Sad story, Maybe a Happy Ending.

novice150

Member
This is kinda long, but I thought some of you might be interested in this.
I have a neighbor, about 60, and incredibly rich. He had about 15 150-300 gal tanks surrounding his indoor swimming pool. I met him when I was approx. 15. His tanks and his extensive knowledge in SW tanks, created my passion for the marine life.
About a year ago, he bought his 8th house. Which happens to be in Aspen. He didn't want to sell his house next door to me cause of its history (and he's rich :) So he had someone house sit full time.
He hired one of his long time best buddies. This guy also happens to be about 60. Well, when he moved, he tore down most of his tanks to make his house sitters life easier. He only left up a 300 aggressive, and a 150 reef.
This guy had been doing an OK job caring for the tanks. Until about 2 weeks ago. I got a call today, from the owner, asking if I had room for any fish. I asked why, and he explained to me that the only thing left in the reef tank was a true perc, and a very large anenome. All the inhabitants in the aggressive were dead.
I said that I did, and went to his house to see what happened. The sadness in his eyes was unbelievable when he handed me a bucket with the critters in it. He explained, that they had all been killed. I asked how, and he told me.
The house sitter, had fallen back on tank maintenance. He then decided that the only way to rid of the algae, was to clean it. He proceeded to take the tanks down, and put all the "fish" in buckets. He took all the live sand, live rock, corals, AND anenomes outside. Then using a garden hose "washed" them. After filling the tanks back up (with tap water) and putting salt in them, he returned all the animals to their tanks. 3 days later he called the owner and said there was a problem with the tanks.
I now have in my possession the only survivors. Whats impressive to me is that the anenome (its Huge) is still alive and doing well. I know there will be those out there who doubt this, but I am witness to the fact that this anenome has been in this tank for over 8 years. As stated before, I now own these animals. I am committed to helping them continue to thrive. I figure, anything that can make it through what they have been through, deserves a tank of its own.
 

fshhub

Active Member
that is a sad story, i can't believe it could happen to someone who knew and loved sw as mcuh as he did, he really must ahve, to been able to keep an anemone for that long, as youknow most do not make it nearly as long as that
i do have a question, we sit here discussing it and are actually trying to figure out
did he wash teh anemones and corals, or just the tanks, i hope he was not dumb enought o wash all the lr and anmeones and corals, but it reads like it could be either way, not being smart, just curious
and congradulations on getting such a nice anemone, it must be large too(sorry you had to get it that way though)
 
hmmmm --- does your rich friend need somebody else to give the tanks, lights and all the equipment to ? I will pick them up tonight!!! LOL <img src="graemlins//silly.gif" border="0" alt="[silly]" /> <img src="graemlins//urrr.gif" border="0" alt="[urrr]" />
 

novice150

Member
Yes. He actually took each and every live coral, all the ls and lr outside and scrubbed them with a brush and garden hose. Then put it all back, used the garden hose to fill it and then put in the salt. :( The sad part is that all these tanks used to be professionally maintained. When he moved and tore most down, the housesitter requested that he leave those two, as a hobby for him. On one hand I feel bad for him. Since he is so old and had no clue. He really thought he was doing the right thing. But on the other hand, he could have asked around or picked up a book. Im just amazed anything lived.
As for the equipment. He's turning one of them into a terrarium, and the other into a freshwater system. I made him an offer yesterday for the chillers, uv's and lighting systems. Hope he says yes!
 
Top