Tell us your AMAZING hobby related reef experiences

ezcompany · 06/10/2008, 01:24 PM

In late March, my Yasha goby went missing in my Aquapod 12 nano. I checked the floor, the back, everywhere and it was not to be found. I assumed it died and the clean up crew took it up.
Early April I had to move apartments. I took the tank down, and did a thorough search as I broke down the tank for the body. No bones, no nothing.
After temporarily setting up my other tank, I was exhausted and had a grey bin hold corals temporarily. The display had around 1 inch of water in it. Ambient room temp was around 60ish. Water stagnant. 0 circulation. 0 top off. Just a towel placed over the top to prevent any possible smell from die off.
The tank was at this state for all of April. I finally added water to the tank towards the beginning of May.
1 week ago as I was feeding my wrasse, I noticed something white and orange in the false sump area swimming up to the surface for food. yup, it was him.

sean48183 · 06/10/2008, 02:32 PM

Amazing how resilient these fish are. I have a big hermit and snowflake eel that have a fight over food every night. The snowflake actually puts its head in the huge shell and wraps its body around the outside and they go at for the shrimp or whatever. Somewhat annoying because the hermit loses the food most of the time and I am trying to target feed him but interesting to watch. I am going to try to get a video of it to show you guys.

Blazer88 · 06/10/2008, 02:40 PM

I had a clown that jumped into my overflow and I assumed it went missing. I found it in there six months later healthy as could be. I removed my canopy to fish him out and then I donated him to someone else.

hyndu · 06/10/2008, 03:40 PM

I was running a 40g before I set up my current 150, I had 6 blue green chromis, a false zebra eel, a red emperor snapper, lionfish, and a few others.

I set up the 150 around Oct. and have had problem after problem, mostly stupid mistakes or trying to be cheap. I've managed to kill off about 20 fish through my mistakes including a stingray, yellowhead moray, 4 different triggers, naso tang, harlequin tusk, blue spiny lobster, etc.

Somehow though, 1 blue green chromis is still alive in my fuge. I thought about putting him in the main tank to get eaten but I feel like I have to keep him alive at all costs now, he's a soldier... can't kill him no matter how bad I screw up the tank.

Obliduty · 06/10/2008, 04:38 PM

I have a neon goby who went missing, then I moved everything else in his tank cept the rock and sand into my other tank. When I setup my current tank(55gal) i hodge-podged my one tank, 30gal reef, and the one 30gal dead tank(only liverock and sand) - this is the tank the goby was originally in, The crazy part is that when i setup the tank from the 2 old tanks, the tubs he was in were basically killed cause it was so cold 50ish degrees because my house had no heat yet and all my attention was on the up and running 30gal i was transferring. All in all he was missing for 1 1/2 months, in 50-60 degree water for 3 days. and then later dealt with an ich issue(I thought odd for a cleaner goby) which I cured with dips etc. Now hes my favorite and oldest fish(3 years) in a tank full of expensive rarer fish.

seapug · 06/10/2008, 05:03 PM

I had a bicolor blenny in my first nano cube that, unknown to me, swam into the return pipe when I removed the nozzle to clean it. I thought it jumped out or died under a rock and was consumed. 4 months later I remove the nozzle to clean it again and out pops the palest, most sickly looking bicolor blenny you've ever seen. Can't believe it lived that long in a 1/2 vinyl tube.

ReefEnabler · 06/10/2008, 05:46 PM

seapug, thats crazy.... did he make it in the long run??? and wasnt he restricting your flow quite alot being in there?

ezcompany · 06/10/2008, 06:10 PM

seapug.....so the blenny was living in rushing water......in a tube.....for 4 months!???

sanababit · 06/10/2008, 08:14 PM

seapug, incredible, you still have him??

seapug · 06/10/2008, 08:22 PM

the irony is he lived in there for 4 months but died within 24 hours of being back in the tank-- probably from shock. Sad but true.

ReefEnabler · 06/10/2008, 08:33 PM

I can imagine.

it must have been like the matrix where he gets that giant spike pulled out of his spine and then gets flushed down a giant toilet

HumbleLobster · 06/10/2008, 08:38 PM

In the process of moving my tank to a new location about four hours away, I had my little adventure.

My plan was to pull my coral, then the rock, then the fish since I didn't want to chase my six line wrasse through the rockwork. Well, I pull my coral and bag it, no problem. I get a few buckets of tank water for my rock since I didn't want any die off in the journey and place my rock in there. I go and catch my clown and put her in a bag. I go and look into the tank for the wrasse... and nothing else is in the tank but about a quarter of the water and some sand. No wrasse.

Well, I was on a schedule and I couldn't pull everything apart to try and find it. I double checked my tank area and my sand, and still no wrasse.

Well, I get to my destination and put new sand in my tank, made up some water, and popped open my rock buckets. Still nothing besides some rock and zoas. Well, I load my rock into the tank and about 30 seconds later I have my little friend swimming around the murky water as if nothing happened.

Damn wrasse.

apex003 · 06/10/2008, 09:01 PM

It's amazing I'm not dead broke.

SWaquariast · 06/10/2008, 09:25 PM

From just going into my LFS and seeing there amazing reef to setting up my own reef and frogfish aquarium inspired me to be a MARINE BIOLOGIST.

SWaquariast · 06/10/2008, 09:26 PM

still aways away from getting there though but on my way.

ReefEnabler · 06/10/2008, 09:28 PM

wow, awesome!

probably my most amazing reef experience was years and years ago when I was maybe 11 or 12 helping my stepdad with his 50g hex tank. We actually had a pair of orange seahorses spawn and lay the eggs on the male in a pretty mixed reef tank.

Of course they never matured into anything since we didn't have anything close to a breeding setup (free food everybody!), but at the time it felt like a great accomplishment since alot of people we're saying how difficult they were to keep, escpecially in a mixed reef with some very weird fish (dont even remember them all, but one was a boxfish).

ezcompany · 06/26/2008, 12:46 PM

bump for more stories!

espocrespo · 06/26/2008, 01:17 PM

When transferring my stock from my 42 to 55, i caught all the fish and moved 80% percent of the rock, the rock going straight in the 55 and the fish were acclimatizing in a bucket, when i look to check my fish i notice i hadn't caught my green clown goby, and the rest of the rock had already been moved, looked in my 42 full of just sand and a few inches of water, not there, check everywhere around my tank, didn't jump, looked in my nets just incase he got stuck in one, not there.

Then when all the fish were acclimatized and put in the tank i sat watching the tank for a bit then i went to watch TV come back an hour later and my little green clown goby was swimming round at the front of my 55, hmmmm do we really need acclimatization......

Yes

06/10/2008, 01:24 PM	#1
ezcompany Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 4,640	Tell us your AMAZING hobby related reef experiences In late March, my Yasha goby went missing in my Aquapod 12 nano. I checked the floor, the back, everywhere and it was not to be found. I assumed it died and the clean up crew took it up. Early April I had to move apartments. I took the tank down, and did a thorough search as I broke down the tank for the body. No bones, no nothing. After temporarily setting up my other tank, I was exhausted and had a grey bin hold corals temporarily. The display had around 1 inch of water in it. Ambient room temp was around 60ish. Water stagnant. 0 circulation. 0 top off. Just a towel placed over the top to prevent any possible smell from die off. The tank was at this state for all of April. I finally added water to the tank towards the beginning of May. 1 week ago as I was feeding my wrasse, I noticed something white and orange in the false sump area swimming up to the surface for food. yup, it was him. __________________ Jin Have a nice day! Current Tank Info: IM40

06/10/2008, 04:38 PM	#5
Obliduty Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Fairfax, VA Posts: 30	I have a neon goby who went missing, then I moved everything else in his tank cept the rock and sand into my other tank. When I setup my current tank(55gal) i hodge-podged my one tank, 30gal reef, and the one 30gal dead tank(only liverock and sand) - this is the tank the goby was originally in, The crazy part is that when i setup the tank from the 2 old tanks, the tubs he was in were basically killed cause it was so cold 50ish degrees because my house had no heat yet and all my attention was on the up and running 30gal i was transferring. All in all he was missing for 1 1/2 months, in 50-60 degree water for 3 days. and then later dealt with an ich issue(I thought odd for a cleaner goby) which I cured with dips etc. Now hes my favorite and oldest fish(3 years) in a tank full of expensive rarer fish. __________________ Save the Cheerleader, Save the World Current Tank Info: 90g "bar" community tank with EBJackDemp as king, 55g reef tank next to bed. 30g aggressive fowlr being setup.

06/10/2008, 05:03 PM	#6
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	I had a bicolor blenny in my first nano cube that, unknown to me, swam into the return pipe when I removed the nozzle to clean it. I thought it jumped out or died under a rock and was consumed. 4 months later I remove the nozzle to clean it again and out pops the palest, most sickly looking bicolor blenny you've ever seen. Can't believe it lived that long in a 1/2 vinyl tube. __________________ insert clever saying here. Current Tank Info: 200 gallon custom Marineland DD peninsular tank. LPS dominated mixed reef. Previous 90 gallon mixed reef TOTM April 2009.

06/10/2008, 05:46 PM	#7
ReefEnabler Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 3,760	seapug, thats crazy.... did he make it in the long run??? and wasnt he restricting your flow quite alot being in there? __________________ - Ryan B "that is enough skimmate to ruin lives." - GSMguy Current Tank Info: 220g Display, 70g sump, 35g frag, 50g fuge, 2x250w MH, 1x400w MH, 2x80w T5, 2x140w VHO Actinic

06/10/2008, 06:10 PM	#8
ezcompany Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 4,640	seapug.....so the blenny was living in rushing water......in a tube.....for 4 months!??? __________________ Jin Have a nice day! Current Tank Info: IM40

06/10/2008, 02:32 PM	#2
sean48183 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: michigan Posts: 1,577	Amazing how resilient these fish are. I have a big hermit and snowflake eel that have a fight over food every night. The snowflake actually puts its head in the huge shell and wraps its body around the outside and they go at for the shrimp or whatever. Somewhat annoying because the hermit loses the food most of the time and I am trying to target feed him but interesting to watch. I am going to try to get a video of it to show you guys.

06/10/2008, 02:40 PM	#3
Blazer88 Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 2,415	I had a clown that jumped into my overflow and I assumed it went missing. I found it in there six months later healthy as could be. I removed my canopy to fish him out and then I donated him to someone else.

06/10/2008, 03:40 PM	#4
hyndu Moved On Join Date: May 2007 Location: G-ville, FL Posts: 70	I was running a 40g before I set up my current 150, I had 6 blue green chromis, a false zebra eel, a red emperor snapper, lionfish, and a few others. I set up the 150 around Oct. and have had problem after problem, mostly stupid mistakes or trying to be cheap. I've managed to kill off about 20 fish through my mistakes including a stingray, yellowhead moray, 4 different triggers, naso tang, harlequin tusk, blue spiny lobster, etc. Somehow though, 1 blue green chromis is still alive in my fuge. I thought about putting him in the main tank to get eaten but I feel like I have to keep him alive at all costs now, he's a soldier... can't kill him no matter how bad I screw up the tank.

06/10/2008, 08:14 PM	#9
sanababit Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Uranus Posts: 3,094	seapug, incredible, you still have him?? __________________ Senior Member of the "Hardly any Water Changes, Temp Swinging, T5ing, No Qtining, Frag Exchanging for Fish Food Current Tank Info: 90RR inwall, Octopuss Skimmer, 2 MP40 wQD, 1 MP10 WQD, 2 Radions G4 Pro, Apex Doser, Apex Controller, 400w heater, 30 Gal Sump, Biopellets, Carbon, Gfo, Macroalgae

06/10/2008, 08:22 PM	#10
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	the irony is he lived in there for 4 months but died within 24 hours of being back in the tank-- probably from shock. Sad but true. __________________ insert clever saying here. Current Tank Info: 200 gallon custom Marineland DD peninsular tank. LPS dominated mixed reef. Previous 90 gallon mixed reef TOTM April 2009.

06/10/2008, 08:33 PM	#11
ReefEnabler Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 3,760	I can imagine. it must have been like the matrix where he gets that giant spike pulled out of his spine and then gets flushed down a giant toilet __________________ - Ryan B "that is enough skimmate to ruin lives." - GSMguy Current Tank Info: 220g Display, 70g sump, 35g frag, 50g fuge, 2x250w MH, 1x400w MH, 2x80w T5, 2x140w VHO Actinic

06/10/2008, 08:38 PM	#12
HumbleLobster Should be Quarantined Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Tucson Posts: 432	In the process of moving my tank to a new location about four hours away, I had my little adventure. My plan was to pull my coral, then the rock, then the fish since I didn't want to chase my six line wrasse through the rockwork. Well, I pull my coral and bag it, no problem. I get a few buckets of tank water for my rock since I didn't want any die off in the journey and place my rock in there. I go and catch my clown and put her in a bag. I go and look into the tank for the wrasse... and nothing else is in the tank but about a quarter of the water and some sand. No wrasse. Well, I was on a schedule and I couldn't pull everything apart to try and find it. I double checked my tank area and my sand, and still no wrasse. Well, I get to my destination and put new sand in my tank, made up some water, and popped open my rock buckets. Still nothing besides some rock and zoas. Well, I load my rock into the tank and about 30 seconds later I have my little friend swimming around the murky water as if nothing happened. Damn wrasse.

06/10/2008, 09:01 PM	#13
apex003 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Dublin, CA Posts: 495	It's amazing I'm not dead broke.

06/10/2008, 09:25 PM	#14
SWaquariast Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: USA Posts: 745	From just going into my LFS and seeing there amazing reef to setting up my own reef and frogfish aquarium inspired me to be a MARINE BIOLOGIST. __________________ Mitch Current Tank Info: 20g Mixed reef aquarium.

06/10/2008, 09:26 PM	#15
SWaquariast Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: USA Posts: 745	still aways away from getting there though but on my way. __________________ Mitch Current Tank Info: 20g Mixed reef aquarium.

06/10/2008, 09:28 PM	#16
ReefEnabler Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 3,760	wow, awesome! probably my most amazing reef experience was years and years ago when I was maybe 11 or 12 helping my stepdad with his 50g hex tank. We actually had a pair of orange seahorses spawn and lay the eggs on the male in a pretty mixed reef tank. Of course they never matured into anything since we didn't have anything close to a breeding setup (free food everybody!), but at the time it felt like a great accomplishment since alot of people we're saying how difficult they were to keep, escpecially in a mixed reef with some very weird fish (dont even remember them all, but one was a boxfish). __________________ - Ryan B "that is enough skimmate to ruin lives." - GSMguy Current Tank Info: 220g Display, 70g sump, 35g frag, 50g fuge, 2x250w MH, 1x400w MH, 2x80w T5, 2x140w VHO Actinic

06/26/2008, 12:46 PM	#17
ezcompany Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 4,640	bump for more stories! __________________ Jin Have a nice day! Current Tank Info: IM40

06/26/2008, 01:17 PM	#18
espocrespo Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: England Posts: 647	Green Clown Goby When transferring my stock from my 42 to 55, i caught all the fish and moved 80% percent of the rock, the rock going straight in the 55 and the fish were acclimatizing in a bucket, when i look to check my fish i notice i hadn't caught my green clown goby, and the rest of the rock had already been moved, looked in my 42 full of just sand and a few inches of water, not there, check everywhere around my tank, didn't jump, looked in my nets just incase he got stuck in one, not there. Then when all the fish were acclimatized and put in the tank i sat watching the tank for a bit then i went to watch TV come back an hour later and my little green clown goby was swimming round at the front of my 55, hmmmm do we really need acclimatization...... Yes