I know. He wasn't too chubby to begin with though. I haven't seen him eat anything yet. I fed the 20L pretty frequently with mysis, but I never saw him take it. He spent all of his time hiding in the rocks. I'm hoping that he's now in a tank with another fish, he might come out more often.

Any suggestions?

frozen cyclopeeze, or if you can find it, regular rod's food. my fish freakin' love rod's food. baby brine shrimp (frozen, or fresh hatched if you're adventurous) is also a good way to get finicky eaters to eat. they nom that fresh hatched bbs like no tomorrow.

The rod's site says phishy's carries it.

Yeah, PB's does carry Rod's. They've got 6oz of Original Blend for $20. How's that, price wise? I think with the RCG, it's more of an issue of getting him to come out from hiding. Will the Rod's work to entice him out?

my 6 oz. bag of rods has lasted me going on 6 months at this point. it's really concentrated. and it definitely feeds the whole tank in one shot. i haven't seen anything in my tank that didn't go for some rod's right off the bat. it's a quality mixture of stuff.

price-wise, that sounds about right. i'd get it.

Hope all went well on the exam T

Oh, good luck with the , um, negotiations.

Sounds good to me! Hopefully the little fella will go for it. Really, I'm thinking the big difference might be that he now has a tank mate to make him feel comfortable.



Hi Richie!



Thanks Richie. I hate waiting.



It sounds like I'll need it. I got an email from her today saying that she lost her cell phone at a conference. That's going to make communication a bit difficult until she finds/replaces it. The good things never are easy, are they?

Ok, rather nerdish, but I just got back from my belated bday dinner with my folks, and one of the things they got for me is a three volume set Dante's Divine Comedy that is in great shape (other than a bit of discoloration on one volume from age). It's got the original italian across the page from the translation. I also got a few other antique books, but that set is by far the coolest!

Awesome! I love old books. I have a first edition Gone with the Wind and a Shakespear set from the mid 1800s. Nothing as old sounding as your Dante.

I have a Mad magazine from like..I dunno... 1973 mebe

Think its in the attic somewhere

Well, this Dante isn't as old as it sounds. I do, however, have a copy of the Illiad from the 1890's with gold-lined pages, a 1903 Merchant of Venise and a 1915 Julius Caesar, an early 1900s Peter Pan, an 1898 Paradise Lost, and quite a few others from that period. My oldest books date back to the 1840's. The old book in the best shape is my 1870 first edition, calf leather business law text. It's funny, because it talks about the limited circumstances in which women could own property.

Your Shakespeare set sounds rather nice!



I saw a bunch of those today at the antique store! Pretty cool stuff. Collecting old stuff like this isn't for everyone though. And it's OK.

Still no sighting of the RCG, but I've been broadcast feeding with the return pump turned off. I'm hoping he's snagged a piece or two of mysis in each one. My starry has been occasionally disappearing as well, so I'm guessing he's investigating or keeping the RCG company. In other news, I think I'm going to run to PB's to get some Rod's food today, to further entice the RCG. It will also come in handy for what I'm planning later this week. The vet wants to go with me to the LFS, and I figure that it would be a good time to pick up the chalk bass.

The question is becoming: a pair or a trio? I'm leaning for a trio, since it would end up being about the same amount of money as a pair would have been with shipping from LA.

Never mind.... I finally found some resources, and apparently keeping a pair in less than 50 gallons can be a mistake, even when the bass are added together.

No matter, I'm still bound and determined to get one. That just means I'll have to consider other fish for my stocking list.

Rod's Food - Check (in all of its stinky glory)

New fish - Check (Chalk Bass!!)

Here he is, floating in the 20L, his home for the QT:


These guys are jumpers, are they? My 20L is pretty much an open top tank.

I have seen mine bounce off the mesh top a number (read large number) of times. Think about bass in the lake. They jump just like that. Better get something on top, especially at feeding time.

Well, it sounds like I'll be needing to finally build a canopy for the 29g before the bass comes out of QT. I don't want to go through the hassle of building a canopy for the 20L prop tank, so what would you recommend? The ghetto fab in me is wanting to build a 6" tall rim of doubled up (staggered) eggcrate, maybe with some saran wrap around the outside. Think that would do the trick?

Hm... that's a nice top you've got there! That might be what I end up going with on the 20L. My only problem is that I have plans for tonight, and a trip to Lowes or HD isn't part of them. I would have time to try to find some netting for tomorrow, so do ya'll think it would be OK to let him in an open top tank for the day/ night or should I start putting together something from already available materials now?

You gotta ask yourself...........
How would the vet feel if you did nothing and the poor little fishey became jerky?
"..........Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk? "

Yeah, I guess that's one way of looking at it. How much hang time for these guys are we talking? Just cresting the water shark style, or are we talking Flipper? Will 6" of rim do the trick?

I am talking using the mesh top as a trampoline.

Oh boy.... so more killer whale then? In that case, I think I'll make the rim into more of a cage. Ok, time to start ghetto fabricating!

Ghetto Fab Construction strikes again!!

Good GOD Ty its just a fish not an Gator. Your tank looks like the outside fience of Jurassic Park.

lol @ ^

Hmm did the same person do your tank that did this car?

Haha! That's awesome. In othe news, rodsfood smells horrible, lol.

Well, I was told this guy was something between a humpback whale and a killer whale. In case you hadn't heard, killer whales have been living up to their name. So with this guy, I'm taking no chances! I might even add electricity to this fence. Or maybe razor wire...



Nope, different guy. The corners on mine actually meet.



Truth in advertising! The guy from Phishy's had a good suggestion to prevent my hands from smelling like fish every time I feed. He said to break off a big chunk (like a quarter of the container) and put it into a ziplock bag. Then, smash the piece in the ziploc into smaller pieces. At feeding time, just open the bag, and push a piece out through the plastic.

Feeding Rod's Food;

Open ziplock
Cut pc. off of block with a knife
Put pc. into glass
Take water from tank with turkey baster
Put water in glass with Rod's Food
Mix with end of turkey baster until food thawed and suspended in water
Take an amount out with turkey baster and put in display tank.
Wait until fish eat that amount
Continue with the above until fish are fed and food is gone.

NO MORE SMELLY FINGERS!

Well not from Rod's food anyway.

I've also heard that tossing Rod's Food in while still frozen can be fun, because it stirs up more of a feeding frenzy, especially with fish like basslets. It will get more fish higher into the water column to feed, which also allows for more food to safely make its way down to the corals.

I hear this works well with sharks too as seen on the Discovery Channel 5 bagazilion times.

lol, this is my exact method to a tee. I use the knife to transfer the food to the glass.

Haha I can see the new slogan now: "Rod's Food - The Chum of the Reef World"



Adding a knife into the mix sounds like too much effort. I still can't believe the smell.

So that is what my stepfather was feeding the fish when the baracuda attacked his fingers.... LOL...

Yall ever heard of Nitrile gloves? Just a thought.

That's gotta be one helluva story!



That would also involve more effort. I'm more of the "oh shoot, I should feed the tank" type person. That's why my baggy-containing-frozen-chunks-of-Rod's-Food plan works so well for me.

Lazy wanna-b lawyer
Just do what I do. Get the local wetard to do it.

My motto is work smarter, not harder.


Well, that's one of my mottos, anyways.



Unfortunately, I don't have access to any of those at my place. Although, when the vet's around, I'm sure she'd love to do it.

Yeah.. I laughed when they told me.. laughed more when I saw the video.

Here .. you can watch too.

dayum. whitie crapped his BVD's

My thoughts exactly. That cuda was waiting for the perfect moment..... wait for it.... wait for it.......... NOW!

Now that the chalk bass is at my house in QT, I need to start thinking about what fish I want next. I really want to get a pair of something. Sadly, the only inexpensive fish to pair in my 29g that comes to mind are clownfish. Any other suggestions?

Green banded goby.

I've already got a red clown goby, so that could be a nice christmas theme. For some reason, I was thinking gobies shouldn't be kept together with other gobies.

I was just checking at LA, and apparently it's just the clown gobies that will fight other of its own kind "in smaller aquarium systems." What a nice and vague statement. Is 15g "smaller" for a 10g rated fish? How about a 29g? Thanks LA!

I don't think you would have a problem with a pair of green banded and your clown though.

Remember C'est Ma's tank with the pair she had pooping out babies every other day it seemed?

I think you're right. Plus, I've got plenty of hiding places in the tank. I might get a pair of these from LA with the first paycheck from my new position.




That would be awesome! Did she ever manage to raise the babies? I think all of that was before my time.

No I think she just let them all be food.

http://www.nano-reef.com/featured/?tank=9

I suppose that with a chalk bass, that could end up being the case in my tank as well.

Ok, I think those photos seal the deal! They are look so cool, and rather active! That's what I really want out of the pair. The chalk bass should be a real cruiser, and it sounds like the green bandeds are rather active as well.

INTERVENTION NEEDED!!!!





Here's the situation:

I recently found out that (apparently) one of my brothers wants to come live with me for a school year. I have two open bedrooms (one is an office, and one too small for an adult to realistically live in). The trouble with him staying on the futon in the office is that the office is the home of the 20L, and it's a bit loud for sleeping.

Recently, on the local reef forum, a few larger tanks have been coming up for sale. It got me thinking. Then, I realized that I've got an area along a dining room wall, where a tank of 36 or possibly 48" in length could reside. I started contemplating what I'd need for such a large tank. I've already got the return pump, the 20L could serve as a sump. I've got the heater, and most of the circulation needs. The only thing other than the tank and stand I'd need would be the lighting. With the size and equipment, I think I could do a tank anywhere between 55 and 90 gallons, with 70+ being preferred (if I have a big tank, damn it, I want a tang!)

So, I need the crew of the Barrel to talk me out of this!!!!


It could be made even more difficult to resist the urge if I get the monthly paycheck I think I'm going to get. I'm supposed to work out my pay with the boss Monday or Tuesday.

i say if you've got the cash, why not? but if you're going to do it, do it right. not some jankity crappy setup thrown together. if you can't afford to go big, then go home, imo.