Welcome to Fish Love For Life!!!
Indulge your love of aquatic animals. Learn more about them and new ways to interact with them here.
Explore our archives of essays here! But first, accalimed aquarist Blobb Rearenter and his crew of experienced assistants answer some of your FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions--for those of you who are not "'Net savvy.") Blobb, as you may well know has over 35 years in the ornamental aquarist industry, serving at every level from an untangler of fisherman's lines to owner of a successful exotic marine animal service to author of the award-winning hobbyist's tome, The Sensitive Aquarist.
SICK PUFFER WON'T INFLATE 9/23/08
Hi, I'm righting **writing** because I'm very concerned about my stars and stripes pufferfish. He's such a sweet doll, always swimming around looking at me with his big eyes, but lately he doesn't seem wright. **right** He's stopped moving around much and hardly looks at me. I'm so scared, because even if I try to scare him by splashing the water, he won't blow up or even just swim away. Any help you give me is soooo appreciated!!
**Mmm... will try to help, if I can... have spent many years in the trade and have some experience with "dolls" like this that won't blow up...**
Baby's been looking blue lately, just floatin' **floating** in his special spot on the rite **right** side of the tank, right next to the ornament of underwater fish people performing some sorta **sort of** right. **rite** Why would he just float there like that?
**Mmm... is what Tetradonae do... though there may be toxins/irritants in the ornament**
I was trying to look at his anise **anus** cause **because** I thought I saw something stringy hanging there. Could he be having trouble pooping? **Worrisome... Tetrdonae rarely show rectal symptoms of any sort...If you haven't done so already, try probing the specimen's anus in hopes of finding/removing any block**
I would be sooooooooo grateful for any help you can give me!! PLEASE help me save my baby!! I don't know what I'd doo **do** without him!! Thanks!!
Sheila in Knoxbury Heart, NC
**Mmm...anal drainage is troubling... may be the result of chemicals in the ornament... suggest you have it tested... any reputable chemical lab should be able to give you answers... in the meantime, explore the anus... you may be pleasantly surprised by what you do/do not find. Blobb Reerenter**
RE: SICK PUFFER, FAILURE TO READ, USE SITE APPROPRIATELY 9/24/08
You din't **did not** say what kinda **kind of** chemicals 2 **to** ask about.
**Mmm... possibly poly-phosphates/trace levels of strychnine/nightshade/belladonna... many other such peccant substances. Do perform a search of the 'Net, using keywords such as "toxiferous," "nocuous," "fish bane..."**
Don't puffers have poison in 'em **mmm** NEwaze??? **north-eastern ways** **is true that most Tetradonae may exude a noxious slime, however...**
Could the poison get into Baby's anus if he was irritated there from constipation??!!?
**Tetradonae are rarely prone to anal injury... one of the breed's "selling points" to those of us in the hobby...**
WHAT CAN I DO??? Sorry but I'm vary **very** desperate and Baby doesn't look tue **tu?** good! He needs help NOW... Not just after some chemical lab which **mmm... useage... many feel that "that" should be used to introduce subordinate clauses, though it is an area of some debate... look to Strunk & White...** may not even be in this town!
I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but all those grammar instructions are just slowing things down!
**Mmm... proper use of the English language is but a courtesy--the "coin of the realm." We at FLFL are not paid, but volunteer our time, and the ignorant/inconsiderate use of the mother tongue, slows US down! Please DO edit your queries!**
Don't you have any other suggestions?
RABBITFISH QUESTION, HANDLING 12/15/2008
Hello.
I've got a one-spot Foxface Rabbitfish and we've had it for some time now. It's doing well and growing like crazy. We bought him in town and nobody told me that the spines could be dangerous.
**Oh yes**
Needless to say, we moved him between 3 tanks now and didn't know. I held him in my hand at one point and even helped him get his gills going in the new tank when the smaller tank he had been raised in crashed. (We had numerous newbie fish disasters throughout the year, but everything is a+ stable now).
I am concerned after finding out that they are venomous, quite by accident, because nobody took the time to tell us, knowing we were newbies.
I've searched the site thoroughly and read the Rabbitfish FAQs, and I see that it mentions that they have a painful sting and are venomous. It does not, however, tell you how venomous they are (from what I saw, but I may have missed it somewhere) or if they are actually fatal, such as the lionfish can be.
**Somewhat less than Pteroines... more than bees... Can be dangerous to folks who have aversion to proteinaceous stings**
I am concerned, needless to say, because he's grown to about six inches long and he's quite the boss of the big tank, with the exception of a few of our tangs, who rule the roost.
Thank you
RELIEF FROM A STICKY SITUATION 6/7/2009
Hi!
**Mmm... "hi" to you as well...**
I'm a new visitor here, just discovered your site, and I'm a newbie at aquariums. I hope you don't mind if I just open with my question.
**Mmm... we've all had "first times..." Please do open up...**
In my 55g bowfront, I have a Long-spined Sea Urchin.
**Mmm... Urchin roe is most palatible! Just ask your local sushi bar for "uni!" (Get "dos" servings of "uni," as it is so good you'll eat both. Mmm..) But urchins can bite back painfully, as we divers, who have removed many a spine from our feet, arms, even posteriors know too well. Do be careful when cleaning your tank...**
Yesterday, I noticed my urchin shooting out some small debris from that eye-shaped thing on the top of him. It looked like dark sand. What is it? Is he falling apart? Or laying eggs? I'm not sure how to take care of baby urchins. It seems like it could be painful!
**Mmm... Often, the "pleasure" of procreation is inextricably linked to pain...**
I hope I haven't overlooked an answer to this question elsewhere. I've looked everywhere in my fish books, but none of them really cover urchins much. I'm really worried. All my water parameters are fine, **"fine" can mean a lot of things (e.g., colloquially, "attractive")... what ARE your numerical parameters?** and I don't know what else it could be.
Thank you for ANY help you can provide!!!
Julie Pier
**Fear not, my nautically-named friend. What you are witnessing is not cause for concern. Sadly, it is also not the production of more delectable urchin roe/uni. Rather, what you have witnessed is another of nature's "miracles." Your urchin was defecating. At the "bottom" of a Diadema such as yours is a unique chewing apparatus known as "Aristotle's Lantern." (The more literate among us will recognize this lantern-bearer as the great Classical philosopher and student of Plato.) Here, on the urchin's underside, food is taken in and "consumed," only to pass through a simple digestive tube and be expelled from the "eye-like" orifice at the top of the animal. The urchin's anus is quite striking and unusual and well-worth further consideration, if you are so inclined. Blobb.**
ONE MORE FOR THE TANK! 10/27/2009
Blobb--or any of the FLFL crew...
**Only Blobb here... rest of the crew out "relaxing..." Mmm...**
I can't thank you enough for everything you continue to do for us rank amateurs...
**Thank you for these kind words... I/we/they (the crew) appreciate them... Incidentally, should be "we" rank amateurs...**
My problem is a little complex, so I hope you don't mind if I just leap on it
**Mmm... "have at it"...**
It's taking place in my 90 gallon all glass w/ 30 lbs. of stone gravel, Turbo floator hang on skimmer, and bio-balls.
**Might consider doing something different with your balls, possibly getting rid of them altogether....can lead to all sorts of biochemical problems**
FLFL has guided me the whole way, as I set my tank up and matured it. Your book, especially, Blobb. I've had to buy a 2nd copy after only 2 months, as the pages keep getting wet and sticking together!
**Most kind, my friend. Try licking your fingers before turning pages to keep them from sticking together. In messier situations, I have had luck using a "stronger" lubricant. such as KY jelly... just a very small amount--not enough to make things messier.**
Can't say how much you've helped! Here's my stocking list:
1 Queen Trigger (used to have 2, but 1 got torn up really bad by something and died)
1 juvenile Queen angel
2 purple tangs
1 panther grouper
1 Dragon Moray
1 Green Moray
1 stone fish
1 yellowtail blue damsel (used to cycle the tank)
1 Hawaiian Cleaner wrasse
2 Threadfin anthiases (haven't seen them in a while, but they like to hide a lot)
2 Sea horses (Added yesterday--a mated pair!)
For inverts I have:
3 cone shell snails
1 blue ring octopus
3 peacock mantis shrimps, ranging from 5-7" long
3 green brittle stars
1 green lobster
5 sea apples
**Mmm... a most colorful group...**
Tank's been cycled for about 2 months now. My first question is this: Am I maxed out already in terms of how many fish, inverts I have?
**Have "some room" left yet... with good husbandry...**
I'd like to add another fish. Which of the following can do I have enough room for & would fit into the mix I have?
Moorish Idol
Ribbon Eel
Harlequin Sweetlips
Longhorn Cowfish
**Mmm... would not try the Plectorhinchus with this group. Loses some of its color as it ages and might be visually "upstaged" in such a vivid mix. Other choices all seem fine. Have you considred the Exquisite Butterflyfish? Its cream and yellow color scheme is set off by a striking dark pattern along its anal fins.**
Thanks again, Blobb. If I ever have children, (a big "if," since I spend so much time with my fish tanks,) they'll all be named after you!
LACK OF CONSCIENTIOUSNESS, READING... 10/27/2009
Hello Fellow Fishy Friends! So happy to find others who love fish!
**Mmm... how does the old tune go? "I'll be your friend, and I'll be your lover..." Mmm...**
Your sight **site** has helped me enormously in trying to solve my problems!!
**Kind words! It helps us to help you... For how does the proverb run, "give a man a fish..." Mmm...**
My question is in regard to my 55g saltwater tank.
**Mmm... "but teach him to fish..." mmm? No, that's not it...**
In it are:
1 Queen Trigger
1 juvenile Queen angel
2 purple tangs
1 panther grouper
1 Dragon Moray
1 Green Moray
1 stone fish
1 yellowtail blue damsel (used to cycle the tank)
1 Hawaiian Cleaner wrasse
2 Threadfin anthiases
2 Sea horses
For inverts I have:
3 cone shell snails
1 blue ring octopus
3 peacock mantis shrimps
3 green brittle stars
1 green lobster
5 sea apples
I inherited the tank from a friend who was terminally ill. I know I'm heavily stocked.
**Far OVERstocked, I should say! Should remove most of these animals. May want to add some with better anal coloring, contours once you have. A dull mix here.**
I live in a very small town with no LFS and no marine society, so there is no one to take any of the animals off my hands.
**Mmm... Irresponsible. Your "friend" should have thought twice...no thrice...about his/her decisions! And you, by taking the animals off his/her hands just encouraged this sort of shortsightedness in other aquarists--terminally ill or not. Mmm... impending demise is no excuse! Nor is "friendship."**
I've done everything I could to compensate. I've added 200 lbs. live Tonga rock.
**Not nearly enough to provide adequate filtration. On the other hand, far too much to allow fish swimming room. May also put a strain on the floor of the tank. Mmm... Also, Fiji live rock is the "gold standard." Tonga rock is inferior by far.**
The tank had bio-balls, but I've read here about what a problem they can be.
**Mmm... hope you did not cut out your balls too quickly! Can be quite hazardous to do so.**
I've added 3 Xtra-large skimmers from Euro-Reef, each ranked for a 300g tank.
**Too much! You CAN/will over-skim, removing valuable trace elements, such as iodine and extract of High John the Conqueror root. You are killing your livestock! Are they "friends" too? Address husbandry NOW if you want them to fare better than your gift-giving acquaintance. Need at least a 500g tank here. Dump a skimmer--not the cup the whole thing! Give away as many of these animals as you can find homes for WHEREVER you can find them! And READ! Blobb Rearenter**
Thanks so much for everything! I'm sure you'll have some useful suggestions for what I can do, seeing as I have no room or money for a larger system and can find no one to take any of them off my hands.
Regards,
NURSING A SHARK 3/15/2010
I'm having some trouble with my Nurse Shark, Maury. He just eats and eats, which I know sharks are supposed to do! Sometimes, he gets a little overzealous though! He actually took off one of my pinkies! I didn't think a fish his size could do that!
**Mmm... bet that's what he said after! Ginglymostomas known to do this even when young, "small." Once knew a man in the trade was covered in shark bite scars. Had annoying habits: scratching fingernails along chalkboards, reciting boring story about delivering something called the "Hiroshima bum," wrapping himself in bacon then hopping into shark holding tanks to get their interest.**
How big do Nurse Sharks get?
**Posted elsewhere here at FLFL... Read! Or check fishbase.org.**
If he gets any bigger, I think I might have to worry about losing an arm. Right now he's too big for the tank I got him! 10 gallons! I mean, he actually won't fit in it! I have him in the bathtub. How long can I keep him here?
**Did you even research this purchase before making it? Will reach maximum size--14' or more--very quickly, if well-fed. (Mmm... note to 'self: "Shit! Gave away answer to last question!")*
The LFS I bought him from won't accept returns on sharks, and the public aquarium said they don't have room for him! Please don't lecture me about how my tank was too small. I know I made a mistake but want to give the shark the best life he can have now.And now I'm having trouble feeding him. Can you just help me with that?
**Mmm! Don't tell me what to do, "bitch!"**
My fish and I need serious help!
**Mmm! Only advice I can offer is for you to rig something up using a plastic dowel and your dick! Just extend the stylus of your cock by using an aquarium-safe silicone putty--my favorite is "Plumber's Buddy--to attach the dowel to its end. Then stick some food on the end--maybe some oyster flesh--and hump the water till your shark comes and bites your dick off. Then shove dowel up your ass, thus creating a modified anal fin. in hopes that you might better understand your pet! And then read!!! The answers to all of your questions are indexed here at Fish Love for Life, if you'd bother to look...Blobb Rearenter**
