Lula Mae's full circle 5.5--the end.

[StinkyBunny]

Bali is Indonesia, they have a long sordid history with cyanide caught fish. They are cleaning up their act, but it's still being used. I don't get things there for myself, but this list is too damn good to pass up and my customers are all gaga over it so we're gonna roll the dice.

[cfaye@Delaware]

Hi, just stopping by. I see that some are talking about the green clown goby, I think I also got lucky mine does eat, I got him about 2 weeks ago, seems healthy so far, we shall see. Now he does have a lot of different foods, dry and frozen and I'm using the shot glass method to feed him when not home. 

Lula_Mae, I'm glad that things have settled down a bit for you. I do love the betta's, to me seem very laid back and calm once settled in. They are very beautiful fish. You must post pictures of his upgraded tank. He will be one happy fellow.

[Lula_Mae]

23 minutes ago, StinkyBunny said:

Bali is Indonesia, they have a long sordid history with cyanide caught fish. They are cleaning up their act, but it's still being used. I don't get things there for myself, but this list is too damn good to pass up and my customers are all gaga over it so we're gonna roll the dice.

Oooh, poor fish! Hope the fishes do well!

14 minutes ago, cfaye@Delaware said:

Hi, just stopping by. I see that some are talking about the green clown goby, I think I also got lucky mine does eat, I got him about 2 weeks ago, seems healthy so far, we shall see. Now he does have a lot of different foods, dry and frozen and I'm using the shot glass method to feed him when not home. 

Lula_Mae, I'm glad that things have settled down a bit for you. I do love the betta's, to me seem very laid back and calm once settled in. They are very beautiful fish. You must post pictures of his upgraded tank. He will be one happy fellow.

Thanks, this guy isn't too laid back, he's pretty feisty lol.  He figured out how to flare at his reflection the other day! He'll be in the little 1 gallon for a while yet, until he gets bigger and I figure out where I'm gonna put his bigger tank.  Right now my house is a collection of boxes taking up most of the space lol.

[MarieH]

Looks beautiful. i never had luck with green clown goby.  I bought two, they seemed well, but went missing in a couple weeks of each other.  I might try again once my 3g is well established. I'm letting it become a pod sanctuary for now,

[Lula_Mae]

3 hours ago, MarieH said:

Looks beautiful. i never had luck with green clown goby.  I bought two, they seemed well, but went missing in a couple weeks of each other.  I might try again once my 3g is well established. I'm letting it become a pod sanctuary for now,

Thanks! Pod sanctuary sounds like a good plan!

[MarieH]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

Thanks! Pod sanctuary sounds like a good plan!

Oh I forgot to mention I had the clown gobies along time ago in a10g reef before I upgraded to my old 65. Unexplainable losses.   Pods are easy lol.

[StinkyBunny]

7 hours ago, MarieH said:

Looks beautiful. i never had luck with green clown goby.  I bought two, they seemed well, but went missing in a couple weeks of each other.  I might try again once my 3g is well established. I'm letting it become a pod sanctuary for now,

Again, they need to be Prazi treated in a QT system if you're going to keep them long term. They're alive with internal parasites folks. I love the little guys to pieces and if I do get some for me, that will be the plan of attack, 2 week Prazi, then into their forever home.  I know it's a pain in the ass, but that's how they roll.

[MarieH]

16 hours ago, StinkyBunny said:

Again, they need to be Prazi treated in a QT system if you're going to keep them long term. They're alive with internal parasites folks. I love the little guys to pieces and if I do get some for me, that will be the plan of attack, 2 week Prazi, then into their forever home.  I know it's a pain in the ass, but that's how they roll.

Food for thought.  

[cfaye@Delaware]

On 7/29/2017 at 2:39 PM, StinkyBunny said:

You pick up a thing or 2 when you've been doing importing and fish for over 30 years.

Hi, there.....

Now I was wondering about the importing and trans-shippers of fish, has this changed much over the last 10yrs ? I know in your very fancy betta's parasites could be a possible problem, which could be due to where they came from, would not your trans-shipper play a major role in the health of your fish. If your supplier sold you unhealthy fish and your customers complained, would you still buy from that supplier if they had a history of problems. Now I know some trans-shippers will hold the fish for a period of time. Should not the parasites show up and be treated. So far it has been only for a few days and my GCG is hanging in there. All of this is just a thought. I have paid quite a bit to some trans-shippers who have promised me a healthy fish coming from overseas and have had mostly good success, there are some I will never use. 

 

Lula_Mae......

 

Any updates on the tank, plans, pictures. Everything humming along ok??? 

[StinkyBunny]

5 hours ago, cfaye@Delaware said:

Hi, there.....

Now I was wondering about the importing and trans-shippers of fish, has this changed much over the last 10yrs ? I know in your very fancy betta's parasites could be a possible problem, which could be due to where they came from, would not your trans-shipper play a major role in the health of your fish. If your supplier sold you unhealthy fish and your customers complained, would you still buy from that supplier if they had a history of problems. Now I know some trans-shippers will hold the fish for a period of time. Should not the parasites show up and be treated. So far it has been only for a few days and my GCG is hanging in there. All of this is just a thought. I have paid quite a bit to some trans-shippers who have promised me a healthy fish coming from overseas and have had mostly good success, there are some I will never use. 

 

Lula_Mae......

 

Any updates on the tank, plans, pictures. Everything humming along ok??? 

The only thing that's happened in the last 10 years of transshipping is shipping has gone up and Australia opened for coral export, other than that it's been SOSDD.

 In the summer fish don't ship as well because of the heat which could lead to them breaking with some disease. If you're going to order high end Bettas, stick with Thailand and Singapore for them. The only thing I have ever seen disease wise in Bettas is fungus, I haven't seen much in the way of internal parasites. I'll look at some of the shippers and see if what I can come up with. I know Thailand will send up to 20 Bettas in a box with other fish. I brought back 30 Bettas from Thailand when I was there, gave one to the captain of an aircraft carrier because he let me use an area to stage them before I flew home.

[gena]

On 7/30/2017 at 0:27 PM, Lula_Mae said:

Thanks, I am hoping my next time around will go much better!

 

That's my understanding and (limited) experience too lol.

 

I'd never seen GBG's in person either, had an order in with an LFS since May which I've yet to hear from lol.  But I was inspired by c est ma, an old member here who had a 5.5 with a pair of green banded gobies which spawned I think weekly in her little 5.5.  If you keep up with water changes, a pair of GBG's or similar skinny gobies is possible.  I probably wouldn't try it with a larger bodied goby or fish--best to only have one of those due to bioload concerns, in my opinion.

 

Aww sorry bout your fishy. 

 

It's my understanding that green clown gobies are much easier to get eating than the yellow ones, but I think they can still be finicky.  Having pods probably helped lol.  If I ever do a possum wrasse, I will want to make sure I have tons of pods available since I believe they can be difficult to get eating prepared foods sometimes.  They're so pretty, though!   Maybe I'll get lucky and find another pastel PSW and UPS won't kill it this time...

I'm all behind in here, but I saw this talk about GCG.  I've never had an issue getting one to eat, but the YCG...yes, every time I've tried, except once I was able to get an older fat one that was already eating.  Unfortunately it met it's demise in my mp10...the worst .

[Lula_Mae]

5 hours ago, gena said:

I'm all behind in here, but I saw this talk about GCG.  I've never had an issue getting one to eat, but the YCG...yes, every time I've tried, except once I was able to get an older fat one that was already eating.  Unfortunately it met it's demise in my mp10...the worst .

how awful!  Poor fish!  Do you have a GCG currently?  I can't remember.  I know you tried a YCG a while back that wouldn't eat.

[gena]

Just now, Lula_Mae said:

how awful!  Poor fish!  Do you have a GCG currently?  I can't remember.  I know you tried a YCG a while back that wouldn't eat.

Yep, I have one now.  I got him at the same time I got the PSW.  And then a month or so later I got the helfrichi firefish and the YCG.  First order a dream.  Second one a nightmare.  YCG starved to death and the helfrichi jumped and managed to squeeze through a tiny opening along the sides of my tank .  My GCG is doing GREAT along with the PSW.

[Lula_Mae]

12 minutes ago, gena said:

Yep, I have one now.  I got him at the same time I got the PSW.  And then a month or so later I got the helfrichi firefish and the YCG.  First order a dream.  Second one a nightmare.  YCG starved to death and the helfrichi jumped and managed to squeeze through a tiny opening along the sides of my tank .  My GCG is doing GREAT along with the PSW.

I do remember that, the helfrichi was a beauty, too!  I'm glad they are doing well!  I am looking forward to trying a PSW again (or maybe a possum wrasse if I can't find one), though I doubt I'll ever again see such a beauty as the one UPS killed for me.

[gena]

Just now, Lula_Mae said:

I do remember that, the helfrichi was a beauty, too!  I'm glad they are doing well!  I am looking forward to trying a PSW again (or maybe a possum wrasse if I can't find one), though I doubt I'll ever again see such a beauty as the one UPS killed for me.

Maybe you can get lucky and find one locally?  I ordered mine from regular old Live Aquaria (not DD).  They are just as pretty as the WYSIWYG from DD....if you don't want to wait for DD to get one in.  Sad about what UPS did to your little guy . 

[Lula_Mae]

12 minutes ago, gena said:

Maybe you can get lucky and find one locally?  I ordered mine from regular old Live Aquaria (not DD).  They are just as pretty as the WYSIWYG from DD....if you don't want to wait for DD to get one in.  Sad about what UPS did to your little guy . 

It's possible, though the one LFS I talked to about ordering fish specifically mentioned PSW's as being hard to get/having long waits (without me saying anything--I was inquiring for green banded gobies). Me too, it was a huge bummer.  At least the corals made it.

[gena]

3 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

It's possible, though the one LFS I talked to about ordering fish specifically mentioned PSW's as being hard to get/having long waits (without me saying anything--I was inquiring for green banded gobies). Me too, it was a huge bummer.  At least the corals made it.

My first ever I was able to get locally.  I put in my request and like 3 months later he was able to bring them in.  Probably a lot easier in SoCal though.  Although my brother got his locally in Austin, TX, so it can be done . 

[Lula_Mae]

14 minutes ago, gena said:

My first ever I was able to get locally.  I put in my request and like 3 months later he was able to bring them in.  Probably a lot easier in SoCal though.  Although my brother got his locally in Austin, TX, so it can be done . 

Yeah there's only three salty stores (besides Petcos which don't really count) in the city nearest me lol.  I'll get one someday!

[StinkyBunny]

7 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

It's possible, though the one LFS I talked to about ordering fish specifically mentioned PSW's as being hard to get/having long waits (without me saying anything--I was inquiring for green banded gobies). Me too, it was a huge bummer.  At least the corals made it.

The problem with PSWs is there aren't that many of them in the supply chain. I've only ever seen 10 of them listed on collectors lists. This one says he has 18 and he should have more when the divers get back in. He even had 24 Diamond butterfly fish listed which nobody EVER has. We're gonna see what the fill rate is. It's nice to see young people getting into the business and shaking the tree to make the old guard get off their asses and collect what people want instead of the same ole shit.

[Lula_Mae]

Well, LiveAquaria's flash sale proved too much for me to resist! Trying again...

On 8/9/2017 at 11:23 PM, cfaye@Delaware said:

Hi, there.....

Now I was wondering about the importing and trans-shippers of fish, has this changed much over the last 10yrs ? I know in your very fancy betta's parasites could be a possible problem, which could be due to where they came from, would not your trans-shipper play a major role in the health of your fish. If your supplier sold you unhealthy fish and your customers complained, would you still buy from that supplier if they had a history of problems. Now I know some trans-shippers will hold the fish for a period of time. Should not the parasites show up and be treated. So far it has been only for a few days and my GCG is hanging in there. All of this is just a thought. I have paid quite a bit to some trans-shippers who have promised me a healthy fish coming from overseas and have had mostly good success, there are some I will never use. 

 

Lula_Mae......

 

Any updates on the tank, plans, pictures. Everything humming along ok??? 

Sorry, I forgot to respond to this!  Tank's just chugging along, had a busy few days with work so it's just doing its thing.  I took some pics the other day but haven't uploaded them yet.  Tonight Valerie the porcelain crab is sitting on the purple and green ricordea waving her fans, and I just noticed a spot of hair algae with impressive growth.  Guess I need to peroxide that rock finally!

[fishfreak0114]

Ooh, what'd you buy!!!

[gone_PHiSHin]

you got a couple GBGs didn't you?? 

 

i got an email that they were available again, but today they are not.  i will get them sooner or later though!! 

 

if you did indeed order them, i really hope you have better luck this time around!

[teenyreef]

Good luck with the LA order! Fingers crossed! 

[Lula_Mae]

3 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Ooh, what'd you buy!!!

I'll make a post!  Got several things from Diver's Den and a few other things as well!

3 hours ago, gone_PHiSHin said:

you got a couple GBGs didn't you?? 

 

i got an email that they were available again, but today they are not.  i will get them sooner or later though!! 

 

if you did indeed order them, i really hope you have better luck this time around!

I wish!  I was totally going to but they were out of stock by the time I got home from work, as were the Pederson's shrimp (was hoping for another).  They also got in stock a pair of yellow banded coral shrimp which I would've ordered but those were also out of stock when I got home.  Ah, well.

2 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Good luck with the LA order! Fingers crossed! 

Thanks!  I am hoping for good things this time around...again...haha!

[Lula_Mae]

So here's a few highlights of things I bought!

Biota cultured gorgonian (Hicksomella sp.)

 

ORA cultured Grube's gorgonian (like @gena's!)--if the parts with no polyp extension are dead I figure I can try fragging the live parts or it or something.

 

Purple montipora digitata--this will be my first-ever SPS!  I like the look of digis but not the colors of most so when I saw this gorgeous purple, I had to try it.

 

Red photosynthetic plating sponge--I love my purple one from @Legendary Corals so I wanted to try another!

 

I've also picked up three plants for my big freshwater tank that I just got a new light for (most of its plants are gone due to neglect and moves so it needs a reboot).  I got a couple blonde African dwarf frogs--they're just as cute as regular ADF's but a neat tan color instead of dark green-brown.  Got some live pods, a couple ceriths, I got something I never thought I would--a scarlet hermit crab.  I generally think hermits are punks but have never tried a scarlet one before so I decided to give it a cautious try.  Asked for a small one lol.  And last but certainly not least...I am going to try an adorable little blenny--a two spot bimaculatus blenny.  They are tiny--only about an inch and a half long when full grown, but they look so cute and are a little different from the popular tailspot blennies.  I'm so excited!  I requested they ship it all to arrive Wednesday so hopefully it'll all arrive safe and sound!