can you add some carbon? Will that help?

[Snow_Phoenix]

2 hours ago, Tamberav said:

So sorry. Can you add some carbon? Will that help?

I'm not sure, but I'll add a small pouch in the HOB tomorrow. It's around 11.30+ pm on my end and I feel woozy. Will check on the QT first thing in the morning. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

The blenny survived the night. He's pressed against the side of the bin, near the filter intake (but not sucked into the intake) and in an upright position for once. I tried dropping a squirt of brine on him and he accidently swallowed some before spitting it back out. 🤦‍♀️

 

I'm quite surprised by the strength of this fish. He's literally paper-thin now, but still holding on. If he manages to make it through another night, then I'll immediately transfer him to the 60G tomorrow. I'm not sure if I can transfer both fish today evening itself because more than 48 hours have elapsed since the last TTM. 

 

I could try asking Humblefish for guidance, I suppose, but due to the time zone differences, I'll most likely not see his response until tomorrow anyway, by which I can transfer the fish. 🤔

 

I noticed there's been an unsettling increase in vermetid snails in my tank recently. I think I'll have to remove 2 of the rocks and manually crush/scrape them off. Have to be extra careful though because my lions love perching on the underside of the overhangs. Also, some of the top of the rocks have corals (like the green kenya), so I must find a way to not hurt those pieces while I work. 

 

Pics of Lady for attention:

 

 

 

 

Tiny toadstool:

 

 

 

My mental health is currently being dragged on the rocks, so I won't be crushing the vermetids anytime soon, unfortunately. It might take a while to get better, but I'll try to stick with my original plans to WC the DT & clean the sump. Just maybe not now. 😔

[debbeach13]

Feel better my friend.

[Snow_Phoenix]

The blenny didn't make it through the night. 

 

Luckily the clownfish did, and was in good health. She wasn't too thrilled during acclimation:

 

 

But once I added her to the 60G, she was very, very happy and fit in very well with the rest of the crew. 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She's so big! Beautiful too. 🥰

 

I'm quite...drained over the TTMs. It's exhausting, expensive (because a lot of salt is needed to make fresh batches of SW each time) and the strict timed schedules are quite stressful and makes me constantly anxious. 😕

 

Problem is - besides TTM, the other alternative is using copper, and I'm extremely worried about cross-contamination of equipment with my nanoreef. All these fish arrive with issues one way or another. Even Aquilla had white castings during the first round of deworming. 

 

I'm just mostly trying to prevent velvet (and possibly ich) from getting into my 60G. I still haven't forgotten how I lost all my fish, except my foxface, last year. It was a colossal nightmare. I still miss my dragonets, especially Poseidon. 😔

 

At least my current batch of fish seem reasonably happy and healthy. Cleo the copperband still needs to put on more weight, but the others are quite chunky and heavy eaters. 👍

[debbeach13]

So sorry about the blenny. That clown fish's size is a surprise! I really hope she continues too due well.

[Snow_Phoenix]

23 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

So sorry about the blenny. That clown fish's size is a surprise! I really hope she continues too due well.

Yeah, truly sucks that he didn't make it. But he wasted away extremely quickly in QT and simply refused to eat. 😔

 

Aquilla is large indeed. Her size was one of the reasons that drew me to her at the store. She ate quite a fair bit just now too.

 

Excluding the molly crew, I have 7 proper marine fish in this tank. I thought of capping it off a blenny, but if I can get a hold of a cockatoo wasp or a leaffish in the future, I *might pick one up too. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Lily today. 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

Lady. 🥰

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Together, through dirty glass. 🤐

 

 

Toadstools doing well. 👍

 

 

 

 

[seabass]

The clownfish looks great. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 hour ago, seabass said:

The clownfish looks great. 👍

Thanks! 😊👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Breakfast for the tank this morning. 

 

 

Managed to scrape the glass and scrape off most of the vermetids on the kenya tree rock. It took a lot more time than expected and I was very tired by the end of it. Didn't help that I had a rough night yesterday with renal colic, so my body is drained today. 😕

 

I think I'll do the vermetid-scraping one rock at a time, every few days apart. 

 

I also took measurements of the sump compartments so that I can cut out the neccesary filter mats later in the correct size and use them when I clean out the sump (not now). Rinsed 1kg of carbon in a filter bag and left it to dry outside as well - but I'll probably only use half of it. 

 

Aquilla the clownfish is doing well and survived her first night in the 60G without incident. She is developing a habit of chasing my hawkfish away from time to time throughout today. Looking closely at both fish, I just realized they're almost similarly shaped and colored, so it's quite possible my clown sees my hawk as another clown. 🤦‍♀️

 

I'm hoping things will settle down once I introduce more corals in this tank - preferably large ones on the rocks which can serve as barriers-in-sight for all the fish. 

 

The tank has too many open-column swimmers (especially with the mollies included), but I noticed among all the fish I have in there, the mollies are the most territorial among each other. Luckily they don't go after the other marine fish, but they do heckle one another - mostly to try and dominate their 'gang'. 

 

I might put in a private order in for some emerald crabs and halloween urchins at my store next month. The fuzz on the rocks is still there, and quite tough to scrape off (tried today). 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

Different shades of neon. 🥰

 

 

 

 

My girls. 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Aquilla & Hawke. Pink on pink! 👍

 

[Tamberav]

The blenny probably had internal parasites since it got skinny so fast. Nothing you can really do for it if they won't eat.

 

Also I was about to say your hawk and clown got some beef when I saw this photo 😅

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

4 hours ago, Tamberav said:

The blenny probably had internal parasites since it got skinny so fast. Nothing you can really do for it if they won't eat.

 

Also I was about to say your hawk and clown got some beef when I saw this photo 😅

 

 

 

The way all 4 of them were eyeing each other lol! 😅

 

 

The clown calmed down a lot today though. The hawk is back to perching openly on the rocks. I think she finally figured out he *wasn't a clownfish last night and left him alone. 😅

[Snow_Phoenix]

Things are calmer today in the tank. Cleo the copperband sustained a minor rip in her tail a few days ago (prior to the addition of the clownfish) which *might have been caused by one of the mollies. 

 

 

She was investigating the rocks for more worms and pods to eat. I enjoy watching how she switches positions and angles to hunt down her prey. It's fascinating. 😊

 

 

 

Aquilla the clown finally decided to ignore Hawke completely, so he's back out in the open and perching. 👍

 

 

Aquilla herself is doing quite well and remains solid. I love her color! 🥰

 

 

Foxy stretching her fins:

 

 

Beast munching on algae on the rocks:

 

 

The tiny neon-polyped toadstool was accidently knocked off the rocks overnight. I re-glued it back in place, but it's still a bit sulky. 

 

I'm planning on picking up 10kg of IO from the store next week. I didn't want to head back anytime soon, but they're having a flash sale and I do need more salt to WC this tank, so I decided I might as well grab some. 👍

 

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

they're having a flash sale

My suggestion, even if they have something you want, pass it up for now.  Take a break from tank transfers and dips for awhile.  Enjoy (and be proud of) what you've setup.

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 minute ago, seabass said:

My suggestion, even if they have something you want, pass it up for now.  Take a break from tank transfers and dips for awhile.  Enjoy (and be proud of) what you've setup.

Ack. I already told my LFS last night to pack up a 10kg bag and I'll pick it up next week. 😕

 

I'm not planning on purchasing any fish - just intend to pick up the salt and head back. I do agree with you 100% that I need a break and avoid TTMing anything for a good month or two. I just did the weekly WC for my nano this morning, and I'm very tired. Will probably crash on the bed later for a quick rest.

 

I'm quite happy & proud of my setups - both of them. Doesn't matter that one's full of corals and the other full of algae. I love the colors in my nano, but I love the amount of motion/activity in my 60G. 

Thanks for the concern, btw. 🌺

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Little lions. 🥰