Snow's 10G Critters of Chaos (TOTM)

[Snow_Phoenix]

Today I did a partial clean up of sorts - full media (floss & carbon) replacement, glass scraping etc. Water is still a bit murky, but here's the main pavona colony:

 

 

And here's the lepto-pavona combo on the mend:

 

 

I have other pet-related work to take care of, so I'll get a 80% WC done tomorrow. 💦

 

Tank does look quite rough. Especially my yumas - some have melted away completely. 😞

 

Restocking in the future will be difficult. I might trade in one of my trumpet coral frags at the LFS to acquire more new frags. No plans on dropping by the store soon though. 

 

Also, Lemon says hello! 🐢

 

[Lebowski_]

Hi Lemon! 👋 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Ultra-cranky nano after an 80% WC done today:

 

 

Also replaced all the media and scraped the glass (once again), cleaned out/scrubbed the filter & wavemaker thoroughly, basted the rocks and shuffled some corals around. 

 

Tank looks pretty rough atm, but should perk up in a day or two. Everything is still partially retracted/closed up, but lights are now off for the day. 

 

Inverts are fine. 🦀🦐

 

Tank's been fallow for 105 days. It's time to restock some corals and get a fish*. 💦

 

(*Maybe next week) 👀

[Snow_Phoenix]

Not looking too good, I'm afraid. Still many discolored and shrunken patches, missing/melted polyps. 😞

 

 

 

At least this part is healing:

 

 

And shrooms (yumas withstanding) look okay for the most part:

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Some quick snaps of random corals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

FTS today on 20/7/23:

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Shrooms! 🥰

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

My LFS had some purple firefish come in last night. I tried to reserve one today, but they were all sold out. 😞

 

The only good news is that there was another fish that came in during the recent shipment - a leopard wrasse - which is still available. If it is still there by Monday, I'll try to pick it up (for my 60G, not this tank) and see if there are any leftover nanofish which are suitable for the 10G. 

 

As for now, I took more pics of the tank today. Most of the SPS is still discolored and has mild PE. Will take a while before they recover. 

 

Here's my pavona and merlettis from different angles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Different angles of Mushroom Mountain:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you look closely, you can spot several pesky red flatworms on them. 👀

[Snow_Phoenix]

My duncan coral - up to 20 heads now. Had to shift it a bit to give it more room to flourish: 

 

 

 

 

 

GSP overtaking palys:

 

 

Ironman discosoma shroom (sideview) :

 

 

Puffy bicolor lobo:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Small orange cloves amidst zoas and palys:

 

 

Zoa Ledge from different topview angles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Zoa Garden has lost a lot of its previous occupants. Possibly half of my original collection are gone. 😭

 

I'll slowly need to restock it and rebuild it all over again. Quite sad, given how colorful and chaotic it used to be. 😞

[Snow_Phoenix]

FTS today on 21/7/23:

 

 

 

 

 

Looks a *bit better than yesterday, but there are several empty spots here and there. It'll take time to grow things out again. More WCs and patience will be needed. 🤔

Add-On: I updated my coral list on the first page. From 89 different morphs/varieties, I'm now down to 61. 20 of those losses were from my Zoa Garden, which used to host 40 different morphs across three main ledges. That's a 50% loss (for the zoas alone) for what I used to have. It makes my heart break. Recollecting will take some time, effort and $$$, I foresee. Not an easy thing to do, given that this tank runs on a shoestring budget. I'll try to trade in some of my existing frags (if any) at the LFS - hopefully I can get at least 5 more morphs the next time I hit the store. 😞 

[Snow_Phoenix]

The shrooms have opened up even wider today. Mushroom Mountain looks quite vibrant again. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would still love to collect more shrooms though! 

 

Quick last pic of my duncan today as well:

 

 

^20 heads and counting. 🥰

[debbeach13]

As always love this tank. Just the right size and packed with such an assortment of color and texture. Hard to pick, that pavona and duncan might be my favorites. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

19 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

As always love this tank. Just the right size and packed with such an assortment of color and texture. Hard to pick, that pavona and duncan might be my favorites. 

I love those two pieces too! The pavona keeps growing out though, so I often trim it down a little and trade in the pieces at the LFS for new frags or tiny CUC. I have no heart to trim it right now though. Absolutely love the ripple-effect it has at the edges. Reminds me a bit of an underwater rose petal. 🥰

 

The duncan does take up a fair bit of room, but I don't mind. As long as it's happy and healthy, I leave it be. Duncans can be quite hard to come by at my store these days. I wonder how much a single head costs now. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

Whiplash blasto merletti colony today. 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

This was how it used to look like exactly a year ago:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Took some pics of the tank today under actinics and my regular settings. Here's the FTS for today on 28/7/23:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Gold-spotted shroom under 2 different modes. 

 

 

 

My last yuma. 😕

 

 

New leopard shroom coming up:

 

 

Mushroom Mountain frontview:

 

 

Bicolor lobo:

 

 

Rainbow brain:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

The Zoa Ledge:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spotted the regrowth of several polyps. Quite happy to see my Gold Mauls came back (albeit smaller). 😅

[Snow_Phoenix]

Lastly, my nano under actinics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I performed the weekly WC yesterday and replaced my filter media (2x this week). Unfortunately, I lost my halloween hermit crab to a bad molt around ~2 days ago. 😞

 

Really sucks because I was becoming attached to that lil' guy. I think I'll keep an eye out for another halloween hermit at the LFS in the future. That, and a saron shrimp. 🤔

[Snow_Phoenix]

I took several pics yesterday. One slight problem - I forgot to reset my W/B on auto (I had it on manual because I was taking pics of my turtles' paludarium earlier on) before taking pics of my nano. As a result, the pics came out with a strong pinkish-purplish hue. Truly sorry for that. Looks weird, I know. 😅

 

Anyhow, here's some Zoa Ledge shots:

 

 

 

 

My orange leptastrea:

 

 

Overall FTS:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Mushroom Mountain from different angles:

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Some close ups of various types of shrooms. 😊

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Lastly, my duncan coral from different angles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Need to pick up some new salt bags soon. I'll be transitioning over from Fritz to IO - mostly because my LFS has stopped importing Fritz, and the leftover boxes at different stores have now been marked up too much. IO is more cost-effective, but I'm unsure how my nano will handle it. 

 

My LFS now uses IO as their primary salt, and so far their tanks look very good. I use IO for my large SW tank too - no issues with it, but that tank is not heavily stocked with coral. Regardless of it all, I'll still go with IO for the moment. I couldn't get ahold of a large Red Sea *blue bucket; otherwise I'd choose that over IO. 

 

I still have enough leftover Fritz to clear 1 or 2 more WCs. Tank should be fine, I think. 👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

I took some more pics - with the W/B readjusted to its regular auto settings. Colors are finally back to normal and no longer lurid/cartoonish. 😊👍

 

The Zoa Ledge:

 

 

 

Ironman discosoma:

 

 

 

Gold-spotted shroom:

 

 

 

 

Skittles discosoma from above: