thestruggleisreal
New Member
i was very violently and abrubtly thrown into the wide wide world of saltwater aquariums when i took a shell from va beach, and the shell grew legs. (i know now that it is terrible to remove shells, even if they don't end up having an inhabitant, i am taking an animal's potential home away from them.) panicked and having no idea what to do (or what i was getting myself into,) i had a life in my hands and resolved to keep her alive and happy. calypso lives in a 15 gal tank with one friend, a turbo snail named flotsam. 2021 will be calypso's 4th summer with me. we have been through alot... my lack of knowledge and unpreparedness, algae blooms, bacterial blooms, a ridiculous amount of planaria of all colors, and most recently, the dreaded dinos. i think i may have had them before, or possibly hair algae. the tank contains ocean direct caribbean live sand and 3 live rocks from my lfs. my hood light recently broke, the fuse cover ia stuck inside so i cant just replace it. i have been unable to find anything online (it is a very old tank) that would fit although i was doing blackout for the dinos as i have no coral or anything that specifically needs light, but i cant see jack crap in there and i havent seen anything online that width. i dont know if there is another way to light it that also comes with the hood (keeps my dumdum kitties from trying to dig around the water, they are obsessed with any running water source,) and i have two very basic hob tetra filters (i am running them without the carbon as per the advice of the lfs) and a sicce shark adv 400 internal power filter and that is extent of my filtration. it seemed the dinos were getting better, now i am pretty unsure of what is going on in there rn due to lack of light. the presence of the dinos were verified by lfs by appearance (clear, snotty, with bubbles) and zero phosphates. i have only been doing water exchanges through a filter sock and reusing it, was using a capful of oyster feast every other day until another employee said i could just throw in fish flakes and save some money and was also told not to clean any detritus, waste or uneaten sinking pellets. i no longer see (see being a strong word to use) the snotty dinos but rather just beige, stringy things around. i must also confess that due to a combination of depression, panic attacks, and suicidal ideations (despite weekly virtual therapy but possibly exacerbated by the fact that i decided it would be a wonderful idea to discontinue my meds :/ i have not been the best caretaker, also one of my male cats recently developed a very serious uti that has taken up a good deal of my time and my money) the tank desperately needs a good siphoning and i need to get a water sample up to lfs. i have noticed that i have some bristleworms again and i imagine they wouldn't be coming back if there are still no nutrients in the tank? i know the water is super gross bc the ammonia is extremely high, lfs still told me not to do actual water change and i have been dosing with a capful of prime daily. no idea what kind of effect it is having and i know that it only converts the ammonia to a safe form so it will still read high in my tests. adding insult to what seems like endless injury, calypso's most recent molt seemed very difficult for her, as if she were stuck in it and took a very long time to complete. she finally cast off the molt, and on the side that seemed stuck to her, she has a single leg that is extremely curled up and she has not been walking. she will eat if i place a wafer under her shell, but i am extremely worried about her and the health of my tank in general. even worse, no light for any kind of quality pictures.
if you read through this, you have the patience of a saint for listening to what was supposed to be an intro to me and my tank issues. thank you so much.
tdlr; late night and semi manic rant about a myriad of issues, mainly do i still have dinos, anywhere to find a 23 inch hood, possible deformity of thin stripe hermit's leg after a difficult molt... probably best to update after the siphoning and water sample results from the store tomorrow.
love and peace to all,
ashley
if you read through this, you have the patience of a saint for listening to what was supposed to be an intro to me and my tank issues. thank you so much.
tdlr; late night and semi manic rant about a myriad of issues, mainly do i still have dinos, anywhere to find a 23 inch hood, possible deformity of thin stripe hermit's leg after a difficult molt... probably best to update after the siphoning and water sample results from the store tomorrow.
love and peace to all,
ashley
