Thanks heaps for the kind words guys, really appreciate them
I'll go right through the whole crash tomorrow and what i did to minimize the fallout as best i could. I saved quite a few nice pieces including that SSC i posted a pic of shortly before the crash by throwing them in the sump with the fish so things could be a lot worse.
Tonight i'm going to explain how i went to buy a single acro and came home with a flame angel, tamarin wrasse, hammer coral and four acros............
Arrived at Reeflections just as Dave was arriving and followed him in the front door even though the lights weren't on yet........... there's something magical about watching the tank lighting ramp on in a well stocked coral store, way better than a sunrise. I look to see that everything in the SPS tank is washed out and pale, not what i usually see so after a quick once over i found nothing amazing and turned away to give the fish tanks a once over. I scan all the tanks and see no flame angels which i've been thinking about trying since i can now catch a psycho one with little rock in the display for it to hide in.
This is when Dave pulls the occy sting on me. " Damn the octopus got out ! "
Now i turn to see Dave scanning the SPS sales tank saying the occy that was in a plastic container floating has popped the lid and is out.
Now don't tell me any of you wouldn't want to search for an occy hiding in a 10ft long SPS tank. Ten seconds into the search Dave yells " found the bugger " and sure enough out of nowhere is a bloody octopus and it just happens to be standing beside the nicest acro in the tank. I would not be surprised if Dave didn't have it in his pocket and dropped it in when i was looking the other way............
Thing is the occy is giving me a full on stare so i think ok let's see who blinks first - i'm now aware that occy's don't need to keep their eyes moist and dust free and therefore don't tend to blink a lot. :worried:
Told Dave i wanted just the blue tipped acro and wasn't impressed with the stock this visit all the time locking eyes with the occy........
Game on mister octopus...........
He starts going down the tank still staring me down and i'm not giving in so i followed him........
Before i know it he has me in front of heaps of acros instead of the empty tank end and that's when Dave went for the kill.........
Dave casually says, " twenty percent of the SPS today " ............ something went ping in my brain and i murmured " I'll need a poly box Dave "
After selecting three more acros i mention to Dave that typically he has no flames when i'm in the mood to buy one and that's when he pulls another sales rabbit out of his hat.
" There's a nice one in the bottom row of tanks but you need to bend down to see all the fish hanging high at the back "
I hunch down and waddle along scanning the bottom row of fish tanks and that's when i saw Barry. " Bag him up please Dave " - poof there goes $100-. " We have a nice Tamarin wrasse as well " - poof there goes another $60-.
The Tamarin wrasse was gasping on the sand when i turned the lights on after the first night and disappeared by the time i came home from work on Tuesday and i'm certain it's dead - no idea what i did wrong. I still haven't seen Barry eat a single thing since adding him but he doesn't look skinny so not sure if he's starving himself or what tbh. I'm worried about Barry not eating so i'm feeding lots of little feeds often, 5-6 a day so the regular crew are loving it.
Wanting to add more flubber i ask " got any nice hammers Dave ? " " Yeah there's some down the end "
Down the end turned out to be 37 hammers all the colors of the rainbow - a lot were faded etc but none were brown if the pic gives that impression. I picked a nice little green one for $50- which just squeezed into the box and i was done. The dearest one was $120- in case you wondered.
And that's how easy it is to send biggles into a LFS buying frenzy.......:crazy1:
) they like to hide for up to a week and then when they feel comfortable they'll come out. Since he was breathing heavily there is a chance he's past on but its not uncommon for them to do that right out in the open and look like there on their last fins but they pull through (this is what my one did after the tank move). As long as Barry is swimming around I wouldn't be too worried, he's probably just getting ready to take on the Acto's:lol:.
