Flashy Fins

Nice to see old friends and some new ones! Bob's presentation was great (and surprisingly funny), and who doesn't love a raffle with nice prizes? Thanks to all the sponsors who donated! Maybe someone will post a list? They definitely deserve some love. Thanks to the turnout, I found out Mitrillion's mom is someone I already know. It's actually the second time someone from the club has turned out to be connected to another person in my life, outside of reefing, and I'm not even from here. Small world here in the NW!

Now that some of us have our frags (thank you!), do we need to take photos? I've never been part of a grow out competition before, so not really sure how everything works.

I'm more interested in the star spangled zoas, so you can list me as just getting those and let someone else have my paly spot. I'll pay you for the zoas at the meeting tomorrow.

Bring mine to the meeting, please. I'm in Vancouver and can pick up for anyone who can come get the frags from my place within a few days, but I'd rather not have to front cash for everyone and keep track of paybacks, so... If you'd like your frags to go home with me, arrangement payment with badxgillen, and I'll send you my address once I have your frags (or you can send me yours, if you live nearby - I like seeing other people's tanks).

Yes, some people do. If you have a few different things, you might want to start a thread with stuff you'll be selling at the meeting, so people can reserve ahead of time.

I'd like a Sunny D frag. Will you be at the meeting this weekend?

Still in!

That's great news!

I should add that 99% pharmaceutical grade = true pharmaceutical grade. (It's not like saying something is 99% organic, where 1% is not.) The 1% is a binder. Anything less than 99% is not considered pharmaceutical grade.

Lengthy threads, but worth reading: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2397496 http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2136214 Some have had mixed results eradicating ich, even with 99% pharmaceutical grade CP they got from a vet script, but overall, most report success curing velvet, brook, uronema (as long as you never return the fish to the original tank), and ich. Flasher wrasses are especially sensitive to CP (possibly other wrasses, as well), so best to research whether or not your fish are tolerant before using. I bought some from the ebay seller referenced in those threads (who confirmed his source is Fishman Chemical), but since there's still a debate on whether or not it's 99% pharmaceutical grade, I haven't used it. I keep it on hand in case I ever find myself in a situation with a fish that's going downhill fast and I can't pinpoint the problem, since many report success curing mystery ailments, even in cases where the fish appeared half dead at the start of treatment. I think of it as the, "I'm desperate and have no other options" medicine in my cabinet.

If you have frags, it's best to post what you have and arrange some trades ahead of time. Most people bring a small cooler to keep everything in, and a few extra ziplock bags wouldn't hurt (leaky bags happen). I can bring an extra styrofoam cooler, if anyone needs one.

Given how much more attractive the juvenile stage is, I predict an opportunity for stores to offer package deals of these seahorses along with growth stunting additive Marine Depot is offering.

I see Randy answered, but you're not alone. I had to google it myself.

I've purchased corals from Golden Basket (mixed experiences, but all positive if I exclude zoas) and fish and inverts from Diver's Den (stellar experience in every way). I plan to give Aqua SD a try soon. They post killer sales every weekend on the reef2reef forum, and I've just drooled so far, but I've heard only amazing things about them. I've been waiting till I have a nice little honey pot to go a bit crazy and make the shipping charge worth it.

I prefer the first one.

Depending on selection and price, I might be interested.

Super subjective and dependent on what you're into, what day you go, etc. All stores have pros and cons, but I usually find myself taking note of the cool fish at Ocean In a Box, colorful SPS and zoas at Cuttlefish, and drool-worthy LPS at Premium Aquarium and Upscales. They all have a nice selection of each, but I do find myself thinking of them as specializing in the areas that catch my attention most. I've had the most informative and enjoyable conversations at Premium Aquarium and Upscales, which does make shopping in those stores more enjoyable. Wish PA wasn't so far away!

Maybe not my favorite tool, but long pipettes are incredibly helpful. Has anyone seen them for sale anywhere other than World of Wet Pets? I grab several whenever I'm there, but I don't go that way very often. Turkey baster is just not thin or flexible enough to reach everywhere. I tried looking online, but I don't know the ml size; I just know they're about 10" long, versus the standard little 4" size.

Meant to say exquisite firefish (not magnificent). Just corrected myself on another thread over the same thing - you'd think I could get the name of my own fish right! Anyway, the exquisite firefish seems none too wise about avoiding the pompom crabs' anemones. I watched him swim right up to one and try to bite, thinking a nem was a piece of food after I tossed in some mysis. No damage was done, as he barely missed the target, but I did notice a couple of dark spots on the fish's side last week that were suspiciously the same size and space apart as the larger crab's nems. The spots were exactly like the marks clownfish sometimes get from their anemones, and they cleared up in a couple of days, so I assume fish and crab had a little bump. Pipefish is smarter and stays away.

Just realized I typed magnificent every time I meant exquisite. Exquisite is the larger, yellow-bodied purple firefish. Thought I should correct in case someone comes across this info later. I know I end up on old threads via google searches sometimes.

Looks like a bacterial infection, but eating and swimming normally is obviously good. Maybe check out some of the things further down on this page, like popeye, gas bubble, and mycobacterium: http://www.chucksaddiction.com/disease.html

Poor fish. Based on the pictures, it's not impossible that that's brook, but if the fish has looked like that for a couple of weeks, my opinion is that it's a very heavy ich infestation. Does the fish appear to be peeling? A cloudy and peeling appearance is usually the most obvious symptom of brook, but it's tough to tell if that is the case with your fish. Hiding and loss of appetite are some other brook symptoms. It's possible for a fish to have both brook and ich, since ich is in most tanks and tends to show its ugly face when fish are weakened by other diseases, but I would be very surprised to see a fish last 2 weeks without treatment, if he did have both issues. Have you added anything wet (fish, snails, coral, live rock) to your tank in the last two months? If not, this is almost certainly ich. Brook is far, far less likely if nothing new has been added, especially if your tank is small or has less than stellar filtration. If it's "just" ich, that's a bigger issue in terms of eradicating it from your tank and not adding it back, since an ich-free display requires effort far beyond what most people are willing to do. This is a good read on ich eradication versus ich management: http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/fish-disease-treatment-diagnosis/188775-ich-eradication-vs-ich-management.html If you end up with further reason to suspect brook, here is some useful info: http://www.chucksaddiction.com/brookynella.html That page has a good outline for treatment, but you should know going into it that most are not successful treating brook. It's not that the treatment doesn't work; it's just that the fish is usually too far gone by the time treatment starts. It is worth trying, though, as some do succeed. You'll need a clean place to keep the fish after treatment while your tank goes fallow, and I highly recommend a few weeks beyond the 4-6 week recommendation, at least 8 to be fairly sure and 12 if you want to be very sure. If it were me, I would assume ich and treat for that, along with a fallow period and careful quarantine in the future. Some have luck with other methods, and whatever works for you personally is what you should do. I sympathize with anyone dealing with fish disease, regardless of their opinions on quarantine. I hope your fish pull through!

I had a nasty bout with brook last year, so I can take a look at your pictures and give you my opinion, but I really doubt fish would last that long with it. If you have a powerful UV sterilizer or a large tank with excellent filtration, it might slow down the outbreak, but only to an extent. Brook generally kills faster than velvet, with many fish only lasting hours to a day or two. Stores manage to sell fish with brook because copper masks the symptoms and keeps it at a low level infestation, but then you take the fish home and have a very nasty disease on your hands. Whatever you're dealing with, I'm very sorry. Fish disease sucks!

[language filter], that's a bummer.

That last one!