1st additions to tank

[zoalover34]

lastnight i made a hr and a half drive to a pet store to get some 50/50 bulbs and have a look around.. wasn't planing to get a fish just yet but i did.. picked up a Coral Beauty.. very very bright in color! it was only 19.99 also.. i got a pepermint shirmp as well.. when i got home the shrimp was totally clear i thought he gave me the wrong shrimp b/c i didn't look at it when he put it in the bag but this morning it was back to normal lol.. when i found him this morning he was stuck on the penguine powerhead.. thought he was dead but he wasn't.. maybe just eating some of the alge that was on it? i acclamited the fish for an hr and put him/her in the tank.. for the first few hrs it just hid im sure b/c of the trip and everything.. i fed it this morning and she was swimming all over the tank in and out of the rock caves and tunnels i made.. tried to get a pic but my batteries died and its really hard to get a pic of a fish! lol .. im gettin a good digital this weekend hopefully.. i did notice the fish pickin at the rocks quite a bit.. is this normal for them? also on the coral's how can u tell if they are male/female? ill try and get a pic up when i get a real camera.. it was by far the best lookin CB they had in the store.. anyways just thought i would share

 

[silver dollars]

Congrats on the fish (or whetever it was, lol) and the shrimp. Can't wait for pics!!

 

[cinlnk]

Hey Jim,
Good choice with the Coral Beauty Angel.... I have one also.. they are an Algae Eating Critter, so picking the LR is normal. I am not to sure on how to sex them... I just call mine a she. I have had her for about 3 months now. She just lollygags around the Tank. She is just about the nicest little fish in there. Every once in awhile, she will chase my yellow tailed damsel into his hidey hole. Other then that, she is a great tank mate for my lil Cube. *SUNSMILE*
Cant wait to see some pics of yours.

 

[zoalover34]

sorry for the bad pic! its the best i could do lol.. just click on the pic for larger view.. thanks!

 

[FishGeek]

Very Nice Find!!!! Has nice coloring.

 

[zoalover34]

thanks! got another pic of her up.. just gonna call it a her since i can't tell lol

 

[cinlnk]

She is a pretty one.... She has alot more orange on her than mine..... Mine has alot of deep purple...Anyways ...looks like ya got a healthy one at that !*thumbsups

 

[OCCFan023]

very vibrant colors on the coral beauty, very nice addition to the tank. Just be sure to offer some leafy foods to to thim. Mine would devour algae sheets and then what was left was behind was taken by the cleaner shrimp..

Got any pictures of the peppermint?

 

[wayne]

She probably is a her, but will inevitably turn to a male, but they are tough to sex. They hang around in protohermaphrofitic harems in the wild of one male, many females, if the male dies, one of the females becomes a new male over a period of a few weeks. I have a pair of a very similar species I got by getting two certain , very small females and leaving them to sort it out
They are very heavy rock pickers, feeding on algae and microcritters.

 

[zoalover34]

R.I.P. the peppermint.. i don't know what happened to him. i left and he was hanging around on the rock. came home to find him all curled up and not moving.. the lights were on the whole time i was gone.. i don't have any crabs or anything? when i first put him in he hid and when i woke up in the morning he was on the bottom of the penguine PH where it pulls water up to blow out.. maybe he wasn't healthy? the only other thing i can think of is i used some Joe's juice the other day and maybe he ate some off the apista that didn't die and that did him in? sucks that he only made it a day! i guess everyone has stuff die when they are new.. at least it was only 6 bucks .

 

[wayne]

You sure it isn't just a moult? This often happens after water changes, or being moved to a tank with largely new water.

To be snobby, I tried not to have anything die when I started te tank in the sticky, and of the original 4 inhabitants (big hermit, shrimp, clown, wrasse), only the crab has now died. You don't need to lose stock early on.

I suspect your clown issues come from buying dodgy stock - true percs and common clowns are so often and so commonly available that like guppies and some other freshwater fish the quality of these reputedly hardy fish has skidded. My advice is if you want clowns go for something a little bit different like tomatoes or clarkiis as they seem to be much more robust.

 

[zoalover34]

i never had any clowns wayne. u are thinking of Joe fish.. anyways i know it wasn't a molt b/c i don't see him anywhere else in the thank unless he is a really good hider.. that's great that u didn't have much livestock loss when u first started.. i have only lost a shrimp so far.. don't think that coun'ts as alot...