AKay09's 29Gallon Build Thread

[AKay09]

Well the little Pygmy Angel didn't work out. The first 2 days he hid mostly. He moved between 3 different hiding spots but never stayed out long. On day 3 I came home from work to find him out and active, swimming around my frogspawn and staying close to a little cave. I shut off all my pumps to try feeding him directly, once the pumps went off he started floating funny. He went face up and his tail went down and touched the sand, almost like he was standing on it. I turned the pumps back on and he evened out but still didn't eat.

I went out to dinner and was at a friends and my mom called me and said that he was floating like a leaf in the water and that she saw him rise from the bottom up to the surface and then swim back down. The moon lights were on at this point so I was hoping he was just a weird sleepier, like my clowns. I came home 30 minutes later and he was nowhere to be seen. Checked again before work and again couldn't find him. After work I picked up a few of the rocks to peak into the little caves that he could be hiding in, no sign. At this point I'm assuming the worst. No signs of an ammonia or nitrate spike though. Looked all around on the floor and nothing, unless my cat ate it quickly, which I doubt. Poor guy, or girl never even had a name. :sad1:

Also picked up a cleaner shrimp, Flower, which is doing great and is very active and friendly. Here are some crappy phone pics. New 'scape as well.

 

[Salty150]

Awww, that sucks... :sad2:

I know the feeling.

Do Angels (although he was a Pygmy) need a little more live rock to hide/scour... ?

Did you see him eat at the LFS before buying him?

 

[AKay09]

Yeah it's not a good feeling :/

They may need a bit more but I feel I have a good number of hiding places and the fact that he was only an inch long makes me think he had enough right now. Also 3 days seems quick for that to have been the issue. I feel I acclimated him well, dripped for an hour with the shrimp, which is doing great.

I didn't see him eat, didn't get him from the best of places I know. I was going to a very nice LFS but happened to notice that Aquarium Adventure, run be Petland, was having a 50% off sale. So I looked at it as saving the poor fishy over supporting Petland. Before I purchased him I went into the good LFS to check and see what they had but they didn't have anything in stock that I was really interested in getting. So could have been sick from the not so great of a tank he was in and might have been too late to save.

 

[AKay09]

Well this hobby really is pretty frustrating at the 3 month mark. I picked up a lawnmower blenny two weeks ago, and he has been great, a bit of a messy eater but fun to watch. The other day I saw him chase one of my clowns away from his food but other than that, no aggression, or so I thought.

Today I was in my room and had taken the top off tank while I was cleaning the inside glass and I forgot to put it back on. I was watching a movie and at one point heard a little splash and saw him swimming back down from the surface, didn't think much of it. I really wish I did though, about 30minutes later I went to feed, and only noticed one clown. Started looking around and right where the splash was, I found poor Ralph on the ground. :sad1::sad2:

He seemed to be having swim bladder issues the last few days, had been spending most of his time at the surface sideways but was still eating and active. So depressing though, I really feel bad about letting him down.

 

[Salty150]

Sorry to hear that... :sad2:

If it's any consolation (which it is not) - we have all been there.

At least you can tell from your posts that you try to do your best.

Now just get your remaining clown another friend (different size from what I understand) and enjoy them!

 

[AdamNC]

And get a screen top. BRS sells a kit fairly cheap.

 

[AKay09]

Thanks Salty, I do try my best, just gets a little frustrating but I was kind of expecting it early on. Still hate losing anything. I do plan on getting another clown this weekend, the one that is left is only about an inch, if that, so should have no problem pairing them up. These 2 never seemed to like each other anyway. Gonna have to watch the Blenny though to see how he acts aggression wise.

AdamNC, I do have a lid, not a screen top but egg crate with the center cut out under the light so it doesn't break up the light. I just happened to have taken it off a bit earlier and forgot to put it back on. Screen top is on the list though. Thanks for the suggestion.

Overall everything else is looking good, big more algae on the glass the last few days, figure it's normal. My frogspawn is looking much better in it's new location. My GSP was actually closed up i'd say 90% for the last few days, but just got back from work and it is fully open again. Noticed my cleaner shrimp was holding onto some eggs yesterday as well, so that's kind of cool. Should be getting some pulsing xenia as well in the next few days. I know they tend to spread a lot like GSP but with my light I'm kind of limited to my coral selection.