Fish Story

[brit0211]

What's your favorite story to tell about your tank?

 

[kreach]

This is one of those kind of funny and yet sad stories. When we first set up a tank, it was a 37 gallon. After cycling it, the first fish we put in there was a mandarin goby. (I know, I know... but this was long before we found this board and we didn't know any better at the time).
Anyway, we were using a Fluval canister filter and we had forgotten to put the endcap on the intake tube. Needless to say, we found our goby a couple days later with his butt sucked up in the tube. His front half was too wide to allow him to be completely sucked into the tube, but the suction had him trapped.
We turned off the filter and got him loose, but he died less than a week later... poor thing.

 

[kevinf]

I got my first SW tank when I was 16. A 55 gal. I paid no attention to what the LFS said could be put in tank and would get along. So.... I had a mexican dragon eel (fairly big) and an octopus about the size of of baseball. They fought all the time. I noticed the octo's arms kept getting shorter and shorter. Anyway, so I partitioned off part of the tank for the octo. And low and behold, it laid eggs. On the side of the tanks. Well the eggs never hatched (water temp too low I think).
DISCAIMER: This was a long time ago and I'd never do it again.

 

[cprdnick]

I added my first fish about 3 or 4 months ago. It was an Ocellaris Clown. I had a scarlet cleaner shrimp that had come with the tank and went through the cycle and everything. I didn't really have anything in the tank for the clown to host with. I figured I would get an anenome later. I had aclimated him in the afternoon with no light what so ever in the room, so basically my tank was asleep when I added him. I have the lights on a timer so they will wake me and the tank up in the mornings, well it did. I chose my favorite bucket to sit on and watch. Here came the cleaner shrimp over some rocks. And as he came over the rocks, the clown noticed his little antennae swaying back and forth. Here came the clown. I thought "this ought to be good" sure enough it was. The shrimp started to try to clean the clown top to bottom, while the clown tried hosting with the shrimp. Well the shrimp wanted to be on top of the collision and so did the clown. This went on for about 30 seconds and neither one could convince the other that they should be on top. After a while they gave up, to this day, they won't look at each other.

 

[dugan]

I chose my favorite bucket to sit on and watch. Here came the cleaner shrimp over some rocks.
Glad to know I'm not the only one who pulls up a bucket to sit and stare at my tank!!

My fish story...
I had a coral beauty once. I picked her out at the LFS because she was doing the cutest thing... they had her in one of those little display cubes, which was right next to a larger tank full of LR and some other fish. There was a U tube connecting the cube display with the LR tank.
The CB was using the U tube as a su

ay... she would swim right through it and go visiting in the LR. When she'd had enough she'd swim back through the U tube to her little cubicle. She did this over and over again... it was so cute I just had to have her.
Sadly, curiosity ended up killing that little fish. She used to like to surf the current from one of my PH's. She managed to knock the strainer off the bottom of one and got sucked in. I think that is the saddest fish loss I've ever had.

Katie

 

[iloveclowns]

My favorite story is when I was trying to get my 2 damsels out of my 37 I had to take all my lr out. i caught 1 but couldn't find the other. I put the live rock back and the other damsel came swimming out

 

[logen32]

i had bought a new pump and i put it in and it was running for a week with no probleam, one day dont know why my regal tang got to close and sucked him i by the end of the body. luckly i came to look at the tang and i see my tang strugeling to get out i turned the power of and all the blood rushed to the suface of the skin. The tang had a big red ring on her body luckly she survived.

 

[harlequinnut]

I had a snowflake eel for a few months and he grew alot and eats like a pig. When I change my 55 to 150 I set up 2-20gal to house the fish temporarilly. I use a spare hob power filter to filter the tank but forgot to put the strainer on the intake tube and the SFE went in through the tube and got chop up by the impeller.

 

[armageddon]

I was putting my finger in my tank to show my friend how aggressive my humu is. I get bitten sometimes but this time he decided to lunge at my finger and he bit me so hard that my natural reflexes made me yank my finger out of the water. Well he was still attached to my finger, he came flying out of the tank and hit the floor. I put him back in and he's still kicking to this day.
Andrew

 

[harlequinnut]

Originally posted by Armageddon
I was putting my finger in my tank to show my friend how aggressive my humu is. I get bitten sometimes but this time he decided to lunge at my finger and he bit me so hard that my natural reflexes made me yank my finger out of the water. Well he was still attached to my finger, he came flying out of the tank and hit the floor. I put him back in and he's still kicking to this day.
Andrew
If you get a Lionfish, can you show me how toxic the poison is?

 

[drakken]

Well, my favorite story isn't about SW fish. I used to keep African cichlids and I had a pair of shell dwellers. They are little fish with a ton of personallity and make homes in small shells.
I traded all my African cichlids to convert the tank to a SW tank. Five month laters the LFS still had the mated pair. I always checked on the 2 of them and they were still together. I noticed the tank they were in was bare bottom. Shellies like sand to burry their shells in and I was a little sad to see no sand for them. I bought the 2 fish again (full price) and set them up in a 10 gal tank in my daughters room. Nine days later I found fry swimming around. The 2 are doing great and are thriving in their home.
Here's some pics...

 

[drakken]

here's the male "Dozier"

 

[drakken]

...and mom with fry...

 

[blueface]

When I first started in this obsession (hobby) 15+ years ago I had a small Huma Huma. He lived for 4 years & my 2 year old daughter had become very fond of him. She named him Woody from Toy Story. I came home from work one nite when my wife said that my daughter couldn't find Woody anywhere!! I found him on the carpet behind the tank. He jumped thru a small hole which was open due to my protein skimmer being cleaned. I went to the LFS the next day to replace Woody before my daughter fond out he was gone & not hiding. They didn't have any huma humas the same size but they did have a clown trigger that size. I bought the clown trigger & took him home. When I arrived my daughter was waiting for me to tell me she still couldn't find Woody. I took the clown trigger from the bag and told her I had taken Woody to the store for a new paint job! Believe it or not she bought it. The new Woody lived for another 7 years until my blueface became mature & killed him. My daughter is now 10 & she jokes about how she belived dad painted Woody. Aren't 2 year old guilable?

 

[armageddon]

Its not as bad as some people might think, but i mean no one wants to feel pain like that. They are no stonefish. I probably wont have a lionfish for years because of my triggers. I wouldnt' put my hand in a tank that housed species that could deliver venom. Every once in a while i used to like to see how aggressive my humu was getting by sticking my finger in the water but not anymore.
Andrew

 

[cprdnick]

When I had my dwarf lion I would fan the water in front of him to make him spread out before I fed him. Never been stung by one before though.