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


Snow_Phoenix

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4 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

 

Maybe something bacterial with the leopard? popeye? 

Looked more like gas bubble disease. But his eye appears much better today. 🤷‍♀️

 

And he's quite active too. Will drop in more live pods later. 

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I lost Leopold overnight, which was very heartbreaking. 😔

 

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Swim free, old friend. 💦

 

Now down to one last fish - my yellow foxface. I did a full 100% WC of the QT bin (and cleaned the bin itself), swapped over to another HOB filter & PVC pipe (for shelter), replaced the floss, re-seeded the biomedia with another vial of Bioptim, and replaced the airline tubing & swapped over to a new set of airstones. 

 

Am quite worried because it's only been 1+ month since the first day of QT, and I seem to be losing all of my fish, regardless of what I do. It's like watching a train wreck. It's awful, and there's no way of stopping it. 😔

 

My only consolation is that my DT is fine, and I still have my nanoreef, which is doing okay. Patrick the starfish is also still alive, although he's not very active as before. 

 

I'm still using a heater in the 60G and keeping the tank at 28°C. After Christmas, I'll remove the heater. 👍 

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filefishfinatic

where the fish diseased in the 1st place, were you medicating the water, i would go to the beach and go find some algae and as much of it as you can. bring it back and buy a lid. feed the foxface live algae because thats what it eats in the wild 

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38 minutes ago, filefishfinatic said:

where the fish diseased in the 1st place, were you medicating the water, i would go to the beach and go find some algae and as much of it as you can. bring it back and buy a lid. feed the foxface live algae because thats what it eats in the wild 

Noah - just...

 

 

...No. 

 

Too tired to correct your *advice. It's late, I have a headache, and I'm heading off to bed. 

 

'Nite NR. See you guys tomorrow. 🌺

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So sorry 😞 Unfortunately you don't have access to all the stuff we do easily in the states which can make things easier. Biospira and Fritz work the fastest and everything is fairly readily available the same day. I know you are doing your best. Be sure to take care of yourself too. 

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Just wanted to update: 

 

It's day 37 of QT. My foxface is alive and eating in the QT bin, although she is hiding in the PVC pipe most of the time. 

 

All inverts except for 1 old turban snail are still alive. Most of them are doing well except for Patrick the starfish, which despite still being alive, is disintegrating at a super-slow rate. 😔

 

The mangroves in the refugium are growing - some of the shoots have extended even further. 🌱

 

I'm still using a heater in the DT. Water is relatively warm and stable at 28°C. 

 

I'll be re-adding my foxface (provided she pulls through the upcoming weeks) to the DT in early Jan. A few days before adding her in, I'll WC & clean up the sump. If I'm strong enough, I'll WC the DT as well. 

 

No plans on bringing home any new fish to be QTed for this tank until I return home after Christmas (will be away with the family for a few days). I *might reserve a fish or two at my primary LFS on my birthday, then pick it up 2 to 3 weeks later. 

 

But this is a very loose possibility - because I'll *only cave in for a unique, hard-to-get fish like a pygmy perchlet, a pink streaked wrasse etc. - basically something of equivalent rarity. Otherwise I'm more content on waiting. (And yes, any new fish will be QTed first)

 

The store did give me a heads up that they'll be having a large Indo shipment coming up soon, so I'll have more livestock choices/options if I'm patient. 🤔

 

I will try to pick up some new CUC for both of my tanks next week though - mostly different types of snails, and *maybe a hermit or two. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for money cowries - but if I manage to acquire those, priority will be given to my nano over this tank (that tank has zero CUC atm). 👍

 

I'll be avoiding sea hares and other pretty-but-not-so-beneficial-or-potentially-tank-crashing-organisms at the store. 👍

 

Will keep all of you updated. 🌺

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I haven't kept track of how long you've kept your tank fallow, but don't rush it.  It's a percentage thing; adding another week or so will lessen the chance of any parasites surviving.  I'd cycle the QT with some live rock (or some other biofilter) before getting (and quarantining) any new fish.

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43 minutes ago, seabass said:

I haven't kept track of how long you've kept your tank fallow, but don't rush it.  It's a percentage thing; adding another week or so will lessen the chance of any parasites surviving.  I'd cycle the QT with some live rock (or some other biofilter) before getting (and quarantining) any new fish.

All the rock in the DT is actually live, including the ones in the fuge. I was thinking of adding bioptim vials on a weekly basis though. Also, I have been ghost feeding the tank - basically dropping some pellets in every few days. 

 

Will definitely cycle any future QTs properly - still need to find the spare dry rock in the cupboard. It might be in the old Fritz box (?) - not sure, have to double check in the morning. 🤔

 

I do agree - I won't rush this. I really don't want to get something this destructive in my system again, if possible. 😔

 

Also, some bad news. Patrick the starfish died this evening. I'll fish his body out tomorrow morning (not feeling well - had a seizure earlier in the mall, and definitely can't climb up a chair to retrieve him right now, so I left him). 😔

 

 

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It's 15 mins to midnight over here. I'm tired and not feeling too good. But I just realized something.

 

I actually have a chance to completely start over with the direction of this tank. Originally, I had a mix of fish and focused extensively on dragonets, but now...I can actually take this tank deeper, in its original direction, or set a course for a different path entirely. 

 

Here are a few random ideas I'm going to drop in here today (and most likely stumble blearily back onto the forums tomorrow morning, wondering wtf I was thinking), but if anyone has any ideas, suggestions or opinions, feel free to drop in your thoughts:

 

1. Species-specific tank for dragonets, with a few tiny gobies/blenny and soft corals & display macro etc.

 

2. Semi-aggressive tank with several wrasses, a hawkfish, a slightly more aggressive/bold type of clown (tomato or clarkii, maybe?) and LPS

 

3. Semi-aggressive predatory setup with 2 or 3 lionfish, a fire clown, a longnose hawk and a large species of blenny and LPS

 

4. Semi-aggressive predatory setup with 2 or 3 dwarf puffer species, a hawk, a blenny and a clown pair with no corals (or minimal ones)

 

5. Clownfish harem tank! With a nem!

 

6. Exclusively reef-safe wrasse tank! Including a trio of flasher wrasses! Definitely with a few budget-friendly softies and LPS. 

 

7. Random mess of fish occupying different levels of the tank, pretty much like before. Complete chaos at its finest, which appeals to my chaotic neutral half. 

 

And...

 

 

 

...I'm heading off to bed. Nite', NR! 

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1 hour ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

but now...I can actually take this tank deeper, in its original direction, or set a course for a different path entirely.

Exactly.  You have an opportunity for a complete reset (in any direction that you wish).

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I like options 2, 3 or 5.  A harem tank would be very cool, but after seeing your tanks, are you sure you would be happy with one type of fish and some nems? Your tanks have always been so colorful and varied.

 

Also what @Ratvan said, lionfish are something I would love to keep one day... let us live vicariously through you! 🙂 

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I would pick option 6/7.  I have never kept wrasses before, except for my very docile sixline.  I am glad your foxface is still hanging in there.  I have a very fat one in my 75 gallon.  He is the most timid fish in the tank.  I hope you feel better soon!

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Phew! Finally got a chance to sit at my laptop today (it's ~4.12pm here). Thank you for your input, everyone. :happy:

 

I'm actually now considering options 1, 2, 3 & 6 for direction.

 

I briefly considered the puffer idea, but I did more digging and it's not recommended to keep more than 1 puffer in a tank with my dimensions, because they're incredibly territorial. Plus, there's the bioload factor to consider - puffers are super-messy eaters.

 

Believe it or not, I did keep a fuzzy dwarf lion in a nano long ago. He was amazing! Only downside to him was that I had to feed him live ghost shrimp every few days (he refused to touch frozen), and I had to trade him in because he outgrew the tank. 😞

 

However, my dad absolutely loved the lionfish. Until today, if there's a lion at the LFS, that's the first holding tank he'd beeline to. I don't blame him - the fu manchus and fuzzy dwarfs are very beautiful. I've seen volitans for sale as well, but those grow incredibly large, so it's a no-go in this tank.

 

I circled back to option #1 since my first love will always be dragonets. It's something I have difficulty of letting go - I'm torn between slipping back into stocking the tank with fish I've grown so comfortably in training and handling, and starting this off in a completely new direction - like the predatory setup.

 

I currently have a predatory FW setup outside and I love it. 🙂

 

Good news is I have a *lot of time to consider which direction I want to pursue.

 

But tentatively, this is a more detailed plan of the 4 directions I'm most interested in:

 

Direction #1: Dragonet + Softy tank (Very heavily-stocked)

 

-4x Dragonet pairs (blue mandarin, spotted mandarin, scooter, and ruby scooter) trained on prepared

-2x  tiny gobies (eg. GCG, YCG, tangaroa, hi-fin, Yasha, Wheeler's, Randall's, pinkbar, yellow watchman etc.)

-1x Yellow foxface

-1x Blenny (eg. Bicolor, Starry, TSB etc.)

-1x Pygmy Perchlet

 

Direction #2: Semi-aggressive fish + LPS

 

-2x Clownfish (eg. Clarkii, Sebae, Tomato) --> 1x same-species male/female pair, no mixing of species!

-1x Longnose Hawkfish

-1x Yellow Foxface

-1x Starry Blenny

-1x Medium-sized goby (eg. Yellow/Blue Watchman etc.)

-2x Wrasses (eg. yellow coris, christmas, fairy, flasher, leopard etc.)

 

Direction #3: Predatory Fish + LPS & Softies

 

-1x Fire Clownfish

-2x Lionfish (eg. Dwarf fuzzy or Fu Manchu) --> must be approximately same size and enter tank at the *same time

-1x Large-sized Blenny (eg. Starry or Lawnmower)

-1x Hawkfish (eg. Arc-eye or Longnose)

-1x Yellow Foxface

 

Direction #6: Reef-Safe Wrasses + LPS & Softies

 

-1x Yellow Foxface

-1x Yellow Coris

-3x Flasher Wrasses

-1x Leopard Wrasse

-1x Rubyhead or Orangeback Fairy Wrasse

-1x Pink-streaked Wrasse

-1x Tiny-Percher-Species (eg. YCG, GCG, TSB etc.)

The fish will be subject to availability though - my store has limited livestock options atm, but should have more soon. No matter which direction I take, I'll have to set up the tank according to the needs of the fish I intend to keep. So I have to make a choice eventually, and plan everything out carefully - including what type/where to add the corals. I *might actually start slowly stocking the tank with corals first, and then work up the courage to slowly go for fish. 

 

Also, I have some good news! I cleared out my palu today, so I'll be using the 10G AIO as a permanent QT-observation tank in the future. The palu had two pieces of dry rock, so I sprayed all the soil off it and I'm drying everything outside atm. Once everything has been dried thoroughly for a few days, I'll start cycling the 10G. The 10G QT-observation tank will be in my library, while the TTM-tanks will be in my sideporch, next to my FW DTs. I think having a more permanent QT setup will be better for any fish to come, and easier on me as well (for WCs).

 

I'll upload some pics of it later. 🙂 

 

 

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18 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

The 10G AIO - soon-to-be QT-observation tank:

 

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The dry rock pieces which will be cycled later:

 

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😊👍

That Dry Rock is gorgeous, wish i had kept more of mine from the RSM crash 

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Finally found some super old pics of my first lionfish! Tank was a nano in 2016. 🥰

 

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FTS of that nano:

 

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He's so friggin' adorable. Hmm. Definitely leaning heavily on the predator setup now. 👀

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Can other predatory species such as cockatoo waspfish and anglerfish get along with lionfish? 

 

I'm still doing more research - most of the people who set up lionfish-based predatory tanks had an eel in with them, but I'm not sure if they had anglers or wasps. 🤔

 

I can't do an eel in this - the last thing I need is the slimy dude slipping past my lids and yeeting himself halfway across the room and on my bed when I'm fast asleep. :unsure:

I really love eels though! Especially FW spiny eels. 🙂 

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Still doing more researching. Anglers seem to be a hit-or-miss in a predatory setup - depending on size and type. A leaffish/scorpionfish would be more compatible with lions, provided neither could fit in the other's mouth. 🤔

 

Interestingly enough, lions also seem to have higher resistance against ich, and *should be okay during TTM - I don't think they can handle peroxide dips very well. A snowflake eel is super tempting, but (!) I really can't risk it finding a way out of the tank and slipping/sliding all around my room. 😕

 

If I were to do a clown in a predatory tank, the maroon clown comes highly recommended over any other species. I prefer the look of a fire clown though - and I know it's strong/badass enough to hold its own against any other predator. 🤔

 

I still have a lot of time to volley back and forth between ideas, which is good. My only qualm is that I can't keep any sort of shrimp or ornamental crab in a predatory setup, which sucks, and there aren't many bottom-dwelling goby species that are actually large enough so that they won't become a snack for the others. 

 

If I were to do a blenny, the only two options I can think of is a starry or lawnmower - but both specimens must be reasonably big from the get-go. Also, there was once, several years ago, when my secondary LFS imported a whole bunch of extremely large 6"++ gobies which were rusty brown in color with bright yellow eyes. Until today, I'm unsure what was the exact species, but it appeared to be a type of Watchman according to the store. 🤷‍♀️

 

And...this might sound weird, but there is only one species of dragonet that *can actually fit in with predators. Problem is, it's difficult to acquire, possibly expensive, and no one else has done it before. Another trial-and-error thing, should I ever choose to pursue it. And the fish I'm talking about is capable of hitting 12" in the wild, although it seldom exceeds 8" in reef aquaria. 

 

Talking about this guy:

 

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It's a lot to take on. I really want to limit the amount of fish I add this time. A few good choices is still better than many random ones, like before. 

 

Also, since I tentatively plan on doing corals again, I have to be more selective on my stocking. 🤔

 

So predatory setup in the works, *tentatively, subject to fish availability at my primary LFS. 

 

*Tentative stocking plan:

 

2x dwarf lionfish

1x clownfish  (Fire or Maroon)

1x Hawkfish (Longnose or Arc-Eye)

1x Leaffish/Waspfish/Scorpionfish

1x Blenny (Starry or Lawnmower)

1x Foxface 

 

*Fingered dragonet and/or leopard wrasse still to be considered. 🤔

 

If anyone has any advice or guidance, I'm all ears. 👍

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

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