chickpea's 20 gallon *Very* tall

[jservedio]

4 minutes ago, chickpea said:

I think I killed my clown fish . I am thankful for the user that suggested a lid for fish even that aren't known to jump and I wish I hadn't put off making a lid. I cannot find him anywhere in or out of the tank and I feel really really bad about it  . I can't believe I would compromise an animals care in such a major way 

Keep looking - it's always possible he's still in the tank and hiding in the rockwork.

 

If he made it out it's possible he flopped under the stand or something. Do you happen to have a cat or dog? My beagles love snacking on dried asterinas that make it out of the water change bucket and onto the carpet so I can imagine they would be quite fond of fresh fish.

 

I wouldn't kick yourself too much about the lid - they aren't exactly known as jumpers and you don't have anything in there to chase them to jumping. But, you should definitely get one after that experience.

[chickpea]

it seems the clown didn't jump. It's in the bottom rock of my right most stack of rock. I absolutely cannot retrieve the fish without deconstructing my entire aquascape. How bad would the nitrate spike from one clown be if left undisturbed : ' (

[Ratvan]

Looks like it could be a discosoma mushroom. 

 

Sorry about your clown. I lost my pair this morning too 

[jservedio]

6 minutes ago, chickpea said:

it seems the clown didn't jump. It's in the bottom rock of my right most stack of rock. I absolutely cannot retrieve the fish without deconstructing my entire aquascape. How bad would the nitrate spike from one clown be if left undisturbed : ' (

In a newer tank like yours, it'd be really, really bad. If it was tiny and you had a really mature tank with loads of crabs and nassarius snails you'd be alright.

 

 Your best bet is to use a really long pair of foreceps (like the reptile ones) and snatch it. If not, while it's kind of brutal, you can use a long metal kabob skewer and spear it out. For best results, sharpen the end and file a barb into it. It's not pretty, but it works.

[chickpea]

1 hour ago, Ratvan said:

Looks like it could be a discosoma mushroom. 

 

Sorry about your clown. I lost my pair this morning too 

Thank you so much for the ID, I'm truly sorry about your clowns

[chickpea]

1 hour ago, jservedio said:

In a newer tank like yours, it'd be really, really bad. If it was tiny and you had a really mature tank with loads of crabs and nassarius snails you'd be alright.

 

 Your best bet is to use a really long pair of foreceps (like the reptile ones) and snatch it. If not, while it's kind of brutal, you can use a long metal kabob skewer and spear it out. For best results, sharpen the end and file a barb into it. It's not pretty, but it works.

I appreciate very much the advice. The fish was stuck in the rock at THE most impossible angle, I had to move all the rocks on top of where the clown was stuck. after freeing the fish , my blood shrimp immediately grabbed the fish and booked it to the other side of the tank. I had to take a break due to frustration. 

[chickpea]

so glad dealing with this is over with. This never happens when I lose a fish but I cried my eyes out today. Clowns have so much personality and Ive been watching this tank for hours and hours a day as I do school work. This really sucked. I'm gonna feel real somber watching the single clown for a while.

 

Everything in my tank seems really happy so I'm not even going to trouble myself with cause of death on this guy, although it's weird for such a seemingly healthy juvenile clownfish to croak like this overnight

 

 

 

[Lypto]

Thats a very important thing to care about in this hobby, try not to feel too bad about it. Fish die and it's often no ones fault. There's plenty of painful learning experiences along the way and fish can often also die seemingly at random, especially in a new tank.

[DNR88]

It's sad, but it happens to everyone with a (reef) tank. Hopefully you will find your good mood back soon. 😊

[billygoat]

3 hours ago, DNR88 said:

It's sad, but it happens to everyone with a (reef) tank. Hopefully you will find your good mood back soon. 😊

Agreed. The savage truth is that it's almost impossible to start up a new aquarium without killing at least a few things along the way. Even if you're already an experienced reefer, the stress of collecting, shipping, and acclimating to a new environment is nearly guaranteed to claim a few lives. That doesn't make it less sad of course, but hang in there - it'll get better as the tank matures. 👍

[chickpea]

Thank you all for the kind words , after seeing my solitary clownfish gain back its mojo and everything else in my tank looking healthy I'm in great spirits. I got back into this hobby on a whim, what perfect timing with the quarantine.

 

my blue zoas are closed moreso than normal, but that just means the green zoas they normally shade have more of a fighting chance.

i dropped my ricordea rock to the sand bed not by choice but because it's fallen twice now. They don't seem to mind at all but since haven't fully extended

[chickpea]

I am very happy with my ricordeas 🙂

[chickpea]

I re scaped the other day and while I find it less natural in appearance and kind of bulky, I quite like the look. Everything in my tank is doing well. I love documenting this tank's progress but I'm finding myself sparse for things to report. My blood shrimp did pick a new spot , and seems to be slowly becoming more comfortable in the tank. It's a long story, but one of my ricordeas made its way off the rock and I placed it on the bottom left most rock,where it is doing well. I am noting a lot of new growth on my green zoanthids, and my galaxea is looking a bit larger. I can't tell really about my red Monti cap, if it's grown it has not done so significantly. I think this is the nature of hard corals. Thanks for following along 😊

[teenyreef]

Just found your thread - I love the unusual shape of the tank and the rockscape! I was so bummed to hear about the clownfish but I'm glad the other one is doing ok.

[DNR88]

I think it looks pretty nice! 😊👍

[chickpea]

On 4/26/2020 at 8:36 PM, teenyreef said:

Just found your thread - I love the unusual shape of the tank and the rockscape! I was so bummed to hear about the clownfish but I'm glad the other one is doing ok.

Thanks teenyreef ! Your username and profile picture are so familiar, I think I must have lurked a build thread from you forever ago. 

14 hours ago, DNR88 said:

I think it looks pretty nice! 😊👍

very much appreciated, cannot wait to add on to this tank's stock list , and in the meanwhile, watch everything grow in. 

[chickpea]

Everything is doing well in my tank ! I built up the nerve to take the GSP out of isolation on the sand bed and near a glass panel of the tank that isn't viewed through very often- I am thinking a mat of GSP would be welcome, and it shouldn't take over my rocks if I'm diligent. 

 

I'm at a bit of stand still of where to go from here with my tank. I'm not uninspired , more unsure what to do besides let everything grow out (which I am very much enjoying). I would love for anyone that feels compelled to post a picture of something they're particularly enjoying, or find exciting about their own tank currently, especially in regards to live stock. I need some inspiration for my next visit to the local fish store. 

 

Thanks for following along ! I'll be sure to dump some nice pictures once my corals make some more progress

 

[DNR88]

That's the hardest part, when everything looks fine. But it takes a good time (and a lot of patience) to become really nice. 😉

[chickpea]

16 hours ago, DNR88 said:

That's the hardest part, when everything looks fine. But it takes a good time (and a lot of patience) to become really nice. 😉

I really don't have any patience and I'm not getting any better LOL. Still, your comment is getting through to me. I think the best thing to do is sit and wait for everything to fill in. I'll want more species but waiting till I get solid colonies to introduce more frags wouldn't be too terrible. 

 

Let me update with some nice pictures in like two weeks!  I have a companion project to this tank coming along.

 

This thread should host a 20 as well as a 15 gallon salt tank soon.

[billygoat]

11 hours ago, chickpea said:

I really don't have any patience and I'm not getting any better LOL. Still, your comment is getting through to me. I think the best thing to do is sit and wait for everything to fill in. I'll want more species but waiting till I get solid colonies to introduce more frags wouldn't be too terrible. 

I've found that it's sometimes difficult to keep my hands out of my tank and accept the fact that my system is fully-stocked and "finished." It took me awhile to come to terms with the fact that I no longer really need to actively participate in my livestock's day-to-day affairs, but once I managed to just let go I started to find the hobby much more relaxing. I think it just comes with time. 😊

 

On 5/4/2020 at 3:57 PM, chickpea said:

I would love for anyone that feels compelled to post a picture of something they're particularly enjoying, or find exciting about their own tank currently, especially in regards to live stock. I need some inspiration for my next visit to the local fish store. 

I'm not sure if you have one already, but perhaps a rock flower anemone would be a good choice? They are very easy to care for, usually don't move around a lot, and have some beautiful colors.

 

[chickpea]

On 5/6/2020 at 11:29 AM, billygoat said:

I've found that it's sometimes difficult to keep my hands out of my tank and accept the fact that my system is fully-stocked and "finished." It took me awhile to come to terms with the fact that I no longer really need to actively participate in my livestock's day-to-day affairs, but once I managed to just let go I started to find the hobby much more relaxing. I think it just comes with time. 😊

 

I'm not sure if you have one already, but perhaps a rock flower anemone would be a good choice? They are very easy to care for, usually don't move around a lot, and have some beautiful colors.

 

Beautiful, there's no way I'm not picking up a rock flower anemone next visit to the LFS. Thanks for sharing !

[chickpea]

 I moved all three of my aquariums to be kind of a cohesive display in my bed room !

 

I'm going to be trading the middle 15 gallon's freshwater stock to my fellow hobbyist friend, keeping the nerite snails and mangrove trees. I'll then turning the tank saltwater over a series of months. I am going to be adding salt very slowly on a near daily basis, and I'll let you all know when I hit 1.025 ! I have 8 red mangroves in the 15 now, should make for a very handsome salt tank in a few months. 

 

I'm really satisfied with how all 3 tanks are doing, and now I have a better view of them.