Snow's 10G Critters of Chaos (TOTM)

[Snow_Phoenix]

Chili pepper monti from above:

 

 

Most of the Zoa & Paly polyps are still closed up because I just turned the lights on. But I noticed my Gold Mauls have already developed a 4th polyp, and are on the verge of developing a 5th one:

 

 

Red hornets:

 

 

LA Lakers have already developed a second smaller polyp, which is only visible when the main polyp is closed:

 

 

I'm planning on fragging these palys in the far future, but this time I'll be careful & do it *outside the tank, in a bucket with the proper gear on. And I'll give the Zoa Ledge a good rinse with SW before re-adding it to the tank: 

 

 

Bonus pics! 

 

Here's Sunny sleeping during lights out yesterday night:

 

 

A lot of microbrittles on a large GHA patch in the sump of my 60G - will be transferring a few of these guys to the nano soon:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Definitely going to be more careful touching these palys in the future:

 

 

The shroom:

 

 

Yuma:

 

 

Zoa Ledge looks better today evening. Not all of the polyps are fully open yet though:

 

 

Sunny:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Unofficial FTSes of the month. I'll take a proper FTS after the next WC: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[debbeach13]

Looks official to me. Beats the crap out of my full tank pictures.

[Snow_Phoenix]

15 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Looks official to me. Beats the crap out of my full tank pictures.

I had poor PE in some of the pieces in the pics above - they're still recovering. Will wait another week or two to try & take a FTS again. Hopefully the pieces would have bounced back by then. 😅

[kimdawg]

You tank is always beautiful.  The full tank shots are my favorite.  It should be tank of the month.

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Sunny died. 

 

I turned on the lights and couldn't find him. I was worried because he's very tiny, and was sleeping above my lobo, so I thought he might have been *accidently eaten by the coral. 

 

I used a flashlight and found his body hidden under the main rock ledge, with some red spaghetti worm tentacles (?) wrapped around him. I will try to retrieve his body, but he's quite deeply hidden at an awkward angle, and I'm not sure if I can pull him out. 

 

I'm quite shattered. It's been a very stressful 12+ hours - something else non-reef related happened last night as well. 😔

 

I'm not giving up on my nano, but I think the next time I drain my tank, I'll try to catch my last remaining fish & QT it, although I'm not exactly sure what I should be treating him for. 

 

Perhaps it is best the DT goes fallow for 6 to 8 weeks. Coral additions during the interim should be fine, I think. 😔

 

First the TSB, now my lil' skunk clown. Sigh. 

[kimdawg]

So sorry for your losses and sadness reef and otherwise.  I have had a couple of minor issues with cancer in the last few weeks and it has sparked a real interest in this forum and my tanks again.  Take joy in the beautiful tanks you have created and I hope it brings joy to the rest of your life.

[Critteraholic]

{{{HUGS}}} to you and yours. 🌺

[Snow_Phoenix]

5 hours ago, kimdawg said:

So sorry for your losses and sadness reef and otherwise.  I have had a couple of minor issues with cancer in the last few weeks and it has sparked a real interest in this forum and my tanks again.  Take joy in the beautiful tanks you have created and I hope it brings joy to the rest of your life.

My grandmother is currently being tested for cancer - her biopsy results haven't returned yet. My hedgie will be rehomed tomorrow. I gave her her last bath & meal today, and packed some of her things already. Being crying on and off uncontrollably. It's just very...hard. And Sunny died. And there's the other personal issue last night.

 

It's just too much all at once. 😔

 

I'll try to keep up with the tank. Hopefully it can occupy my mind and negate the anxiety & worries, even for a little bit. 

 

UPDATE: Turns out breaking down multiple times a day definitely isn't a good way to go, so mum rallied to the rescue and opted to temporarily look after my hedgehog until my leg gets better in the upcoming weeks/months. She told me to hold on to ALL of my animals and not let them go. I'm relieved and finally feel much, much better. 🌺

The canceled-adopter was very nice. She told me that she will always be there if I need help boarding my hedgie for emergencies, and is happy I chose to hold on to my hedgie. ❤️ 

[kimdawg]

I had two areas of cancer that had to be removed, but the technique they used is 98% cure rate.  I will be sending positive and happy thoughts your grandmothers way.  It is great your mother is helping while your leg is injured, but also nice to know of another home that wants your pet and will give it the care it deserves.  I don't like to make any quick plans when my animals health and happiness depends on the outcome.

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 hour ago, kimdawg said:

I had two areas of cancer that had to be removed, but the technique they used is 98% cure rate.  I will be sending positive and happy thoughts your grandmothers way.  It is great your mother is helping while your leg is injured, but also nice to know of another home that wants your pet and will give it the care it deserves.  I don't like to make any quick plans when my animals health and happiness depends on the outcome.

Thanks - we're hoping that she merely has allergies and no cancer. But given her age and how uncertain life is in general, we'll still be there for her no matter what the result is. 

 

I don't like making knee-jerk decisions either when it involves my pets' health or happiness. But at one point, I could barely move & all of us were afraid. I am getting better, but progress is slow. The physiotherapy does help though. 

 

Most of my tanks are still full of algae. Unsightly, but not harmful so far. 

[debbeach13]

Sending prayers for you and Grandma. Sorry about sunny. How great that Mom is going to help out. I hope you continue to feel a little better every day. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

15 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Sending prayers for you and Grandma. Sorry about sunny. How great that Mom is going to help out. I hope you continue to feel a little better every day. 

Thanks, Deb. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Some extra fish & coral (wet) food has finally arrived today. The phyto & garlic supplement are something new that I'll be trying, but I have tried the pods & mysis shrimp on the tank before with good results. 😊👍

 

 

 

Harvey was very active today evening:

 

 

 

Christmas favites is actually growing with more polyps around the edges: 

 

 

Duncan under lighter blues & heavier whites:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Ironman shroom surrounded by cloves:

 

 

Will keep an eye on this one because the color of the *dots seem to be shifting: 👀

 

 

Teal blue discosoma! 🥰 : 

 

 

Red discosoma:

 

 

^Curiously enough, that tiny shriveled up shroom next to the red discosoma is a metallic teal green discosoma which I thought had melted away long ago in this tank. It turned up again recently while I was rearranging the shrooms, so here's one more morph added to the pre-existing coral count! 🥰

 

Tricolor bullseye rhodactis:

 

 

There was a flatworm on this shroom this morning. Managed to suck it up using a pipette and dispose it in the sink:

 

 

Green bullseye rhodactis: 

 

 

Thinking of recollecting some of the previous morphs that I've lost in the other tank like the leopard & psychedelic shrooms. But those are premium and can be pricey. 

 

Will try to pick up more differently colored discosoma & rhodactis morphs in the future. 😊👍

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Took these following shots in the early morning, when the lights had just been turned on. 

 

The garf bonsai is doing quite well and bouncing back in terms of growth & color:

 

 

Retracted forest fire digi polyps in the early morning (blurry pic - had to zoom in for this one) :

 

 

Also, I personally thought my mini carpet nem had died some time last week because it was detached & floating around the tank listlessly. 😔

 

But to my surprise, I found it again today! 👀

 

It has now attached itself to some caulerpa in my mini macro garden at the back corner of the tank. It is bleached and shriveled, but is surprisingly sticky, so I hope it can recover in the months to come. 

 

 

It has already split once in the past - the second mini carpet is hidden behind my rainbow brain coral, and prefers staying in the shadows under the ledge of the LR. 🤷‍♀️

[debbeach13]

1 hour ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Some extra fish & coral (wet) food has finally arrived today. The phyto & garlic supplement are something new that I'll be trying, but I have tried the pods & mysis shrimp on the tank before with good results. 😊👍

Time to eat. Nom Nom Nom

[Snow_Phoenix]

The back up kH buffer bottle has just arrived as well:

 

 

Phew! 😊

[Critteraholic]

I love Harvey. I actually found a store that carries Harveys. But with shipping he would cost $59.15.  😔  Welllll, Christmas isn't too far away....

[Snow_Phoenix]

It has been a difficult morning today. Before I explain, here are some quick picks of the mini shroom  garden I've been making in the tank:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All taken under yellow lens filter. Brightness adjusted after each shot because the pics came out too dark (as usual). 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Okay, here it goes. I woke up this morning to find Sasha half-dead and partially being swallowed by one of my rhodactises. The fish managed to free itself before I could help her do it, but she died seconds later - one twitch, and just flopped over, dead. 

 

 

After I pulled out her body, I noticed several things - her lateral lines were showing, which I found strange, because she was a very good eater. Two, her 'pink' colors were *running off on the tissue paper I placed her body on ---> I've encountered this with wild-caught wrasses I've purchased from the store before, and in all instances, *all those fish never lasted beyond three weeks and mostly died during QT. I've also had this happen to several showline bettas (FW) as well, where their bright colors leached off on the tissue or even table which I placed them on after death. 

 

Back to marine fish, I have no idea where stores here source their fish from. Sometimes, I'm too afraid to ask. Cyanide poisoning could be a possibility, but once again, I'm unsure. 🤔

 

Thirdly, this fish had ich. There is a very high chance that it might have also had flukes and internal parasites, hence the skinny-despite-healthy-appetite appearance. 

 

All my tanks are actually infected with Ich to a certain degree, but there is a very high chance that whatever this fish brought into my system infected the others, and killed my TSB & tiny clown as well. 😭

 

Fourthly, I had palytoxin issues with this tank recently. I did run carbon & perform a 8G WC, but I'm not if this affected any of my clowns in any way, so I'm not ruling it out completely. 

 

After much thinking, I have decided to let this tank go fallow until mid-December, which should be around ~2 months. The ich should die out by then, and with plenty of WCs in between, this should take care of any palytoxin poisoning issues. 🤔

 

I *might get fish during the interim, but I will be setting up a QT tank and preemptively treat them for both flukes & Ich before adding them to the DT. I will only add them to the nano once the fallow period is over. 

 

The ~2 months should be more than enough time to let the tank restabilize. I *think coral additions in between should be safe - I usually dip all of my frags before adding them to the tank. 

 

I really regret not acting sooner on this one. I grew dangerously overconfident and assumed my new fish could handle whatever diseases they came with by boosting their immune system with various food, and I was wrong. Learn from my mistake; don't repeat it & try to QT any new fish you get. 

 

I truly miss my skunks. Skunks are quite hard to come by here, but I'm willing to wait to get another chance at owning one again. They're very peaceful & have a unique way of undulating the back half of their bodies. 

 

Not sure if I'll be able to acquire a TSB again though. Availability is sketchy at best, non-existence at worst. 😔

 

Sorry for the long post! 

[kimdawg]

So sorry for your recent losses.  I think at this time your are wise to go fallow for a while.  Your tank is filled with beautiful coral and it will give you time to focus on them. Also without fish you could get by with less water changes and let your injury heal at the same time.

[Snow_Phoenix]

44 minutes ago, kimdawg said:

So sorry for your recent losses.  I think at this time your are wise to go fallow for a while.  Your tank is filled with beautiful coral and it will give you time to focus on them. Also without fish you could get by with less water changes and let your injury heal at the same time.

I was thinking the same thing - this break will indeed help me heal up better. I now only need to drop in a few pellets for the shrimp daily. 

 

I will still need to keep up with WCs though - because the replenished elements are essential for coral growth & recovery. But I can get away with *smaller WCs for a change. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Transferred more shrooms from the 60G to the nano for rest & recovery. It didn't go to well because I accidently & unintentionally fragged my rainbow yuma to 4 pieces. 😕

 

 

 

I think only 2 of the pieces *might make it because it was a direct cut across the yuma's mouth. 

 

I was actually trying my best to be very careful while cutting the rock around the rainbow yuma. I'm not sure *how, but the cutters slipped and sliced right across the coral while I was trimming the rock. Luckily it didn't go all the way and pierce my left hand, which I was using to support the LR the yuma was attached to.  

 

I did successfully trim out the duscolored yellow yuma from the rock though. It is very unhappy, but I'm hoping it will color back up & grow in this reef:

 

 

I also found a single detached browned-out green hairy shroom on the sandbed of my 60G. It is very shrunken & unhealthy. I moved it to the back left corner of the tank, next to the cloves:

 

 

I also found 2 very small red discosomas with bright blue bumps on the surface (not to be confused with my superman discosoma). I can't get a clear pic of it yet, but it's attached to a tiny chunk of LR & I placed it with the rest of my shrooms in the nano. 

 

There is still a very tiny piece of rainbow yuma left behind on the LR of the 60G, but I'm not touching it. That's the only coral left behind in that tank, along with a few polyps of brown palys. 👍