Go to the Principals office!

[DGee]

So I thought I'd share a few photos of the tank we've got running in my girlfriends mothers office. She happens to be a principal at a catholic school that's k-8

Needless to say I'd be spending a lot of time in there if I was back in grade school!

Not the greatest photos since I just rattled a few off with the old iPhone. I really need to spend a day with my slr and take some good shots.

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/6694/37619639.jpg (http://img33.imageshack.us/i/37619639.jpg/)

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9436/64892900.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/i/64892900.jpg/)

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/4254/90272527.jpg (http://img169.imageshack.us/i/90272527.jpg/)

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/385/15968866.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/i/15968866.jpg/)

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/8679/21580056.jpg (http://img266.imageshack.us/i/21580056.jpg/)

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/9583/89595882.jpg (http://img269.imageshack.us/i/89595882.jpg/)

[Lightsluvr]

Is that a Moorish Idol in there? How does it do with your coral?

LL

[kcarrol2]

Nice setup. looks good

[otrlynn]

Kids'll be itching to get sent to the principal's office to watch the fish! Nice tank!

[bj32482]

How big is the tank? It looks small to have a Moorish idol.

[guinness0514]

Yeah I can't wait to see a thomas the train sitting on the sand bed, or maybe just a piece of bubble gum :)

[rando45]

nice RBTA's, but I too wonder about the moorish idol

how long have you had it in that tank?

[kb27973]

I like the tank. Good luck with the Moorish Idol. I tried one a long time ago and wound up taking it back to the LFS. It destroyed some of my soft coral and was way to big for my 6' 125g. Is it eating?

Ken

[madmike]

That moorish looks familiar,lol. How is he doing?

Tank looks great BTW, how are the black and white clowns doing?

Mike

[DGee]

Lightslvr, Yes that's an Idol, he's an awesome fish and a total pig! The original owner had an issue with him eating brain corals so he was passed along to Mike, he did really well in Mikes tank with all his sps. When Mike decided to do a rebuild of his system I picked him up. The first day he nuked two brain corals just like I expected but beyond that he's been a model citizen with all the other corals. I'm not too big on brain corals so it was a fair trade I think.

Bj, the tank is 36x36x24 and is much more open than it appears in the photos with large tunnels under all the rock work. The Idol's day pretty much consist of eating and playing in the Vortech. Eventually he will need a larger tank and will come home to my house with my 6' setup.

Between myself, Mike and the original owner the Idol is about a year old in tank life and to be totally honest is one of the toughest fish I've ever seen. A little while back the tank had a total meltdown as far as fish are concerned (flukes/flatworms) and we lost almost every fish in the tank with the exception of the Idol and two chromis. It was really hard on everyone but the Idol wasn't fazed a bit. These fish are actually quite tough as long as you keep them fat and healthy. The tank is fed, Arcti Pods, Marine Hi Pro, Mysis and Nori. All of which the Idol seems to really like.

Mike... As you can see the Idol is well. Sadly the clowns didn't make it through the tank meltdown. How are things are your place?

The kids have been really good with the tank and are really respectful of not poking the tank and such once you explain to them why it scares the fish.

[rando45]

any issues with that regal angelfish?

[DGee]

Rando, no issues at all. I've owned a couple Regals over the years and they've all been very good fish. They can be a little tricky to get eating at first but once they adapt to tank life they've done quite well.

This one is a new addition and is quite shy still but slowly becoming bolder as the days go by. From what I've seen Regals aren't the most competitive eaters so getting them started on prepared food is tough. However I've had really good luck by offering lots of different foods all at once when feeding. Snowing the tank with cyclopeeze usually gets them pretty excited about prepared food and helps get them eating fairly quick. I think the other key to success with a Regal is getting them fresh out of the ocean. The longer they sit at a wholesaler or at an lfs the harder it is to get them eating since most lfs and wholesalers wont take the time to to work with one fish and get them eating.

[rando45]

ok how do you ensure to get them "direct from the ocean?"

[Gwynhidwy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15424824#post15424824 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rando45
ok how do you ensure to get them "direct from the ocean?"

Be good friends with a collector. :)

[DGee]

I do know a few collectors and I'm able to purchase things from a few different wholesalers but what I meant by that was to get them in your possession as quickly as possible.

Best way I know of is to ask your lfs to look for a specific fish that your looking for. A lot of times wholesalers have a much bigger selection than what you see at your lfs, its just that many shops don't pick up things like regals with their regular purchases because of their poor survival and need for constant care.

The idea is that the wholesaler gets the fish and when your lfs sees it they can pick it up for you and you can get it directly into a qt system and begin the process of getting it to eat.

I honestly believe the quicker you get them in your possession the better your odds are with training it to eat prepared foods. I also usually dip my fish then add them to a reef system as well. From what I've found is that they tend to do better in a reef environment than in a standard QT. This guy didn't eat for the first couple days but he was picking at the rocks the first day.

These are just my opinions I'm by no means an expert... Just a guy who loves angels and has found a few things that work for me.