Hoobahans Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 OK! First I want to say that these are terrible pictures. I had the wrong lens on and couldn't turn off the pumps or do long exposure shots so the focus is terrible. BUT. I do believe that I have caught the courting behavior of the dragonface pipefish! I am excited at least. First, they were arching their backs and moving up in down as if they were pecking the ground. Also their fins were fully extended and one of them has a brown globular thing coming out of the middle of it's abdomen that looked like a giant crap. Maybe it was something else...who knows...but probably just crap. Check it out: And then...I changed angles: Clown enters: Clown attacks: Pipes scurry away: Link to comment
c est ma Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 What a series of shots! In the first two the pipes look like nothing so much as little sea serpents. Love those sinuous lines and those spread fins. You must definitely have a pair! Sweet!! Then the clown attack--complete with "cloud of dust"...great action sequence! (but--stupid clown! ) How fast can the pipes move? Any ideas on how to keep the clown from harrassing them? --Diane Link to comment
Hoobahans Posted February 23, 2008 Author Share Posted February 23, 2008 What a series of shots! In the first two the pipes look like nothing so much as little sea serpents. Love those sinuous lines and those spread fins. You must definitely have a pair! Sweet!! Then the clown attack--complete with "cloud of dust"...great action sequence! (but--stupid clown! ) How fast can the pipes move? Any ideas on how to keep the clown from harrassing them? --Diane Thanks Diane, I'm just glad that my picasa has a "sharpen" tool, they weren't too in focus. And they really do look like sea serpents, like something you would see in a 16th century engraving...only much, much smaller. The pipes are not too fast...they rarely leave the substrate and when they do it's as though their bellies weight too much and they are dragging them through the water. They are much more graceful on the sand. Luckily the pipe never actually picks on the pipefish. The clown has a corner of the tank that is his territory and he (or she) will go there and dig holes into the sand and try to push away any rock or invert that happens to trespass. The pipefish were doing their thing a little too close to the clown's territory so it did it's dig that it does to anything that comes too close. It spooked the pipes but the clown has never actually hurt them. Link to comment
Maeda Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Nice tank as usual hoobahns, but can you make a gallery of your sweet avatars. It makes me miss dorm living. Link to comment
Hoobahans Posted February 25, 2008 Author Share Posted February 25, 2008 Nice tank as usual hoobahns, but can you make a gallery of your sweet avatars. It makes me miss dorm living. Haha, thanks man. Dorm living is pretty good, isn't it. Except for today. There's bronchitis, pink eye and sore throats all through the dorm and I have all three. Good times. Unfortunately I don't think I even have my old avatars anymore. Most are of my gf from over the summer when we were living in Seattle, I think that she has most of the originals Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Great pics, I was watching a show on Science Channel, I think it was Blue Planet, and they had a thing on about pipefish. They sleep in different parts of their territory, then every morning find each other, re-affirm their bond, and then patrol their area. When they mate, they way they exchange eggs is awesome looking too. The two they had on lived in a beautiful, huge Table Top acro. Link to comment
Hoobahans Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 One of the pipefish jumped out of the tank last night...found it on the floor. Link to comment
holdorf333 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Lame. I have been unable to keep sixlines whatsoever. Eggcrate, glass covers.. they ALWAYS find a way. Link to comment
c est ma Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 One of the pipefish jumped out of the tank last night...found it on the floor. Aw, crap! SO sorry to hear that! --Diane Link to comment
Lalani Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Sorry to hear that, Hoob. Those guys are too cute, and your photos are excellent. Link to comment
divecj5 Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Sorry to hear about the jumper....how is the other one doing without it? Sorry again for the loss. Link to comment
nUgZ Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Wow thats terrible...I hope the other one doesn't follow. Link to comment
Hoobahans Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 Thanks to everyone for the condolences, it was pretty crappy to wake up to the dead fish on the floor. I don't think that the other one will do it. One always was hanging out on the soapdishes and on the powerhead, so I think that was the one who got out as it was always hanging out by the lip. The one that is left is usually on the substrate so I think it'll be alright. Although I didn't want to only have one, the pair was really nice. Link to comment
Hoobahans Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 Word of advice, do not get dragonface pipefish if you have a zeroedge aquarium...I found the other one behind a couch cushion. Link to comment
kc350twin Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 We need to compile a ZE safe fish list. I'm down to one Clown. Sorry for your loss. KC3 Link to comment
divecj5 Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Man....that sucks. Sorry to hear that the other one jumped ship as well Link to comment
Nick's Reef Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Damn those guys were so cool!!!!! Link to comment
topshotta Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Love your tank! What do you use to glue down all your frag disks? From the FTS - it appears that you have many and some positioned in ways that they have to be glued down somehow. I've personally not had much luck with anything besides super glue. Link to comment
Hoobahans Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 topshotta, i use epoxy for everything in the tank. actually, i go through a lot of epoxy. In order to get the aquascaping that i wanted and to get frags on vertical rocks I use loads of epoxy, it's a great thing to always have a few tubes on hand. Long overdue update. Over break I had someone watch the tank but they didn't do anything that I asked them to do. The top-off water ran out and the sump ran nearly dry for over a day. I lost two heaters and one pump. The main return was pulling so much air that it looked like an milkshake when I got back. A good number of my sps either totally bleached or had bad tissue recession. I fragged them and saved a piece of each colony that was dying so I didn't totally loose anything. I also lost the blood shrimp and I haven't seen the rainfords goby for a few weeks. Right now my semester is hell so I haven't been putting any time into the tank. It looks like crap but I think that everything is healthy. Actually I am getting really good lps growth and the coraline is going nuts. Anyway, I am hoping that in a week or so I will have time to clean it up and get some pics. Link to comment
divecj5 Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Sorry to hear that the person watching your tank didn't do a good job. I had my brother watch my tank back in November for a week and luckily nothing was lost. Just came back to the back chambers pretty much bone dry though. Everyone understands how attention to our tanks kind of ebbs and flows with the things going on in our lives....it's a hobby after all. Link to comment
Lalani Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 That really sucks, Hoob. It seems like a lot of people have trouble finding good help to watch their tanks while they are away.. But I'm glad there wasn't too much damage done... It could have been worse, right? Link to comment
c est ma Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 + 1 to Dive & Lalani. Glad you pulled most things through! What a PITA! --Diane Link to comment
nUgZ Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 Wow Hoob I'm glad you were able to save a piece of everything. Whenever I go out of town I leave VERY specific instructions...it may seem like I think the person is a moron, but I'd rather be too specific than not specific enough. Even with all the preparation I'm always a little nervous, but most of the time things work out fine. I find that having the same person do it everytime helps also. Once they get used to the routine it's much less difficult. If you can find a fellow reefer to do it that makes it even better. Not only can they do the basics, but they can troubleshoot if something more serious comes up. Good luck with school and everything..I'm sure you'll be back to enjoying the tank in no time. Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 Luckily the people who watch our tanks when we are out of town maintain tanks for a living....Doesnt mean I full trust them though lol. Sorry about the loses. You will bounce back I'm sure! Link to comment
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