Today was a bad day.

Duddly01 · #1 10/18/2007, 06:02 PM

My pudgy mysis loving Mandarin was taken out by a rock slide, darn overzealous turbo snails! It actually survived the slide but had a pretty bad cut on its upper lip and face. It started to swell but I thought it might make it, but this morning I found it had passed overnight. I am really thinking about either using epoxy or something to hold the rocks together. Any recommendations?

RIP:

jay2525 · #2 10/18/2007, 06:05 PM

geez, sorry to hear this bro......good luck.

Jimbo327 · #3 10/18/2007, 06:06 PM

Awe man, that sucks. So cute too.

Yeah, I don't have my rocks glued either, sometimes I worry about my fishes especially when they are sleeping and I go fiddle around.

DRC69 · #4 10/18/2007, 06:10 PM

Sorry to hear that, but I to have lost a couple that way.

coast2coast7390 · #5 10/18/2007, 06:23 PM

that sucks...personally i dont putty my rocks together...i just make sure that they are secure

coast2coast7390 · #6 10/18/2007, 06:24 PM

oh if you do decide to putty the rocks...make sure that it can be applied under water...i have the one made by marineland and it says that it has to be applied to a fry surface

Captain Quirk · #7 10/18/2007, 06:31 PM

Sorry to hear that... I know some of us get attached to our fish... Myself included.

As for the rock, I generally just stack it together but try to make sure it's too heavy to move or jammed into place.

And turbos are bulldozers; in my new tank, I won't introduce any unless I'm having an issue...

As for the epoxy, there are plenty of underwater curable epoxies. No experience in epoxying the rock together, however I understand many people do it without incident.

xtm · #8 10/18/2007, 06:35 PM

sorry to hear man. Here's one trick: I aquascape BEFORE I even put the sand in. You want a solid foundation on top of a bare bottom and THEN add the sand. IME, sand can erode and shift overtime which causes instability if the rocks are sitting on top of it.

Lagger · #9 10/18/2007, 06:42 PM

How come only the spotted mandarins eat frozen & the psychadelic one's don't? weird....

sorry about your fish

ShadowViper · #10 10/18/2007, 06:43 PM

I agree with xtm, only bad thing about this is i have lost some really cool openings or features of a rock cause it ended up under the sand afterwards

jjb81speed · #11 10/18/2007, 06:43 PM

that sucks. lost mine a while back to my closed loop.....

Duddly01 · #12 10/18/2007, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by xtm
sorry to hear man. Here's one trick: I aquascape BEFORE I even put the sand in. You want a solid foundation on top of a bare bottom and THEN add the sand. IME, sand can erode and shift overtime which causes instability if the rocks are sitting on top of it.

I usually do put the rocks in first. The bottom rocks are pretty secure. The problem is the rocks stacked on them. He was in my tank with my seahorses and I tried to stack the rocks so that there was plenty of openings that everyone could swim through, including the horses. The horses usually hitch up out in the open on their favorite rock at night but the Mandarin slept in a nitch between two rocks where he would tuck himself in.

It is usually stacked as an island in the center so the horses can do their laps around the tank. The rocks were all toppled over and even up against the glass. I guess I am lucky it didn't break the glass and cause even more damage.

PasadenaReefer · #13 10/18/2007, 07:08 PM

dang sorry to hear man, Are you going to replace him? I think you should after you epoxy your rocks together or make them more secure, again sorry for the loss.

xtm · #14 10/18/2007, 08:02 PM

I drill the rocks and join them with zip ties. This is virtually crumble-proof
I also use PVC pipes for the framework

Duddly01 · #15 10/18/2007, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PasadenaReefer
dang sorry to hear man, Are you going to replace him? I think you should after you epoxy your rocks together or make them more secure, again sorry for the loss.

Not right away, but I am sure I will get another Mandarin at some point. I am certainly going to do something to secure the rocks right away though. I have never seen a Mandarin that was more puppy like. He would actually come to the front of the tank and stare back at me when I approached. Probably just begging for food though.

bennyinca · #16 10/18/2007, 08:37 PM

sorry to hear - RIP mandarin

Macimage · #17 10/18/2007, 10:38 PM

I'm very sorry to hear about your mandarin. He was such a beautiful fish.

There is a thread on RC about drilling rocks (while they are out of the tank) and then inserting 1/4 clear acrylic rods through them to secure them. The shapes and height some of the talented reefers managed to achieve were awesome.

Joyce

Captain Quirk · #18 10/19/2007, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Macimage
I'm very sorry to hear about your mandarin. He was such a beautiful fish.

There is a thread on RC about drilling rocks (while they are out of the tank) and then inserting 1/4 clear acrylic rods through them to secure them. The shapes and height some of the talented reefers managed to achieve were awesome.

Joyce

I remember that post. I may do some of that myself... Do you have the link?