Back to posting regularly.......

Some exciting things have been happening in the world of fish.  Between a newly described butterfly that Dr. Richard Pyle has found deep in Hawiian waters.  The link is here for info about this fish.  http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/20916/40/ 

An amazing conspiculatus hybrid hit the Japanese market via www.crownfish.jp.  Also found on the sight was an amazing St. Paul Rocks P. cillaris varient.  Pics below of these stunners.

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More fish dreamin'!!!

Some other fish I would love to see in my future display................

Memories and Future

Today in New York it is pouring rain so I have the day of from work.  I am an organic tree doctor if anyone was wondering.  I used to run a fish room for years in my late teens and early twenties.  I really miss it but I can't stand to inside all the time.  Also I found that you don' enjoy the hobby as much if you do that for a living.  It's the like to old saying goes, the showmaker always has holes in his shoes.  Well thats probably not even close to how the old saying goes, but you get the idea.  

So I have continued to think about what I am going to do with my current display and going with something smaller.  Recently on a trip to the LFS, they had a 200 gallon FOWLR setup.  It was basically a perfect cube and really had an amazing look.  I really love the depth, and I am sure that the fish appreciated it as well, even though it was way overstocked.  So the story goes with fishtanks in LFS.  If you are familiar with the 40 gallon breeder than you get the idea.  So I am going to look into something cube like in the 70-80 gallon size.   The display I currently have I bought used for an amazing price.  I will never buy something new, though I would love too.  I just don't have the money to buy everything new, and if you look hard enough you can save a tremendous amount of money buying used.  There is always a person who spends a boat load of money on a display and then realizes they either don't want to spend the time for the upkeep or just get sick of it.  My current tank was only running for 10 months when I bought it.  I saved over $2,500.00 by buying used.  If you go the used route make sure you know everything is working and there are NO leaks.

So here are some pics of the fish I would like to keep in the display I am conjuring up in my mind.  So we will see.   I want smaller fish that are invertebrate safe and I may even do some hardy soft corals.  I really love Ricordia mushrooms and Zoas.  

Time for a change....

Hello all!  Well as our economy continues to go in the shitter.  It seems everyone is being affected negatively by it one way or another.  3 months ago I lost my job but was fortunate to get another within a month.  Thankfully I am very happy with the job and there seems to be a great deal of security with the job.  My fiance and I rent a house, as buying a house in the Hamptons on Long Island is VERY expensive!!!  A very simple 2 bedroom 2000sq' house easily starts at $750,000.  Yes it is crazy but this place is beautiful and we are happy to rent until we save money to buy.  So our landlord who lives in S. Africa stopped by out of the blue this past weekend.  Mind you I haven't seen or spoke to her in almost a year.  She said she needs to sell the house.  So my fiance and I have been looking for a new place.  Many of the places we have looked at won't accomodate my 180 gallon tank.  So here is what I envision......

Sorry about reminding you all about the crap our country has gotten us into.  I spoke earlier about having a display with only fish that get no larger than 4-5".  This equals many more fish but more importantly more opportunities to learn about fish behavior and interaction.  So as always, I was on RC and saw a thread from a local Long Islander and the start of his new display.  His screen name is KIGS and his display is exactly what I had in my head.  An added bonus that I had not thought of was the introduction of all the small inverts you can add because of having no predatory fish in the display.  He sparked my interest even further by adding a really deep sand bed and adding garden eels.  If you are not familiar with garden eels then you are missing out.  They are amazing fish to watch.  They need a sand bed of around 6"-10"  for them to dig their tunnels.  So I plan on selling my 180 FOWLR with the fish and plan on getting a display of around 75 gallons or so.  I want to concentrate on getting pairs, trios, and possibly harems of fish.   Here is the link to see KIGS display.  I love it.  I also really love the rimless display, but have my reservations because of fish jumping and I will most definately have wrasses, firefish, etc which are nortorious for carpet surfing.  Hope everyone is doing well.  Regards, Tim

Here is the link.   

My thread on Reefcentral

Today I found out that a thread I created on Reefcentral (RC) has been nominated for thread of the month.  As insignificant as it may sound, it made me really happy.  The thread is about being able to ID a fish by a picture of the fish.  What makes me really proud is that it the thread helps to educate people on what to look for when IDing a fish.  Here is the link to the thread.  If you are keeping marine fish and reefs I think it is almost mandatory to read and ask questions.  Many of the people who post are some of the most experienced and knowledgeable aquarists in the world.  Cheers have a great weekend.  T

Happy Turkey Day. More important lets look at rare fish..

I visit many fish forums and Reefcentral is by far my favorite.  I log into that site many times a day.  Yes I am a loser, well a fish freak.  You are a fish freak if you are reading this now.  If you are, please leave comments and suggestions.  Reefcentral.com has provided me with so much information through the years.  Thankfully I have been able to help others with questions that all future aquarists have.  The great thing about fish is that there is endless things to learn.  I learn new things all the time by interacting and reading posts from some of the best aquarists in the country on Reefcentral.  It's like attending a reef fish class at Harvard for free.   So thanks to Reefcentral and the great people who make up that community.  

So I always have a big problem with the "rare" fish definition.   Currently on RC there is thread about 200 new Clarion Angels being available to fish market worldwide.    Prior to this stock there was one other group of Clarions available legally for sale in the world in the past 7-10 years.   Won't go into the reasons for he lack of availability, but will stress that is no because they are "rare" in numbers.  You will always have a person on these forums that say these fish should be left on the reefs because they are "rare".  When in reality they are not "rare" in quantity but rather "rare" to the trade.   Many of the "rare" fish come from deep water, isolated locations, protected waters, etc.  I would much rather see these so called "rare" fish be called "very desireable", or possibly "difficult to obtain"  Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but most so called "rare" fish are just difficult to obtain.  I haven't heard anyone call a Bangai Cardinal "rare".  Now that fish would really fit the definition of rare.   Below are pics of the Clarion Angel.  If you do have the coin for a Clarion, $2000.00  and up be aware they are one of the most hardy angels.  Also, when Clarions reach adulthood they are one of the most territorial and aggressive fish you can keep.  Realize I said fish and not Angel.  Be sure to have a display of at least 220 for an adult Clarion to be able to tolerate other fish in it's territory.  One fish that I have never had the pleasure to keep, but have kept a close cousin the Passer.  A stunning fish.  My big angel dream is still the Conspiculatus, pic below.  Have a great weekend.  T

Pics later...

Bringing Fish Heads Together!!

So after some tough times with a change of jobs,  I have began to feel like things are beginning to settle down.  Though times are very uncertain as we all know.  Since beginning my new job, 2 people have been laid off from a staff of 7.  Thankfully I was not one of them.  My girlfriends firm laid off half their staff.  Thankfully she was not one of them.  I am sure these stories are very common if not the norm no matter where you reside.  Since there is such a bleak outlook with our countries future, why not look at and discuss some of the most beautiful creatures on this earth.  Yes you know, reef fish.  I am going to make a concerted effort to post everyday, and hope others will as well.  So please post questions so we can all learn from each other.  There are no stupid questions, just learning experiences.  My biggest stress reliever is learning about new fish or learning something new about a fish I thought  knew everything about.  I am quickly learning that you never know everything.   So enjoy these pictures of some amazing fish that I am sure you won't see at your local fish store (LFS).  Many of he pics I have in my library came from Japanese blogs and websites.  The Japanese are amazing with the skill, knowledge, and respect they have for marine life.   Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Fish ID's

Pic 1 Gym.  nudivomer

Yellowmouth Moray

Pic 2  

Parapterois heterura

Pic 3

Chaet.  chrysocephalus

Blue Maze Angel

Pic 4

Sacura margaritacea

Must Keep Going

Hello all.  Well had another interview yesterday.  The man who interviewed me was very strange.  After every thing I had said after his very vague questions, his response was that's "very curious".  What on earth does that mean?  I am in a field where my busy "season" just ended, so getting a job will be that much more difficult.  So I may have to suck it up and get any old job to make ends meet.  We will see.  Okay enough about how crappy our economy is and lets talk fish!!!!

Decided to sell a bunch of my fish to make some extra money.  I have some fish that the sale is pending.  I think I have the Tinker's Butterfly, Millaris (yellow tail) moray, and the Dragon Moray.  Selling this Dragon Moray is killing me.  I have wrote about my desire to keep one of these guys.  He is an amazing and fascinating animal.  He's everything I thought the eel would be.  He become very active and soon as the feeding stick hits the water, it's go time.  Truly awesome.  Now when I see him I know the time is limited and won't be able to admire and learn about him for much longer.   Also I have my Crosshatch Trigger and Snowflake moray for sale.   When I set this display of at first I contemplated either doing the tank I have now or going with many more smaller fish.  I wanted to get harems of small wrasses, pygmy angels, Anthias, pairs of basslets,  gobies, blennies, etc.  Everyone basically has what I call the "cookie cutter"  display.  A 180 gallon tank with an angel, tang, butterfly, maybe a trigger, or an eel.  I never see a 180 with 30 fish that only get to 3-4" max.  size.  That would be really great.   That will be my next display when I get all the other crap figured out.  Have a great weekend!!!!  Be safe with those hurricanes!!!!!!!               Tim

Hello all.  I am sure many of you have been hurt because of out lack luster economy.  I felt the wrath myself recently when I got laid off from my job.  This on top of being diagnosed with Lyme disease on the same day.  Talk about a crappy day!!!  Well things are looking up as I believe I found a new job.  Hope all works out this Friday.  When you lose your main source of income, keeping fish or corals becomes very difficult.  As we all know this hobby isn't cheap!!!  Of course I was thinking the worst possible outcome when I lost my job and got diagnosed with Lyme.  I am going to have to sell all my tank and my fish, which I have worked very hard to get.  I am by no means a wealthy person, but some of the fish I keep would make it appear that I have a lot of coin in my pocket.  I just love my fish and that is where I spend my extra money.  So hopefully the new job comes through and the fish will stay.  The fish are my best stress reliever, as am sure is the case for most who get involved in the hobby.  Till then, let Fridays interview be a success.  Regards, Tim

Well I was supposed to get confirmation that my Japanese Dragon moray landed in the states either on the 21st or the 22nd.  I know for the third time have been given a later date for the eel's arrival, the 30th of July.  So looking at some livestock available I came across a fish I always have wanted and may go with this one rather than the ell.  The new fish Is a Wrought Iron Butterfly.  A rare butterfly fish from Japan that is one of the hardiest of all the butterflys.  It also has one of the most unique color patterns, (at least that's what I think).  Here are a few pics of these Japanese beauties.  I'm going to sleep on it and hopefully decide tomorrow.  Is anyone reading this???????????   Is anyone out there??????  Am i talking to myself??????  They say people who talk to themselves are a bit crazy!!!   If you are reading this I am still a bit crazy.  Regards, Tim