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Need to vent (Not an equipment conversation)

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Why do we feel the need to constantly upgrade and add things to a system that is pretty much perfect in the first place? Our 30g has been up and running for a few months and everything was going dandy, hell the mandarin we put in there is fattening up. So our Picasso clowns started to host our frogspawn and this worried us a bit as we know they can be stung by frogspawn and the fish can damage the coral. So what do we decide to do remedy this situation? We bought a bubble tip anemone. What was the convoluted reasoning behind this? We wanted to give something to the clowns to host and get rid of the frogspawn.

So I come home from work today, check the tanks and turn on the lights in the thirty and then go play softball. When I came back I noticed the BTA had moved down closer to the middle of the tank near the frogspawn so we moved the frogspawn out of the tank and into the twenty. I noticed that my older and prettier Picasso had been stung that left a nice sized mark. Don't know who did this, but betting the frogspawn when the BTA got to close. The fish is doing better now and ate tonight so this is good. But when I fed the tank I noticed our cherub angel was missing. So we pulled out most the live rock to no avail. The BTA got a very expensive beautiful snack the first full day in our tank. I wish I could say I was being magnanimous in doing this but I am not that kind to BTAs.

So we are now zero for three with angels. We lost a flame to ich, another flame to we believe a mantis shrimp (was doing excellent then had mysterious marks on him and died), and now our third has become a snack. This was a fish we felt great about getting because it was beat up in its holding tank and we brought it back to full health. I must be part demon if I am killing so many angels.

I guess the moral to the story for those still reading is LEAVE YOUR TANK ALONE WHEN IT IS DOING FINE.

UPDATE: Was just topping off the tank with some RO, which we do in the fuge to not overly shock the tank and found the cherub angel dead sucked into the skimmer powerhead. So we are still zero for three with angels, but this might be on his stupidity not mine. Who knows.
 
Really sorry to hear about the angels. Ich and stupid fish are remarkably common in our hobby ;D and I wouldn't take it too personally. I'm sure a trip to the LFS may convince you to try again in the future.

Finally - there is this minor solace - for all you know the angel was going to be food for some large piscivore, so it lived that much longer in your glass cage. Just trying to show the half-full point of view.

fyi: e.quadricolor is not the typical host anemone for the true percula clown, so it may take time for the percs to acclimate their slime coat to the BTA.
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
We have further theorized the the BTA stung the angel which then was sucked into a powerhead. Since I am an optimist, we got the angel out before it crashed the tank and we got to reaquascape the whole tank. Trop had beautiful flameback and eibli angels when we were there on Sunday so I am sure we can find something. :)
 
I have a clown that hosts my frogspawn for 8 months and no problems. This was the first time I ever heard that could be a problem. So far no problem with mine.

Sorry to hear about yours.
 
Hawkeye said:
fyi: e.quadricolor is not the typical host anemone for the true percula clown, so it may take time for the percs to acclimate their slime coat to the BTA.

This is true, but Picasso clowns are genetically altered by ORA and not a naturally occuring fish anyway... so really it's anyone's guess! ;D ???
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
The BTA has been in the tank since sunday night so nothing yet. We are hoping they start to host the BTA as it has moved to about the same spot where the clowns hang out. The clown that looked injured was doing a lot better this morning and I will have to see tonight. We also have been dosing garlic with their food to keep their slime coat up.

I know clowns can host just about anything, mine in the 12g host feather dusters and zoas, and not harm themselves or the coral, but we were just being safe with the clowns. To get a grade A picasso runs about double what we paid for them on some sites.
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Quick update: The clowns are both doing fine and have already started to host the BTA. It took them 3 days to figure it out so they are getting moved to the head of the class. I actually like the new aquascaping that was done so the tank looks great. We still miss the cherub and will have to replace him soon.
 
Great news!

goes to show that even for tank-raised/captive bred fish - they are just engineered in the head to know to head for an anemone.

fyi - I saw a gorgeous small flame angel at AqOb.
 
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