20141005 Seahorse! Hippocampus Erectus

I have had my 28 gallon cube sitting for a while running with just live rock for about 2-3 months. I have always wanted to get some seahorse in that tank. And the opportunity finally arrived! Last week while browsing Best Fish in Milwaukee, I noticed they had a tank full of captive raised seahorses!

 Initially I saw the label "Kuda" on the tank so I thought I was looking at Kuda seahorse. The store was feeding them live brine and frozen mysis shrimp. These guys gobble up the food very eagerly. So I decided to take a couple of these 3" ponies home!

Although at the time of purchase, one was significantly lighter color than the dark one, they do change color to match the environment. Over the course of a week, they have both shifted color slightly and are not not as far off from each other. I started by feeding them Hikari mysis since they are small in size. But then they were not accepting the mysis very well. After some forum posting on reef central, I decided to try PE mysis on them, with the fear that the big shrimp would not fit through their fused jaws. And to my surprise, they were able to chew up some pretty chunky shrimps!
Also, as I began to research more about seahorse, I realize they do not look like Kuda at all! Instead, I thought they look more like erectus. So I called the store today and confirmed that indeed they are erectus. The store only has females at this time, which is OK with me because I don't think I am ready for the difficult task of breeding seahorse just yet.

20140919 Swallowtail Angelfish

Just to compare what I got from the Local Fish store with what's currently available at Liveaquaria. This Genicanthus Semifasciatus (Masked Swallowtail Angelfish) is a changing male about 4.5 inch long for $300 + Shipping. And also to update, the fish has been eating very well and is now mingling well with other fish in the tank. Below is LiveAquaria's quick stats:

Minimum Tank Size: 125 gallons

Care Level: Difficult

Temperament: Peaceful

Reef Compatible: Yes

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.021-1.025

Max. Size: 8½"

Diet: Omnivore, Plankton Eater

Compatibility: View Chart

20140906 New Tankmate: Desjardini Tang

Zebrasoma Desjardinii- The Desjardini Tang, aka Red Sea Sailfin Tang, has also been on top of my list of jeweled fish to keep. The problem is- I have already had a yellow tang, and knowing if I add a desjardini tang into the same tank, I will be picking out a dead body sooner or later, I never did.

About three weeks ago I placed a special order request for this fish at a local fish store- Living Art Aquarium. But two weeks later, instead of waiting for this tan, you probably recall I picked up a chevron tang (Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis) instead. I figured this fish is new, but somewhat established, plus the desjardini is nearly 5" (I asked for 3-4", but 5" is still OK) whereas the chevron is barely 3". I thought it would be a good timing to add this fish. And then, the funny thing happened...

During the first week of my chevron tang's addition, I had barely got this fish to begin accepting pre-soaked, soften flake food but rejects most all other food, including frozen. The chevron also spends much time hiding yet instead of patrolling. But the moment I added this desjardini, the chevron became very territorial and patrols all open areas of the tank (with the orange spotted rabbitfish as its deputy). The chevron also immediately begin to accept flake of all sizes, frozen, as well as nori pieces- as a show to demonstrate who's the boss!

The Desjardini, in the midst of all these domination demonstration, didn't seem too bothered since it's almost 2" larger than the little chevron. And it began to accept flake, frozen, and nori right away as well! And unlike chevron's introduction, the flame back angel didn't even bother to confront this big guy.

2014-05-19 Species Spotlight- Linchia sp. Starfish

Linckia stars are jewels of the South Pacific. They come in vibrant colors and patterns. Yet they are mysterious as we know little of all the species out there, let along the diet of all different species. Like many other marine creatures, just because they are called a "starfish" doesn't mean they are not picking on what they eat.

linty starfish as seen on Live Aquaria

There is this super attractive Linckia star for sell at Diver's Den:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden

Now, I am not saying it's impossible to keep a Linchia star, but it can be tricky as many of them prefer difference diet from another- ranging from easy and simple detritus (left over), coral (dangerous), other stars, fish, crustaceans, sponges, etc. Many of these items are either not abundantly available in a small home aquarium, some of them are too pricy to purchase or to be eaten by the star. The store I used to manage had a 180 Gallon mature reef tank with an abundance of "EVERYTHING", yet we couldn't keep a linckia in there alive for more than 3 months at a time.

If you have a really large tank- larger than 500 Gallon, mature, and is full of a variety of reef creature, you might have a shot. Otherwise, I'd advise saving your money for something not as finicky, or don't get to attached to it.