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[fic] five excerpts from a saltwater aquarium hobbyist discord

16 January 2024

This fic is also on AO3, if you find it easier to read there

Fandom: tgcf
Focus: He Xuan and his skeleton fish & dragons, hints of beefleaf
Setting: Modern AU
Length: 1,140

Themes:

Saltwater Aquarium Keeper He Xuan; written in the style of a discord chat log

Summary:

Black Water Sinking Ships

Having trouble with one of my pygmy skeleton dragons refusing to eat. They're in a tank I've optimised for bonefish which has been running smoothly for several years at this point. I've checked for all the usual issues but haven't been able to get it to accept food in more than a week. Any suggestions, if you've experienced something similar?

Foreword:

thank you to b for the genius idea that sparked this fic, and roland for the characterization beta. I nerdsniped myself and ended up doing so much reading up on what goes into keeping saltwater aquariums, but if I got anything wrong please let me know and I'll make updates, gotta make sure my tgcf modern au fanfic is plausible and accurate! :D

update: and thank you to ladyfish for letting me know that bonefish are actually a type of fish that exist, WHOOPS, I made up the term to refer to the category of magic skeleton fish but it's a real term that already has a meaning! pls pretend this fic takes place in an au where Albulidae are not known as bonefishes 😅

Fic:

Black Water Sinking Ships

Fishluver

Have you changed anything in your tank setup recently? Lack of appetite can be a sign of stress 🙂

Black Water Sinking Ships

I said I checked all the usual issues.

Fishluver

Maybe if you listed off the things you've tried already you wouldn't get people suggesting things you've done - just a thought!

Black Water Sinking Ships

Don't comment if you haven't read the FAQ channel.

Long-xiong

nobody else is crazy enough to keep pygmy skeleton dragons 🤪 so there IS no list of common issues for them in the faq, the rest of us have to content ourselves with the easier species of bonefish lol

Black Water Sinking Ships

Anyone with a brain would know that the list for bonefish would apply to skeleton dragons. Since they are bonefish.

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Black Water Sinking Ships

A while ago I posted about some issues I was having with one of my pygmy skeleton dragons. I finally got it to accept food by giving it a more challenging puzzle-box ship to break open for its food; I think it's been understimulated. I'm working on developing a more complex set-up inside the tank for my skeleton dragons to safely interact with since I don't have the space to increase their tank size any further. In the meantime here's a diagram of the ship I constructed, in case anyone else would find it helpful for your own skeleton dragons:

ship_design_v17_updated.pdf

You'll need access to a shop with power tools, and make sure to use pine pitch as your adhesive. See the directory channel for a link to the full list of substances known to be harmful to skeleton dragons when kept in tank-sized ecosystems.

Long-xiong

bro. nobody else here keeps pygmy skeleton dragons. nobody else here has to deal with these problems. I don't know why you keep posting about them.

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pulsing xenia

Hey all im thinking of branching out into bonefish nd adding a few to my tank ive got some hermit crabs a mated pair of clownfish and an ariga butterfyfish and ive heard that bonefish dont add to the ammonia load in the system? So theyd be a great way to add visual interest and diversity in my tank without the problems of more living fish which can take so mch work to integrate. Im also planning to add coral and im so excited to get my reef goign but should I add my coral or the bonefish first?

Black Water Sinking Ships

Don't put bonefish and living fish into the same tank unless you want to watch your living fish be eaten. Coral will die too but it will be less fun to watch.

Robert H.

Don't listen to Black Water, they're exaggerating. It can be tricky to do right, but you can absolutely introduce bonefish into a tank with living fish! I know a few people who have done it successfully and are very happy with their mixed tanks.

Make sure to only get bonefish which are less than half the size of any of your living fish -- this can be tricky to find, but you're not the only one who's wanted to do this, so they're definitely available; just be prepared to pay a premium.

As well, bonefish are known for their potent venom and their aggression, so your living fish will need to be one of the few species known to be resistant to bonefish venom types. When your bonefish bites, either into its food or when attempting to attack its tankmates, its venom will be released into the water where it can kill other fish and invertebrates as well as any coral. Hermit crabs are safe but unfortunately clownfish and auriga butterflyfish are both susceptible to bonefish venom. And coral is very sensitive to bonefish venom even in dilute quantities. So you will want to transition to other types of living fish instead, if you're serious about adding bonefish, and set up a separate reef tank for your coral plans.

Bonefish require low-light conditions to thrive so you'll also have to choose your other tank inhabitants carefully to make sure they can also handle those conditions. (Another reason not to have coral and bonefish in the same tank.)

I've seen you active in the coral channel so I know you're already familiar with the alkalinity requirements of coral; it's similar for bonefish, so you'll be well prepared to handle that aspect of bonefish care.

Good luck!

pulsing xenia

Thks for saying in five paragraphs the same thing black water said in one line I guess its not going towork for me to add bonefish to my tank 😭

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Black Water Sinking Ships

Finally have the money to set up another tank and I'm trying to decide which kinds of bonefish I want in this one. My biggest tank has my four pygmy skeleton dragons of course, and my other three tanks don't have space to accommodate adding anything else either. Here's a spreadsheet with everything I currently have, and the pros and cons of what I'm considering for the new tank. If you have experience with any of these, let me know how it's gone for you.

bonefish.xlsx

Long-xiong

oh man you've got such a sweet set-up, even ignoring the pygmy skeleton dragons. I have one tank for bonefish and I tried a bone ribbon eel once because I heard the bonefish versions are easier to feed than the living ones, but it's a lie, don't get suckered, add "picky eater" to the cons list on that one.

Black Water Sinking Ships

Added.

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Lord Wind Master (she/her)

Hi guys! I'm new here, I'm not an aquarium keeper myself but I was told this is the right place to talk to people who know stuff about it! There's someone I'm interested in who is super into bonefish keeping but they're kind of private, and I just wanted to ask if there's anything I should know about it all so I don't make any dumb mistakes when I'm talking to them or if I go over to their house! (don't worry I already know not to touch the tanks!) Thanks in advance!!!

Shi Wudu

Don't you dare date that lowlife.

Lord Wind Master (she/her)

Ge!

Black Water Sinking Ships

Just be aware that this hobby takes a lot of time and energy, and be prepared going in that not all of their attention will be reserved for you. And read the FAQ channel.

Comments:

I don't yet have commenting set up on my site so if you want to leave a comment, please go to the AO3 version of this fic.