Some of my beautiful fish ! Warning Photo Heavy.

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
Keep your eye on those blue tangs, it looks like they have ICH.
Geez what a buzz kill. If a fish is healthy he can fight off ICH. My Hippo Tang was covered in ICH but healthy and ate like a pig, and a week later he was clean. Months later he's still spotless. Plus I don't see any ICH on those tangs
 

mandy111

Active Member
Geez what a buzz kill. If a fish is healthy he can fight off ICH. My Hippo Tang was covered in ICH but healthy and ate like a pig, and a week later he was clean. Months later he's still spotless. Plus I don't see any ICH on those tangs
hi ya, thank you for that. There is no ICH on those tangs, unfortunately we did have a large ich out break about a week after the upgrade to the new tank, we sold those two blues (they never went to the new tank) and purchase another new one, well he was the culprit, and pleased to say like you, pristine water, good food and gone in just over 2 weeks, although we did lose our flame angel to it. Was very sad.
 

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
You're welcome! I've never lost anything other than tangs to ich. The two flame angels I lost, one developed a fungus on his face and gills, and the other was a victim of the catastrophic "Closed Cover Disaster". Long, aggravating story.
 

mandy111

Active Member
You're welcome! I've never lost anything other than tangs to ich. The two flame angels I lost, one developed a fungus on his face and gills, and the other was a victim of the catastrophic "Closed Cover Disaster". Long, aggravating story.
"closed cover disaster" Please explain.?
 

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
"closed cover disaster" Please explain.?
I'll try to make this brief. Every time I relive this I want to punch somebody. 10 years ago when my family and I moved to N.C. we finally had enough money to set up an aquarium, something I didn't want to do in Florida because I knew I wanted out of there. OK, I digress...

I bought my current 180 gallon aquarium which came with a custom stand, and glass covers which, when closed, completely seal the tank. I never knew about oxygen and carbon dioxide problems because my previous tanks used HOTB filtration, there was always an opening in the back. After this tank crashed the first time (combination of the covers being closed and a heater exploding and shorting out, but I still didn't know about the cover thing) I left the tank fallow for 7 years.

When my wife passed away 8 months ago she left my son and me enough money to get the tank going again. With my arthritis and other ailments I just couldn't physically get under the tank and plumb in the new filtration so I let my local LFS do it (for a hefty price, no less). When they were done adding substrate, replacing the live rock and filling it with water, they placed the glass covers back on the tank AND CLOSED THEM!!!! They didn't warn me about the dangers of leaving them closed. In the meantime I had cycled the tank and stocked it with all the fish I wanted in the tank. Things were going great until....the fish started dying, 1 and 2 at a time. All of them were completely healthy and eating the night before, all died by morning. At the end I had nothing left but 2 of my 3 Yellow Tangs, my Bitch on Wheels Queen Angel, and the usual indestructible assortment of damsels, crabs and shrimp.

When I told the guys at the LFS what was happening they said there must be a disease that strikes at night or some nonsense. It wasn't until I'd lost all those fish that one of them asked "Do you have covers on your tank?" "Yes." "Do you keep them opened?" "No, I thought you were supposed to keep them closed to keep dust out and fish from jumping". "No, you have to keep them open. Otherwise you're keeping oxygen..." blah blah blah you know the rest. So they basically waited until I'd lost over $1,000.00 worth of fish before telling me not to close the covers, something THEY did when they finished up the install.

Grrrrrr.......
 

mandy111

Active Member
Oh my god. that is an absolute disaster. Did they offer any discount or help once it had happened, or like most LFS rubbed their hands together and thought hmmm. more $$$$..
I honestly think that some LFS are just after the money and don't really care about customer or their stock. Its such a shame.
I am glad you got back up and running, and of course although a horrid experience for you, it is something that you can now teach new reefers and hopefully save some heartache for some one else.
invaluable for us but expensive for you. So Sorry.
 

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
I appreciate your kind words. As I've mentioned in other threads these guys swing back and forth between being helpful and being dickheads. One day I'll write a separate thread listing all the crappy things they've done to me. All I know is they're damn lucky. They do just enough to keep me from taking a baseball bat to their tanks.
 

mandy111

Active Member
now now, no need for bats, think of the livestock....lol
Best punishment a bad LFS can have is you don't return and buy !!!!! and you spread the word, over here the reefing community is very tight and we ALL know each other, so its bad business spreads quickly. Its the best approach.
Just remember that.
 

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
Community? HA! The only community here is for reef tanks. I joined 8 years ago and stopped going after a few months. If you don't have a reef tank they don't want to know you. Come to think of it nobody wants to know me anyway. It has to be my NY personality because the only person here who likes me after 9 years living here is a fellow NY'er. Once my wife passed away what friends we did have disappeared. Don't feel sorry for me, just stating the facts.

Plus the only competition to this LFS went out of business a few months ago. The next closest LFS is literally the size of a closet and will only stock what you ask him to order for you, and even he specializes more in corals than fish. So, I keep my baseball bat close by.
 
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pegasus

Well-Known Member
"closed cover disaster" Please explain.?
Oh, mandy... you didn't? Ouch!

Wow CG, I always hate it when someone loses their spouse. I know how it feels, brother. I've remarried, but it never goes away. I find saltwater to be my best form of meditation...
 

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
Thanks for the kind words, Pegasus. I've finally let out why I'm such a p*pick here sometimes. Those are the days when it hits me a little harder.

I'll never remarry. I'm 60, look like a friggin' hillbilly with all the teeth I'm missing, and frankly, I just can't give of myself to someone else what I should still be giving my wife.

Now get outta here ya knuckleheads!

btw, mandy, I didn't mind you asking.
 
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mandy111

Active Member
Thanks for the kind words, Pegasus. I've finally let out why I'm such a p*pick here sometimes. Those are the days when it hits me a little harder.

I'll never remarry. I'm 60, look like a friggin' hillbilly with all the teeth I'm missing, and frankly, I just can't give of myself to someone else what I should still be giving my wife.

Now get outta here ya knuckleheads!

btw, mandy, I didn't mind you asking.
I am sure if you had minded me asking you probably would have said "nick off I am not telling"anyways. lol

I too am very sorry to hear about your wife, , by the way hillbilly look has to be no teeth, who cares, I think we are all at an age by now where you learn to take people for who they are and not what they look like, I have anyhow. maturity is a wonderful thing.
 

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
Well said
If only it were true. I'd never guess the country hicks of N.C. were so superficial. Anyway, like I said, don't feel bad for me. I'm handling it. As long as my tank is doing ok I'm fine. It's kind of a memorial to my wife. That's another reason I get so pissed when things go wrong, but it seems like I've finally got it under control. Oh, and I bought a rock with huge elephant ear mushrooms on it today. Bright green. Looks great in the tank. Cheers!
 

pegasus

Well-Known Member
If only it were true. I'd never guess the country hicks of N.C. were so superficial. Anyway, like I said, don't feel bad for me. I'm handling it. As long as my tank is doing ok I'm fine. It's kind of a memorial to my wife. That's another reason I get so pissed when things go wrong, but it seems like I've finally got it under control. Oh, and I bought a rock with huge elephant ear mushrooms on it today. Bright green. Looks great in the tank. Cheers!
It's good therapy. Looking forward to the pics. BTW... you don't have a twin brother you were separated from at birth, do you? You gave a pretty good description of me in your earlier comment... lol!
 

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
You gave me quite a startle with your comment about having a twin brother. I, in fact, do have a twin brother. We're fraternal twins, but some people used to look at us and immediately knew we were twins. I'm going to shoot new video tomorrow with the elephant ear mushrooms. As usual I'll post it here when it's up.
 

pegasus

Well-Known Member
You gave me quite a startle with your comment about having a twin brother. I, in fact, do have a twin brother. We're fraternal twins, but some people used to look at us and immediately knew we were twins. I'm going to shoot new video tomorrow with the elephant ear mushrooms. As usual I'll post it here when it's up.
Sorry about that! Who knew??? LMAO!!!
 

Kristin1234

Active Member
If only it were true. I'd never guess the country hicks of N.C. were so superficial. Anyway, like I said, don't feel bad for me. I'm handling it. As long as my tank is doing ok I'm fine. It's kind of a memorial to my wife. That's another reason I get so pissed when things go wrong, but it seems like I've finally got it under control. Oh, and I bought a rock with huge elephant ear mushrooms on it today. Bright green. Looks great in the tank. Cheers!

I bet she would love it.
 

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
Were those taken by the same photographers that did the other pics?

EDIT: Oh crap, what a moron. Those ARE the other pics, jenny just resurrected the thread :confused:
 
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