ca1ore
10K Club member
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
CTARS Member
Article Contributor
R2R TV Featured
I'm a fish nut. I like the corals and all, but the fish are where it's at for me. Killed my fair share I suppose, but have had successes with a number of 'expert only' fish like leopard wrasses, cleaner wrasse, mandarins, Achilles tang, magnifica anemone (oops, that's not a fish) ..... but there is one that has eluded me .....
Did I say I'm a fish nut ..... OK, yes I did ..... but I'm really a pseudoanthias nut. Been keeping them since most folks currently in the hobby were in diapers (1988). Well, maybe not most .... but a good number. Lots of swimming room, flow and frequent feedings and many species are easy - lyretails, bartletts, bimacs, squares, dispars, resplendents, just to name a few I've kept without much trouble. Then there's the next rung .... princess, evansi, flavos ..... not so easy, but doable if you have the patience and commitment. But then there's my ultimate fish, the Tuka/Purple Queen (my holy grail fish is the ventralis, but too pricey for my blood). Haven't had much success the couple of time I had tried; and didn't know anyone who had. But times change, with better husbandry techniques and a wider array of foods available; and while I'm conflicted about whether these beauties should just not be collected at all, I'm a fish nut, which means a general lack of will power.
Is there a point to all this, you may well be asking yourself (assuming you bothered to open this post in the first place)?
Indeed, there is a point. I'm trying my hand at the Tuka again - and for the first time in over a decade. Landed a really nice looking quintet of females. They will spend a protracted period in QT until they are all eating a least a small range of frozen foods. Got them to take nutramr ova after a couple of days, and ocean plankton after a few more. Male evansi plays the role of 'dither fish'
QT lights are still not fully up, but it really is a stunning fish
Did I say I'm a fish nut ..... OK, yes I did ..... but I'm really a pseudoanthias nut. Been keeping them since most folks currently in the hobby were in diapers (1988). Well, maybe not most .... but a good number. Lots of swimming room, flow and frequent feedings and many species are easy - lyretails, bartletts, bimacs, squares, dispars, resplendents, just to name a few I've kept without much trouble. Then there's the next rung .... princess, evansi, flavos ..... not so easy, but doable if you have the patience and commitment. But then there's my ultimate fish, the Tuka/Purple Queen (my holy grail fish is the ventralis, but too pricey for my blood). Haven't had much success the couple of time I had tried; and didn't know anyone who had. But times change, with better husbandry techniques and a wider array of foods available; and while I'm conflicted about whether these beauties should just not be collected at all, I'm a fish nut, which means a general lack of will power.
Is there a point to all this, you may well be asking yourself (assuming you bothered to open this post in the first place)?
Indeed, there is a point. I'm trying my hand at the Tuka again - and for the first time in over a decade. Landed a really nice looking quintet of females. They will spend a protracted period in QT until they are all eating a least a small range of frozen foods. Got them to take nutramr ova after a couple of days, and ocean plankton after a few more. Male evansi plays the role of 'dither fish'
QT lights are still not fully up, but it really is a stunning fish
