Kaykay's nano adventure 2'x2'x1.5'

[stevenchia]

Corals are alive inside ur tank. So there are lives in your tank. Just that they dont swim around. Better keep corals more than fishes. I dont keep much fishes now.

[kaykay]

The battle with velvet has not even subsided. Today I just found new enemies - the dreaded zoas eating nudibranch! Damned! What's wrong with this tank? Actually found 2 of these crawling on my tank wall a few wwwks ago. Plucked them out with tweezers and thought nothing about them, as i didn't recognise them as pest. Just an hour ago I found a few of the zoas frags on the zoas garden rock not opening. On closer inspection, found a few of these blardee slugs clinging on to the zoas.. They really are a master of disguise! They can take on the colour of the zoas they're eating into! ! I was really fuming mad! I'm prepared to take half a day off tomorrow to deal with these buggers. It looks like this pic off the internet. I was researching in the last 30 mins, and I'm deciding to use Salifert flatworm exit for remote dipping (double strength) the zoas garden rock in. Will then dose directly into the tank to rid those hiding elsewhere. Hopefully it gets the velvet buggers too. A 2nd dose will follow a week later to rid the newly hatched pests. A 3rd dose in another week if required.

[kaykay]

Corals are alive inside ur tank. So there are lives in your tank. Just that they dont swim around. Better keep corals more than fishes. I dont keep much fishes now.

Yup they are lives. It's just that with no swimming movements, it just feels so lifeless. The 2 shrimps' movements are so limited. Anyway I'm also thinking hard for my fish list. But for sure I'll be looking out for Helfrichs, a pair if possible, for the first inhabitants in.

[kaykay]

On a brighter note, I'm happy to see my chilli pepper monti regaining its colour. I guess it's a combination of decent lights (6x24W T5) and better water conditions. This is mainly because of the frequent water changes while tying to export the velvet pathogens, AND that I have not needed to feed at all, as there are no fishes! Haha. Only lightly dosed some planktons and coral food every few days. As a result, latest NO3 readings are zero.

[kaykay]

Time for some updates.. My last entry was for the event of the dreaded marine velvet. Thinking back and discussing frankly with the fish guru at The Fish Channel, I now highly suspect the disease was a result of my impatience, leading to the tank crash from the sudden overloading of an immature bio system. It has been now exactly 2 months since the beginning of the crash. Only the firefish has survived. Now it's a timid little fella hiding in its bolt hole 90% of the time. And I've added fish into the tank AT A VERY SLOW PACE. Tank now has a purple firefish, and a pair of black ocellaris, all QTed for 4 weeks. I also took another risk (calculated) by adding a stable small Atlantic Blue Tang from a reputable LFS which properly quarantines thier livestock before selling them. An FTS tonight. You can vaguely see the reflection of the ABT on the glass by the right. My zoas garden has also been decimated by them blardee nudis. These buggers are tough! After dipping them in triple-strength Coral Rx, and Flatworm Exit, several times a week, the nudis are still seen roaming about. My tweezers was always on standby. Every sighting of even 1 of them, my hands will reach in with the tweezers. Sometimes several times a day. What my zoas garden used to be like.. so full and colourful.. Now so sparse.. Realised also that those nudis have an expensive taste.. Good thing is that there has been zero sighting of nudis for 3 weeks. So glued the zoas frags on the rock again. And my eyes have evolved to train on camouflage kings- the blardee nudis.. Another good sign.. Baby zoas are beginning to sprout. You can try spotting 3 babies right in the centre of this photo. Looking forward to see you guys in LFSes again..

[Evolutionz]

woah i love your zoa garden! hopefully the nudis are gone!

[Evolutionz]

What is your glass tank thickness bro?

[kaykay]

What is your glass tank thickness bro?

10mm glass thickness.

[kaykay]

woah i love your zoa garden! hopefully the nudis are gone!

Thanks bro. Haven't had a sight of the nudis for a month already. Keeping fingers crossed for a continued absence of this buggers.

[Evolutionz]

are they big and easy to spot?

[kaykay]

are they big and easy to spot?

If you're lucky, sometimes they venture onto the tank glass. This is when they're easiest to spot. Otherwise, it's when your zoas begin to close up in batches, look closely at the colony to see if you can spot them munching on the polyps. These darned nudis take on the colour of the zoas they've eaten, so it's quite tough to spot them. Takes a trained eye like mine (lol) to spot them. Note: It's suay to have a trained eye, as it means your zoas would have been infected.. hahaha..

[Evolutionz]

luckily mine are still opening very well.. added a small colony of wild zoas weeks ago thought after FW dip and intense spotting with flash light and magnifying glass i see none. hopefully yours are all gone

[Foo Sheng Wei]

nice tank

[Nonza]

Nice dimensions and a pretty neat aquascape !