Tank Journal Archive

[Wrangy]

Well the tank has seen better days, living away from the tank and life getting the better of me has meant the tank has not received nearly enough care and love than it should have. I've only seen it once in the last two weeks and even then haven't been able to do any work on it. Things are a little sad and the algae is going nuts which is getting me really down because the shit seems to be unstoppable and I'm not adding a foxface to combat it as, well, I don't really like them and too large/boisterous for the tank too, especially with some of my smaller fish. It's been pretty bad of late however I managed to get home yesterday to do some work on the tank thanks to a good shove from my partner, well and truly supportive of my tank. That and I was motivated enough and not distracted by life's issues that I was able to get a decent amount of work done which helps but there's still a long way to go.
- Cleaned the skimmer cup and adjusted it to skim a little heavier.
- Removed a good amount of algae and siphoned a lot more out.
- Fresh carbon (few weeks over due).
- Removed my zoa rack and dipped all the zoa's in hydrogen peroxide and tidied that all up and removed as much algae as possible.
- Cleaned the glass (it's going to need a lot more work, coralline is starting to form like freckles all over!)
- Fed the fish some frozen, made sure everyone was healthy and eating. Tiny copperband definitely seems more interested in the food and the frenzy that comes with it but still not picking or eating it. He's also not shy at all, had my hand in the tank and he was swimming around it which is nice unlike the other scaredy cats!
- Siphoned out the little bit of cyano that was starting to form too.

This is what I came home too :( you can really see what I mean about the fucking c. nummularia!


And after a couple of hours of work, we got somewhere but there's a long way to go still:


Life is a bit doom and gloom at the moment (was at the emergency vet at 4am on Monday morning with our little cat, who's currently at the specialist clinic getting scans and tests done for his liver) and that's just one thing lol but the tank always reminds me that there is a brighter side to life and that things can always prevail :) some of my coral-ly friends reminded me of that while I was there, it also seems that while some of the acro's are suffering a little there are still those going strong and they're two of my many favourites, the firetruck and the fireworks (I think I might be a pyro lol)


And of course my zoa's can always make a reefer happy lol:

 

[Sam Parker]

that fireworks frag is awesome mate, stunning!

Hope your cat is ok, bloody pets - they are just too important to the family and can really knee you in the nuts sometimes. Let us all know what we can do to help out mate :)

 

[Dean Lovett]

Chin up mate.

All this will pass and your tank is resilient and has a wonderful foundation that's not going to break anytime soon.

We're all here to help you along your journey!!

Chin up and keep smiling!

 

[slin1977]

Like a Surgeon fish preening his patch of reef , eating algea, you are the ultimate keeper of your little patch of reef, sometimes in life we get removed from our space cleaning and preening , it just can't be helped.

Your amazing underwater garden is just that and requires weeding periodically.

I bet you felt great after spending the time removing that pesky caulerpa
algea.
Your photos look great BTW

It was like a punch to the gut to me reading your recent sad post on RC.

I really hope you hang in there... If you need to chat you have my number.

 

[Wrangy]

that fireworks frag is awesome mate, stunning!

Hope your cat is ok, bloody pets - they are just too important to the family and can really knee you in the nuts sometimes. Let us all know what we can do to help out mate :)

I certainly love it! When the growth comes back and the polyps go a little more orange it looks even nicer again! lol

Bloody pets indeed lol I think he'll be alright, might be some liver meds and a low protein diet at best and surgery at worst but the specialist we're seeing is really good so the little numpty is going to pull through regardless of how many hoops there are lol I mean, how could you not do anything for this little idiot! lol

Chin up mate.

All this will pass and your tank is resilient and has a wonderful foundation that's not going to break anytime soon.

We're all here to help you along your journey!!

Chin up and keep smiling!

Thanks Dean, I really appreciate the kind words :) I'll get there and so will the tank but it might be a little bumpy along the road and I'm prepared for it, I just hope the tank keeps up with me :)

Like a Surgeon fish preening his patch of reef , eating algea, you are the ultimate keeper of your little patch of reef, sometimes in life we get removed from our space cleaning and preening , it just can't be helped.

Your amazing underwater garden is just that and requires weeding periodically.

I bet you felt great after spending the time removing that pesky caulerpa
algea.
Your photos look great BTW

It was like a punch to the gut to me reading your recent sad post on RC.

I really hope you hang in there... If you need to chat you have my number.

hahahaha I really like that analogy :)

Frequently if I want to get somewhere with it but such is life and it'll get there, I did pull a shitload out yesterday which felt good lol especially dipping the zoa's in H2O2 and watching it all bubble away lol

Thanks mate :) I really appreciate the support and I'll probably give you a buzz just to catch up when I get a chance over the next week anyway :) That holiday of yours is looking bloody amazing!

 

[Mattres]

Sorry to hear about your recent up and downs mate.
Hope your adorable cat pulls up okay! Hard to think about anything else when things you care about are in pain.
The c. nummularia is a right arse!
But seriously other than that your tank is cranking, look at that fireworks!
From what I know about you mate is that you care about every organism in that tank so much you'll soon get your mojo back.

Ps. Show me a tank that's looked after only once every week-2 weeks that looks that good!

 

[slin1977]

My cat pulled through tough times with a change in diet. The vet said if HE can't catch it it can't eat it... A diet of kidney suitable kibble and years later the princess is alive and well.
I also think we humans don't give them enough credit for resilience , mine survived a three storey jump after I ignored it one day cleaning the saltwater tank.

 

[Mattres]

My cat pulled through tough times with a change in diet. The vet said if HE can't catch it it can't eat it... A diet of kidney suitable kibble and years later the princess is alive and well.
I also think we humans don't give them enough credit for resilience , mine survived a three storey jump after I ignored it one day cleaning the saltwater tank.

It's not funny but I couldn't help but giggle when u mentioned the tank distracted you from your cat! lol
I swear when I'm involved with the tank I have blinkers on.
Interesting you bring up pet food, no doubt unrelated to both your guys' problem but when we got our puppy a year ago we researched dog food and it's unbelievable how many brands of pet food is full of fillers and shit dogs and cats shouldn't be eating!

 

[macca_75]

Even at their worst, your Zoa's are amazing....

Let me know when you're ready to frag some off ;-)

I'm sure you'll have this looking better than ever in pretty quick time.

 

[Wrangy]

Sorry to hear about your recent up and downs mate.
Hope your adorable cat pulls up okay! Hard to think about anything else when things you care about are in pain.
The c. nummularia is a right arse!
But seriously other than that your tank is cranking, look at that fireworks!
From what I know about you mate is that you care about every organism in that tank so much you'll soon get your mojo back.

Ps. Show me a tank that's looked after only once every week-2 weeks that looks that good!

Well we picked him up from the specialist this morning and we'll be hearing back about the biopsy results this afternoon so hopefully then we not what's up and how to fix it/manage it :) He clearly didn't miss us as much as we missed him lol straight onto the couch in front of the little portable heater with his little shaved tummy lol


Thanks Matt, I'm hoping to get it back again soon! The little copperband certainly helps with that lol he's so out and out I'm still surprised given his size! We'll pull through it just might take some time lol

My cat pulled through tough times with a change in diet. The vet said if HE can't catch it it can't eat it... A diet of kidney suitable kibble and years later the princess is alive and well.
I also think we humans don't give them enough credit for resilience , mine survived a three storey jump after I ignored it one day cleaning the saltwater tank.

I'm glad to hear the diet worked well and the princess is still going strong :) I'm definitely hoping the same in out case although I think some help from some meds is going to be required too :) He's still a happy little cat and loves life and food so the signs are good at least :)

It's not funny but I couldn't help but giggle when u mentioned the tank distracted you from your cat! lol
I swear when I'm involved with the tank I have blinkers on.
Interesting you bring up pet food, no doubt unrelated to both your guys' problem but when we got our puppy a year ago we researched dog food and it's unbelievable how many brands of pet food is full of fillers and shit dogs and cats shouldn't be eating!

I had a bit of a giggle too, they can be tough bastards lol I know I've spent many nights asleep on top of my burmese but she's built like a brick shithouse!
It's true that, we generally stick to either Science Diet or Fancy Feast as the vet's and our specialist recommend and feed both those to the animals staying with them :) even if Iggy did steal someone else's food this morning at the vets hahaha

Even at their worst, your Zoa's are amazing....

Let me know when you're ready to frag some off ;-)

I'm sure you'll have this looking better than ever in pretty quick time.

haha thanks mate :) they're pretty bullet proof! I'm hoping with the move/upgrade of the tank I can create a fair few frags to share the love with everyone :)

Here's to hoping :)

 

[Wrangy]

With some non-tank good and interesting news here. I mentioned one of the big issues I've been facing the last few weeks is our little cat, Iggy, has been very unwell. He lost nearly all of his strength in his back legs and wasn't really able to get around very well. We went to vet's, second time in a month as he had a seizure that we had to check up on, and blood tests showed his liver was functioning irregularly with extremely elevated liver enzyme levels (double last time's visit and they were really high then) so off we went back to the specialist and he had an over night trip. After an ultrasound and two liver biopsy's it turns out his liver is completely healthy Don't get me wrong it's fantastic news but it doesn't really answer any questions as to what was going on and it wasn't cheap haha.
In the end the specialist recommended a month long course of antibiotics as he thinks it may be an infection and now after 4 days Iggy seems to be improving, he's gained strength back in his hind legs and genuinely seems happier so fingers crossed. This has taken a HUGE amount of pressure off my partner and I as we were both getting up several times a night to take him to the toilet and make sure he was okay. Now he's only waking me up the usual twice a night because he needs to be back under the blankets :D
With both of us being very much a cat people this has just made such a huge difference in stress levels around the house and at least one aspect of life is returning to normal hopefully :)

The next lot of news is the house has sold! I know have 63 days to get my shit into gear and finally get the tank to where I am :D I'm both very nervous and excited!!

 

[Mattres]

Great news mate!
Hope he continues to improve. Must be a massive weight off your shoulders to know he's on the mend. So I guess it's come down to an infection? Weird.

63 days?! That's too long mate. I can't wait that long! Haha

 

[Wrangy]

Great news mate!
Hope he continues to improve. Must be a massive weight off your shoulders to know he's on the mend. So I guess it's come down to an infection? Weird.

63 days?! That's too long mate. I can't wait that long! Haha

Definitely a huge weight off :) Vet said it could have come from a few difference places but the main thing is he is hopefully going to make a decent recovery :)

haha it's not long enough, now I have two months to sort all my shit out and get the tank here and running smoothly lol but I can't wait :D