Valkyrie
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2014
- Messages
- 440
- Reaction score
- 442
- Location
- Washington State
- What state or country do you live in
- Washington
My heater malfunctioned and boiled all life in my 29g. The set up came to live with me in Dec. 2015 and the fish came with it. The only I had put in it was some new sand.
Christmas eve my husband got himself a blue spot jaw fish that he had expressed interest in and was 30% off. We didn't realize it could fit through the eggcrate over the 55g and he was carpet jerky the day after Christmas.
3 months after the boiling I started losing fish to velvet. From there it spiraled out of control until both the 29g and the 55g were fallow for 76 days.
In that time 3 QTs were set up and I lost all but one fish that came from the 2 DTs. One of these QTs was set up for coral.
In February I dragged my husband to the big frag swap that was an hour away. I spent close to $300 which is a lot for me. I used puppy dog eyes often that day. One of the pieces of coral that I got was a single stick 1 and 1/4" tall of the most beautiful Oregon blue tort for $80. I nearly gagged with that price but I had to have it. When I got home I acclimated all of the corals we bought (a total of 5 and 2 anemone crabs). The swap was on Saturday. By the time I got home from work Monday night, the tort was dead and the others were on their way. With disgust I threw the 4 remaining into a 20g tank that was just getting started, but older than the coral QT. Why? Don't ask me, I was mad and crying (Not only am I the emotional sort, but I'm also a licensed vet tech, my job is to save lives, not kill them). 2 of them seem to be coming back now after 2 months of what I thought was imminent death.
Last Sunday I treated the 29 with RedCyanoRx. During the fallow time Cyano and flatworms took hold and I finally settled on RCR after consulting @melev . He's a reefer I trust explicitly. Wednesday night I did a 30% water change.
2 nights ago my lavender condylactis took her own life when she attached herself to a heater. She was trying to get away from an amorous maroon clown.
Frustrated? Angry? Yea.
Do I want to quit? Sometimes, I do. But I've had aquariums almost my entire life and I've wanted saltwater aquariums for 40 of those years, so no...I refuse to quit. As the old cigarette ad used to say, "I'd rather fight than quit." My husband is not so resilient so I do a lot of "pep talks" to keep him interested.
Today I'm quite pleased with the 29g and the 55g only has a starry blenny in it right now as there are 2 clarkiis, a pistol shrimp and his goby in QT for it.
I expect to have trouble for the next few years as I tend to learn things the hard way.
This is the 29g today, it still has along way to go, but keep in mind that it's been through a lot since I adopted it from an acquaintance 15 months ago.
*edited to add the pic I forgot*
Christmas eve my husband got himself a blue spot jaw fish that he had expressed interest in and was 30% off. We didn't realize it could fit through the eggcrate over the 55g and he was carpet jerky the day after Christmas.
3 months after the boiling I started losing fish to velvet. From there it spiraled out of control until both the 29g and the 55g were fallow for 76 days.
In that time 3 QTs were set up and I lost all but one fish that came from the 2 DTs. One of these QTs was set up for coral.
In February I dragged my husband to the big frag swap that was an hour away. I spent close to $300 which is a lot for me. I used puppy dog eyes often that day. One of the pieces of coral that I got was a single stick 1 and 1/4" tall of the most beautiful Oregon blue tort for $80. I nearly gagged with that price but I had to have it. When I got home I acclimated all of the corals we bought (a total of 5 and 2 anemone crabs). The swap was on Saturday. By the time I got home from work Monday night, the tort was dead and the others were on their way. With disgust I threw the 4 remaining into a 20g tank that was just getting started, but older than the coral QT. Why? Don't ask me, I was mad and crying (Not only am I the emotional sort, but I'm also a licensed vet tech, my job is to save lives, not kill them). 2 of them seem to be coming back now after 2 months of what I thought was imminent death.
Last Sunday I treated the 29 with RedCyanoRx. During the fallow time Cyano and flatworms took hold and I finally settled on RCR after consulting @melev . He's a reefer I trust explicitly. Wednesday night I did a 30% water change.
2 nights ago my lavender condylactis took her own life when she attached herself to a heater. She was trying to get away from an amorous maroon clown.
Frustrated? Angry? Yea.
Do I want to quit? Sometimes, I do. But I've had aquariums almost my entire life and I've wanted saltwater aquariums for 40 of those years, so no...I refuse to quit. As the old cigarette ad used to say, "I'd rather fight than quit." My husband is not so resilient so I do a lot of "pep talks" to keep him interested.
Today I'm quite pleased with the 29g and the 55g only has a starry blenny in it right now as there are 2 clarkiis, a pistol shrimp and his goby in QT for it.
I expect to have trouble for the next few years as I tend to learn things the hard way.
This is the 29g today, it still has along way to go, but keep in mind that it's been through a lot since I adopted it from an acquaintance 15 months ago.
*edited to add the pic I forgot*
. 
Your parameter look good and it will just take a few month to come back.
