copps

I stopped by with Chris (143gadgets) and picked up some stuff and WOW! These Aussie corals are off the charts! The pics will speak for themselves I'm sure...

Looks great Dan, but what a horrible choice in species of fish... You're crazy! (I mean that as a reefer's compliment of course) John

While this would be possible under the right circumstances, have you thought about doing a pair or trio of cherub angels? Cherubs are part of a complex within Centropyge known as the dwarf dwarf angels sometimes... I helped Rebecca (Bemmer) add a group of five of these to her large system and she loves to see the natural interactions... Problems arise in mixing angels many times when a "new" fish that is straight from the LFS is added to a system with an already established fat and happy angelfish... The new fish is typically weak and unaccostomed to captive life, after going through typically weeks of transport with little to no feeding. In it's weakened state the new addition usually is either killed outright or as a result of a disease brought on by stress. Much of the "don't mix angels" misinfomation being spread is outdated and a result of this. Many people think the sole reason for quarantine is to keep foreign disease out of our tanks, but one of the most beneficial I have always seen is to be able to prepare new additions for the stress of life in our tanks. Being the new kid on the block in our aquariums is a very stressful undertaking for any fish, but ones that are properly adapted to feeding and captive life and disease free stand a much better chance. For some touchier species it's near vital to success. Also, after the new fish is conditioned, allowing the new fish to be seen but not touched for a few days can help save them from that initial onslaught of aggression. Dim lights for a few days will benefit the process too... Properly done, mixing of angels can de done. Pairs will also form between species. I actually have a lemonpeel that is one of just a dozen or so ever captive raised, and it came paired with a coral beauty from the breeder! My most famous interspecies pair is between Centropyge resplendens and Centropyge fisheri, found oceans apart but VERY closely related and successfully spawned in captivity. Is this a reef system?

Give it to me then English Richie and we'll see... And Chris... stop backing up your wife there... does having a bunch of red flagged and out-dated aquarium books make me that? :wink: Seriously there is information and adult photos of schools of this variant... many of the "bland" striatus show up small and not with these colors... so there is no reason to think it won't keep the colors... Who knows though? Either way it's a cool, different tang that is relatively inexpensive, and better yet it's a Ctenochaetus which adapt well and don't have much in the way of cool different species beyond the chevron and tomini... Now this is a cool Ctenochaetus image I found a while back...

Rik, there are many variations of C. striatus and this one will hold its color through adulthood... I've got adult photos in one of my gazillion books...

You're welcome to come by my place too Ric, although I'm out in Leesburg... John

Hey Ric, I actually use a 15 gallon high (20"x10"x18" high) underneath one of my two and it just fis in with access to the sump. The 15 gallon high has the same footprint as a standard 10 gallon... and while not a widely available size it is available at stores that carry a large inventory of aquariums. This thread profiles some of the things I have in my 54s here... Hope that helps! John

My supermale Cirrhilabrus rhomboidalis or rhomboid fairy wrasse... Nikon Coolpix 7900 with nothing special...

That image had always reminded me of something... I couldn't recall until now...

Oh man... Ouch! That's because I'm ordering them! If it wasn't for that the only rare fish we'd see would be outside in the ponds! Looking great Johnny by the way! You could get ANY rare saltwater fish still for a fraction of the best koi anyway! Copps

Thanks Dave... but nature made the fish, no me... I'm just a reefkeeper like all of us trying to do what Mother Nature does effortlessly...

Hey Raf, locally John at Blue Ribbon Koi has brought in a few and has connections to the only regular source of them out in Hawaii. These are collected with rebreathers at about 200 feet in deep water, and are rare even at that depth. The major populations of them are much below that between about 300 and 500 feet and the ones collected at 200 feet are just wanderers up from the deep. If you do travel to Kauai or Niihau, the two most northwest islands in the main Hawaiian Islands, you could see them at standard scuba depths, and very rarely even at snorkelling depths. Last October I dove Niihau and photographed a bunch of these guys while getting reprimanded by the divemaster banging on her tank as I was at about 130 feet snapping away... Here's some wild shots I took of them... Keep in mind that these are often tough to get to adapt and require experienced care... and the price for specimens in the 4" to 6" range is around $450... smaller specimens go for more... It's very risky going that deep even with a rebreather and to properly decompress these fish from that depth requires alot of work... Over 90% of collected specimens go to Asia... Here's a shot of one recently from Blue Ribbon... A very striking fish for though!

Blah blah blah thanks Howard! If I don't share them with you guys who do I? God knows my wife doesn't care! By the way Howard, not only are those gobies in stock at Liveaquaria, they're also on sale... linky Dan, man don't jinx it!

Nice shots everyone! The truth is all of our fish are our favorites, as we select them from so many... I have so many, and I could fill the page with just angelfish... but if I had to choose one, of course as it has been for years I'd say my regal angels... this shot is an oldie but a goodie... Another personal favorite of mine is my hawaiian bandit angel... With tangs I've always loved Zebrasoma species, in particular my black tangs... a striking fish in that it's jet black... photo credit of 143gadgets As far as wrasses, a more recent addition a few months ago was a trio of rhomboid wrasses which are one of my favorites... here's the supermale... I've also always loved anthias, and these red stripes have really worked out well and are in the diehard category if the were decompressed well during collection from their deep habitat... As for butterflies, my pyramids have done well for years and are as reef safe as any other butterfly... Lastly, my most priceless and irreplaceable fish is my resplendens angel... I could go on with many more but that's a good summary here's a shot showing him with the two rhomboid females...

Hey Lee thanks very much! I couldn't agree more... have you seen my signature on RC?

Nice! They're reproducing so well at their facility that the price is nice and low! That fish has got to get huge also...

Thanks guys! I didn't even know this contest had existed or who nominated or voted for me... but it was a nice surprise Rebecca, the nice thing about this one is that I could put a monetary value on it for the wife's sake... Raf, go for it bud! You didn't need to ask, but thanks anyway! I'm layed back when it comes to this... except for when years ago I found a major German retail site with the pic of one of my regal angels spread across their home page and they never asked... I would have let them do it if they had just asked... The guy felt so bad he sent me a skimmer from Germany (but too bad it wasn't a Deltec )...

Yeah that is true... sometimes in one day... Okay, I'll stop the inside jokes now and go artificially bring up the number of views without responding just to spite you buddy... Happy Friday all Seriously, come on out to this! Daphne was the clownfish lady who spoke a couple of years ago for WAMAS all decked out in her clownfish apparel, and talked about the "Truth Behind Nemo"

This coming from a guy who went on a weekend bender and missed mine and Julian Sprung's talk from this very club... In all seriousness I hope to be there...

Actinics are absolutely not necessary... however, with only a 6500k bulb you will lose alot of certain color pigments. If you are not concerned about heat output (ie this is hooked up to a larger system and the bulb will be run overnight), you could pin the pendant very close to the water surface with a higher kelvin bulb and still get high PAR to grow your frags at a good rate with good color... I am a 10k with actinics man on my large sps display, but my frag system has unsupplemented 20k bulbs because I don't have actinics and the 6 foot frag tank is shallow... To answer your question simply, actinics are not necessary, but you state you don't want your corals to loose color... so they will be necessary unless you go with a higher kelvin bulb...

Hey guys... looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow. For anyone who needs my address and phone just PM me and I'll shoot it out. Also remember that each of the three houses will have directions to each of the three houses. I look forward to it! John

Not a peppermint... but I'll give you another guess (hint: it was the fish I'd love to have I talked about at the end... the species that was my "hook" for years...)...

Thanks bud... it's all relative... I've seen old frat buddies blow what I spend on some of my angelfish in one weekend in Vegas or on a weekend at the bars... If you keep some of these angels well they could live over 25 years. The enjoyment I get from them more than makes up for the price, although don't get me wrong even I have limits on what I'd spend and most are way out of my range. We all know being a young adult with a family living in Northern Virginia is not cheap, so it makes me appreciate them that much more... Thanks again all... it really was a pleasure to have people enjoy what I had to say. I've had much of that info stuck in my head for years and it was nice to share it. If anyone ever has any questions feel free to PM me. John

Thanks to all who came out! Also as always thanks to officers who work so hard to make the club run... in particular Howard who worked so hard working the door alone he missed my talk. He's handles all the membership and is a victim of the success and growth of WAMAS! Nice to see so many new members...