Tank birthday, 47+ years

atoll · Dec 5, 2019

Hard to come up with lifespans in captivity. In some way we may extend the life of a fish beyond what they might live on the reef through predation. Sick fish dont live long on the reef. As you point out Paul, fish can get cancer, loose eyesight and all manner of things we can't treat. A copperband that can't judge where something is might be easy pray on the reef not so in our tank. I guess your copperband will waste away unfortunately. Natural lifespan is IMO a shot in the dark. If somebody keeps a fish 10 years did it outlive it's normal lifespan or die early? Few fish on the reef will live till.old age I would guess but it's just a guess like guessing the natural mage of a fish when we have little in the way of real data.

Paul B · Dec 5, 2019

Atoll, you are correct. I know this fish is not dying of old age as I think she is just middle aged but definitely has a neurological problem that can't be treated. Maybe if I had a fish MRI or Cat-fish scan I could diagnose it, but even if I could, I couldn't treat it.

I have a couple of more tricks for this fish but I think it will be futile as the Borg say. Over a year ago there was a dark spot on her side almost healed here. It went away and is now completely gone.
She may have over extended her insurance coverage so I don't know if I can save her, but as long as she is still great looking and in good spirits, I will continue to enjoy her knowing that she probably lived longer with me than she would have in the sea.

atoll · Dec 5, 2019

Paul B said:
Atoll, you are correct. I know this fish is not dying of old age as I think she is just middle aged but definitely has a neurological problem that can't be treated. Maybe if I had a fish MRO of Catfish scan I could diagnose it, but even if I could, I couldn't treat it.

I have a couple of more tricks for this fish but I think it will be futile as the Borg say. Over a year ago there was a dark spot on her side almost healed here. It went away and is now completely gone.
She may have over extended her insurance coverage so I don't know if I can save her, but as long as she is still great looking and in good spirits, I will continue to enjoy her knowing that she probably lived longer with me than she would have in the sea.

Shame for such a great fish. So many fish will die from things we are unable to treat and perhaps in many cases unable to even know a fish has a terminal illness until the illness is well advanced. We assume if a fish is acting normally and eating it's fine which may not be the case. People feed lots of dried foods and believe as the fish eats it and appears normal after a couple of years or so the food must be fine for them and all they need. However, how many will live till their natural lifespan whatever that is? You have often said keeping a fish a few years is not success and I agree. Some fish we know do have a short lifespan as in a couple of years but the longer lived ones are difficult to ascertain the natural lifespan. I am using a number of tricks to get my copperband eating mussel, mysis, brine shrimp and the like hopefully to get it to live much longer than a couple of years. Only time will tell of course.

Paul B · Dec 5, 2019

Mine would eat all the shellfish I would give her, she takes after me.
I just got a big piece of clam into her but she made a mistake and caught it.
We rarely realize that fish get other things besides silly skin infections that we can cure very fast and some of us learned how to prevent those things.

Neurological things in fish and us so far is a puzzle. My wife, as you know has MS which is an auto immune disease. Maybe fish get that also, who knows.
This also may be a temporary thing and if it is, I will be happy and so will the fish.

Paul B · Dec 6, 2019

Except for the weird copperband thing, the tank is doing very well. Almost to well because my corals are growing too close to the front glass and I need to move or cut them so I can get my magnet cleaner back there.
That of course is a good thing but not very easy to accomplish. This constantly happened in mky last tank before I moved here and this tank is 6" deeper front to back so I figured that would not happen.

But if you keep a tank long enough these things happen.

Sea MunnKey · Dec 6, 2019

Paul B said:
Sea Munnkey my pair of bluestripes are gone. They only have a lifespan of about 3 or 4 years and I had them longer than that. My Janss pipefish almost bit my male bluestripe in half so I am afraid to replace him until the Janss goes. I also have him about 4 years and he was an adult when I got him so his life is almost over. Pipefish don't have very long lifespans.

I'm sorry to hear that. In fact I've spoken to my lfs owner to keep me posted whenever he expects any African fish shipment in the near future as I want to get more of these Blue Stripes if possible. It's weird as I'm not a fish person but these specific pipefish amazes me every time with their vibrant colors & scavenging for pods almost no stop.

Paul B · Dec 6, 2019

Pipefish are probably my favorite fish, I wish they had longer life spans. 3 or 4 years is not great so I have to get new ones all the time.
Here in my video I have had many of them.

atoll · Dec 6, 2019

Paul B said:
Pipefish are probably my favorite fish, I wish they had longer life spans. 3 or 4 years is not great so I have to get new ones all the time.
Here in my video I have had many of them.

Snake pipe fish like the one in your video Paul are one of my fav fish also. I don't have any at the moment as my new tank isnt mature enough at the moment. I have kept a few over the years. Strange how other fish view them and leave them alone even when first introduced into the aquarium, maybe they think they are some kind of sea snake.

Paul B · Dec 6, 2019

I don't think pipefish would taste very good. You can dry them and they still look alive. I have a dried seahorse that I found on the street of the Fulton Fish market in Manhattan about 1950 and the thing still looks alive. Inside pipefish and seahorses look like Styrofoam. Those fish have an internal skeleton and an external skeleton like an insect. At one time people used to think seahorses were insects.

There are hardly any guts or anything to eat, I have no idea how they live.

Brew12 · Dec 6, 2019

Paul B said:
I don't think pipefish would taste very good. You can dry them and they still look alive. I have a dried seahorse that I found on the street of the Fulton Fish market in Manhattan about 1950 and the thing still looks alive. Inside pipefish and seahorses look like Styrofoam. Those fish have an internal skeleton and an external skeleton like an insect. At one time people used to think seahorses were insects.

There are hardly any guts or anything to eat, I have no idea how they live.

I think they are vegans.

Paul B · Dec 7, 2019

My copperband still looks perfect and searches for food all over the place, but if she dies, and if she is about 10 years old, I would certainly consider that a failure. Old age is the only thing I can call successful with any fish.

I believe that eventually we will all learn that it is bacteria, viruses and parasites that keep us and our fish alive. I read yesterday that a 200 lb man is composed up of about 6 lbs of non human microorganisms. If he is a slob, he may have more microorganisms. ;Vomit

We are killing so many creatures with kindness by sterilizing, dipping, medication, quarantining etc. But I realize I am in the vast minority.

On another note, we have house guests today and last night so I have like a bed and breakfast here. I baked some blueberry/banana/walnut muffins this morning about 6:00 and snuck downstairs to play with the computer and my inventions while I am waiting for them to get up.

Neighbors also came over last night after the Christmas party for some drinks. This time of the year I break out my Dad's Cognac and have a small toast to him. He died 60 years ago and I only have a half a bottle of this left so I treasure it very closely as it is the only thing I have from him. I Only give it to very close long time friends as I want it to last for the rest of my life.

Lowell Lemon · Dec 7, 2019

Here is to remembering our Dads! Enjoy your day with friends Paul.

Paul B · Dec 8, 2019

These Fireclowns just won't give up. They just spawned again as they do every week, it looks like they only laid a dozen eggs this time. That large male is I think 28 years old.

I devised a thing to collect the eggs but I won't use it as I don't have the time to raise them anyway. Maybe after the Holidays I break it out if I can find the thing.
The eggs are the orange things to the left of his (or her) pectoral fin just below the coraline algae.
It's not exciting to spawn clownfish as they will spawn in last weeks damp newspaper.

Mortie31 · Dec 8, 2019

Paul B said:
These Fireclowns just won't give up. They just spawned again as they do every week, it looks like they only laid a dozen eggs this time. That large male is I think 28 years old.

I devised a thing to collect the eggs but I won't use it as I don't have the time to raise them anyway. Maybe after the Holidays I break it out if I can find the thing.
The eggs are the orange things to the left of his (or her) pectoral fin just below the coraline algae.
It's not exciting to spawn clownfish as they will spawn in last weeks damp newspaper.

28 and still up for it... are you feeding viagra as well as live clams

fishybizzness · Dec 8, 2019

Paul B · Dec 8, 2019

It seems my Steam Punk pieces are worth more than I thought. I brought them to a gallery here on the North Fork and she wouldn't let me take them home. They are on display for more than I was expecting.