ZeeSparrow's 75G LPS tank build

ZeeSparrow said:
Yep that's a lawnmower. Although he's more like a decoration at the moment because he isn't too interested in the food I put in for him.

The firefish has chosen under the heater as his safe spot. Lol. He came out to eat this morning and then right back under it.

I put the terra cotta in the tank for the clowns, as the one had claimed it during qt. I thought maybe they'd like it back. They seem quite content with the mag float instead so I'm going to remove it.
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Lawnmowers are aptly named. Man, they will literally mow down any algae in your tank. And look very cool doing it. Do you feed him seaweed (nori and the like), like rubber banded to a rock? They love algae. You could even add some chaeto from your refugium to feed him.

I'm hoping that as my Xenia grows along with my clowns that they use the Xenia as a host (many do).
 
I just got these last night. Only put some algae (food I bought) on a clip they gave me but doesn't look like he touched it. They said they feed theirs lettuce so I'll try that. Also have nori I plan to give him. And chaeto-that's a great idea! He's going to have a smorgasbord to choose from!
 
Maybe you could find a nice piece of clean dry rock (rinsed very well) and put it in there and jam a little bit of your chaeto into it. They love to graze on rocks. Perhaps it is the rocks that stimulate the grazing more than the food itself.
 
I've got some fake decorations from an old freshwater setup. I used a rubber band to attach some organic spinach to that. He's now hiding under the heater, while the firefish has been out and about a bit exploring.
 
Black and white clown has been opening and closing its mouth ever since I added to DT. Had stringy poop once but could be from mysis. Still eating ok and no other signs. It was fine in QT but now I'm a little concerned. And of course my QT is now occupied. Ugh. Will continue to monitor.

Test results are as expected... 0 ammonia/nitrite. 15 nitrate. 8.3 Alk. 430 calcium and 1410 mg. temp 78.2

One Power head pointed at surface of tank. Little clown looks great.
 
My 5am stealth operation this morning revealed the little orange & white clown in the upper left corner of the tank, near the overflow, happily swimming about. The black & white I'm concerned about was in the center near the terracotta (which I haven't yet removed), seemed to be exploring a bit. Half an hour later, she was lying underneath the left structure of rocks.

I don't remember if she was still opening & closing her mouth... I was just happy to see her out and about! lol I'll check tonight.
 
I sent my son a text this morning and he said the clown was still opening and closing her mouth repeatedly. When I came home from work, she was still lying underneath the rocks. Obviously gasping now; that's new. I filled my 5 gallon tank with some of the water prepared for the water change I intended to do tonight. pH and temp good, salinity at 1.021 (DT is 1.025). Airstone and heater in place. Netted her out of DT and set into QT, where she immediately sank to the bottom. Sideways. Swam up to the top, but was upside down and sank to the bottom again. On her side. Gasping.

20 minutes later she was gone.

After 4 weeks of QT, less than a week in the DT and she's gone.

I had called the LFS where I bought her, explained the symptoms I had seen and she gave me some recommendations over the phone... but it was too late.

This sucks. :(

Quarantining for a month and it wasn't enough.

Now I just pray my other little guy is okay. He seems to be... so far....
 
Wow. I'm really sorry to read that. I know how you feel because I was feeling the same way for a while. Different ending but I understand the frustration and helplessness.

Sometimes, no matter what you do, things like this happen. Hope the other little guy stays healthy and happy.
 
mmittlesteadt said:
Wow. I'm really sorry to read that. I know how you feel because I was feeling the same way for a while. Different ending but I understand the frustration and helplessness.

Sometimes, no matter what you do, things like this happen. Hope the other little guy stays healthy and happy.
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Swope2bc said:
That's too bad... I wonder what happened to it...
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Thanks guys. I suspect oodinium or Brooklynella. Was very pale and had like a white slime coating. That was hard to watch. Helpless is the right description. I'm a weepy person when stressed so...yeah. Brought a few tears afterward.

I have now emptied the tank I used tonight, a little bleach water around, rinsed with fresh water and prime. Dried with a paper towel, sitting empty for a few days to make sure it's good and dry before I start TTM on the other two.

Want to make sure they are both eating too. Still haven't seen blenny eat. Firefish is eating but blenny... I dunno. How am I supposed to know when all he does is hide?

Water change postponed for DT as I didn't have enough extra made up. I'm mixing more now.

And having a shot or two of tequila.
 
Have you tried some sinking pellets for the blenny? He's not living in a very natural environment (something a sterile, barren QT doesn't really offer in the way of stress management) that would cause him to feed the way it normally would.
 
Thanks Grizz. Sorry to hear about your clown, too. :( I am keeping an even closer eye on the little guy I still have, but he's so small it's hard to see if there's anything amiss! And this took the other one so darn fast, I don't know how long before I might feel he's "safe"...

As for the blenny, I checked on him before bed last night. Squished between the side of the tank and the heater, I didn't see movement. I moved the heater away and he still didn't budge. So I gently nudged him. He moved - and that's an understatement. LOL I dropped an algae wafer in for him on the other side of the tank where he was now hiding in the corner. This morning, he was on top of the decoration I'd placed in teh tank - one of those fake plants with really long leaves. He was not on the food I'd placed but on the leaves; maybe there's bits of algae there for him? He's now moved down to behind one of the PVC elbows. I can't tell if he's eaten any of the wafer.

W/C for QT and DT tonight.
 
Just one of those things that will make us smarter and stronger. Keep your chin up. Went to the Petco and saw two red dragonets. They looked great, but i know my tank isn't ready for them. Salesman said "they been here two weeks and they're eating something. we don't specifically feed them". i wanted to say "NO, they're starving!" As much as I wanted to "save" them, I know my tank isn't ready and I'm not ready to spend $200.00 a month on Pods at this time.
 
Yep. It's just tough not knowing what went wrong. I'm wondering if there's some disease in my tank now. Also suspecting a bacterial bloom because it's "cloudy". Algae is taking over some of the coral and it's all just frustrating right now.

I grabbed a piece of rock out of my sump, disease be damned and put it in qt with the blenny. Watched him for an hour or so, and spied frequently for the next. So long as he doesn't see me, he comes out of hiding. He has gone on the rock and on the decorative plant that's in there, but I haven't seen him eat anything I've added for food. At least it's something though. Nori is on a clip at the moment but I haven't seen him on it yet. I'll take some and attach it to the rock in the morning and see if that will entice him to eat it. I wonder if the algae on rocks in a freshwater tank would be ok to put in... Off to google.
 
Yes, it's crazy trying to figure out what they eat. The lfs said we feed them Omega flakes. I buy the Omega flakes and they just spit them them out and it swirls around the bottom of the QT. Gotta siphon it up so it doesn't foul the water. Trial and error.
 
Have you tried the green frozen cubes yet? Mine are omnivore preparation, and I'm sure your firefish will eat what the blenny does not!
 
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