Tank birthday, 47+ years

Paul B · Jan 26, 2020

I have two of those stripped cardinals, slightly different and the larger one picks on the smaller one.
They are almost the same species and I thought they were a pair when I got them, but one grew twice as big.
This one is the big one with less stripes.

Paul B · Jan 26, 2020

This morning I was looking at my large yellow wrasse thinking how beautiful he was.

I went behind my tank and there he was, on the floor, dried up like one of George Burns Cigars. :mad:

Thats how I usually lost wrasses. Well, I know where this one is. ;Wideyed

atoll · Jan 26, 2020

Paul B said:
This morning I was looking at my large yellow wrasse thinking how beautiful he was.

I went behind my tank and there he was, on the floor, dried up like one of George Burns Cigars. :mad:

Thats how I usually lost wrasses. Well, I know where this one is. ;Wideyed

I have a pair of yellow wrasse, underrated fish IMO. Most wrasse are jumpers however. I have a D-D jump net cover to greatly reduce the chance of any fish carpet surfing. Lost far too many fish when I didn't use one.

atoll · Jan 26, 2020

My 2 yellow wrasse. Sorry the pic isn't clearer, they are hard to get a clear shot with my phone as they are constantly moving around.

Paul B · Jan 27, 2020

Paul B · Jan 28, 2020

My Copperband finally passed away peacefully. And she had the courtesy to die stuck to a powerhead near the front of the tank so it was simple to remove her and she didn't become bristleworm food.

If she was near the bottom, It wouldn't have been pretty .
She is the copperband that appears on the cover of my book.

I will get another one when I find a small, good one.

Brew12 · Jan 28, 2020

Paul B said:
My Copperband finally passed away peacefully. And she had the courtesy to die stuck to a powerhead near the front of the tank so it was simple to remove her and she didn't become bristleworm food.

If she was near the bottom, It wouldn't have been pretty .
She is the copperband that appears on the cover of my book.

I will get another one when I find a small, good one.

I think she made it easy on you as a thank you for taking such good care of her!

atoll · Jan 28, 2020

I wonder how long copperband live? Obviously they are a year plus when we buy them and some already several years old. I was a natural history program the other day that said clowns can live to be over 30 years old in the wild which they went on to say was exceptional for such a small fish.
My clowns recently started to lay eggs a couple of months after I bought them from a fellow reefer. My wife asked me about the eggs and would the baby fish survive. She was disappointed when I told her they wouldn't.
I also told her a pair of clowns will lay every 7 to 10 days and lay in excess of 300 eggs. Now consider they will lay eggs for the duration of their lives just think how many eggs that would be and that only 2 of them all need to get to maturity and breed to maintain the species.
I also went on to inform her that males can become female but once a female cannot turn into a male. If there are a few clowns in the tank there may only be one female one male and the rest stay sub adults unless you have a large enough tank for more pairs to establish. Should the female died then the male will most often turn into a female with the most dominant, usually the largest sub adult becoming male to partner her. Neat tricks they have to ensure survival of the species.
I once had a trio of clowns in a magnifica nem when all the "experts" at the time said magnificas were impossible to keep long term and most die within weeks. I had mine for many years before I had the break the tank down due to moving house. My 3 clowns were as described above, one female, one attending male and a sub adult. The sub adult never grew in all the years I had it and was tolerated in the nem by the other 2.
My clowns spawning recently which is quite common now of course, well for those that live long enough to form a breeding pair in a reefers tank.

Paul B · Jan 28, 2020

Thats cool. These Fireclowns are about 29 years old and like yours, spawn constantly. They never don't spawn.

atoll · Jan 28, 2020

Paul B said:
Thats cool. These Fireclowns are about 29 years old and like yours, spawn constantly. They never don't spawn.

Maybe we need to add some copper or other medications to stop them spawning.

Paul B · Jan 28, 2020

Yes, I agree. After this spawn I will remove them and put them in quarantine for 72 days then dose with tree stump remover. ;Meh

atoll · Jan 28, 2020

Paul B said:
Yes, I agree. After this spawn I will remove them and put them in quarantine for 72 days then dose with tree stump remover. ;Meh

You would be much better off leaving them in the DT and putting a tree stump in with them.

Paul B · Jan 29, 2020

I think copperband butterflies are a "little" more delicate than most fish but I also think some of that has to do with quarantine. Some fish, like copperband butterflies, moorish Idols, mandarins, and some others do not take well to quarantine unless you can do it in a large well decorated tank filled with some sort of natural looking caves. They need to feel secure and have constant places they can stick their nose looking for worms.

They are just a nervous fish and they let their nerves get the best of them.
I have been keeping them since the 70s and have had many. I don't think I ever had one live past ten years, maybe that is close to their lifespan but I doubt it.
Here is one I had probably in the 80s or 90s.

I took this in Tahiti. Long nose butterflies are almost the exact same fish, they just don't know it. Copperbands come from southern Africa,

I see I had one here (In my Log Book) in 1974. This was before there were salt water medications and reefs. The tank at that time was 40 gallons and decorated with dead coral skeletons which I removed every two weeks to bleach.
Look at the medications I used. I am surprised the thing lived at all. I killed it with medication.

I didn't write everything in my Log Book. Just when something got sick or died. Thank God after losing so many fish, I saw the light.

I also had these fish in 1976. Including a moorish Idol

All those fish, including a French Angel, copperband, hippo tang, Moorish Idol etc. were in this tiny 40 gallon tank. If the tang police were born then, they would have put a bag of burning fish poop on my doorstep, rang the bell and ran away.

Last edited: 4 minutes ago

atoll · Jan 29, 2020

Can you recall how long you were able to keep the Moorish idol Paul?

Paul B · Jan 29, 2020

Yes, the last one I kept about 5 years.

PanchoG · Jan 29, 2020

So good you keep you log book !

atoll · Jan 29, 2020

Am in the seaside town of Llandudno in North Wales UK. They have a pier where I buy barnacle shells often when I am here. Llandudno is a very popular resort all year round esp with us ermmm more mature people lol.

Paul B · Jan 29, 2020

PanchoG said:
So good you keep you log book !

I probably stopped keeping it 25 years ago. I have to look for it and see.

Atoll. I can't even pronounce that place.

I live on Long Island so I am surrounded by the sea so it is easy for me to collect just about anything I want, even Oldsmobile parts.

Paul B · Jan 29, 2020

Today my wife is going out with her friends for her Birthday so I may diatom my tank. Or go to a bar and get drop dead drunk. ;Drool

No, I think I will diatom filter my gravel.