Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyclura  OMG you guys what happened? David, did you just have a blowout or what?  |
Naw... just that "life" is getting in the way. I've recently taken a new position (corporate) that has me working 10+ hour days, traveling, etc. The ponies were having babies at the same rate (every 2-3 weeks) and I couldn't keep up with them. More often than not, they were lost, in the display, and therefore caused havock with my water parameters. Eventually, the tank got real "funky" and required vigorous cleanings, at least monthly.
I ended up selling the most active breeding pair. That left me with one male (I had sold another female earlier). The male, my original boy, was with me for 2+ years and was sold to me by a fellow Boston Reefer friend, who had him for at least 1 and 1/2 years. He began to become sluggish, developed a real curve/hump in his back, and began to just break down. I ended up euthanizing him after he spent two days, hitched and just swaying. He'd eat ONLY if food was right in front of him, but didn't expend much energy otherwise. He just got real old.
So, I had the 26, with a blue line pipe fish, a starry blenny (supposed to help with the algae, but doooh.. .they eat
diatom type and not the kind I wanted him to eat) and my mandarin in there. I stripped out the old
Live Rock (to cook it) and replaced it with my cured Marco Rock. I took the chance to add another inch and a half of sand, slowly. I added 3 other
live rock chunks from my
sump and let it sit for a week or so.
A friend of my cousin was breaking down a tank and had a new, small kole tang that he offered me. I took it, knowing that my new, custom 74G would be ready within a month or so. He's in the 26 now, and doing okay. Again, he's only 2 1/2 inches, and will grow fast, but he's okay in there for now. The blenny is up for sale/trade (anyone in the New England area want him). I also got a nice deal on a very young, tank raised pair of false percs who are in the 26.
In the end, all of the fish will go to the 74G, in the same footprint where the 26 Bow is. I'm going to go back to reef, which is much more "doable" with my current schedule.
Again, I continue to read up on sygnathids, and will always love them. I may even have another pony tank in the future, but for now, it's not fair to them if I try to keep them.
Dave
