Okay this puffer rocks! I stripped to my shorts so I could rebuild a tunnel for my new little buddy. Of course now I am rescaping everything and trying to catch the evil damsel fish (he was really good until I moved him to the 260, free to good home if you catch him).

I have Gryphon's tunnel set so the open side looks out the window and he has a peep hole on the other side. Well, being soaked to the skin in my skivvies was worth it. He loves it and is watching me do my work and such from his peep hole. I freaked out over $150 for a fish but he was worth every penny. He was in a bare tank for so long you can tell he is enjoying some privacy. I think he enjoys watching the crazy human sliding on the wet tile more then I enjoy him.

So I go back to wading past my armpits in my ocean. I needed to take a breather since I was getting mad trying to stack rock just right.

good to here that Gryphon is doing better, and if you ever decide to get a achilles do not pay 450 for it, there are many places in Calgary that will get you one for less then half that price, but remember they are one of the tougher fish to keep, so you will need to do a lot of research on them first.

Sometimes I think my fish eat better than I do.:redface:

The puffers & now the Niger Trigger (thanks again Justin) eat FD shrimp & krill, as well as tiger prawns, shore crabs, and even blue crabs (my wife just bought some for her Poofy from T&T market). The FD Krill works out to $30-40 a pound I think, which is far more than anything I pay for my own food. We also drive all the way to Tswassesen & other shoreline places to collect little crabs for them to munch on from under the rocks at low tide.

Yes, while these fish would probably prefer to be out in the wild, at least in our tanks, they are usually safe from predators and get breakfast in bed (so to speak).

Anthony

Perhaps you can shoot me a PM and let me know where to go...

I think its me who is better to be honest. I think I needed a new larger fish and a rescaping of the tank (took hours), to get my head around this whole thing again.

Thanks for the help.

Here is another way to look at it...

Is life in the Ocean that great? Sure they have the swimming room, but they also deal with bigger fish that want to eat them, they have to hunt (work) for their food. The reef (their homes) are disappearing (even with-out collection). Global warming and pollution are causing poor water conditions.

In a proper tank, the average fish will live longer than they would in the wild. Sadly, too many people have improper tank.

That said, I feel that fish over a certain size should not be collected.

With how things are going these days, you do have a good point. I have never had a problem with captive fish myself and think they do live good lives. I agree with you though that my only real issue is one how many of them are caught and two what size they are caught at.

I am so sick of hearing about show sized this and that in stores. To me if a store is selling a "show size fish" and it didn't come from someones tank, its plain wrong. Yet people pay MORE for these fish. IMO there is just a huge difference between buying baby fish who barely knew the ocean and large fish who grew up in the ocean and are now being kept in a relatively tiny box.

I know first hand why we should not get adult fish unless they outgrew their owner's tank. My male clownfish is eaten and the other two now know to stay the heck out of Gryphon's way. I have a real life documentory happening in my tank now, and its my fault. Too bad he didn't get the damsel fish though... This guy loves live food!!! I guess he must love the tank size and the rock walls, and feels like he is back home.

If anyone has nice large fish that are too big for their tanks in Calgary shoot me a PM. I won't be getting the little guys, but I also won't be getting mature wild fish either. Laws need to be changed since newbie people like me don't know better until it is too late. I have no buyer's remorse, I will just have to deal with this now. In the wild animals get eaten if they are sick or slow. My two remaining clowns know better now and things are settling down.

Gryphon is full now and is in one of his caves I made for him having a nap. I wonder if I will see the clown in his poop later...:lol:

Hunting
 

Gryphon hunting. He looks so small in this tank since he is a good 8" long, and a little fatter.

Price of the Tang at Oceans
 

The price of the 14" Tang at Oceans is $499, OUCH! Makes the $300 on at Wais look like a bargain.

I admit it, I was out of line
 

I visited two LFS stores and one of them had large captive fish. I can honestly say these fish looked very happy and well adjusted. This store was so helpful and knowledgeable, and made us happy to spend money. All the fish were social and begging for food readily and the big fish had big tanks to swim freely.

Both stores had people right beside my hubby and I, and I had to ask them help other patient clients while we contemplated livestock. These stores were so helpful, I have no need to shop anywhere else to be honest. I have my one store where I love the owner and he clicks with us so well. Now I have these two others as well.

I am glad I had PMs to check these two other stores out although they were very out of my way to go there. They are well worth the commute.

Although I still feel large fish should be in the wild, I now know some LFSs do care about the fish, and the homes they go to. I feel bad for judging every LFS as being the same now and apoligize for prematurely making statements. I know these stores will not sell me fish if they feel I cannot care for them properly, and that is a very good thing.

My hubby bought one of his "dream" fish, a large Emperor Angel, and I felt comfortable for him to do so. I know my polyps might not have a chnce but we were told this and hubby said he would buy them for "Quinn" to eat if needed. However Quinn eats pellets readily and is so happy in my tank so I have no regrets.

This whole experience does prove to me that fish do care about where they are, and how they are kept. I have never seen such happy fish aside of my own. So I am not totally wrong in some statements, but it does depend on the LFS you shop at.

This hobby has taught me so much about many things, and also that personal issues and feelings are not always warranted. I will not beat myself up over this hobby any longer but I will not shop at stores that make me feel this way.

Please don't beat me up over coming forward and saying I was wrong. I feel I should apologize for judging, and I really am sorry about it. I am very new to this hobby and just feel I should ask questions when I don't really know myself. To some of the other members that bashed me in a different post, please do not reply as it will not be productive in the end.

Sorry to anyone I did offend as it was not trying to flame anyone. I just saw things I did not feel were right, and now I know not every LFS is created equally.