Snow's 10G Critters of Chaos (TOTM)

[Nano sapiens]

2 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I think I'll just stick to montis, leptos and pavonas. Those two types seem to do reasonably well in my nano and grow quickly. 

 

Yeah, those are trooper SPS.  My favorite branching coral is the Ponape Birdsnest for a medium light nano mixed reef.

[ml86743]

3 hours ago, Nano sapiens said:

 

Yeah, those are trooper SPS.  My favorite branching coral is the Ponape Birdsnest for a medium light nano mixed reef.

+1 on the ponape.  Looking around for a frag for myself!

[Snow_Phoenix]

8 hours ago, Nano sapiens said:

 

Yeah, those are trooper SPS.  My favorite branching coral is the Ponape Birdsnest for a medium light nano mixed reef.

I had a lovely purplish-pinkish ponape in this once. Perhaps I should try to get a frag - if I can - again. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

15 hours ago, Nano sapiens said:

 

Yeah, those are trooper SPS.  My favorite branching coral is the Ponape Birdsnest for a medium light nano mixed reef.

This was the OP Tenuis I had exactly 2 years ago from today - only the tips grew, but it was so hard to get this piece to retain it's original blue color. Even then, I couldn't get the 'orange' tips to color up. It RTNed suddenly one day and until today, I'm not sure why. The frag was extremely costly as well. I doubt I'll be getting another one in the future. 

 

 

This was the radioactive birdsnest I once had in this nano too:

 

 

The other birdsnest & setosa:

 

 

My ponape in the past:

 

 

 

The neon green acro in the past:

 

 

As you can see, I've tried several types of sticks and caps in this tank (others which are not shown here), and the only thing that grew steadily and lasted the longest was my forest fire digi. I have a lime green monticap and chili pepper monticap in my nano atm as well, but their growth is incredibly slow - probably due to heavy competition (and possible chemical warfare) from nearby corals. 

 

I wish I was good at growing sticks, but time and time again, I've tried SPS in various setups in various tank sizes - and I have to say, I just can't grow them. 😕

 

It's okay though. I like my forest fire digi garden. And my tiny monticaps. (Might collect more tiny monticaps in the future, too!) 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Managed to perform an 8G WC today during the afternoon. Tank is fine, however I noticed one of my older yumas - the largest one with an orange center and green rim, began bleaching the day my GCGs died. I also noticed a small increase in algae patches after both fish died as well. I think my NO3 and PO4 levels were thrown out of balance - but things should improve with this WC (I hope!).

 

The bleached yuma looks rough though. 😞

 

Other yumas are fine, although I did move the pink yuma down next to my yellow one, and gently clipped off the rock under rainbow yuma and moved it closer to the others as well (it was encroaching my orange leptastrea, and both corals were stinging each other). 

 

I also shuffled a few zoas around.  I moved both my Fruit Loops and Candy Apple polyps up to the main Zoa Ledge, where they'll have more room to grow, and better access to the light. My Firestorms are taking over every patch of rock they are on, so I'll need to frag off a sizeable portion and trade them in at my LFS during my next trip there.

 

Corals are a bit moody, but the fish, shrimp and crab are okay. I normally skip feeding the tank on WC day to minimize stress on any of the animals - including the fish. Mostly to give the tank a chance to settle down. Large WCs normally make critters cranky.

 

Things should perk up by tomorrow evening, and I'll take some pics, including several FTSes at different angles, then. 👍

[Nano sapiens]

I'm not sure if the original ORA 'Ponape Birdsnest' is available in your area.  The species is most likely Seriatopora dendritica (not S. hystrix which has noticeable longer/thicker branches and doesn't grow as compactly).  The branches are quite delicate with a fluorescent lighter green base/pink-violet tips in medium light and turns solid pink in higher light.  It is so brittle that when I need to frag mine I just take the whole colony and drop it into a bowl and collect the shattered fragments 🙂

 

 

Once this one had adapted to my aquarium, it has very rarely had any issues over the many years.

 

 

 

 

[debbeach13]

57 minutes ago, Nano sapiens said:

  It is so brittle that when I need to frag mine I just take the whole colony and drop it into a bowl and collect the shattered fragments 🙂

You should make a "How I Frag without tools" video of this process. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

2 hours ago, Nano sapiens said:

I'm not sure if the original ORA 'Ponape Birdsnest' is available in your area.  The species is most likely Seriatopora dendritica (not S. hystrix which has noticeable longer/thicker branches and doesn't grow as compactly).  The branches are quite delicate with a fluorescent lighter green base/pink-violet tips in medium light and turns solid pink in higher light.  It is so brittle that when I need to frag mine I just take the whole colony and drop it into a bowl and collect the shattered fragments 🙂

 

 

Once this one had adapted to my aquarium, it has very rarely had any issues over the many years.

 

 

 

 

 

Whoa! That's one stunner right there! 

It was sold to me as a ponape. I'm not entirely sure of its origins - the OP tenuis, garf bonsai, pink milli and ponape (?) came from a Singapore reefer who traded them in at a local LFS that I once frequented. Quite frankly, the frags were ridiculously overpriced. I'm unsure if the store or hobbyist set it at those prices, but I do regret my purchases - even the fancy garf bonsai. Since the origins are overseas, I'm not sure if it's ORA/not ORA, or simply a random wild frag that happened to color up to a trade-name-coral. 🤷‍♀️

Mine was quite hard to frag though - this 'ponape' thing. It was the only SPS I've ever had which couldn't be broken by hand and was even clipper-resistant at some points. Only the tips could be snipped off, but the bottom of the branches were solid. And the pointy ends were sharp/piercing.

 

I did love the color though. How big did yours get, if I might ask? 🙂

 

1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

You should make a "How I Frag without tools" video of this process. 

This! 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Well, here's something interesting that I discovered right before I turned the tank lights off for the day: while shuffling around several zoa morphs, I *accidently uprooted one of my Gold Maul polyps and mistakenly glued it down on Zoa Ledge #2, next to my mini colony of Firestorms. 🤦‍♀️

So looks like I'll have to move that one back up to Zoa Ledge #1, but probably during the next WC. I don't like to stick my hands into the tank unnecessarily nowadays because one of my fingertips has a bad case of xerosis (dry skin) and the skin has a tendency to dry out quickly when exposed to water (FW or SW), and sometimes even split open and bleed for no reason. 😕

 

Luckily my other 9 fingers are not affected, but it's really unwise to go around dipping hands in the tank frequently when there are breaks in the skin. And before anyone asks, I'm not overly fond of gloves during tank-work and only use them when necessary. Mostly because my grip and coordination is quite poor as it is, and gloves - plastic or latex ones - just make me clumsier. 😕

 

The algae patches are still here and there, on the rocks and the sandbed. I pruned a small clump of it during the WC. Nothing dangerous - just regular GHA which has browned out in some areas. 

[Nano sapiens]

2 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Mine was quite hard to frag though - this 'ponape' thing. It was the only SPS I've ever had which couldn't be broken by hand and was even clipper-resistant at some points. Only the tips could be snipped off, but the bottom of the branches were solid. And the pointy ends were sharp/piercing.

 

I did love the color though. How big did yours get, if I might ask? 🙂

 

This! 

  

Since there are at least (11) known Seriatopora species and multiple morphs, it sounds like the one you had was something different

 

The commercial history of the true 'Ponape' BN actually goes back to Steve Tyree and Reefarmers:

 

http://reeffarmers.com/limitedponapeseriatopora.htm

 

ORA then picked it up and added it to their catalog of corals as most people know it today.

 

The largest that I've let the colony get to was about the size of a softball.  Depending on the tank conditions, it'll grow from a few 1" frags to that size in around 6-12 months.  Luckily it does tend to slow down when that large and so I only break it up every 2-3 years or so when it starts to shade out it's neighbors.  However, with the A. pachysepta as it's current neighbor, I'll probably never have to prune it again.

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I'm not sure what transpired overnight, but I woke up this morning and did my routine check up on all of my animals. Started with my nano and was shocked when Pickle the clownfish suddenly displayed advanced stages of brook (quite sure this is it) coupled with a *possible bacterial infection. Full-on popped out cloudy eyes with a peeling white film (peeling slimecoat) all over the body. 😢

I think the GCGs must have been very sick and brought something in. Worse still, it appears whatever they introduced in the nano has not only killed them, but now appears to be affecting my other fish too. I can't spot Bullet my firefish, so I'm unsure if he's affected, alive or dead. 😢

 

Pickle is in super-rough shape. What confuses me is how she was perfectly healthy and behaving/acting normally, and suddenly is now at death's door with a full load of symptoms. It's too quick for me. 

 

She's suffering a fair bit, and I'm unsure if I should move her to treat her somehow (given how advanced this is, I don't think it's possible to save her, but I can try), or if moving her will simply cause more stress and kill her. It's quite awful, and I feel awful. 

 

I didn't think of QTing the gobies because I was swamped with other pet work, and my health is at a dip. But now I see that was a critical mistake on my part. 

I'm going to try and read up on Humblefish's guides online and see if I can alleviate her pain somehow. 

I've gone through episodes of clowns with brook before. And no matter what I tried - even formalin baths - I lost the fish every time because they were too far gone. 😢

 

I just changed the water too. Everything was supposed to be stable by today. This is a nightmare of sorts. Depressing too. 😢 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Update: Not just brook. Velvet too. Sigh. 

[debbeach13]

This is awful news. I know you will do the best you can for the fish. I don't know exactly the best way to say this. Please don't overdo it, physically. I am nervous and much more worried about your health. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

37 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

This is awful news. I know you will do the best you can for the fish. I don't know exactly the best way to say this. Please don't overdo it, physically. I am nervous and much more worried about your health. 

I am, too. Truth be told, I'm not doing well at *all. I'm getting all the help I need, but I'm still quite unwell. I still have 2 or 3 more days of treatment to go for my bird, and although she has recovered relatively well, she still needs her antibiotics. Her hospital bird cage sits exactly on the lids above my 10G SW QT tank downstairs - a tank that has not been running for months, but still has 50% of SW and rocks in it. The system will need to be re-cycled to accomodate any sick fish.

 

And I can't use that tank because there's no where else in my home that's safe enough to hold my bird's hospital cage - I need an area not too low, but not too high - where my terrier cannot reach her. I love my dog, and her prey drive is moderate, but I cannot risk having a predatory animal in contact with a prey animal. All the higher shelves and cupboards have been occupied by various items, including my hamster's cage, my guinea pig enclosure and my bird's main sleep cage. 

 

So I'm thinking about what to do next. 😕

[Snow_Phoenix]

One small consolation: I spotted Bullet for a very short while when I turned the pumps off to drop in some pellets, and he appeared fine with no marks, dots or dust on him. But he darted back to his burrow ultra-quick once I turned the pumps back on.

 

Pickle the clownfish is struggling to breathe - I've cranked the pumps up to *almost max to increase airflow, but I can't give her any baths except a FW dip (if I can catch her first - which is a challenge on its own). Formalin is a controlled substance in my country - it's not freely available to the public. I have peroxide, and I could try the hybrid-TTM, but at such an advanced stage, I'm afraid it'll only kill her faster. 😢

 

Sigh.

 

The DT needs to go fallow for 76 days (60 days is enough for brook & velvet, but I'll just assume I have Ich in this also) so I need to pull my firefish out for QT. Problem is his burrow faces the back of the tank, and he chose one of the *base rocks to burrow under. The only way to remove that rock to get to him is to remove *ALL the rocks, which are packed with encrusted corals, sift the sand until he pops up and then net him. This of course, is not a possible feat. If I touch the system - it'll crash and I'll lose $$$$ worth of corals which I've tried my best to nurse, grow and take care of for years. 

 

So it's now coming down to saving a single fish, vs. saving a whole system full of critters.  

 

It looks like an easy and obvious choice, but it isn't to me - because I want to save *both my fish and the rest of my tank. I hate compromising on the lives of living things, especially since I put them in my tank and I'm responsible for their welfare. 😢 

 

I can't net Bullet - he's too quick for me. And the tank is full of crevices - a net can't fit into those dark pockets. If anything, I'll just be agitating or breaking things in there. Bullet's immune system might be holding up for now, but he's definitely infected. Any new additions in the future to this system will automatically be infected as well, even if I put them through hybrid-TTM first - because Bullet will infect them.

My head is spinning a little thinking about how to get him out of the tank safely. If I can't, then I guess he'll be the only fish in the nano. I'm at a...loss. On what to do. Reefing is so hard sometimes. 😞 

[mcashatt01]

I'm very new still and know nothing but recently read an article either here or reef2reef about dosing/dipping h2o2 for many different diseases with incredible results. May be worth a shot. Sorry about the poor luck.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Pickle died overnight. Her body is trapped at the back of the tank, so I'll need to shift 2 major rocks to get it out. Beyond heartbroken at this point. 😔

[Snow_Phoenix]

I removed the body around ~2 hours back. I spotted Bullet the firefish peeking at me from his burrow while I gently shifted rocks around. I'm quite devastated. My tank looks so...empty. I keep staring at the rainbow brain coral because it was hosting Pickle, and it was her favorite spot in the tank. 

 

I've gone through an episode with velvet before. It completely destroyed my 60G, and took out all 6 of my dragonets. 😢

 

The only survivor was my yellow foxface, which is now thriving and happy in that tank. 

 

I'm unsure how to remove Bullet safely from this nano, but I'll try my best. It might take some time. I don't want to accidently stress him out or hurt him.

[debbeach13]

Snow I am so sorry about pickle. I don't think you could have saved him even with QT and medication. He got so sick so fast. Take care.

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

Snow I am so sorry about pickle. I don't think you could have saved him even with QT and medication. He got so sick so fast. Take care.

The speed on which the symptoms were visible to death was less than 24 hours. Given that the fish had no visible signs or symptoms beforehand and was behaving/eating normally, I don't think I would have been able to detect it at all. Makes me wish I had a small microscope. Sometimes, I'm curious to see what exactly is in my tank water - but on hindsight, maybe not. The more I know, the more anxiety it'll give me. 😞

 

I'm quite stressed out, but my last fish was up and about earlier and ate, so I'm happy his immune system is holding up for now, at least. Still not sure how to safely remove him, but I'll find a way. Maybe even try digging up old threads online which specifically mention on how to catch dartfish/firefish without hurting them. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I'm glad Bullet is fine for now. Caught him up and about this evening. 

 

 

 

Going to really miss Pickle a lot. This rainbow brain coral is now solitary:

 

 

Bullet over the Zoa Garden:

 

 

 

 

FTS as promised days ago:

 

 

 

 

We're now down to 1 fish, 1 hermit crab & 1 GCBS. I'm going to leave the tank as it is for now, but will keep up with feeding the fish, daily dosing & weekly WCs. 

 

Just need a bit of time away from the nano. I still have a 70G discus tank to re-set, and that is more pressing atm. Other animals are doing alright, thankfully. 

[debbeach13]

Unfortunately getting any fish out of a tank as packed as yours is going to be stressful for you and the fish. If bullet is the only fish and has no actual symptoms, would it be a consideration to just observe for now. I can't imagine catching him without pretty much removing almost everything in the tank!

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 minute ago, debbeach13 said:

Unfortunately getting any fish out of a tank as packed as yours is going to be stressful for you and the fish. If bullet is the only fish and has no actual symptoms, would it be a consideration to just observe for now. I can't imagine catching him without pretty much removing almost everything in the tank!

Yes, that is what I figured - and removal of almost everything will be a disaster because I'll be destabilizing the whole tank. Even as I removed my clownfish from the DT today, I was very careful in shifting two rocks around and constantly checking the rocks to ensure I didn't accidently break or knock off the corals on them. It was quite hard. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I really had to lower the ISO so that this could be seen, hence why the tank looks abnormally white. But here it is: I finally hung up a book cover poster that I purchased on my birthday two years ago, and I think it complements the nano pretty well. 🥰

 

 

 

Title of book: Archangel's Light by Nalini Singh. Book cover design by Tony Mauro. 🌺

 

Also got some help to hang this up on my wall, next to my bed:

 

 

I smiled (really) for the first time in weeks. 🌺

 

This tank is still on autopilot. But I managed to clean up the last 2" of water from my discus tank, and left it to dry overnight. Just need to wipe down the glass, re-fill it, then re-cycle it. 

 

I'll be cleaning out the 10G QT tank downstairs as well, and move it back into storage. 

 

Bullet the firefish is still eating and swimming fine, but he only comes out when the pumps are off. Otherwise, the tank appears barren with no apparent fish in sight most of the time. I still miss Pickle a lot, but I have to move on - I have other responsibilities and other animals relying on me for their care. 

 

Also, here's my guinea pigs - Burnt Toast & Peanut:

 

 

I need to work on expanding their enclosure soon. They're growing up so fast! Only ~3.5-months-old and quite chunky. I love them. 🥰

[Snow_Phoenix]

Been a while since I WCed the tank. It's a bit neglected and full of algae. Pic without any filter:

 

 

Corals are a tad lackluster - that one bleached yuma is very shrunken. Also, my lobo accidently melted my orange rhodactis. 😕

 

Bullet the firefish's appetite isn't very good of late. He's still a decent size, but I'm a bit worried for him. I'll get the tank back on track once I sort out a few things at home. (Will take a while though). 😕