Where are the good fish stores?

[Samw]

Where are the good reef and marine fish stores in Lower Mainland?

I know the main ones are J&L and Big Al's.
Then, there's Aquariums West in downtown. There's Fish World (I think that's the name) on 120th and 64th in Surrey. There's a small shop in Parker Place in Richmond (that never has any prices displayed).

I just started reef keeping and that's all I know that has a decent selection. Any other good ones in the Lower Mainland?

[Samw]

Oh yeah, what ever happened to AquaWorld on SE Marine? Did they relocate?

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

There's Coral Ocean (I think) on Kingsway and Boundary and Animal House in Chilliwack.

Some smaller ones are King Ed's (Burnaby),Perky's (New west) and Paul's (Surrey), but they have a pretty limited selection.

Coral in Parker Place and no prices...you know WHY there are no prices ...right ?

Don't know what happen to Aquaworld Superstore...I won't buy stuff from them anyway.

- Victor.

[Samw]

I checked out Coral Ocean several months ago. The first time I drove there, the store was closed during normal store hours. The next time I went there, they were opened but didn't have any fish or coral (or at least I don't remember seeing any).

I tried to go to the store in Parker Place yesterday during lunchtime. They were closed too. That's 2 out of 4 times that they were closed when I went there during mall hours. I will not bother going again. I guess they don't have prices on display because they're expecting you to give them an offer. Since my bargaining skills are poor, I didn't buy or offer anything during the 2 times that I successfully entered the store.

I guess the only place I haven't been to are Perky's and King Ed's. Maybe I'll check them out. Thanks for the suggestion. Animal House is too far away from me unfortunately. No one seems to know anything about Aqua World. I guess they didn't relocate afterall, but just disappeared.

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

No prices means its bargain time. Also...if you are really smart...tax free -- of course, no receipt and cash only. I don't know if you have to speak cantonese/chinese ...but I think that helps too.

Coral Ocean...its a strange one. You can phone Colin (the owner) and ask him when he is getting any stuff. Usually, they come in early evening...most stuff are gone that night. Its a good store...you just have to understand how it works.

- Victor.

[Samw]

I checked out Perky's and King Ed's today. Not much at Perky's but I was pretty impressed with King Ed's. They've expanded a lot since I last shopped at their old location 12 years ago. I bought 3 anemones today: Sebae, Long Tentacle, and a Bubble Tip. Got some great deals.

Popped them into the tank and they all seem very happy. The Bubble Tip, which was closed up at the store (apparently, it never opened up in the 2 weeks that it was in their tank), immeidately attached itself to one of my live rock and immediately expanded itself. Its definitely happy in my tank. The other 2 also stuck to some rock and look happy.

Now, I got to get me some clowns. Looking for 2 perculas and 1 maroon. Hopefully, they'll each pick an anemone host.

[DJ88]

Sam,

Don't put two different types of clowns in one tank. Especially a Maroon. A Maroon clown will kill any other clown's in HER tank. I have one and even getting her to accept a mate was near impossible. She took a mate but then six months later killed it with no warning. My female is in the sump now as she was getting so agressive the other fish in the tank were hiding all the time and she was even attacking me.

How old is your tank? You will have to be careful having more than one anemone in a tank. Do you have corals? How much light do you have on your tank? What color are they? How often do you plan on feeding them? What will you feed them?

I don't mean to sound preachy but IMO and IME Anemones are the most difficult creature to keep in a tank. They are very sensetive to poor water quality, need high lighting, need to be fed regularly. Etc..

You said that you are just getting into reef keeping. How old is your tank? How much experience do you have with creatures in your tank other than fish? How much research into the anemone's needs and requirements did you do? Did the store ask you any of these questions? Did they let you know how difficult it is to keep an anemone? If they didn't then they should have.

One anemone in a tank is a big undertaking. Three is more then most experienced reef keepers will want to have themselves. I have a feeling that the store just wanted to get rid of them and did not let you know of the needs that the animal has. Especially where you say they "gave you a deal". That is my biggest concern. If they are giving you a deal and the anemone was not opening in the store then you may have bought something that will not make it in your tank. If any of the three appears white in color it has expelled the symbiotic algae it requires to live. To keep this anemone alive will require lots and lots of feedings and work. I have a BTA I am trying to nurse back to health and it is not an easy job. My Saddleback is slowly coming back to health after a tank crash and that is with daily feedings of silversides and clams soaked in selcon.

As for each clown pairing up with an anemone it most likely won't happen. My sisters clown's want nothing to do with her anemone. Some will, some won't. Tank raised clowns seem to not accept a host as easily as wild caught. Anemones DON'T need to have a clown to survive. And vice versa.

Stores selling these creatures without asking the purchaser how expereinced they are and what the tank is they will be putting it into should NOT be able to buy and sell these animals. Anyone who does has no concern about the welfare of that animal. I don't care how nice the staff or owner is. Anemones should not be sold to anyone but the most experienced hobbyists. I don't think they should be sold at all. I won't buy anymore, and will try to deter anyone else from buying them.

I wish you the best of luck.

I made hasty anemone purchases when I started out and lost most. I won't ever buy another and would not even let my sister buy one until her tank was a year old, had enough lighting and she fuly understood the WORK involved in keeping these delicate animals. Anemones can live for decades in the wild. Even hundreds of years. In our tanks they don't live for more than a year or two.

Sorry to sound preachy but this is a personal pet peeve of mine.

[ 03 December 2001: Message edited by: DJ88 ]

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

I second that....

Umm...did you know that anemones sometimes eat fish (say a yellow tang or a goby) ?

Just feed it lots of food (once every two days or so) and look out for anemones on the move (i.e. get sucked in to an intake).

- Victor.

[Dale D]

Excellent advice, Darren.

If I had a dollar for every person I have talked out of buying an anemone I could retire. images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

The only reason I have one in my tank is because it came in as a stowaway on some live rock.

Dale

[Troy F]

Well said Darren, Dale, Victor et all. One other thing to consider is that with daily feedings comes a terrific amount of waste which must be dealt with. If you don't have the necessary export mechanisms in your tank you are in for trouble in the long run. Having said that, I wish you the best.

Every pacific host anemone taken from the wild means that generations (and generations to the tenth power) of clowns will also be removed. Something to think about.

What an absolute shock images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif that King Ed sold someone three anemones. I would love to have been a fly on the wall and heard the advice they gave Sam when making the sale. In my opinion, this is yet another reason to avoid this store like the plague no matter how good the "deal" is. There are much better stores to frequent with qualified staff (Dale at Animal House and Allen and company at J&L Aquatics). Hopping off soapbox now.

[ 03 December 2001: Message edited by: Troy F ]

[canadawest]

Great advice, but...

I will also assume some responsibility as Sam has seen my tank before.

People see my beautiful and healthy Bubble-Tip, with the lovely two Ocellaris living in it, and assume that they can have this great symbiosis just by purchasing the necessary ingredients.

Hopefully those of you who are considering an Anemone, will think about the choice, and heed some of the advice given above. While I don't agree with everything said above, I will say that they do require attention unlike most of the inhabitants in a reef tank.

But also consider this. Mine seems to be thriving under only VHO lighting. It has tripled in size and split once in the 6 months I've had it. And only gets fed shrimp and scallops once every week, sometimes less. But also is actively hosting a pair of clowns who look after it, which I'm sure makes a huge difference.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, it's not all doom and gloom with Anemones, just be prepared to give them whatever they need, and some are more needy than others.

[DJ88]

Out of curiosity Andrew, what do you not agree with in the last posts? This will be a good opportunity to discuss anemones' and have it on our board for others to find in a search later on.

[Troy F]

Andrew, I agree with you, it isn't all doom and gloom with anemones but I will stress again that the environmental impact of taking them from the wild is huge and should be considered. I suggest looking in the reefs.org library for an article by Rob Toonen. It's very informative. Rob on anemones (http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen8.html)

[Samw]

Before I quit the hobby 10 years ago and restarted it recently, I use to have a fish only tank that contained a maroon and a tomato clown. They never bothered each other. So, I thought that the maroon clowns were peaceful except with each other based on what I read and experienced. I guess Perculas with Maroons are a different story. Thanks for the tip on that.

My reef tank is now 3 months old. Until I bought the anemones, and got some coral frags from Jamie, it had nothing in it except live rock, snails, hermit crabs, a xenia, an emerald crab, a clam, and lots of amphipods.

As far as research, I searched the net for several weeks and read as much as I could during my free time. I knew that anemones were difficult and that the bubble-tips were considered one of the most hardy. I had also read that some hobbiests had success with the long tentacle and the Sebae (I must have subconsciously blocked out the articles about failures). I had read that only species with a chance of survival are being imported (Although it seems to me now after reading that article from Troy, that this is probably not true). I did read that light was very important and I hoped that having the tank exposed directly to natural sunlight during the day will help.

None of my anemones right now are white in color. They look good but I know that this can change very suddenly. The Bubble-tip is still extended and looking great. I bought some Hikari Mysis shrimp and also plan to feed them some prawn.

After seeing Andrew's anemone and various websites on the net that documented success, I liked the idea of getting one and had looked for months but couldn't find one (I guess with good reason). I was so happy when I finally found a shop that sold anemones.

ReefBurnaby, yes, I know that they eat fish but I read that fish can usually get away from anemones and that usually the fish that they capture are dead ones that sink to the bottom or sick ones that can't get away.

Troy, what do you mean by "Another reason to avoid the store". Have people had bad experiences? I thought they were relatively helpful. My friend was wanting to buy a seahorse and the guy at the store pretty much did everything to make us not buy it because he said that they are difficult to keep with fish and that they eat only live foods but sometimes take Frozen Mysis shrimp.

Thanks for the tips everyone. They've been helpful though now I can see that the odds are against me. Pretty downright grim I'd say.

images/smiles/icon_sad.gif

[ 04 December 2001: Message edited by: Sam W ]

[Troy F]

Troy, what do you mean by "Another reason to avoid the store".

Sam, you're situation alone should be enough of an indicator. I'm not sure how big your tank is but keeping three anemones in all but the largest tanks will be difficult. That is pretty common knowledge that they failed to share with you.

I've heard them refer to orange spotted file fish as easy to keep as well as tell a lady that an octopus would be fine in her FO tank as long as it can't escape. Those are just two comments that come to mind. The advice on the octopus may have been close but they failed to mention that it would systematically hunt down the rest of her fish. Something that probably was worth mentioning. I've watched them sell fish straight out of the shipping boxes, this is partially the fault of customers but should not be allowed. I can't think of anything else at this moment but if I do I'll let you know images/smiles/icon_wink.gif .


PS: Personally they did make good on a problem with shipping damage to a tank I bought from them but it did take somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2 months. In that time I was lied to and in an off-hand way asked to "fight". I agreed whole-heartedly and was then asked to leave or they'd call the police. I was confused on that one. I feel that I'm probably a bit of an a-hole so take this with a grain of salt.

[George]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sam W:
I did read that light was very important and I hoped that having the tank exposed directly to natural sunlight during the day will help.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Why do I have a feeling that you don't have metal halide lights? Forget about Dr. Shimek's theory on feeding instead of light. I think Ron is way ahead of himself on this one. :-)
Besides, how many days of a year you get strong enough sunshine in Vancouver? Maybe half the time?
Off topic, I missed the sun in California. Used to work there for two years.

Regards,
George

[reefburnaby]

Feeding is important because lighting is only part of a complete diet (I sound like one of those breakfast commercials). Its like a human being drinking water -- you can survive off of it..but that is it.

Anyway...just read up on other reef boards (like RC, reefs.org) and see how other people keep them...especially those who are propagating them.

- Victor.

[Troy F]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by reefburnaby:
Feeding is important because lighting is only part of a complete diet (I sound like one of those breakfast commercials). Its like a human being drinking water -- you can survive off of it..but that is it.
- Victor.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Victor, I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Where did you pick this little tid bit up? Ever since Ron made the now infamous comments on reefcentral, everybody is running around saying that sunlight just keeps these things alive but not thriving. I followed a lengthy debate on fishnet after the comments were made and an overwhelming majority felt that anemones main need is light. Some felt, (and I'm paraphrasing), that food capture was a bonus.

I fully realize that this goes against what Ron says but there were a number of intelligent people debating this topic. Many equally valid points were made with references and personal experiences. One that really stood out was a comment by Charles Delbeek and his experience with captive bred Stichodactyla haddoni. Charles kept his in a floating basket in full Hawaiian sunlight with little to no feeding. They are growing rapidly. This may have been a personal communication so it may not be logged at fishnet.

Having said that, I think Ron is awesome and if you read the thread at reefcentral in its entirety, you'll see that at the end he mentions that his anemones are kept under MH lighting. He of course feeds them a huge amount and also has nutrient problems because of the feedings.

My personal experience is that with good lighting and minimal feedings my S. haddoni grew at a decent rate. It was about 10" when fully expanded. I can't comment on longevity because it stretched up and found my pump intake after about a year in my tank.

I know Victor wasn't saying not to light the anemones but I want qualification on the whole, "...you can survive off of it..but that is it", comment.

Any thoughts? (Christy, you out there?)

[ 04 December 2001: Message edited by: Troy F ]

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

Well, actually...this is another one of my theories (long before I read Ron's stuff).. As humans, we need to eat a diverse diet. We can't just eat only bread and expect to grow big and strong (and have some sort of intelligence). There are lots of vitamins, minerals and other goodies in bread, but it just isn't enough to bring your body to its full potential.

Think of a coral as a plant. For a land plant, you give it sunlight and some water...and it will grow for some time. But eventually, some plants die...even with proper and regular watering schedule. WHY ? Well, for it survive it needs sunlight and water. But, it also needs fertilizer and other minerals to maintain its health and such.

This is the same as an anemone...lighting...sure it will grow. I am sure there are some that are growing very well with just lighting and chomping down some pods for extra supplement. But, we just blared out that we are destroying the homes for many clowns and we shouldn't keep anemones without a proper habitat. Now...if anemones natural habitat is not only sunlight...but an occasional treat...don't you think we should give it some in its new artificial home ?

Why does an anemone has stingers ? Do stingers help the anemone get more light ?

How about a mouth...so that it can open its mouth so that more light can get in ?

Hmmm...maybe that could be true...but the chances are...no images/smiles/icon_smile.gif Anyway, I hope you understand my point of view on this subject. I may be wrong, but I do my very best to provide my little corals with the best chance for it to survive and thrive. I just feel sunlight is not enough for coral or an anemone to thrive...just like they would in the ocean. It needs food, light, and fertalizer (i.e. vitamines and such) for it to grow and be happy -- but I won't overdue it. (i.e. feed it tons...but keep it alive in the dark).

Hope that helps.

- Victor.

[ 04 December 2001: Message edited by: reefburnaby ]

[Troy F]

For what its worth, I agree almost completely Victor. I do think that Sunlight is the primary nutrient provider.

[smokinreefer]

i dont think anyone is saying that feeding an anenome isnt beneficial to its health, but i dont think just feeding an anenome in a fairly lit tank can sustitute providing it with intense lighting.

sure it has a mouth and stingers, so we can assume that it needs to be fed meaty items. fair enough...personally if i had an anenome i would feed it too.

now then, we can also assume this...anenomes have zoox. in them...so it would also be fair to assume that they need adequate intense lighting also, no?

with these assumptions (dare i say facts) i would only house an anenome in a tank with intense lighting and i would take the time to feed meaty items on a regular basis.

but i must stress that i would first only consider an anenome if i could provide the intense lighting that I believe they require.
sure feedings are great, but i do not feel that just feeding an anenome in an underlit tank will provide for a healthy anenome, i do not feel that that would be an environment which could sustain a healthy thriving anenome.

this is not directed to Sam, or anyone else for that matter...JMHO.


P.S. king eds is OK for looking at fish, they sometimes get interesting specimens in, plus you can bargain, but dont ever go in there uninformed, or buy something you arent familiar with, cuz those guys ARE salemen...they would sell you the hair off their ass if they could

[reefburnaby]

No problem, Troy...I just think lighting is as important as food...oh well.

Say, Sam....can you tell us more about your tank ? s

- Victor.

[Troy F]

One other point, I used many of the same evolutionary traits you mentioned (mouth, nematocyst bearing cnidocytes) while defending Ron's statement. Like you mentioned, an optimal environment should be provided. Since they are found (usually) in high light areas... images/smiles/icon_smile.gif.

[Samw]

I haven't mentioned my setup yet because I didn't want to get any more lashes. images/smiles/icon_smile.gif But here goes. 38 gallons, 2 power compacts lights, 1 regular NO light (all lights left on from 9am-12am 15 hours), 2 powerheads with carbon cartridge, AquaC Remora skimmer, 50 lbs of live rock, RO water.

Troy, sorry to hear the bad experiences there and thanks for sharing that. I don't have any other experiences at King Eds but my first impression was positive. Point taken about going to more knowledgable places when needing to find information. I did find that King Ed's prices for fish and dry goods were much cheaper than other places and slightly more than J&L. I try to always shop at J&L first and if they don't carry a certain item or don't have stock, I think King Ed is going to be my second stop simply for the prices and reasonable livestock selection. I'll do more research next time. images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

Gave my 3 anemones their first prawn dinner tonight. They gobbled them up in a hurry. Thank goodness, as there was an audience with high expectations watching. In addition to prawn and shrimp, I'll be feeding them a varied diet including scallop and Hikari multi-vitamin fortified Mysis shrimp.

In terms of fish, now that Maroons are out of the picture , I'll probably get 2 False and 2 True Perculas (I'm still surprised to hear that Maroons are agressive. I don't doubt it but I did have great luck with mine in the past).

----
* EDITED (Fixed the photo-period)

[ 04 December 2001: Message edited by: Sam W ]

[Troy F]

Sam am I reading that right, you are running a 3hr photoperiod?

*there are more important things than price*

[Samw]

Oops. Sorry. That should be 9am-12am midnight. 15 hours.

[DJ88]

Hey Sam,

IME Maroons are quite agressive once they have an anemone. Mine was fin adn even resided with a juvenile perc. Once I added an anemone she went nuts. I had to recently move her to the sump as she was harassing EVERY other fish in the tank. She even attacked me. Took hair out of my arm and hands a few times. And she is only small still.

Be careful adding more than two clowns in a smaller tank like yours. Even in a large tank the Dominant female may go after the others. I know Marc ahd to remove a lone perc from his tank as there was three and the other two were beating it up.

As for the lighting.. I'll say you do need a bit more. But take that as a suggestion.. IMO you don't have enough light for those guys and a three hour photoperiod is not enough to keep them alive.

[Samw]

Darren. I appreciate your advice with the clowns. It made me laugh to imagine your Maroon biting your hairs off your hand. I probably would have ended up buying one if you hadn't warned me.

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

3 anemones in a 38G...if things go well...you'll be in a 6x2x2 (180G) in about a year or two images/smiles/icon_smile.gif I am not kidding !

Why...your anemones will get quite large...very quickly when they are happy.

Any who...good luck.

- Victor.

[Shadetree]

Sam,

Fudge recently tried to put two sets of clowns, true pers and false in his 150 gallon tankand he had to remove a pair because of the fighting. Hopefully he will see this and relate his experiences for you.

Scott

[Samw]

It appears to me that more people are keeping the false perculas than the true perculas. Is there a reason for this?

[Dale D]

Yes,Maroons can be alittle bit agressive. The one in the reef tank at work will constantly attack and bite my hand anytime I put it in the tank.

The tank is 6' long and his anemone is at one end and even if I put my hand in at the other end he will swim over the 6' and bite my hand until I remove it.

On top of that, yesterday I learn something new while working in the canopy over the tank. He is now willing to jump up out of the water to bite my arm while it is positioned 3-4" above the water surface. images/smiles/icon_eek.gif So, yes they can be agressive. images/smiles/icon_wink.gif images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

As far as my experience with putting different clowns in the same tank. I have had a pair of percs in my reef for about 6-7 years and about 7-8 months ago I added a pair of Melonopus clowns to the same tank (135g).

They all got along fine until the Melonopus started to get bigger than the percs. One of the melonopus started trying to kick the percs out of the Frogspawn coral they had lived in for 6 years. He was not successful (precs can be little buggers when they want to). After about a month of this I moved the coral and they all get along fine now. But, I would probably not try to mix them again.

The only one who lost out in the ordeal was the Frogspawn, which has slowly declined since the fighting began.

Dale

More people buy false percs because they are much more common (less expensive) than the true percs. You hardly ever see true percs. Atleast that has been my experience.

[ 05 December 2001: Message edited by: Dale D ]

[Shadetree]

Sam,

I think the availability and price of the false over true percs is the only reason.

Scott

[BCReefer]

On top of that, yesterday I learn something new while working in the canopy over the tank. He is now willing to jump up out of the water to bite my arm while it is positioned 3-4" above the water surface. images/smiles/icon_eek.gif So, yes they can be agressive. images/smiles/icon_wink.gif images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

I'm sorry but thats funny. Scare the bloody bejives out of me, if it did happen to me but, when I pciture the fish jumping out of the tank and you jumping back over a 2 - 3" fish, well you just have smile. images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

I have 2 clowns who watch me everytime I go by the tank, they also watch my 2 1/2 yr old son. Maybe they are plotting to take him out 1st and coming after me later. Better keep the wife away.

seriously though, are all clown that mean?

[DJ88]

Ha so my maroon wasn't the only jumper.. Mine lept out of my 90 three times coming after me. The first time scared me.. the second and third was demonstrating it to friends.. images/smiles/icon_wink.gif lol. silly fish..

[canadawest]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DJ88:
Out of curiosity Andrew, what do you not agree with in the last posts? This will be a good opportunity to discuss anemones' and have it on our board for others to find in a search later on.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

OK, here I am...

The points I disagreed on were related to the feeding requirements. I have browsed the recent discussions of Dr. Shimek, but I base my opinions on my own experience keeping my Anemone. Based on the sucess I've had thus far in the 6 months I've had my bubble-tip, I would state that lighting is important more so than feeding, but intense (read: MH) lighting is not an absolute as my BTA is doing well under only VHO lighting.

I fully agree that anemones deserve (and require) more attention than most inhabitants in our tanks. They should have an established tank with stable water parameters. Adequate lighting (VHO, PC or MH) and regular, but not excessive feedings. Like I said, I only feed mine once every week or two.

With that said, I am troubled that Sam added three to his relatively small tank, for it shows gross short-sightedness for the long term care of those anemones. And I would hazzard a guess that there won't be much left in the way of sensitive corals after several months of the anemones roaming the tank.

I suspect that the sucess I've had with my anemone is due in part to luck, as it has settled into a spot for the past 5 months, is actively hosting my clownfish pair, is growing well, and looking fantastic. I doubt all those variables are due to my expertise (or distinct lack thereof)

[canadawest]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BCReefer:
I have 2 clowns who watch me everytime I go by the tank, they also watch my 2 1/2 yr old son. Maybe they are plotting to take him out 1st and coming after me later. Better keep the wife away.

seriously though, are all clown that mean?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


The clownfish personality discussion part of this thread is very interesting to me.

Many of you have seen my pair of Amphiprion ocellaris clownfish. I think they are the sweetest fish in my tank. They will come to the glass and watch me as BCReefer mentioned. And when the lid comes up, they will both come to the water surface to greet me, anticipating dinner being served.

When I clean the glass near them, they don't even mind me there, even inches away from their anemone. And if I put my hand near them they will often swim over to check me out and see if I've got anything for them.

Very sweet little guys. So it makes me laugh to see others with little terrors. I was amazed to see Darren's Maroon attack his hand as he was "fishing" for coral frags for me when I was there. It amplifies the fact that all fish have unique personalities.

Another personality example, my Yellow-tailed Blue Damsel, a saint! Doesn't bother anyone at all, except for a subtle reminder if a smaller fish comes too close to his little hideout. Even at feeding time he's completely civilized. And he was one of the first inhabitants of the tank. A stark contrast to the majority of Damsel personalities.

[cvrle1]

Hey Troy.

I see you are sharing your story about King Ed.

hehehehe that's the spirit, and I really liked that story. I gave me a good laugh

images/smiles/icon_razz.gif images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

How are you doing? How's tank coming allong?

[Samw]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DJ88:
Hey Sam,

As for the lighting.. I'll say you do need a bit more. But take that as a suggestion.. IMO you don't have enough light for those guys and a three hour photoperiod is not enough to keep them alive.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've decided to replace my single strip NO canopy and replace it with 2 more Power Compacts.

[Samw]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dale D:
More people buy false percs because they are much more common (less expensive) than the true percs. You hardly ever see true percs. Atleast that has been my experience.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Curious, why is that? Are true Perculas less abundant in the wild or harder to catch?

[Troy F]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quoteAnother personality example, my Yellow-tailed Blue Damsel, a saint! Doesn't bother anyone at all, except for a subtle reminder if a smaller fish comes too close to his little hideout. Even at feeding time he's completely civilized. And he was one of the first inhabitants of the tank. A stark contrast to the majority of Damsel personalities.

In a recent AFM Scott Michael mentioned that the yellow tailed damsel was one of the most docile. I'm glad to hear that you share this experience because I love these little guys.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quoteBased on the sucess I've had thus far in the 6 months I've had my bubble-tip, I would state that lighting is important more so than feeding, but intense (read: MH) lighting is not an absolute as my BTA is doing well under only VHO lighting.

Based on the information I've gathered the BTA can be found fairly deep and are not nearly as light demanding as some of the other species. I'm just clarifying your point. VHO lighting really isn't too shabby either. My S. haddoni was under VHO in my 72gal. His health improved under MH though this is purely observational and did not stand the test of time.