Northwest_Scapes_
Well-Known Member
Backstory: This is something I've wanted to do for a while. Ever since going back to the California Academy Of Sciences 2 years ago and just standing in their walk in Flashlight Fish display, for some reason, they just grabbed my attention. I've been there many times before, and have seen a couple other Flashlight Fish exhibits, but this time something changed which drew a passion out of thin air, and then I found out you could have them as pets! Over the past Year & Half (Since January 2020) I've come up with different ideas in my mind on how to make it possible, and now I've constructed something that is both affordable and effective. After talking with places such as the Toldeo Zoo, Dallas World Aquarium, and the Man whose helped me the most with just about every question I had, @Jay Hemdal (Fun Fact, one of the reasons I signed up on R2R was just to talk to him about this since I couldn't contact him anywhere else). My plan with this build is to also educate people on how to keep Flashlight Fish properly, since I've seen wayyy too many people throw them into Reef Tanks or Tropical FOWLR Tanks which is Just not the setting you want to keep them in. Another thing I would like to try is Breeding, I do have a couple ideas on how i could try it, like replicating the temperature changes from there natural habitat during the correct season and see if it changes anything. The only report of breeding the specific species I'm looking at is from 2017 by ReefToRainforestMedia from the DWA, and the only update was "we now have day 6 larvae". They did say they might've cracked the correct food combo they need, but whether they were successful I have no idea. If they were, I find it kind of strange there's been no updates / reports.
Present: The 25th I ended up picking up a 125G from a local (SeaTownReef on Instagram) and have officially started the build! He offered me the Tank, Stand, and Lids at a really good price, and the only reason I don't have the stand right now is because the car wasn't big enough to fit both Tank & Stand, and here in Washington/Just about the whole Pacific Northwest in general is going through a "History Making" Heatwave right now so it would be a death sentence to drive to his house right now until Wednesday lol
In terms of the 125, I feel like it's a really excellent size for a decent sized group of Flashlight Fish since it's a size that you can realistically have in a home, and offers plenty of swimming room. This one isn't drilled, which is fine and I'll be using a Canister Filter on it.
In terms of what species I'm going after, The One Fin Flashlight Fish (Photoblepharon Palpebratus) is my set stocking, specially 5 (maybe 6, I'll have to check in with Jay on that since my original plan was a 100G and he recommended 4-5 for it, so maybe the extra 25G will allow me to squeeze in 1 more). These are not as commonly seen in the hobby, as their cousin the Split Fin Flashlight Fish (Anomalops Katoptron) which you may have seen a couple for sale on Divers Den Recently. Why would I go after the less common species though? Jay explains it all in his article which is also available here on R2R if you haven't seen it already , but basically: They're hardier, Have their "Lights" on more often and for longer periods of time, and in my opinion just look cooler.
Anyways, that's all I have on the build for now! I thought about what stage of the build I should start the thread on, but I figured that starting it from the beginning was the best choice. I'll be documenting everything about the build, and the fish on here. Soon, I'll also show the QT Tank + approach I'll take since QT ing Flashlights is an extremely important step.
I hope everyone enjoys this journey along with me! And sorry for the long read
You can also keep up with other updates on the build on my socials such as My Instagram and Youtube!
Tank: still needs a bit of cleaning, but nothing bad
Present: The 25th I ended up picking up a 125G from a local (SeaTownReef on Instagram) and have officially started the build! He offered me the Tank, Stand, and Lids at a really good price, and the only reason I don't have the stand right now is because the car wasn't big enough to fit both Tank & Stand, and here in Washington/Just about the whole Pacific Northwest in general is going through a "History Making" Heatwave right now so it would be a death sentence to drive to his house right now until Wednesday lol
In terms of the 125, I feel like it's a really excellent size for a decent sized group of Flashlight Fish since it's a size that you can realistically have in a home, and offers plenty of swimming room. This one isn't drilled, which is fine and I'll be using a Canister Filter on it.
In terms of what species I'm going after, The One Fin Flashlight Fish (Photoblepharon Palpebratus) is my set stocking, specially 5 (maybe 6, I'll have to check in with Jay on that since my original plan was a 100G and he recommended 4-5 for it, so maybe the extra 25G will allow me to squeeze in 1 more). These are not as commonly seen in the hobby, as their cousin the Split Fin Flashlight Fish (Anomalops Katoptron) which you may have seen a couple for sale on Divers Den Recently. Why would I go after the less common species though? Jay explains it all in his article which is also available here on R2R if you haven't seen it already , but basically: They're hardier, Have their "Lights" on more often and for longer periods of time, and in my opinion just look cooler.
Anyways, that's all I have on the build for now! I thought about what stage of the build I should start the thread on, but I figured that starting it from the beginning was the best choice. I'll be documenting everything about the build, and the fish on here. Soon, I'll also show the QT Tank + approach I'll take since QT ing Flashlights is an extremely important step.
I hope everyone enjoys this journey along with me! And sorry for the long read
You can also keep up with other updates on the build on my socials such as My Instagram and Youtube!
Tank: still needs a bit of cleaning, but nothing bad
