Foam Rockwall w/ built in refuge for a 26 gal bowfront

[Chasmodes]

Well Sam, I've finally caught up on reading through your thread, and the progression from your awesome job with the rock wall until now is quite amazing. Your tank is really beautiful!

Any plans to find a male sheepshead minnow? They are pretty colorful compared to the males, and you could probably get them to breed in your tank. When's your next collecting trip?

I think that the cherub angel is a nice addition, especially now that it doesn't seem to bother anything. Maybe having two sheepshead minnows to chase in there will keep it distracted

 

[sam.basye]

Well Sam, I've finally caught up on reading through your thread, and the progression from your awesome job with the rock wall until now is quite amazing. Your tank is really beautiful!

Any plans to find a male sheepshead minnow? They are pretty colorful compared to the males, and you could probably get them to breed in your tank. When's your next collecting trip?

I think that the cherub angel is a nice addition, especially now that it doesn't seem to bother anything. Maybe having two sheepshead minnows to chase in there will keep it distracted

Thanks, Chasmodes!

You bet! I really want that male sheepshead minnow! Just gotta make it to the Keys..
Maybe toward the end of the summer.. being optimistic. I haven't​ gotten enough snorkeling in for my liking. It's been almost 2 years since snorkeling on the honeymoon!

I want one of those hookah dive things for extended down time. Lol

Fingers crossed the angel minds it's business and keeps away from the coral!

 

[Chasmodes]

Thanks, Chasmodes!

You bet! I really want that male sheepshead minnow! Just gotta make it to the Keys..

As soon as the weather breaks, you could probably make a couple hour drive to Yorktown or Jamestown and catch your own. They'll be in the marshy shallows in both the James and the York Rivers, or maybe around Virginia Beach. If you collect around pilings and such, you might find some blennies too :bounce1:

The males have tints of orange on the belly and fins, and a nice blue streak across the nape and trimmed on the fins.

 

[sam.basye]

Sad day...

Rest in peace Largo



This morning went over and took a look at the tank at 10am and saw the sheepshead minnow at the surface gasping. Checked the salinity and it checked out. Symptoms were that of lack of oxygenated water, but nothing's changed and that's never been an issue. Skimmer came on at 10:30 and I left for work. Came home at 5 and she was down in Snappy's burrow.

Body was firm and couldn't find anything wrong with it.
Everything else is acting normally and nothing else looks off..

The sheepshead minnow can tolerate fresh and saltwater, low oxygen levels by sucking air from the surface, and high/low temps by burrowing. Not to mention the EPA uses them to test polluted waters..

My only thought is that it died of old age. I can't find a lifespan for the sheepshead minnow written anywhere. They reach sexual maturity at 3 months old and she was 3" which is their max size.

Happy we did a photo shoot last weekend.
Fond memories.
From hand collection in Key Largo, riding in a bucket for 15 hours in the trunk of my friends Challenger, and 2 happy years living in my bedroom.
Funny how a bait fish I collected for free could end up being my favorite fish.





Here's the most recent FTS from last weekend with Largo front and center ready for dinner.




Chasmodes, I'll be in Charleston, SC in May. I'll be on the hunt for new critters while at the beach!
A male and female sheepshead minnow are at the top of my fish list!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Great pics of Largo! Sorry to hear it. We do get attached don't we. Finding a male and female would be cool!

How's the cherub? Is it behaving?

Tank looks great!

 

[sam.basye]

Thanks, Michael.

The cherub is still doing great. I watch it swim all over the tank and nip at just about everything.
It swims around looking for stuff to nip at whether it be the wall, the glass, or corals. When it does nip the coals, it appears that it thinks it sees something, not that it's trying to eat the coral itself. I've never noticed any signs that is eating any of the coral.
Model citizen so far!

I used the wife's DSLR to take those pics of Largo and the FTS. I also have some FTS footage I need to compile for a nice video! Just gotta find the motivation to do it. Lol
And a good, Free, editing software for Windows..

 

[sam.basye]

I was doing some research last night trying to determine the lifespan of the sheepshead minnow and found Aquaculturestore.com.
They sell the minnows at a pretty good price and the owners are very helpful. For those interested in getting 4 sexed; $25 or 10 juvi; $22. Plus shipping.

I reached out to them and got a response with an estimated lifespan of 2 years+ in a tank, so that's in line with what I was thinking.
Sucks they don't last long, but a great "dog-like" fish.

 

[Chasmodes]

Glad to hear about the cherub angel doing well. They're so cool!

Sorry to hear about Largo. I'll also keep a few sheepshead minnows in my tank if I get a chance to catch a few. I kept several of them with some mummichogs and striped killies many years ago. They were fun to keep and watch. Yeah, they do look like little bulldogs, probably why they're collectively called pupfish in that genus (sorry if that was a Captain Obvious moment).

By the way, the tank looks spectacular!!! Great shot of the blenny in that FTS too...

 

[sam.basye]

Thanks, Chasmodes!

I wish they lived longer!
Mine acted like it was a dog. Lol
It would greet me at the tank, swim left and right letting me know it wanted dinner. Haha
She liked getting her picture taken too. Would just sit in the same spot.
My first saltwater fish was a striped mumichog/killifish.

My 0.5g travel tank
See killifish top and side right

^^^this pic to me about an hour and a half to find and upload... Lol



I'm currently going through DSLR footage and it blows the previous cell video out of the water!

Edit: well, some of the footage does. Lol
Need to go back and do more video as some were out of focus and a little dark.

 

[sam.basye]

Quick teaser:

https://youtu.be/Fset6jLLifY

 

[Chasmodes]

Very nice. I can't wait until you stop teasing us (kidding) and put out the longer video :bounce1:

I really enjoyed that tank with the killies. It was my first saltwater tank as well. It was only a 10g tank. It was that it was probably overstocked. I didn't know any better at the time. I probably had way too many killies, mummichogs, and sheepshead. Combined, I get I had 15 fish in there. That might be why I couldn't get them to breed...too much stress...

But, they all lived fine and the tank did well, and ate anything that I gave them. I also did regular water changes. Eventually, they died one by one, but it could have been old age, but I never really knew why, because I had all of those fish in there for over two years. My favorites of that bunch were the sheepshead minnows. They're tough little buggers too.

 

[sam.basye]

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[serenity]

Looks so good, I love this foam idea. I am going to give it a try on my daughters tank, she will be out of town for the week for spring break, I am going to surprise her and have this done for her when she gets back.

 

[Murdock5150]

Tank looks amazing! I'm working on a foam background for my 210 right now. I can only hope it comes out half as good as yours looks when its complete.

 

[sam.basye]

Looks so good, I love this foam idea. I am going to give it a try on my daughters tank, she will be out of town for the week for spring break, I am going to surprise her and have this done for her when she gets back.

Tank looks amazing! I'm working on a foam background for my 210 right now. I can only hope it comes out half as good as yours looks when its complete.

Thanks guys!

Feel free to post up your walls in here when your done.

Murdock, advise how many cans of foam you end up using. Lol

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[sam.basye]

Very nice. I can't wait until you stop teasing us (kidding) and put out the longer video :bounce1:

I really enjoyed that tank with the killies. It was my first saltwater tank as well. It was only a 10g tank. It was that it was probably overstocked. I didn't know any better at the time. I probably had way too many killies, mummichogs, and sheepshead. Combined, I get I had 15 fish in there. That might be why I couldn't get them to breed...too much stress...

But, they all lived fine and the tank did well, and ate anything that I gave them. I also did regular water changes. Eventually, they died one by one, but it could have been old age, but I never really knew why, because I had all of those fish in there for over two years. My favorites of that bunch were the sheepshead minnows. They're tough little buggers too.

That's pretty cool, Chasmodes.

My poor fish endured hyper-saline conditions for a few weeks until I learned that the salt doesn't evaporate.. lol

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[Murdock5150]

Thanks guys!

Feel free to post up your walls in here when your done.

Murdock, advise how many cans of foam you end up using. Lol

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10 of the 12oz cans. 32oz of Epoxy. 7oz of hardener. 4 Tubes of silicone. 1 bottle of nail polish remover trying to get the foam off of my fingers lol

 

[sam.basye]

10 of the 12oz cans. 32oz of Epoxy. 7oz of hardener. 4 Tubes of silicone. 1 bottle of nail polish remover trying to get the foam off of my fingers lol

Haha, that stuff is awful trying to remove it from your hands! Last time I used it I didn't even bother trying to scrub it all off. It eventually all came off within a few days.

That's not bad, only 10 cans. Did you do the whole back side?
I think I used about 3-4 on my 26.

 

[Murdock5150]

Haha, that stuff is awful trying to remove it from your hands! Last time I used it I didn't even bother trying to scrub it all off. It eventually all came off within a few days.

That's not bad, only 10 cans. Did you do the whole back side?
I think I used about 3-4 on my 26.

Yep. The whole thing. Just finished hiding the seams by shaping them with more sand and epoxy. I post pics when it's dry.

 

[Murdock5150]

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