The trials and tribulations of fish:
I’m quite fond of my fish and some have come and gone. I’ve lost a couple to age and Ernie my Melanurus wrasse I have had since the beginning is on his last leg and looks to be nearly blind with what looks like cataracts. Overall pretty good luck other than the unfortunate jumpers and the angel purge. Wrasses are just too resourceful when it comes to getting out of the tank. My tank top is sealed pretty tight and it doesn’t happen often. Just recently my pintail wrasse (arrggh) managed to hit the little hole for my Apex feeder in the back of the tank. Looks like he came out there flopped across the top of the tank and landed in front of the tank where I found him days later petrified. I periodically get one in the overflow, which is difficult, and have to go to some effort to get them out. Recently my red velvet did that but managed, in a first, to get all the way to the sump in a filter sock. Just by chance I found him when changing socks. Just imagine my surprise when I emptied the sock in a bucket, and he flopped out. He was pretty beat up and looked like he had gotten a mouth full of bristle worms (I have the nasty little red ones) but alive and well today. My cleaner I have had forever jumped out and into my hand once when working on the tank. Wrasses are truly a favorite but truly a pain. I think the more they cost the better they jump.
The only real unexplained catastrophe was the angel purge. While everyone else in the tank remained ok every single angel in the tank died over a period of maybe a week. That was painful with a flame, flame back, multicolor, coral beauty, orange peel, potters, bicolor all gone in one fell swoop and none had any outward sign of sickness. The only plus was I got rid of the tank monster the coral beauty. I have replaced the flame, flame back, bicolor and multicolor. Had a potters that didn’t make it and the orange peel is hard to find. Overall they coexist quite well.
I’m down to no anthias. Last I had 3 female and 1 male tierra’s that slowly got picked off by something. Never quite figured that out but suspected a large serpent star.
One of my original pair of true perculas is still alive and when I got a “pair” of black snowflakes the percula and one of the blacks hooked up and shunned the other. They are truly in heaven considering my tank is overrun with RBTA’s (100+) but that’s another issue to be dealt with.
What I have today is
Angels: flame, african flame back, bicolor and multicolor
Clowns: true percula, 2x black snowflake
Tangs: Purple, Powder blue
Wrasses: cleaner, six line, red velvet wrasse, lubbocks multicolor, melanurus, yellow coris
Misc: Purple pseudo, royal gramma, harlequin bass.
One of these days I will get another potters angel and some more anthias. Most people shun harlequins but he is one of the coolest fish in the tank who leaves everyone and everything alone. Only about 4” but maybe one day as he gets to large or eats anyone, I will have to adopt him out.
