125-gallon Peaceful Reef

Soren · Feb 3, 2022

...and last, but certainly not least!
A few pictures/videos of Molly and the puppies:

Molly (affectionately Smiley or Smols) won't stay still for an in-focus picture:

The best part: several videos!

...and this morning:

...and the cats, who like to hang around the dog kennel and food bowls, but who do not appreciate the camera flash...
Oliver (ol' Liver):

Bartholomew (Bart):

Tildred (Tildie), who was seen in an earlier picture walking out with the puppies and Molly (she's the tamest of the 4 cats, though none are really very tame and prefer being barn/garage cats):

Mildred (Mildie) is usually nowhere to be seen except for the rare glimpse when she moves from building to building. She is solid black like Tildie, but she has her whole tail.
Tildie is missing the last 2-3 inches of her tail after climbing into and hiding in my car engine when I headed out for work... that sort of yowl is not enjoyable at all for any animal lover, but at least she somehow managed to escape unharmed except for catching the end of her tail between a belt and pulley and getting knocked on the head by the backside of the radiator fan.

SaltyT · Feb 3, 2022

Soren said:
...and last, but certainly not least!
A few pictures/videos of Molly and the puppies:

Molly (affectionately Smiley or Smols) won't stay still for an in-focus picture:

The best part: several videos!

...and this morning:

...and the cats, who like to hang around the dog kennel and food bowls, but who do not appreciate the camera flash...
Oliver (ol' Liver):

Bartholomew (Bart):

Tildred (Tildie), who was seen in an earlier picture walking out with the puppies and Molly (she's the tamest of the 4 cats, though none are really very tame and prefer being barn/garage cats):

Mildred (Mildie) is usually nowhere to be seen except for the rare glimpse when she moves from building to building. She is solid black like Tildie, but she has her whole tail.
Tildie is missing the last 2-3 inches of her tail after climbing into and hiding in my car engine when I headed out for work... that sort of yowl is not enjoyable at all for any animal lover, but at least she somehow managed to escape unharmed except for catching the end of her tail between a belt and pulley and getting knocked on the head by the backside of the radiator fan.

The pups are growing so fast! They're so big!

Soren · Feb 3, 2022

SaltyT said:
The pups are growing so fast! They're so big!

For sure!
They will be weighed in at the vet tomorrow afternoon while they get their first vaccinations.
On Saturday, I will be weighing again to check relative accuracy of my scale at home. 6-week update pictures, group and individual, should also be taken on Saturday.

I try to send weekly updates to each person who has claimed a puppy. There are 7 puppies claimed leaving 5 not claimed yet.

SaltyT · Feb 3, 2022

Soren said:
For sure!
They will be weighed in at the vet tomorrow afternoon while they get their first vaccinations.
On Saturday, I will be weighing again to check relative accuracy of my scale at home. 6-week update pictures, group and individual, should also be taken on Saturday.

I try to send weekly updates to each person who has claimed a puppy. There are 7 puppies claimed leaving 5 not claimed yet.

If I could I would claim one of those pups in a heart beat!

Soren · Feb 3, 2022

SaltyT said:
If I could I would claim one of those pups in a heart beat!

What's holding you back?!?

Oh, I guess he would not fit well in your current tank and the wrasses probably would not appreciate him. Oh well... maybe from the next litter after a future upgrade?

Soren · Feb 4, 2022

As mentioned previously, here is a short update on the puppies after their second visit to the vet for their first vaccinations and continued dewormer.
All are still healthy and doing well. They are really eating well and putting on weight at a great pace right now!
The largest puppy (05-Black male) is 10 lbs. 4 oz. while Genevieve, the runt (11-Dark-Blue female), is only 5 lbs. 4 oz., half his weight!

Molly enjoyed a break outside after returning from the vet, especially since she loves snow!

...but, then she's back to taking care of the pups... at least she can get out of the kennel whenever she wants, so she is feeding the pups willingly, whether out of a sense of duty or true motherly love... I mean, she headed back with the puppies on her own volition, so I guess that means it's true motherly love?

(I need to fiddle with white balance for videos in strange overly-red lighting...)

...I don't know, maybe it's just a sense of duty:

Soren · Feb 9, 2022

Not much to update for fish/reef build other than that my other clownfish disappeared. I never found a body, though I have not yet searched all of the hollow resin rocks. It is probably deteriorated by now unless it is still alive and just hiding out in the rock. Considering how thin it was, my guess is that it died.

Once the puppies are off to their forever homes, I hope to have more time to dedicate on my build and fish. This experience definitely makes me consider pulling back my dreams/hopes with the build and simplifying it, at least initially. I can't even keep clownfish alive...

At least the foxfaces are still doing well and the two in top QT are recovering significantly from the excursion with the sump pair. The engineer gobies, Merten's butterflyfish, sharknose gobies, and surviving chromis are also doing well.

The puppies are all doing great and are only a couple weeks away from going to new homes. Last evening, I brought them inside for socialization and got some pictures after they were tired out. I could not get a good white balance without flash, so the lighting is different between the pictures trying different settings on the white balance as well as flash/no flash.

I stood in one place to get some pictures and a puppy scooted over to sleep between my feet:

Soren · Feb 16, 2022

No new updates on my build/fish...
The first puppies start to go to new homes on Friday. As enjoyable as these puppies have been, they are also a lot of work and time commitment so I am looking forward to having time again for other things such as my reef build.

I've still got only 3 unclaimed puppies, 1 pending for Friday sale and adoption, 1 pending for future visit, and 7 claimed (counting the one I am keeping).

Molly and the puppies were quite excited to run around outside last evening. It was not as dark out as the videos make it look, but pictures required flash for enough light.

It just so "happens" that a couple of the best photos with the clearer focus are of Genevieve, the runt of the litter that I am keeping:

(Bonus points if you know the reference that inspired the name "Genevieve" for a dog related to "the smallest one" who is actually the girl with a different name who owns the dog named Genevieve)

Soren · Feb 23, 2022

One more puppy-only update as they are starting to head to new homes. As my time is freed up more and more, I hope to have more time to focus on my reef build again.

On Saturday, I took the puppies outside to play for a while. They certainly enjoyed it, and so did Molly (though she does not realize how much bigger she is than the puppies and is not always as gentle as I'd like her to be!). Two puppies already went to new homes on Friday, one went to her new home shortly after these pictures/videos, and one went to her new home on Monday morning. Though I've enjoyed the puppies immensely and am sad to see them go, I am also excited for their new owners and relieved to have less responsibilities with them.

Soren · Mar 9, 2022

Okay, the puppy-only posts continue...
There are only 3 puppies left to go to new homes, and I've got 4 families interested, so I'm nearly finished with this litter!

She is smiling almost all the time!

The definition of "Puppy Eyes"

Yup, they're retrievers!

"Mom is still boss!"

"But I'm no baby!"

"She didn't see, right?"

Center of picture:

Soren · Mar 22, 2022

All puppies are finally placed with loving families, so I'm back to making some progress on my reef build.

SaltwaterFish.com finally had the canarytop wrasses (Halichoeres leucoxanthus) I ordered in late December that were not actually available when I placed that order, so they are now on their way with a few additional fish to occupy my QT at work. Some of the fish may eventually be moved to my reef once set up, but some will probably end up staying in a 30-or-40-breeder tank for my office desk as an upgrade to the current 10g Work QT.

The two 75g QT's and the 20g QT at home have been maintaining well with little change other than the fish getting fatter and happier. The tiny foxfaces are growing well and the other 2 pairs are all nice and fat as well.

Soren · Mar 24, 2022

Progress and motivation are back at least somewhat:
Delivery arrived today and all fish are doing well in the 10g Work QT after acclimation except for a DOA 3/4" black and white ocellaris clownfish. I may be receiving a free replacement shipment?!? If so, great, but I've found this to not typically be offered due to high shipping costs... if they do, I must commend excellent customer service and guarantees!

Beyond the DOA clown, the shipment included the following:
1x black and white ocellaris clownfish 3/4"
1x typical ocellaris clownfish 1" (freebie on the order)
2x broadstripe cleaner gobies (Elacatinus prochilos) 1"
2x white-belly wrasse (Halichoeres leucoxanthus) 2-2.5"
1x royal gramma (Gramma loreto) 1.25"
1x Auriga butterflyfish (Chaetodon auriga) 2"
1x Tomini tang (Chtenochaetus tominiensis) 3.5"

Broadstripe goby:

Clowns in the corner:

Auriga (not a great shot, and, yes, that is me in the reflection...):

Tomini tang (he's dashing for the hiding spot after seeing the camera move!):

Short video:

Pictures aren't great due to a low-quality camera and the lights are off to let the fish get settled.

I may be a fool for trying again on the butterflyfish, especially since it is smaller than I expected, but the Merten's butterflyfish is doing well in my 75g QT and the 10g QT at work has been set up for a while now. The Auriga will be staying at work for quite a while regardless of progress on my build at home. It seems to have acclimated well, so I hope it does well.

Finding a Tomini tang of this size is quite nice, since it is what I've been looking for and will hopefully do better than the tiny 1" ones I tried at first, especially since there are no other fish that are likely to cause it troubles in the 10g QT.

After waiting for a while due to them not actually being in-stock, I was quite excited to finally get the wrasses, especially this type since I prefer fish that are not only one color and really like the Halichoeres wrasses. These seem to fit well what I am looking for, as they will not get bigger than about 4" and will add some nice color and activity to my reef. Of course, right now they are peacefully hidden under the sand... they did explore the tank for a minute or 2 before darting into the sand to hide. Hopefully I'll see them over the next week.

Additionally, it is finally actually happening: my boss gave permission for me to set up my 30g breeder tank on my desk, so I hope to have it up and running soon. I'll probably add live rock and a sponge filter from my QT's to speed up cycling, but still plan to leave it empty of occupants for at least a couple weeks. This tank may end up getting some simple corals and a small refugium/algae turf scrubber eventually, but I want to keep it reasonably low-maintenance so it does not detract too much from my time available for my reef at home.

Soren · Mar 25, 2022

The other tiny black and white clown did not make it through the night. I also found the slightly larger of the 2 wrasses dead on the sand this morning. The other wrasse is still hiding in the sand (and I'm not going searching for it for at least a week to let it settle in, hopefully it does not die buried in the sand...).
The wrasses both came with bright yellow coloration, but the dead one has a large red patch around the abdomen and over its back. Any ideas what this indicates? ...trauma wound with internal bleeding? I have no idea what caused it, since the acclimation and transfer was as careful as I could be and there were no indications of injury yesterday.

All others are doing fine and are swimming about calmly with the lights on. I like how the royal gramma swims sideways and upside down sometimes and I've been missing the wiggling swim pattern of clownfish after losing my original pair in the 75g QT. I still want black and white clowns in my reef, but I am glad to have the free "normal" one in my work QT and am considering a pair of "normal" clowns in the work 30g (unless I end up getting true Percula or black saddle-back clowns, I'm still undecided but I've got plenty of time to wait and keep patience!).

How do you ever know if the fish die from shipping/acclimation/transfer stress or some other cause? I still need to make a trip to my LFS 1.2 hours away instead of getting fish shipped, though the only reason for this order was for the back-ordered wrasses and to use some store credit (now I will have a bit more store credit, though not as much this time so far, since I won't get credit on losses from the credit paid on the order).

SaltyT · Mar 25, 2022

Sorry to hear that the little clown and one of the wrasses didn’t make it. The wrasse does look like it had internal trauma perhaps from being aggressively pinned or dug up out the sand before it was bagged up or it could be some kind of internal infection. If there is something wrong with the other wrasse it will not die in the sand they resurface to die, but hopefully that doesn’t happen and it’s in better shape than the other one was.

Soren · Mar 25, 2022

@SaltyT
Well, this helps alleviate my concerns somewhat: the other wrasse just came out and is swimming around exploring the tank!

Soren · Mar 29, 2022

Other than losing the free typical ocellaris clownfish over the weekend for some unknown reason, all other fish are doing well in my work QT.
Replacement shipment of the black and white clownfish (due to DOA) is scheduled for tomorrow. I hope this clownfish does okay through shipment and being the only clownfish in the QT.
All fish actively move about the tank like I would expect to be normal. Even the wrasse comes out now shortly after lights come on and stays out all day! It will be pleased to soon move to the 30g tank with live rock from the 75g-FOWLR that is occupied by amphipods, copepods, and bristleworms that will hopefully inhabit the 30g.

I'm an idiot sometimes... I did not post pictures from my camera last week since I forgot the transfer cord at home, but the camera contains the photos on an SD card and my computer has an SD card port...
Anyways, here are pictures from after the delivery last week:

(I need to clean my filter sieve and powerhead...)

Engineer gobies still like the same cave, but they have been enjoying the recently-added sand:

These 2 still go hide when I walk in, since my legs pass right in front/beside the tank. I need to keep trying to hand-feed to tame them down.

Soren · Mar 29, 2022

Oh, and the Work 30g is set up and "cycling" with live rock and a large sponge filter from my 75g QT:

Hopefully the live rock and bioactive sponge filter mean the tank will be ready for occupants soon, since SWF.com restocked a fish I've been waiting for since last fall: Red Spot Glass Cardinalfish (Ostorhincus parvulus), so I ordered 8. This is the "schooling/shoaling" fish that I ultimately want in a group in my 125g reef, possibly along with a similar group of yellowstriped cardinalfish (Ostorhincus cyanosoma).

Soren · Mar 30, 2022

@fishguy242 @Lost in the Sauce @danieyella @F i s h y @Eagle_Steve @sp1187 Any others?

Thoughts on buying live mussels or littleneck clams at a local grocery store as a food source? They aren't too expensive (~$5-7 per pound) in my area. The clams are farm-raised and the mussels are wild-caught in Canada (not exactly tropical reef areas...). How beneficial vs risky is the natural gut bacteria of live filter feeders?

I currently make my own frozen food from raw seafood mixes and raw shrimp, but thought it might be good (especially for some fish such as butterflies) to include the mussels or clams.