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


Snow_Phoenix

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Patrick the starfish seems to be having the time of his life in the sand. 😅

 

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Tux & Mr. Prickles are out and about. 😊

 

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Also, my new box of Fritz was just delivered! 🥰

 

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Should have enough salt to last around 8 to 10 months for 2 tanks. 😊👍

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2 minutes ago, seabass said:

Yep, household bleach (5% sodium hypochlorite).  That's what dissolves the shells.

 

https://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/about-us/frequently-asked-questions/what-decapsulated-brine-shrimp-eggs/

Thank you so much for the link! I'll read it several times to make sure I thoroughly understand it - only worried about the bleach part because a mis-dose or miscalculation can kill the fish. 😕

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Yeah, you want to make sure that you don't get (or transfer) any bleach into your tank.  Thoroughly rinse and dry any equipment exposed to bleach.  Good ventilation when working with bleach is important too.

 

So basically you are just:

  • dissolving the shells off of the re-hydrated brine shrimp eggs
  • then rinsing and dechlorinating the resulting decapsulated eggs

There should be no exposure of bleach to anything but the shrimp eggs while decapsulating them.

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For the final observation tank. If you have spare sand you can rinse or rock or plastic décor. Fish seem to like that a lot more and are more calm/prone to eat since the environment will feel less artificial. You could also go with a bit bigger tub for observation since you don't need to change it out every 3-4 days. 

 

I am not sure if they sell biospira or such there but that is a good way to seed an observation tank. 

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Completed a round of TTM today afternoon. 👍

 

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(Please excuse the random objects on the bin - just trying to weigh the lid down so that none of the fish accidently bump it off and go tile-surfing. 😅 )

 

Also, some of the fish passed out weird poop overnight after the Prazi:

 

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I'm not even sure what I'm looking at, or which fish pooped these. 😅

 

All 7 fish are still alive, and hopefully, will continue to recover. 

 

Main DT upstairs is also doing okay. Water is clean and the inverts are fine. 👍

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Battling an awful migraine. 😕

 

Still managed to check up on the tank. Was quite surprised to find a small puddle of water right under the HOB unit. I do arrange all wires in drip-loop fashion for all of my tanks, but since the HOB unit is situated quite low to the ground, the *loop isn't big enough. 

 

I had to double-check if there was indeed a leak, so I wiped up the puddle and put some paper towels on the floor, to see if more water would gather there:

 

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It did! 😱

 

So now I looked at the filter properly, and realized besides the looping issue, the filter was tilted *back at a slant since the edge of the plastic bin isn't perfectly straight (it's an old bin, and has become slightly distorted at the edges over time). 

 

So I tucked some paper under the HOB unit to *straighten it a bit and prevent water from spilling back & leak out while the pump is turned on. I also added a bucket as a precaution, and created a better loop - just in case any water ends up trailing out anyways:

 

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A lot of equipment has also finally arrived via courier for this tank - bags of carbon, the hatchery, extra airline tubing & air curtains, as well as some disposable plastic pipettes. (The mesh bags are to hold carbon for the other tanks, and the large bottle is almond leaf extract for my discus & predator (toman) tanks. 😅)

 

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I accidently broke an old airstone today - luckily I have a lot of spare ones. 

 

Am quite tired. The next TTM will include a peroxide bath, so that'll be a lot of work/stress to set up everything, including cleaning & sterilizing various equipment in between. 😕

 

I'm not exactly looking forward to it, but it is necessary. 🤷‍♀️

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Some quick night time DT shots:- 

 

Asterinas! 🥰

 

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Nass snail relaxing in the sandbed:

 

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A mysterious transparent nem (?)

 

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^I'm not sure where this one came from. 🤷‍♀️

 

No ammonia or nitrite observed, despite me ghost-feeding the tank occassionally. Nitrates are steady at 10ppm, but should eventually rise once I actively stir the sandbed and baste the rocks. 

 

Once the fallow period is over, I'll be adding the fish in pairs or trios - from the most passive ones, all the way up to the most territorial ones. 

 

Since there are only 7 fish left in QT, this will be done in 3 or so rotations - provided all of them make it through QT. 👍

 

Once everything stabilizes again in 3 to 4 months, only then I'll work on re-stocking my tank with a *few more fish - but all future purchases from here on out will be QTed for 2 to 3 weeks and undergo TTM + peroxide dips before being added to either one of my tanks. 

 

I'm not risking another outbreak like this. Especially when it comes to Velvet, because it's downright awful, and heartbreaking to watch all of my older, established fish die one by one. 😔

 

I still miss my dragonets, especially Poseidon - which I worked very hard on to keep chunky & healthy for as long as possible. I also miss my clown pair & GCG as well. 😔

 

I try not to think too much about my mistakes or what I've lost by holding on to what I currently have, and trying my best to save as many fish as I can. Even now, I'm mentally bracing myself for the possibility that none of my fish in QT might survive until the fallow is over - because despite how well they have made it through so far, most of them still haven't eaten, and are slowly thinning out. 😔

 

I'll keep trying my best though. My dartfish and steinitz seem to be faring better than the rest. 

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Into Day #5 of treatment. 

 

I tried to feed the fish more garlic soaked pellets today. I think I dropped in too many pellets, so I'll have to siphon it out later. 🤔

 

Only my dartfish attempted to eat, but he kept spitting the pellets out. None of my other fish have made any attempts to eat. 😔

 

Illaron, my scooter dragonet, is staying in one spot and not moving. I'll have to check up on him later again, just to see if he's alive. He's wasting away. 😔

 

The wrasses still play dead, the foxface is still mottled and the steinitz goby peeks out once in a while. Only the dartfish appears okay, but it still hides from time to time. 

 

I think it's the only fish that has the highest chance of recovery among all the others. Not sure what else I can do, except wait and stick to the TTM schedule. 😕

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Today marks Day #6 of the Hybrid TTM. 

 

I decided to increase the concentration of garlic in the food - basically add 3 drops of garlic oil to the pellets, let it soak for several minutes, add 1 drop to the QT, then drop the pellets in. 

 

The feeding response was much better as a result:

 

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CV7NgSBJfI9/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

The fish were quite skittish of my presence, but once I closed the tank and pulled the lids back over it, I could see my foxface, dartfish & lubbocks wrasse finally eating again, although the amount was incredibly little. 

 

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My steinitz goby was also out in the open, but I didn't observe it actively eat anything:

 

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However, my scooter, Illaron, worries me. Although he is a bit more active today than yesterday, he didn't eat anything and has lost half of his original weight. 😕

 

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In another week, he'll be bony, and afterwards downright emaciated. 😕

 

I'm still trying to locate the artemia eggs I kept in one of my cupboards last time. I cleared out my main storage cupboard in the sideporch outside and couldn't find it. I'm quite sure I still had 2 bottles of eggs left. 

 

If I can't locate them, I'll drop in an order with one of the discus stores online. The hatch rate for these eggs were quite high last time, which is why I prefer buying them from this particular vendor. 

 

My other two wrasses are quite skittish, but are still alive. 

 

Tomorrow will be the second & final peroxide bath day. I'll have to get the timing & dosage right again - just thinking of it is actually stressing me out a bit - to the point that I had difficulty sleeping last night. 😕

 

Not good to be in a constant state of anxiety, waking up every morning & checking the bin with a bit of dread mingled with hope over what I might find. 

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I managed to get some plastic plants to be inserted into the bin during the rest-and-recovery phase, when the hybrid TTM is over. 

 

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They're actually reasonably big, but should be fine for the bin, to give the fish an added sense of security. Thanks so much to @Tamberav on suggesting this one. 👍

 

I'll also include PVC pipes for the fish to take refuge in as well. 

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It's good you are getting some feeding response. A super ill fish isn't likely to feed at all. 

 

Don't stress yourself about the peroxide too much. I always over-dose a little and I have forgot some of my fish in the bath for 45 min or so. lol I don't recommend doing it on purpose but they were fine. 

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1 hour ago, Tamberav said:

It's good you are getting some feeding response. A super ill fish isn't likely to feed at all. 

 

Don't stress yourself about the peroxide too much. I always over-dose a little and I have forgot some of my fish in the bath for 45 min or so. lol I don't recommend doing it on purpose but they were fine. 

I did write down the timings on a piece of paper - just in case I forget them tomorrow. I prepared all the equipment (airlines, airstones, net(s), buckets etc.) and salt today evening, so that I won't have to scramble and rush to find everything tomorrow. Just need to mix up the SW in a pail, prepare the peroxide, and I should be good to go tomorrow morning/afternoon. 👍

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The mystery nem in my DT popped up again: 

 

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Few hours later, I noticed it had anchored itself to the shell of one of my turban snails:

 

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It looks like a type of aiptasia, but I'm unsure. I'm accustomed to seeing brownish aiptasia, but this one is whitish with transparent tentacles, and I suppose it does look a bit pretty (?). 😅

 

I'm just observing it for now. The inverts in the DT are doing okay. 

 

I really couldn't get a hold of macro/chaeto to replenish my fuge, so I'm trying something different and ordered some mangrove online. 👀

 

It should arrive in a few days - hope it survives the shipment. If the stalks are long enough, they could actually go into my DT, right in the middle (will have to move the giant tunicate & turn on the lights daily) - otherwise, they'll be left in the fuge. 

 

Thinking of 'planting' then in mineral bottle cut-outs full of sand in the fuge - not sure if it'll work, but it is something worth trying, I suppose. 🤷‍♀️

 

One local reviewer actually had some stalks growing in a basket full of bioballs. 😅

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2nd Peroxide bath currently being prepared:

 

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The fish are a bit ansty in their bin. I think they can sense what's to come. 👀

 

I also filled then new red QT bin with more water this time. It's still not much, but an extra gallon more than last time. 👍

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I have some bad news. I just opened the bin to remove the PVC pipes so that I could clean them first. 

 

I found Illaron, dead. 😭

 

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Then I effed up. I panicked and was quite upset at finding my last dragon dead, so I scooped up the pipes in a bucket and went to sterilize all of them in the sink, including the net I used to scoop the pipes (I can't stick my hand into the bin directly because my foxface was threatening to ninja-star me). 

 

Dumped everything in the sink, poured a lot of vinegar & a bit of soap, then poured *boiling hot water over the pipes, the bucket, the sink. 

 

Once that was done, I began scrubbing each equipment by hand and something rolled out of my net. 

 

It was my steinitz goby. I cooked him. Omg, I felt like crying then & there. My mum was also working in the kitchen - and told me it's okay, the fish was most likely dead already, but I'm pretty sure I accidently killed him. 😭😭😭

 

I feel quite horrible. 😔

 

I double-checked the pipes, but I didn't double-check the net. And my goby is quite small, so he must have rolled into the net while I was scooping the pipes up. 

 

So that's *two fish lost today. 😔

 

And I guess...this can no longer be called the 'Lair of the Dragons' either. 😔😔😔

  • Sad 6
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5 minutes ago, kimdawg said:

The Lair will return and live on.  Keep the faith you are an awesome reef keeper.

 

I truly hope so. 😔

 

I've been making too many mistakes recently. Now I'm down to 5 fish. 1x foxface, 1x dartfish & 3x wrasses. 

 

I'll try my best to see them through. And be more careful in the future. 

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40 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I have some bad news. I just opened the bin to remove the PVC pipes so that I could clean them first. 

 

I found Illaron, dead. 😭

 

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Then I effed up. I panicked and was quite upset at finding my last dragon dead, so I scooped up the pipes in a bucket and went to sterilize all of them in the sink, including the net I used to scoop the pipes (I can't stick my hand into the bin directly because my foxface was threatening to ninja-star me). 

 

Dumped everything in the sink, poured a lot of vinegar & a bit of soap, then poured *boiling hot water over the pipes, the bucket, the sink. 

 

Once that was done, I began scrubbing each equipment by hand and something rolled out of my net. 

 

It was my steinitz goby. I cooked him. Omg, I felt like crying then & there. My mum was also working in the kitchen - and told me it's okay, the fish was most likely dead already, but I'm pretty sure I accidently killed him. 😭😭😭

 

I feel quite horrible. 😔

 

I double-checked the pipes, but I didn't double-check the net. And my goby is quite small, so he must have rolled into the net while I was scooping the pipes up. 

 

So that's *two fish lost today. 😔

 

And I guess...this can no longer be called the 'Lair of the Dragons' either. 😔😔😔

That sucks.

-Been following along.

 

Years ago I was deep cleaning my biocube - years of buildup in the sand made the water cloudy.  Got everything done and turned the equipment back on.  Unfortunately my little Tail Spot took refuge in my MP10 while I was cleaning. I only found pieces. 

 

Sorry to hear, especially after all your efforts. 

 

  • Sad 2
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35 minutes ago, jack1978 said:

That sucks.

-Been following along.

 

Years ago I was deep cleaning my biocube - years of buildup in the sand made the water cloudy.  Got everything done and turned the equipment back on.  Unfortunately my little Tail Spot took refuge in my MP10 while I was cleaning. I only found pieces. 

 

Sorry to hear, especially after all your efforts. 

 

That sucks about the blenny. They seem to love hiding in the wavemakers when they're off. I had Grammistes that did the same thing and didn't survive either (years ago). 😕

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Mystery nem has now anchored itself to the silicone of the DT:

 

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Quite tired over everything today. The hybrid TTM is partially complete - no more peroxide baths from here on out. 

 

Next TTM is scheduled <72 hours from 12.35pm today. Prazi will be added ~24 hours before the next TTM. 

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The mangrove propagules have just arrived. 👍

 

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I only ordered 5 of them, but the vendor was generous enough to include 2 extra - one of which has developed roots and has a dried out leaf (probably due to shipping). 

 

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I'm currently soaking them in the fuge to let them acclimate. Will insert them into bottles full of live sand/coral stones later, and leave them in my sump to (hopefully) grow over time. 👍

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  • Snow_Phoenix changed the title to Snow's 60G Secret Predatory Sanctum 🐲🐉 - Shutting Down

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