StAiden
New member
I swear this is true. I have people who can vouch for this story as I was freaking out today trying to figure out how this happened. This is one of those cool stories about how things can take an unexpected turn and why some days this hobby is so much fun.
Here's the back story.
I ran a 250 gallon system for about 4.5 years before we moved in April this year.
In order to move our tanks, we set up a new temporary system in the new place that was a series of tanks, not just one.
We moved some of the rock from our old tanks into the new system, and then over a period of two months, moved the fish and corals.
Which left me with about 50 pounds of rock that did not fit in the temporary system.
So I put a few pieces in a 15 gallon tank, added a small pump, a tiny heater, and a crappy desk lamp in order to keep some chaeto alive. That was April.
Here is what the 15 gallon tank with just a few pieces of rock looked like.
Between April and today (October 9) I did nothing to the tank. Didn't feed it, no water changes, maybe I topped off the water a couple times, but honestly, that was it. I took the chaeto out three weeks ago to put into a reactor, but as far as I was concerned, the tank had nothing alive in it except the rock, and probably some pods.
No fish, inverts, maybe a mushroom, but nothing else.
Today, I decided to move the rock into an empty quarantine tank in order to use the tank for acclimation.
I moved the first large rock into the new tank and as I lowered it into the water, this black thing went flying out.
"F***" I thought, a freaking mantis has been living in the freaking rock since the move."
Except it wasn't a mantis.
It was a fish.
And I don't know what kind cause I never added it to our old system.
This is not a fish I bought. I don't know how long it has been in the old system, as I had never seen it in the 4+ years we had our old tank, and I never once saw it in the 15 gallon tank it's been living in for the last 6 months.
After the initial surprise I put the fish back into its old home, with the 75 degree water that hasn't had a water change in 6 months.
This is the only photo I got of it while I was panicking and trying to get it back into the original tank.
I think I have it narrowed down to the basslet family. The fish has a pointed nose, is about 2" long, has a very long dorsal fin, some white flecking on the sides, but is pretty much all black.....
Question is:
What to do.
If it's a basslet (Belonepterygion fasciolatum?) then it's good! But if it's going to turn into a monster sport fish that will eat my right arm, not so good.
Just looking for some help with an ID, please!
Here's the back story.
I ran a 250 gallon system for about 4.5 years before we moved in April this year.
In order to move our tanks, we set up a new temporary system in the new place that was a series of tanks, not just one.
We moved some of the rock from our old tanks into the new system, and then over a period of two months, moved the fish and corals.
Which left me with about 50 pounds of rock that did not fit in the temporary system.
So I put a few pieces in a 15 gallon tank, added a small pump, a tiny heater, and a crappy desk lamp in order to keep some chaeto alive. That was April.
Here is what the 15 gallon tank with just a few pieces of rock looked like.
Between April and today (October 9) I did nothing to the tank. Didn't feed it, no water changes, maybe I topped off the water a couple times, but honestly, that was it. I took the chaeto out three weeks ago to put into a reactor, but as far as I was concerned, the tank had nothing alive in it except the rock, and probably some pods.
No fish, inverts, maybe a mushroom, but nothing else.
Today, I decided to move the rock into an empty quarantine tank in order to use the tank for acclimation.
I moved the first large rock into the new tank and as I lowered it into the water, this black thing went flying out.
"F***" I thought, a freaking mantis has been living in the freaking rock since the move."
Except it wasn't a mantis.
It was a fish.
And I don't know what kind cause I never added it to our old system.
This is not a fish I bought. I don't know how long it has been in the old system, as I had never seen it in the 4+ years we had our old tank, and I never once saw it in the 15 gallon tank it's been living in for the last 6 months.
After the initial surprise I put the fish back into its old home, with the 75 degree water that hasn't had a water change in 6 months.
This is the only photo I got of it while I was panicking and trying to get it back into the original tank.
I think I have it narrowed down to the basslet family. The fish has a pointed nose, is about 2" long, has a very long dorsal fin, some white flecking on the sides, but is pretty much all black.....
Question is:
What to do.
If it's a basslet (Belonepterygion fasciolatum?) then it's good! But if it's going to turn into a monster sport fish that will eat my right arm, not so good.
Just looking for some help with an ID, please!
