The struggles and triumphs of my small slice of the ocean. *Still under construction*

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Candy Hogfish



The Candy Hogfish also known as the Two Spot Hogfish is one of the few reef safe members of its family. Hogfish are actually wrasses, but because they differ in appearance to some degree they are commonly called hogfish. I think it has to do with their gluttonous appetite, although mine has proven to be a lil picky.

I first saw the Candy Hogfish at Fist Store and More down in buckhead in their cylindrical display tank. It just stood out to me, I loved how it was constantly on the move and its bright yellow coloration with twin spots and red stripes really made the fish pop. This tank was filled with beautiful fairy wrasses and many other gorgeous fish, but this one in particular really caught my eye...

It's no secret that I love fish from the wrasse family. Something about how they move so effortlessly with their torpedo shaped bodies in conjunction with the most brilliant of colorations in the fish world... they simply mesmerize me. Most people have trouble with wrasses as jumpers. To be honest I have lost two wrasses from jumping. With the current trend of open top tanks, wrasses often meet their demise far too soon. On a side note, it saddens me when a fish passes away, to think that this lil guy traveled half way around the world to die in one's living room and to be flushed away is just a shame. Dont' they deserve better than that? That being said, I used to bury my fish... that is until I saw the ants digging up the corpses. Now it seems more respectful to flush them with a few kind words. Sometimes we light candles...

Anyways, I now have a tight fitting canopy that I find to be wrasse-proof. It's consequently eel-proof too!

My Moray Eel



I've always wanted a moray eel, but the vast majority of them get to be greater than 2 feet long. Some are real sea monsters and could seriously damage a person let alone other fish. So I researched long and hard and found the only member of the Gymnothorax family that was reef safe. The scientific name is Gymnothorax melatremus, and is more commonly known as the Golden Dwarf Moray. It grows up to 10 inches long and is native to much of the Pacific Ocean.

It is commonly confused with the Gymnothorax miliaris, which is located in the Caribean and grows to 2 feet long. Many people have been able to keep the miliaris species in reef tanks, but many more have had it eat their other inhabitants. The melatremus on the other hand is much smaller in stature and has yet to eat or even strike at any of my fish or inverts.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

I think its ashame that female maroons turn dark as this particular specimen was so vividly colored before turning into a girl! Now she looks like evil incarnate... my wife helps clean the tank on occasion as her small delicate hands can clean the tank better... She refuses though to go near the "evil" maroon :).

The beginning of my salt water tank adventure...


It started with my wife and I both wanting a fish tank of sorts. We began researching and both agreed on going with a saltwater setup. Of course having been a freshwater aquarist for 20 years or so, I knew enough of saltwater to know that very little of my previous experiences would translate. I wasn't wrong... there was so much more to learn and it was almost overwhelming.

The hard part and the fun part was that I was on a fairly slim budget. As such, I had to put cobble things together and many times fabricate parts from scratch.

The easiest part was finding an acceptable tank. We found a killer deal on craigslist, the seller listed the tank as an acrylic 65 gallon tank with hood and stand and eheim canister filters... all for 200 dollars. The downside was that the tank was SCRATCHED to hell. So I spent the next week removing all the scratches by hand. WOW what a PITA. The upside was that after the scratches were removed we had an absolutely gorgeous tank. Another upside was that the tank was actually 84 gallons.

Anyways I fabricated an overflow box, drilled slits into the back of the acrylic tank, and attached the overflow box. I used a modified durso and some 7 dollar containers and a kitty litter box to make my refugium and sump. The amazing part is that it all worked as planned!

I then filled it up with water and threw in the sand and rock... and this is what I got. My first occupant is a yellow tail damsel, he's HARD to find since he's the exact same bright blue coloration as my background! We named him Waldo for obvious reasons... :)

Monday, September 10, 2007

How it all began...






It started with a bowl with a goldfish... that bowl became a 10 gallon tank with Jack Dempsey Cichlids... Cichlids of course needing more space lent itself to a 29 gallon tank... Then a 55... Then it got crazy...

That's how it all started. Sure it was innocuous at first, but then again what addiction starts you off hardcore? The goldfish in a bowl was a "gateway" drug of sorts, it opened a new horizon of possibilities. Now where am I? I just dumped 700 on powerheads to move water around my 84 gallon reef tank. That's where I am!