TWO new Rhinopias, story and pics

[lunker101]

So i had always planned/hoped on bringing home a rhino today, but i couldnt resist and brought home both of the ones my favorite LFS got in :D, and for a pretty darn good price. They're in a 50g reef, and i must say they are simply amazing. Not all is going well though, i had somewhat of a disaster and i need some help with the matter, see this thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=663114 . Enjoy the pics... and im praying that they make it through the mess.

the frondosa (or aphanes but im pretty sure its a frondosa)
it has blue spotting to it, which can be seen well in this photo
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhin1.jpg

the Esch. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhin2.jpg

Another of the weedy
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhin3.jpg

and both together
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhin4.jpg

[majestic sea life]

WOW!!! Thats all i can say. I wish i can just get 1 lol.

[I like Triggers]

how much did you pay for them... i usually see those go for well over $500 each!!!

[FMarini]

wow....someone stumbled upon his bank acct.
your right its a R frondosa, a beauty for sure. make sure they are eating well, most people feed them damsels, but ghost shrimp at a minimum, no FW feeders.good luck

[Andrew]

Dang! Awesome creatures! :thumbsup:

[lunker101]

feeding on frozen silversides already :)

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

wow andrew, you've been on rc all day...:lol: and i've been followin you around the board too.

[Andrew]

Originally posted by ChAoTiCrEeFeR4U
wow andrew, you've been on rc all day...:lol: and i've been followin you around the board too.

lol. I was waiting for my dad to get back with rio water so I desided to post some. :)

well... back on topic.

[lunker101]

Well they're both seemingly OK this morning. I watched the weedy stalk a gramma around the tank for a good 30 minutes, and to no avail lol. I know the LFS was feeding them goldfish, but as i already said they are taking frozen.

[Andrew]

Good to hear. How much did u get them for?

[reef fanatic]

how much were they if I may ask?

[lunker101]

they were relatively cheap... as far as rhinos go. A pretty fricken good deal actually, but i dont want to list the actual price yet because i dont want to jinx anything, im still not 100% certain that they are going to be ok after my catastrophe but im praying that all will be fine

[zemuron114]

those are beautiful. I just picked up a pair of golden dwarf eels for VERY cheap because im living in Hawaii for a while for school. Good luck with them, and post some more pictures!!!

[lunker101]

The esh isnt as active as the frondosa. He hasnt eaten yet either. I hope hes just taking longer to adapt and that he isnt going to be a problem. Here are two more pics of the weedy.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhin6.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhin5.jpg

[FMarini]

lunker- consider feeding them smallish damsels, or peppermint shrimp. These guys are primarily small fish eaters in the wild. The R.Esch is an algae mimic whereas the Frondosa are crinoid mimics. so think about the critters that associate w/ those two scenarios

[lunker101]

Thanks Marini, feeding is getting a little frustrating since they wont take frozen but i clearly saw them take it in the store, im hoping they just need to adapt to the new tank. I put a gramma, goby, and cleaner shrimp in there and so far the rhinopias are seemingly too slow to catch them (they're ingoring the shrimp but have tried to catch the gramma and goby, but failed). Hopefully i can get some damsels tomorrow and try net-feeding them

[Mad Scientist]

Great looking fish! Good luck with the feeding, keep trying - they look very healthy.

[lunker101]

another question, do you see the red blotches on the weedy? behind the head, under the pectoral fins. Anyone think i should keep an eye on that, i hope its not some kind of internal complication. And yes, i worry alot, but with fi$h like these i dont think anyone can blame me ;)

[FMarini]

lunk- that a problem w/ these fish.. they are slow eaters. I usually recomend you get them eating in a smaller tank where you can get a higher food density. it looks like in your tank, that a few small fish will just disappear into the rockwork. So you might be served by adding a small school of green chromis
AS for the red area, i do see it on your fish. Intially i thought it was the gill raker which are sometime visible on these fish (and flushed w/ blood-hence the red coloration. Is it on the pectoral fin or at the base of the pec fin, or is it on the gill operculum

[lunker101]

Its where the pectoral fins meet the body

[FMarini]

lunk-
thanks for the info, keep a watchful eye on this, from the bottommost photo it looks like a skin irratation, or abrasion. so definately somethin to concern yourself w/. Is the frondosa eating well? can you get it to eat ghost shrimp that you've gut loaded w/ algae and or fish food.
i wouldn't treat the tank, but ensure the frondosa is eating well , the water quality in your tank is spot on, and no harassing tankmates. The abrasion should heal, but yes keep a watchful eye

[lunker101]

hmm i dont know if i would call it an abrasion, its under the skin and on both sides. Since its on both sides, i wasnt too alarmed and figured its normal but i'm defenitly going to keep an eye on it now

[Wee Man]

congratulations!!! that is just awesome.

[lunker101]

The weedy was hanging around on the top rock peaks today, got some cool pics of it http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhin2s.jpg and heres one of the esch http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhin2v.jpg

[toonces]

that is really cool.

[Mad Scientist]

GREAT pics!!!!!!!!!!!! *jealous*

[toonces]

any chance of a full tank shot with those guys? i really like the idea you're going with here with those guys in it... really unusual.

[pisces77]

Nice, I've always wanted an all Rhinopias tank, 1 specimen from each of the 4 species. You're halfway to my dream. LOL Hope they stay healthy for you

[lunker101]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhino1b.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhino2b.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhinotank1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhinotank2.jpg

In the full shot, the esch is next to the green brain on the left and the frondosa is pretty much in the open. Im thinking of growing them out a bit in the 50 and then making the 180 into a FOWLR for them :)

[lunker101]

forgot this one http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhino2c.jpg

[lunker101]

It could me my imagination, but i think the esch is turning purple. The bottom pic is the most recent. You can tell that his shading is differant than of the upper pic of him from last week

[toonces]

thanks, that is a really cool tank.

[pisces77]

Rhinopias eschmeyeri has the ability to change colors to it surroundings (gradualy), so it probably thinks purple is a better color in your tank.

[toonces]

holy cow, i just saw how much those go for on drsfostersmith.com!

cha-ching! $$$$$

they're still very nice, but wow, that's an expensive fish. you must have your stuff together.

[lunker101]

the esch IS turning purple :)

[pisces77]

nice

[rwhhunt]

Beautiful Specimens! I love you set up! The weedy almost looks like another coral from afar! That bubble coral is HUGE!!!

[lunker101]

I havent posted in awhile. Here are some new pics. I redid alot of the tank. Got rid of most of my sps and am focusing more on LPS and soft. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/flash1.jpg they look so differant when you flash
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/fff.jpg

[lunker101]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/4A.jpg

[steveboo]

Those are cool fish!!!

[AdidaKev]

Wow, those are fantastic. I love Rhinopias, once they're established they have such personalities. The LFS I work at has a few and they are hilarious! If you clean the tank they're in, they will come over to inspect what you're doing and will watch you as you clean.

[Mad Scientist]

Very cool, thanks for the new pics. The tank looks GREAT!

[pisces77]

Now if you could only get an aphanes and an argoliba...

[zemuron114]

those are so awesome! congrats im glad they are stil doing well :)!

[Blizzard]

omg, that's amazing!

[lunker101]

They are starting to take frozen but only on occasion, they are still not fully weened. It is mostly my fault, i usually offer them live 70% of the time and dont bother to try to introduce any frozen with it. Here are some recent pics.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/SANY0005.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/SANY0006.jpg

[lunker101]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/rhinos003.jpg

[Bret61081]

Great pics! awesome fish! if you get bored with them you can send them to me! hehe

[lunker101]

I've been putting some serious thought into what I should do about the rhinos and the tank. I doubt the 50g will be enough for them for much longer, ecspecially the way i have it aquascaped since it is infact a reef. I did some rearranging today and made significantly more room for the rhinos. The torch and bubbles are growing quite large and taking away from alot of the substrate room, so i decided to take one of the bubbles out and rearange things a bit. Hopefully I can set up a 120 in the near future for these guys, but for now im just going to keep a close eye on everything. The tank is plumbed to another 50 which i use as a sump, so there is substantial water volume for the largish bio-load, its just an issue of space now.

[lunker101]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/SANY0082.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/SANY0081.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/lunker101/SANY0080.jpg

[mope54]

Wow, those are really cool looking. Great specimens.