Some new fish...

[JohnL]

This thread was automatically split due to performance issues. You can find the rest of the thread here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=15649305#post15649305

[yukonblizzard]

At least she still looks pretty plump, I would think that such a small fish that hasnt ate anything in a week would be much skinnier, do you think she eating anything off of the live rock?

Hopefully she starts eating soon.

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15649307#post15649307 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yukonblizzard
At least she still looks pretty plump, I would think that such a small fish that hasnt ate anything in a week would be much skinnier, do you think she eating anything off of the live rock?

Hopefully she starts eating soon. Yeah, she was really nice and fat when she came in.

There really isnt much on the live rock to eat though, so I doubt she is getting too much off there.

One nice thing about having her in my sump attached to a huge volume of water is when I drop in small amounts of food, I'm not even bothering siphoning it out, the small amount of food rotting isnt going to hurt anything in a tank that big.

So maybe she is eating some of that stuff that has slowly sank to the bottom, although I sure havent witnessed it.

[Recty]

Hey, my first ever split thread :)

So I ordered some PE mysis today which is impossible to get in Alaska at any stores and I also ordered Arcti-Pods from Reef Nutrition, both should be good for getting finicky fish to eat.

Previously I've been trying Hikari mysis which I guess isnt good enough for this little fishy ;)

[Carant]

Recty,

Well congratulations on the changes in your family - your new future human addition.

It will be sad to see you 210 get closed down .. this post has made it like a friend's tank that you can just drop in anytime and see how they are doing. I appreciate your time and honesty regarding what you are doing. Much learning for everyone that is humble enough to want to learn through another's experience.

Sorry about the Queen ... a very beautiful fish.

Just wondering if the copper treatments may have had anything to do with it. I am not sure what the long term affects of copper can be on a fish.

I had a situation that I was treating a number of fish that had started to get ich. I had them in a tub and it was easy to treat with the Seachem Cupramine. I had treated the same fish just over two months ago with the full recommend treatment. On the first day of this treatment (by mistake) .. I put in about 125% of recomended dosage. First day is suppose to be 50% dosage then bring up to 100% the second day. Next morning ... I had a pink tail trigger that had jumped, and a couple of otherwise very heathly and fat tangs .. doing the wavy motion .... then rapid breathing ... then laying on their side ... then death (over a few days).

Since then ... I have lost over 7 fish and it has been a very painful experience. The last one a 8" fat and healthy Sailfin ... more than one week after the initial treatment. Started the wavy motion ... slowing moving on it's side ... and likely tonight when I get home .. it will be near death.

I not not remember reading that the Queen was doing the wavy motion thing.

So do you or anyone else think that the copper could have cause the Queens death ... and could be related to my situation - through my stupid mistake?

Thanks,
Bruce

[Recty]

I have a hard time believing the copper did my queen in, as all my other fish (some of which are more delicate to copper than a queen angel) are doing just peachy. She ate great for 2 or 3 weeks after the copper treatment and then all the sudden just started acting real bad and was dead within 4-5 days. She ate one of those days and ate with gusto, so it's just an odd deal.

Sorry to hear about your losses, but definitely is something an overdose of copper can cause. Copper kills all life, basically it's a poison... you have to get it to a level that fish and higher organisms can tolerate but the lower life forms cant. If you overdose, you're basically poisoning your fish beyond what they can handle. And yes, copper doesnt have to kill instantly, it can take a while for the fish to die from it.

As far as my 210 closing down, as of right now the person who wanted to buy it backed out, so I'll still have it up and running for a while. I'm not sure how long, maybe years :)

BTW, I'm glad you appreciate the thread as a learning experience... that's why I just kept on a continual thread, a e-diary if you will, of what I'm going through. I'm hoping someone learns from it besides me :)

[Recty]

I'm wondering if maybe some type of small, very non aggressive and easy eating fish would maybe stimulate the regal to eat, or at least help him understand eating by seeing it done.

Mark from Blue Zoo says that this regal was eating out of their hands and that he would put me in contact with Israel, the guy who fed the fish, but it's been 3 days and 2 more email requests later asking to talk to the guy who fed the fish and still no response...

[fender4string]

Hey, nice split. That's too bad that guy hasn't gotten back to you yet...kinda rude. Hopefully he comes through soon or your regal stops being stubborn.

[Juggler]

SUGOI SPLITO!

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15651436#post15651436 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fender4string
Hey, nice split. That's too bad that guy hasn't gotten back to you yet...kinda rude. Hopefully he comes through soon or your regal stops being stubborn. Yeah, I thought it was kind of rude too. I basically suggested heavily to them that they give me a refund instead of just credit for the dead false personifer since I dont plan on ordering any more fish again for a long time and they kind of got a little snippy. He tried three times to just give me credit and in the end I just said I want a refund, plain and simple, I want a refund.

So they did it but now they are apparently incommunicado.

I've got some PE mysis coming in, supposedly better than the Hikari mysis I've been feeding and also some Arcti-Pods which are like fish crack... they come in on Wednesday so I hope if she still isnt eating by then, these will tempt her to eat.

[tcmfish]

PE mysis is good and I recommend it a lot, but it may or may not be too big for a little regal. It is much larger than normal hikari mysis and smaller than the large hikari mysis.

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15651712#post15651712 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Juggler
SUGOI SPLITO! I'm not sure what that means, but I bet it's a good thing so thanks!

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15654263#post15654263 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tcmfish
PE mysis is good and I recommend it a lot, but it may or may not be too big for a little regal. It is much larger than normal hikari mysis and smaller than the large hikari mysis. At this point I'm not dumping tons into the water because she is just in the sump by herself, so it isnt as if I have to dump in a lot to feed all the fish in the tank. I'll be able to cut up the mysis on an individual basis if I have to and get them to her. Until she starts eating, I'm only putting in 4-5 mysis at a time.

[FishyMel]

Sorry about the queen. It happens sometimes.

I am surprised you are not already on PE mysis considering how beautiful your fish look! When you get the mysis you may find yourself saying, "these have to be baby krill! They are way too big!" Hikari is so small that my fish don't eat it. Good luck!

[fender4string]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15654254#post15654254 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Recty
Yeah, I thought it was kind of rude too. I basically suggested heavily to them that they give me a refund instead of just credit for the dead false personifer since I dont plan on ordering any more fish again for a long time and they kind of got a little snippy. He tried three times to just give me credit and in the end I just said I want a refund, plain and simple, I want a refund.

So they did it but now they are apparently incommunicado.

I've got some PE mysis coming in, supposedly better than the Hikari mysis I've been feeding and also some Arcti-Pods which are like fish crack... they come in on Wednesday so I hope if she still isnt eating by then, these will tempt her to eat.

That's too bad man. That's just poor customer care. Your fish will probably like the PE brand. They're like crack for my guys :).

[Recty]

And the most irritating part is the surviving regal angel got shipped in basically 60 degree water for what I imagine was the last 5-6 hours of the journey...

I got it off Blue Zoo's collector's choice page and they say they were hand feeding it and it was eating great, but when you dont use heat packs for a finicky fish and it freezes during shipping, I pretty much expect it to go off feeding. And so if it doesnt eat soon I'm going to end up losing it and I'll probably always blame BlueZoo's shipping as the cause of it.

[AquaKnight]

On the Queen, I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but I know you and the guy at ccritters talked and your's was a 'special' deepwater Queen, since those were the ones with more coloring. Did he ever mention how 'deep' the Queen was? Some type of decompression issue could explain a 'delayed' death, after the 2 months or so you've had her IIRC?


On the Regal, have you had a chance to feed adult brine? The large live ones you buy at a LFS, not the seamonkeys you hatch. I had a little regal that lived exclusively on live brine for many months before he took to anything else. Which interestingly enough, was 3mm pellets that were split in half. Didn't take whole 3mm or the small 1mm, had to be 3mm split.

[LukFox]

Don't the seamonkeys you hatch get big after just a few days? At least that's what I remember when I was keeping pipefish.

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15656799#post15656799 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AquaKnight407
On the Queen, I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but I know you and the guy at ccritters talked and your's was a 'special' deepwater Queen, since those were the ones with more coloring. Did he ever mention how 'deep' the Queen was? Some type of decompression issue could explain a 'delayed' death, after the 2 months or so you've had her IIRC?


On the Regal, have you had a chance to feed adult brine? The large live ones you buy at a LFS, not the seamonkeys you hatch. I had a little regal that lived exclusively on live brine for many months before he took to anything else. Which interestingly enough, was 3mm pellets that were split in half. Didn't take whole 3mm or the small 1mm, had to be 3mm split. He said he caught it at 40 feet, it wasnt any huge depth. I dont believe fish have to be decompressed at that depth.

I'm pretty sure decompression related issues reveal themselves with the fish not being able to swim right, having balance issues and general swim bladder problems. My queen seemed fine, just all the sudden not interested in food or coming out in the open, then interested again in food one day then dead the next day.

I havent had a chance yet to try live adult brine, no one sells them around here. I've fed frozen and thawed adult brine but she isnt interested.

From what I can read on the web, it takes 2-6 weeks depending on temperature and foods and every other factor of your tank you're keeping the brine shrimp in for the baby brines to grow up into adult. I dont think I have that kind of time with this little girl.

[rssjsb]

Bluezoo sells live brine shrimp, so you wouldn't necessarily have to grow your own.

I was gut-loading adult brine shrimp with selcon when my little boxfish wouldn't eat anything else. I had them in a tupperware container with an airstone, and they lived for quite awhile.

[Recty]

Hmmmm, I might have to try that, I didnt know Bluezoo sells adult brine that are live.

[Recty]

Well I got back after being gone since Friday evening... It's Sunday evening now, I was hoping the regal might be interested in food but nope, she isnt. Arg...

[yukonblizzard]

Do you think you could buy a piece of liverock with lots of "life" on it to try and see if this sparks any interest from her?

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15661815#post15661815 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yukonblizzard
Do you think you could buy a piece of liverock with lots of "life" on it to try and see if this sparks any interest from her? I'm getting one from a LFS today and going to try it.

[Recty]

I just put in a piece of rock with some nice red sponge on it and then a frag of pulsing xenia... hopefully it is interested. Initially it isnt, but the new rock has only been in the sump for 15 minutes, it might take a little for the regal to come explore it.

[fender4string]

Has it picked off the rock yet or shown any interest?

[Recty]

Nope, no interest at all.

My large piece of pulsing hand xenia is just pulsing away and the regal could care less. The sponge is untouched as well.

[rssjsb]

Have you tried cracking a clam for her?

[Recty]

Yes, three of them so far, no interest.

One of them I cracked the top off and slashed the meat up with a razor so it was all stringy and waving around in the water. I also soaked that one in a mixture of tank water and garlic extreme just to see if it would stimulate an appetite.

I'm starting to see skinniness in the fish, if it doesnt start eating soon I dont think it will make it.

[rssjsb]

I'm sorry to hear this. It's the worst thing.

I think the live brine is worth a shot. My boxfish survived on gut loaded brine for over a month when she wouldn't eat anything else.

[Recty]

Yep, probably a good idea. I actually set up a brine shrimp station last night out of a 2L bottle but I didnt get anything going yet. I'll set it up today at lunch and so I should have the shrimp available to feed on Wednesday evening. I also will be getting in PE mysis and Arcti-Pods on Wednesday afternoon I hope, so I'm really hoping it takes to eating one of those foods.

I'm having a hard time believing it will eat anything when it isnt going for nice bright green zoanthids and pulsing xenia. Plus some nice red sponge...

[fish stalker]

I have just caught up on your thread.......... wow a lot happened!
First i'm sorry about the queen. You had a spectacular one... very sad. Also congratulations on the baby, kids love fish :) well at least mine do. Hope your regal makes it. I was looking at one for sale at a local frag swap this weekend that was eating well. I'll email the guy who had it as he had more than one if i recall and said they were all eating, the one he had at the swap was healthy and fat. hey something has to work to get the little guy eating. Good luck with the fish and new tank plans!

[Recty]

A lot has happened ;) Both good and bad.

Thanks, we are excited about the baby as well. Still 7 more months to go, so lots of time to figure out how to be parents.

I think if this regal dies and I had the opportunity to get another one, I wouldnt do so unless I saw it at a LFS eating or it was a Diver's Den specimen.

[troels]

Haven't read your whole post, but did you try whole clams (with just one of the shell parts removed)

Mine is so far only eating green clams (day three)..

[Recty]

Yes, I've tried three of them. I should try offering it again, I haven't tried one for a week now.

[Zoom]

They are very hard to get them to eat on FOWLR settings .
Is much easier in a reef tank with minimum fish and good reef water parameters.

[Recty]

The only thing that is bad in my tank when compared to a reef is my nitrates, those are between 40 and 80, depending on if I'm running my ozonizer or not, which right now I'm not. But I do big water changes weekly and keep my levels pretty good.

I've got zoanthids, pulsing xenia and some sponge alive in my tank, my conditions arent horrible and certainly good enough for all the other fish.

My only concern is pH is between 8.0 and 8.1, depending on if it's day or night... the new corals can handle it so I would sure think a fish could, especially since all my other fish arent just surviving, they are thriving.

I havent bothered checking calcium or magnesium, those more reefy type of measurements, but I wouldnt think they have anything to do with the regal eating.

I'd be willing to bet at BlueZoo where they were supposedly hand feeding it, it wasnt in a reef but instead in a small holding tank waiting to be shipped.

It's getting frustrating for sure. I started brine shrimp yesterday at noon, so when I get home from work today it will be about 29-30 hours they will have perculated, I hope those might tempt her to eat. I also should have PE mysis and Arcti-Pods coming in today to try to tempt her with as well.

[Kieth71]

I have trouble believing that a fish that was eating well before being shipped now wont eat at all even if you consider shipping stress.Its jmo but if this fish was eating something(other then just live food) at blue zoo then i would think it should be eating one of the items you are offering.The only thing i can think of is pressure from other fish you have.I have not read back to see if the fish is in a tank with other fish but is it possible it is getting bullied at all?If not i go back to my first statment and have doubts this fish was eating well before it was shipped JMO-Kieth

[Zoom]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15673854#post15673854 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Recty
The only thing that is bad in my tank when compared to a reef is my nitrates, those are between 40 and 80,


What is you parameters?
Magnesium
Alkalinity
Ph
Calcium
Salinity
Circulation




I hope I’m wrong but regals are not easy even in good establish reef tanks and almost impassible to sustain in FOWLR set up

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15673931#post15673931 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rockymtreefer
I have trouble believing that a fish that was eating well before being shipped now wont eat at all even if you consider shipping stress.Its jmo but if this fish was eating something(other then just live food) at blue zoo then i would think it should be eating one of the items you are offering.The only thing i can think of is pressure from other fish you have.I have not read back to see if the fish is in a tank with other fish but is it possible it is getting bullied at all?If not i go back to my first statment and have doubts this fish was eating well before it was shipped JMO-Kieth That's kind of how I feel too, that it maybe wasnt eating very well before shipping.

No, it is not in my tank. I try to never put fish into my display without getting them eating pellets first or at least mysis or whatever it is I'm feeding mainly, especially something as touchy as a regal which I want to make sure is healthy and recognizes what I feed as food so it can compete. But my plans are to never put the regal into the display anyway, it will be going into another tank in a couple months.

I have it sitting in the sump, the section it is in is basically a 29g tank dimensions, with 4 pieces of live rock, one of which has pulsing xenia, one has a small zoanthid frag and one has some nice red/purple sponge growth all over it. The other rock is just a bare piece of rock I took out of my display and put down there.

I think a finicky fish being shipped in 60 degree water could be a death sentence for it, I dont know though. I find it odd that I've requested 3 times now for a talk or email with Israel, the guy who said he was hand feeding the fish and they wont get back to me, kind of like they are hiding something?

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15673938#post15673938 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zoom
What is you parameters?
Magnesium
Alkalinity
Ph
Calcium
Salinity
Circulation

I hope I’m wrong but regals are not easy even in good establish reef tanks and almost impassible to sustain in FOWLR set up I dont check mag or calc and my pH is between 8 and 8.1, depending if it's day or night.

Salinity is 1.022-1.023, just depending on exactly how salty my makeup water is. Sometimes I let my water change water mix for 7 days and it evaporates a little and gets around 1.024, so it raises the tank very minimally upwards (30g going into about a 240g system) and sometimes I only let it mix 2-3 days in which case it is around 1.022 salinity.

Alk I just measured last night, it's 3.8 meq/L. I've been monitoring that and I electronically measure pH, I was afraid I might have had some kind of ionic balance issues because I never seem to be able to get my pH above 8.1, but my hardness is well within even reefing standards. I still plan on slowly raising it to around 4.5 meq/L just because I can and see if it will help get my pH around 8.2 or 8.3.

My circulation is good in my main tank, not so much down in the sump. Where the regal sits, one of my return lines run down into so I bet it has only around 500 gph flowing through there, which isnt BAD for a 29g tank. It's a really calm current because it goes into a filter sock first, then moves over into where the regal is so it doesnt have any powerhead type force or anything like that, just a large mass of slowly moving water.

Nothing stagnant or rotting down there though. I took my Python and sucked the bottom of the sump clean the day before I added the regal and made sure there wasnt any buildup in there, it was pretty clean though. I used to not run a filter sock and I would slowly get sediment buildup in the sump but now that I run the sock it's clean down there.

You could very well be right that regals are better in reefs and harder in FOWLRs. In fact, I'm sure you're right, thats the way most fish are. But mine isnt being mixed into a rough and tumble fowlr, it's all on it's own in a nice, moderately lit (one 12w power compact that only lights one side of the chamber it's in) part of the sump. It has a couple corals in with it and live rock. The only FOWLR part of my tank is the water and I have a really hard time believing my water is good enough for all the other fish but not good enough for the regal. I was willing to believe my water wasnt cutting it, but then I got the zoanthid colony which has been alive for a week now and the xenia which ime dont pulse unless they are enjoying the water at least a little bit.

[shaithis13]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15673931#post15673931 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rockymtreefer
I have trouble believing that a fish that was eating well before being shipped now wont eat at all even if you consider shipping stress.Its jmo but if this fish was eating something(other then just live food) at blue zoo then i would think it should be eating one of the items you are offering. If not i go back to my first statment and have doubts this fish was eating well before it was shipped JMO-Kieth

ive been thinking this the whole time and just kept it to myself as i didnt want to step on any toes. but at a job where i recieve fish on a regular basis, ive seen this "it was eating out of our hands" thing thrown on a lot of fish that absolutely refused to eat and honestly i do not buy it at all. just a way to smooth over a potential upset customer, try to save a potential lost customer, and a way to disprove any potential guilt for selling a fish that prolly should not have been sold. IMO :rolleyes:

[fish stalker]

Hi Recty
this is the reply i got from a keeper of Regals on our local forum

"He might want to try putting it in a tank no smaller than 40 gallons, depending on size. I also make a few hiding spots with live rock, these tend to be shy a first. This will keep stress down and keep other aggressive feeders in separate tank. It also gives the fish a better chance of getting food. I usually start with live brine shrimp, any fish will accept live foods. After doing this for about 2 weeks the fish will pretty much go after any food float in the tank, thinking it is the live brine shrimp. I start feed with frozen blood worms. The Regal Angels that I've had always eat frozen blood worms first over any other frozen foods.

This fish is stressed very easily and will also stop eating if harassed by other tank mates. It should be kept in a peaceful tank where there is no fighting."

hope it helps.

[Recty]

Sort of helps, but not really ;)

It isnt in a tank with anyone else. It's only in about a 29g though with some nice live rock, as opposed to a 40g.

For a hospital/learn to eat tank, I dont think it needs to be big. The fish isnt acting uncomfortable or scared of me necessarily.

I've got live brine hatching now, I'll be feeding it or trying to feed it in about 2 hours.

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15675312#post15675312 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shaithis13
ive been thinking this the whole time and just kept it to myself as i didnt want to step on any toes. but at a job where i recieve fish on a regular basis, ive seen this "it was eating out of our hands" thing thrown on a lot of fish that absolutely refused to eat and honestly i do not buy it at all. just a way to smooth over a potential upset customer, try to save a potential lost customer, and a way to disprove any potential guilt for selling a fish that prolly should not have been sold. IMO :rolleyes: Believe me, I've been thinking it the whole time too but really not wanting to believe it...

[klasiksb]

I received a small Regal from Bluezoo on the first of September. It has been picking at the rocks since day one and on day two it ate a clam on the half shell and day four it took pellets. I have it in a QT with live rock and sand. I still want to get it eating better before I treat it. When I had problems with the Purple Mask they suggested live black worms as well as treating with an antibiotic. I did both and that worked. I hope yours eats soon, good luck.

[Recty]

I just tried live brine (not adult, just the tiny ones). Nothing.

I tried Arcti-Pods, no interest.

I tried PE mysis, no interest.

No interest in the live rock which has growths and small animal life like copepods, not many but I have witnessed some.

No interest in pulsing xenia, no interest in zoanthids.

[Recty]

Oops, double post.

[Recty]

Today I put in a very small clam on the half shell, only about an inch long. Most of the clams we get up here that are live are about 3 inches long, so this one is tiny. I think maybe the other one "scared" the regal, although it got real close at it and looked at it like it wanted to eat, so I doubt that but at this point I'm grasping at anything to get this fish to eat.

I only had time to drop it in at lunch and then head out the door, I didnt bother trying to slice the meat up on this one like I did on the larger clam, I just broke the top shell off by hitting it with a spoon and pulling the shards off the flesh and then rinsed it in some of my water change water, then dropped it in.

I hope leaving a clam in my tank for 4 hours until I'm home doesnt compromise water quality, we will find out!

Ideally, the angel eats some of it but when I watched for a second she wanted nothing to do with it.

[DamnPepShrimp]

Have you tried algae sheets rubberbanded to some LR? You might have to bite the bullet and dump $20-30 on a sponge at your LFS. Do you have any growing in your sump area? I have sponges and all sorts of weird growths in my refugium of my reef, also lots of large angels love aiptasia.

[Recty]

Yes, I recently bought a piece of live rock with lots of nice red sponge growing all over it. It's down there with the regal and it's showing no interest.

I've rubber banded nori to the rocks three times now, and hung it from a tube too.

Believe me, spending $$$ is not the issue. I just spent around $30 on the stuff I need to hatch brine shrimp and tried it, no luck. About $90 on shipping two packs of PE mysis and some Arcti-Pods to Alaska overnight... I've done a nice big water change which means I used about $30 worth of salt...

Money isnt the problem, I'll spend $$$ to keep this fish alive, but it still wont eat!

[fish stalker]

really hope something works soon. I have tried having another peaceful type of fish in with picky eaters before, it seemed to help to get them to eat. In this case i don't know if it would just make it worse? Keep us posted, cheering for your regal here!

[Recty]

She has gotten really skinny, all the fat is gone from her body. At this point she isnt even showing interest in any foods, she just sits down by the chaeto and basically swims in one place.

I figure she will be dead by the end of the weekend, I dont know how much longer she can go without food but she's definitely lost lots of body weight.

[Kieth71]

I am sorry to hear that recty.You have gone above and beyond to try and get this fish to eat and i dont think their was anything that could be done.It was either not eating to begin with or the shipping conditions were just to much for it.Shipping to alaska without a heat pack seems like a bad idea to me.If it doesnt survive at least you did all you could and now you have all the food weapons if you wish to try another one-Kieth

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15686180#post15686180 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kieth71
I am sorry to hear that recty.You have gone above and beyond to try and get this fish to eat and i dont think their was anything that could be done.It was either not eating to begin with or the shipping conditions were just to much for it.Shipping to alaska without a heat pack seems like a bad idea to me.If it doesnt survive at least you did all you could and now you have all the food weapons if you wish to try another one-Kieth I feel the shipping conditions are what did the fish in as well, but I was hoping after 2.5 weeks of good conditions and 4-5 times a day of having food drop down by it's face or attached to the rocks it would recover. Unfortunately, that doesnt seem to be the case.

I doubt I'll buy another one, I'm going to wait to see what happens with this reef tank I want to set up first, because now it may not be happening for a while ;) I only got this regal and the personifer because the price was right and I trusted the source.

But, if I do get that tank set up, one of the first and only fish in it will be the angel.

[fender4string]

Sorry to hear the bad news man. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the fish but I'm with you-it's not sounding promising.

Kieth's got it right though-you definitely tried very hard to get that little guy to eat. I know how frustrating that is to watch a fish waste away despite your best efforts (remember my kole tang wouldn't eat no matter what I tried). It's a tough situation.

[Recty]

It sucks... but regals are known for being finicky and this guy certainly seems to be that way.

[Zoom]

Did you try any TetraMarine saltwater flakes ?
You never know try.

[Recty]

I've tried formula 1 and 2 flakes, I got some from the LFS about a week ago.

I havent tried tetra marine's version.

[Recty]

I thought she was dead when I came home, certainly looked dead, just laying there underneath a corner of the live rock, she looked like she died and was blown into it and stuck there from the current through the sump.

Long story short, I went to net her and she started zipping around the tank. Still some life left in this gal!

I didnt want to just let her sit in the sump anymore, I'm worried somehow it's not working right with her. I figure at this point, shes dead anyway if she stays on the current course, so I went ahead and got her out of the sump and I've got her floating in the top of the tank in a colander like you'd use for straining noodles or vegetables or whatever.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/regal007.jpg

I'm hoping either the increased high quality light (she isnt directly under the middle by any means so wont really be getting much light but it's better than the sump) or the extra flow (it's pretty slow through the sump and just real steady or feeling like shes in a big tank and seeing other fish might help.

I'm ready to try anything, a couple more days and she will be dead if she wont eat.

I'm going to keep feeding her in there, but at least this way when the food isnt eaten it will just drop down into the main tank after a while, instead of just sitting in the sump. And when I do put a clam half in there, it will be right there with her the whole time, not in a big area like the sump. Maybe being that close constantly to the food will stimulate an appetite?

[fender4string]

I hope that works Recty. I'm really pulling for this little girl.

[fish stalker]

don't know what else you can do and don't know what else to say. This sucks and yet i keep hoping for a miracle!

[Recty]

The nice thing I just found is the 3mm NLS pellets dont fall through the colander, so I've got about 15-20 of them sunk to the bottom in there and they just move around as she swims, I'm hoping when they get soft enough so might just take a bite browsing like angels do and realize it's edible.

My tank looks stupid with a big white colander floating in it ;)

[NiTr0x911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15687818#post15687818 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Recty

My tank looks stupid with a big white colander floating in it ;)

Leave it in long enough,you'll get some nice coralline algae growing on it and it will look great :)

[Recty]

As I suspected, the regal was dead today. Poor little fish.

I took some detailed pictures of it since it couldnt exactly swim away like my other fish can.

This is the scales...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/regal008.jpg

And then a much closer zoom on the scales...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/regal009.jpg

The teeth and face...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/regal011.jpg

And then a side shot of the teeth, a little more detail...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/regal010.jpg

Anyway, sad to see her go, giving a fish 2.5 weeks of personal attention makes you feel kind of close to it.

[fish stalker]

:( know that you did what you could.

[fender4string]

Really sorry to hear about that. Poor little fish.

Those pictures are fantastic, if a little bit sad. Who knew angels had such aggressive looking teeth (at least I didn't :) )!?

[Recty]

Yeah, I dont feel bad about the death like I caused it, I did what I could for the little girl.

Fender, sometime when you're bored go back through my thread. I posted some wicked looking pictures of my queen angel's teeth, they are something to give you nightmares at night if they were able to walk on land ;)

[fender4string]

Holy hell-I just looked back at that picture. Those teeth are pretty intense. I got a Jurassic Park flashback :).

[LukFox]

Angel teeth are scarier than my eel's lol. I'm sorry you lost her though :(, but you certainly did everything you could.

[Recty]

Yeah, they can be a little scary ;)

On a side note, I was tired of the rockwork in my tank, so I redid a lot of it. I pulled out the entire left half to buckets, gave that side of the tank a good cleaning like siphoning out the detritus that was under a couple rocks, then put it back together differently.

I'm not sure if I like it or not... but it is definitely different.

I'll post up a picture if the water ever clears up ;) It's amazing how much junk settles on the rocks, even with my tons of flow. Every rock I pulled out of the tank dirtied the water a little bit and after 15-20 rocks, it was pretty cloudy.

I hope the fish are going to be OK, I kind of expect them to start showing signs of ich tomorrow :P

[LuvAngels88]

Recty, sorry about your Regal. You did everything and then some for this little fish. I also find it hard to believe it went from being hand-fed to a complete lack of feeding response. It is very frustrating, to say the least. I have also been trying to get a difficult fish to eat for 3 weeks now. Your thread has been a wealth of information. Thanks for the updates.

[barbianj]

Too bad it had to end that way. I like to reply when I have helpful advice, but you were doing everything I could think of and then some.


Nice avatar, LuvAngels88 !

[LuvAngels88]

Thanks, barbianj! :)

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15693543#post15693543 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LuvAngels88
Recty, sorry about your Regal. You did everything and then some for this little fish. I also find it hard to believe it went from being hand-fed to a complete lack of feeding response. It is very frustrating, to say the least. I have also been trying to get a difficult fish to eat for 3 weeks now. Your thread has been a wealth of information. Thanks for the updates. Yeah, I am somewhat doubting BlueZoo's honesty, especially when I talked to Mark on the phone, he said he would hook me up with Israel who was hand feeding the fish, then after that would never respond to emails again.

I hope your difficult fish starts eating for you!

Got $200? I can send you all my accumulated foods ;)

[Recty]

Just a couple updated pictures...

My flames are all doing good. I'm not sure they know what to think about the rock work being changed around, they were a little skittish for the first couple hours, but now they are swimming around just like normal. If anything, there is even less aggression. I have, I believe, two males in my tank who used to chase each other at least 2 or 3 times daily, but so far I havent seen anything.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/flame029.jpg

The cleaner wrasse is still going strong. If anything, he's gotten fatter and looks better than when I received him. He tried to clean my arm yesterday while I had it in the fish tank moving rocks around, but since they have teeth and what not, I shook my arm and made him move away. I dont mind cleaner shrimp cleaning me, but a wrasse with little pointy teeth I'd rather avoid ;)

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/cleaner003.jpg

Notice the poop! He's eating!

[yukonblizzard]

Thats good to hear that the wrasse is doing good. Is he cleaning your fish much?

[Recty]

Yep, he cleans the fish a lot. The only one I havent seen him clean is the big dussu tang, it still doesnt like the wrasse. The wrasse goes up to clean it and the dussu chases it away.

[LuvAngels88]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15695748#post15695748 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Recty
I hope your difficult fish starts eating for you!

Got $200? I can send you all my accumulated foods ;)

Thanks. I think I've gone through the same array of foods that you did. Silly fish just looks at everything floating by. :rolleyes:

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15696203#post15696203 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LuvAngels88
Thanks. I think I've gone through the same array of foods that you did. Silly fish just looks at everything floating by. :rolleyes: Yep... same thing my regal did.

[Recty]

I havent really been in the picture mood lately, dealing with the regal angel has taken a lot of my time up.

But I got back in the mood today, thought I'd snap a couple quick ones.

The convict was swimming funny right in front of me and I was wondering what he was doing, if it was sick or something, then I realized it was trying to get cleaned. It only stayed there for a little bit, but I managed to get a shot.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/cleaner004.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/cleaner007.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/cleaner006.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/cleaner005.jpg

Here's my blueface angel doing the mouth extension thing when eating :)

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/blueface008.jpg

My male flame hanging out with the convict tang under the new rock formation...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/flame030.jpg

The majestic, really a pretty fish. I sure hope mine stays doing well in captivity, the purple and orange are pretty unique colors.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/majestic014.jpg

Then finally, here is my emperor. You can see his HLLE has almost totally disappeared, I'm betting within a month it will not even be visible. Right now it's small enough that unless you're looking closely, you dont even see it. The camera zooms in so you can see it, but with the naked eye he looks pretty good again.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/emperor042.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/emperor043.jpg

[LukFox]

Wow I'm stunned you can get the wrasse even partially in focus! Those guys are fast. I'm really surprised the emp recovered so quickly. His face looks fantastic :). Of all the photos I think the one with the majestic and blueface is my favorite.

Also is it just the photo or is the convict still thin? With all the feeding you do I wonder if something is up. I can't remember if you already treated the tank with prazi or not since getting him.

[Recty]

The wrasse is very hard to get a shot of. The small depth of field due a huge aperture makes it so the entire body will never be in focus, but I just try to focus on the eyes, that usually gives the best result.

I guess I could try with the flash sometime and see if I can get a shot of it fully in the focus field range.

The emp does look good, I agree, I'm pretty surprised how good he is doing but I'm happy.

The convict is thin. I actually think he has something weird going on. He's not really eating like he used to. Basically, since I removed the other 3 convict tangs, he hasnt been "himself", so to speak. He eats, but not a lot, not like he did when he had competition. He is slowly getting skinnier and skinnier.

I have treated with prazipro since I got him. Two doses back to back, in fact. I know I've read accounts of copper messing up the bacteria in the guts of the tangs that helps them digest their foods, I'm wondering if maybe that has something to do with it.

I'm thinking about trying to treat with prazi again. I'll probably do it sometime this week, depending on the water quality. Right now I just did some major tank maintenance, I pulled about 20 rocks out, let them sit for up to half an hour out in the air, and cleaned up the bottom of the tank on the left 2/3s of the tank while I was doing it. The water has cleared up, it actually cleared up really quick, but I dont really want to turn my skimmer off just incase I stirred up something bad.

Maybe within the next week or two I'll be ready to turn off the skimmer and prazi the tank, we will see. If the tang takes a turn for the worse, I'll go ahead and treat but for now, he is still eating so I think I'm going to just watch and see.

[tcmfish]

You may want to try some other meds for internal parasites instead of prazi. Prazi is best used for flukes. Maybe soke his food in metro before feeding.

[Recty]

I've never used metro before, I dont have any on hand. Maybe I'll order some and have it, my fish medicine cabinet is slowly expanding, just one more thing to add to it ;)

[fender4string]

Nice pics Recty. Strange about the convict, hopefully he starts fattening up.

I like that little wrasse. There's something cute about it. How have the other fish taken to him?

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15700874#post15700874 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fender4string
Nice pics Recty. Strange about the convict, hopefully he starts fattening up.

I like that little wrasse. There's something cute about it. How have the other fish taken to him? I'm not too worried about the convict yet.

The wrasse is really a cute little guy. Very personable and probably the least scared of me fish in the tank. The other ones come right up when feeding but then if I walk right up to the tank when I'm not feeding they are a little wary. The wrasse likes to get right in my face ;)

So far all the fish like him but the dussumieri.

[Recty]

Lesson learned... replace or at least recalibrate your pH probes every 6 months or so.

I've had mine for about a year now, maybe a little longer and havent calibrated it since the first time.

My pH has been slowly dropping and I've been adding baking soda, which didnt seem to help, so then I added some of Seachem's Marine Buffer which adds hardness and stabilizes pH around 8.3.

I added a LOT of Marine Buffer over the last month and still my pH dropped. The other night I checked and it was 7.8 so I figured I better change my game plan since it wasnt going up, despite adding a lot of buffer. I've been feeding very sparingly as organics in the water can lower pH, I thought maybe I was overfeeding and this was driving down my pH, but as it continued to take a slow dive even with minimal feeding going on, I realized this wasnt the case.

Long story short, I had two of the small packages of calibration fluid that I had ordered with my Cupramine a while back and never bothered calibrating my pH probe. So I did it last night and sure enough, after calibration my tank is reading at 8.48. Kind of high.

Luckily, 8.5 isnt lethally high, everything should be fine and seems fine. I'm sure my hardness is really high, I measured it a week or two ago and it was about average but I've added a lot more buffer since then.

Anyway, just a lesson to be learned, calibrate your probes every once in a while ;)

I think I'm going to replace mine soon too, probably within the next 6 months or if I do rebuild my sump here over the next couple weeks, I'll just do it then.

[flameangel88]

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/emperor043.jpg

Recty, after seeing your picture I may have to go out get one in the future, after the tank upgrade of course.

[Recty]

That's not even a great picture, it's a little blurry.

This is my favorite picture so far of my emperor... it's too bad his HLLE is so bad in that photo. I need to get a new good clear one with his HLLE almost fixed.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/emperor040.jpg

I certainly recommend adding the emperor last... I'm kicking myself now because there are some other fish I'd like in the tank and I cant have them due to having an already territorial emperor.

[LuvAngels88]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15711188#post15711188 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flameangel88
Recty, after seeing your picture I may have to go out get one in the future, after the tank upgrade of course. [/B]

I must admit that seeing pics of Recty's Emperor was what put me over the edge on getting one. She is doing well in a QT, waiting to be the last one in the DT. Very personable fish.

Recty, good to see your Emp has just about made a complete recovery from the HLLE.

[Recty]

Good deal, I'm glad to see my fish are making someone besides me spend money :)

I really do like the emperor angel, it's a cool personable fish. Besides my cleaner wrasse, my emperor is the one who follows me around the most.

Basically, whatever side of the tank I'm on, he will be over there. Sometimes he even grunts at me. At first I didnt think he was doing it at me, but there will be no other fish near him, just him over on my side of the tank and he will be looking right at me and grunt grunt grunt. I can't tell if he wants me to move, wants me to feed or just wants me to know he is the boss even though he cant get to me :)

Yes, that HLLE has healed up very well, better than I hoped. I thought he would have at least slight scars but I think he is going to recover totally from it.

[psjr56]

Is this thread done, was enjoying it but doesn't seem to be going anywhere now. Great looking fish Recty!

[Recty]

It's not done, I'm just only updating it when things happen, nothing has happened lately.

[Brandon M]

Awesome pictures and beautiful fish, as always, Recty. Keep up the good work! :cool:

[respond2life]

The emperor angel is one of my favorite fish. Yours looks great, awesome colors.

[Recty]

Check out my convict tang... he's been not eating for the last week or two, then a couple days ago he ate again, then he hasnt eaten since then.

Something is wrong with his guts.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/convict012.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/convict013.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/convict014.jpg

[gman107]

weird !!! poor guy!!!!

[yukonblizzard]

Do you think he has internal parisites that would causing him to eat and look that way?

[myerst2]

Hey Recty. First off. Excellent job getting that Emp. back on it's fins. Looks great!!!! As far as the convict tang. Looks as if he could be blocked up?? Is the fish poopin'? T

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15730820#post15730820 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yukonblizzard
Do you think he has internal parisites that would causing him to eat and look that way? I'm thinking so... but it's hard to tell.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15731035#post15731035 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by myerst2
Hey Recty. First off. Excellent job getting that Emp. back on it's fins. Looks great!!!! As far as the convict tang. Looks as if he could be blocked up?? Is the fish poopin'? T Thanks. I'm really pleased with the emperor's recovery too. I have to credit a lot of it to NLS pellets, they seem to be a great main food source. Between that and being religious about at least 10% water changes weekly I think the emperor is in good shape. I figured he would have a little bit of facial scarring and just learned to live with it, but it's pretty much gone now.

I havent seen the convict poop for at least a week. But I havent seen him eat hardly anything either. About 2 or 3 days ago he was interested in food but didnt eat much, then hasnt touched food again, making it about a 2 week fast except the one day of barely eating.

Is there any tricks anyone knows to deconstipate a fish?

[LuvAngels88]

Sorry about the tang. Back when I kept Oranda goldfishes, my LFS owner recommended that I feed my constipated goldfish some frozen green peas (thawed, without the outer "skins"). Was he only eating NLS or nori too?

[Recty]

The tang used to eat a lot of nori.

Yeah, I've heard the thing about frozen peas, I've kept goldfish as well :) Unfortunately, this guy isnt eating atm so that wont help.

[Recty]

The end of an era, for me... I've decided I'm going to go ahead and go through with selling my tank and my fish.

I'm not done keeping fish or aquariums in general, but I need a little break for a while. The baby on the way has priority. When we get moved into our new house, I'm thinking about building a custom tank, filling it with acans and just one or two fish, probably a tang of some sort since the angels are pretty picky of LPS.

I've already listed my fish locally and everything has sold except the emperor, the dussumieri and the majestic. The majestic is probably sold but I havent gotten a 100% for sure on it yet.

What I'm going to do is Sunday everyone who wants the fish is going to come over and I'll drain the water down pretty low, take my rocks out (which also hopefully sell) and catch all the fish at once. Hopefully it goes good!

[Exiledonmainstr]

Hey best of luck to you my friend. I understand the baby and other things...long time ago for me but I remember sacrificing to make things easier for everyone. I salute you for this. When you get to be my age then the kids will be going or on the way out and then you can immerse yourself back into the trade and have a huge custom job built. I wish you the best of luck with your life and future fishkeeping.

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15735013#post15735013 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Exiledonmainstr
Hey best of luck to you my friend. I understand the baby and other things...long time ago for me but I remember sacrificing to make things easier for everyone. I salute you for this. When you get to be my age then the kids will be going or on the way out and then you can immerse yourself back into the trade and have a huge custom job built. I wish you the best of luck with your life and future fishkeeping. Thanks man ;) Yeah, it's time to take a little step back, we're moving in a little while and with the baby on the way and what not, I figure it will work out better to not have a tank to maintain.

Plus, that 210 was way too small ;) Next tank, besides the little reef I have planned, will be much much bigger!

[Recty]

Just some pictures while I've still got fish left to photograph!

This is my ugliest flame angel. It's the one that has just never done real good. It's not the smallest, it's the second smallest though. I just dont care much for it's markings across the top fin, it's got black spotting through it that kind of ruins it for me, there are two that look a lot better and then one more that just looks a little better.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/flame031.jpg

Here's the blueface doing his usual hiding...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/blueface009.jpg

Everyone sure loves NLS pellets in my tank.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/feeding004.jpg

Especially the dussumieri, he would eat a whole container worth if I would dump it in.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/dussu053.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/dussu054.jpg

I really like this shot, he just looks "powerful" so to speak. Real thick and healthy.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/dussu055.jpg

And then my emperor angel, almost totally recovered from HLLE.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/emperor044.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/emperor045.jpg

[LuvAngels88]

Sure is sad to see the end of this era for you. We'll miss your beautiful pics! But bigger and better things are in store! Best wishes with the move and the new baby. Exciting times for sure!

[flameangel88]

Hey Recty,

Sorry to see you selling your beautiful tank but certainly understand the need to do what's best for the family. Look forward to seeing your new setup and beautiful pictures in the future.

Best of luck with the move and the new baby!

Kevin

[Recty]

Thanks guys ;) I feel like it's the right thing to do, I'm a little bummed but simplifying my life is a good thing, I've got a lot of projects going and three expensive hobbies plus a baby on the way, so I decided to cut one hobby out for now. I'll probably have to cut another before the baby is actually born :) We will see.

The actual sale of the tank and the live rock might be a while out, no one around here is interested yet, I've had the tank up for sale for a month and just decided this weekend I was going to start parting it out instead of just selling it as a package, but anyway, it might be a while until I'm totally tankless.

[rachenbrazil]

wow ... end of fishy era... and start of new Baby era !
Best wishes and hope that soon your child call for a bigger angel tank for you !

[fender4string]

Man that's sad to hear all the fish have to go but good for you for making the right choice for your life. Make sure those fish go to a home as good as the one you're giving them!

Your tank has definitely been an inspiration to me and has shown me the right way to do things (regardless if those right things work out the first time or not :) ).

I'll be staying tuned for the next Recty tank. As sweet as the 210 was, bigger is better :).

[barbianj]

Well, family comes first.

When my 2 year old grandson comes over, he can't wait to say hi to the fish and look at the new corals. He has a growing appreciation for the undersea world. With a baby, though, you'll be a little busy.

You should start a small coral grow out tank. You could get some good growth on some frags in a year or two.

[gobuckeyes]

I have been reading most of your post on this forum and have learned some things from your experiences. Im sure you won't be gone for long but anyways just wanted to say thanks for posting all your ups and downs. best wishes to you and your family

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15736250#post15736250 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rachenbrazil
wow ... end of fishy era... and start of new Baby era !
Best wishes and hope that soon your child call for a bigger angel tank for you ! Hmmm, the first words out of my kids mouth... "Big tank daddy!"
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15737928#post15737928 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fender4string
Man that's sad to hear all the fish have to go but good for you for making the right choice for your life. Make sure those fish go to a home as good as the one you're giving them!

Your tank has definitely been an inspiration to me and has shown me the right way to do things (regardless if those right things work out the first time or not :) ).

I'll be staying tuned for the next Recty tank. As sweet as the 210 was, bigger is better :). I'm glad someone learned something from my trial and error. I had a lot of fun in the process :)

I'm selling my fish off to local reefers and enthusiasts, so they are going to decent homes, which is nice to see.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15738000#post15738000 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barbianj
Well, family comes first.

When my 2 year old grandson comes over, he can't wait to say hi to the fish and look at the new corals. He has a growing appreciation for the undersea world. With a baby, though, you'll be a little busy.

You should start a small coral grow out tank. You could get some good growth on some frags in a year or two. That's the plan actually, I'd like to start a 40-50 gallon acan tank, just get some small frags and grow them up. I already have a LFS that would basically buy them for half price (say it's worth $50 a head, he will pay $25 to me and then sell it for $50) which isnt bad really. I know you never really make money in this hobby but it would help offset the costs ;)

My 1 year old nephew loves my tank, I pick him up in front of it (he's a little short still to see into a 6' tall tank) and he will watch the fish for a long long time. It's funny to watch his eyes track the fish around.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15738514#post15738514 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gobuckeyes
I have been reading most of your post on this forum and have learned some things from your experiences. Im sure you won't be gone for long but anyways just wanted to say thanks for posting all your ups and downs. best wishes to you and your family Glad to hear it! That's why I started this thread and just kept it going, it's nice to hear someone benefited from it.

Yeah, I'll be back with a tank in not too long, I think, but I'm not 100% sure. If I get something soon, it will be nothing like this tank, much smaller for sure. In the meantime I'm saving up for the big one ;) I invested about $5000 in AIG a couple months ago, so I'm pretty happy right now, but that is all going to go towards a down payment on a house, not fish. I might put a little aside towards my big dream tank ;)

[barbianj]

that is all going to go towards a down payment on a house, not fish.

Well, of course, you have to get a house before you can get a bigger tank! :D

[jmccown]

Hey Recty. I have two little girls man. My oldest is 6. She is the reason I got into this hobby. When she was a year old we went to a public aquarium and she was mesmerized by fish. I recognized her interest in fish and then came the movie "Finding Nemo" and then I got a 29g goldfish aquarium, then a 55g aquarium, then a 75g saltwater, then a 135, then a 150, then a 90g to where I am now with a 380g and a 150g. You'll see what I mean soon enough.

[seahorsedreams]

Noooooooooooo!

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15741834#post15741834 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barbianj
Well, of course, you have to get a house before you can get a bigger tank! :D True that :) My 210 in this second floor apartment is a little scary.

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15742025#post15742025 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmccown
Hey Recty. I have two little girls man. My oldest is 6. She is the reason I got into this hobby. When she was a year old we went to a public aquarium and she was mesmerized by fish. I recognized her interest in fish and then came the movie "Finding Nemo" and then I got a 29g goldfish aquarium, then a 55g aquarium, then a 75g saltwater, then a 135, then a 150, then a 90g to where I am now with a 380g and a 150g. You'll see what I mean soon enough. I hear ya. My little nephew totally loves my tank. I'm just being a grown up and prioritizing other things right now besides my hobby ;)

I fully plan on getting a bigger tank later, just right now it makes sense to sell this tank off, especially before I have to move it all in a couple months.

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15742060#post15742060 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seahorsedreams
Noooooooooooo! I dont know why, but that made me laugh ;) It's nice to feel appreciated.

[blface]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15742060#post15742060 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seahorsedreams
Noooooooooooo!

I agree I've been following this thread from day 1. I wish Alaska was a little closer to Michigan. I would love to add your emperor to my collection. Whoever gets the chance to buy your livestock should consider themselves blessed.

I've already gone thru the downsizing years ago. My 3 daughters are now older where I have the time to enjoy this awesome hobby again. I actually had to go to a 12 gallon nano for a few years but something is better than nothing.:D I now have my 220 FOWLR & love it. I can only dream of a bigger upgrade.

I'm already counting the days until I can read the thread about your new build. It's very hard to leave this hobby when salt water runs your veins like mine.:D

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15743028#post15743028 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by blface
I agree I've been following this thread from day 1. I wish Alaska was a little closer to Michigan. I would love to add your emperor to my collection. Whoever gets the chance to buy your livestock should consider themselves blessed. We should probably discuss this over PMs, but I am willing to ship if the price is decent :)

[gman107]

well i think if your going out you should go out with some nice full tank shots for all of us to remmember !!!

[Recty]

Yeah, I could do that ;) I've been busy lately, havent really been involved much with my tank besides feeding!

I'll try to get a couple shots this weekend before I catch all the fish.

[fish stalker]

what can i say that hasn't been said in all the other posts.......? All of it and more, love reading your posts and seeing your great pics, good luck with the baby post a pic when the little sprout arrives..... and start pricing small scuba suits :)

[Recty]

If I'm still reading these forums I'll definitely post pictures.

I just sold my last fish, so that's cool :)

[Recty]

So tomorrow is the big day... everyone is coming together around 3:00pm to 4:00pm and we're going to have a big fish catching party.

I've got about half of my equipment sold already. About all I really have left to sell is my tank.

It's all happening pretty fast, faster than I thought it would.

[LisaD]

Hi Recty,

I hope you will stay on the forum, even if you are tankless for a while. Good luck with the new baby and the move. I've always enjoyed your posts and photography.

[Recty]

Hi Recty,

I hope you will stay on the forum, even if you are tankless for a while. Good luck with the new baby and the move. I've always enjoyed your posts and photography. Thanks ;) I'm not sure I'll be around the forums much once I get rid of everything, but who knows.

I plan on starting up a small acan tank pretty soon, but you know how plans go...

[regina574]

I'm sad to see this thread start to wind down, but we have to do what we have to do! I have learned a lot from this thread! Thanks for sharing your adventure!

[Recty]

I'm sad to see this thread start to wind down, but we have to do what we have to do! I have learned a lot from this thread! Thanks for sharing your adventure!It was fun and it's nice to see someone learning something besides me!

Maybe I'll start another huge thread someday when I build my 600+ gallon tank once I get moved ;)

[Recty]

Just a couple pictures, the last ones I'll have of the dussu! I was trying to get him to flare his fins up since he looks so cool when he does it. I ended up standing there in front of his favorite cave and having my friend creep his hand closer and closer, eventually it would spook the dussu and he would flare.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/dussu056.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/dussu057.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/dussu058.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/dussu059.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/dussu060.jpg

I got a couple decent pictures of the other fish but I havent had a chance to go through them, it's been a busy day today.

[Reeftanks6]

Very nice recty. Havent seen the thread in a while. Looks like everything is doing great. What a great choice of fish. IF you can, can you get a fts for me. If all possible.

Thanks Tyler

[Zoom]

Very nice recty. Havent seen the thread in a while. Looks like everything is doing great. What a great choice of fish. IF you can, can you get a fts for me. If all possible.

Thanks Tyler
Recty is taking some time off ................ He sold all the fish and the tank .:wave::wave:

[Recty]

My latest FTS...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/tank005.jpg

I took that right as the buyer moved the tank and right before he came back and got my stand ;)

[Zoom]

My latest FTS...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/tank005.jpg

I took that right as the buyer moved the tank and right before he came back and got my stand ;)
:fish2::fish2::fish2::fish2::fish2::fish2:
Hey here is some fish for you;:rollface::rollface:

good luck Rect.

[Reeftanks6]

Thanks zoom. Sorry to hear about the whole fisht thing but congrats on the baby. Hope to see another tank from you sometime.

[Recty]

I hope to do another tank sometime for sure. I dont plan on being out of the hobby forever, this was just a good time to take a break. I dont want to move a 210 gallon tank into a new house for a couple reasons and we are wanting to move soon, so it was time to sell.

I just went through some of my old pictures of my fish and remembered how much I liked the little flame angels. That was one of my best purchases I think. The big angels were cool, but the little flames had so much personality and added so much color to the tank.

Unfortunately, some of these arent in great focus and there is only so much Photoshop can do to sharpen up the image ;)

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/flame036.jpg

Notice these flames have a slight misbar, both in the same spot. I always liked them ;)

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/flame035.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/flame034.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/flame033.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/flame032.jpg

And then just because I had it and hadn't processed it yet, here is my convict that I kept out of that school :)

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/Recty/convict015.jpg

[Reeftanks6]

great pictures. Yea i hear ya on the tank move. Cant wait to see your next tank. Love the pictures