I have had my Anampses meleagrides for ten months. I saw a couple at the LFS that had the "zombie" look and were not feeding and passed on these. Two weeks later one came in that was small (1 1/4 - 1 1/2), alert and pecking at the rocks. I had researched them and was wary, so I asked the owner about their difficulty. He said he didn't think that they were that difficult IF you can get them to eat enriched brine shrimp. I snatched it up even though HALF of my research said not to. I did not quarantine him because I wanted him "on the rocks" ASAP. It was funny to watch him take on amphipods as big as his head (almost as big, ha ha).
THIS IS MY FAVORITE FISH. The personality is sooo cool. It is the low man on the totem pole and doesn't even care. Whenever someone takes a run at him he simply does a 180, 270, barrel roll or whatever he feels like and leaves them looking foolish.
I almost lost him when I went home for Christmas. Though the Mandarin, Six-line, and others were fat he was noticeably pinched. He even was too weak to evade and stopped feeding (I wanted to puke). However, the next day he did an about face and got his appetite back. I fed the crap out of the tank and now he is as fat as ever. This is the first time in my life a fish has come back from the brink for me (almost all my experience is freshwater)
My Anampses has grown an inch in my care. I read somewhere that if they were only shipped with an inch of sand in the bag, that their reputation would be entirely different (beating their face on the bag causes damage preventing them fom feeding).
I apologize for not having pictures. I am computer-challenged and must do some learning in this area. I will try to borrow a camera.
Counting two upgrades my system is fourteen months old. I run a nutrient rich system. I was skimming VERY lightly along with my algae scrubber but disconnected my skimmer yesterday (time for the plunge). I have not changed any water since October 31st. I believe the scrubber is the only reason that I am successful with the Anampses, Cleaner Wrasse and Golden Angel. I'm just not experienced enough otherwise.
I don't buy coral anymore. As soon as a peice gets as big as tennis ball, I keep a piece for myself and trade it to the LFS for a frag I don't have. I have better color than their Zeolit system, though comparable to those I see here using Zeolit.
I don't lie. I have no reason to. I am only writing out of a sense of obligation. I prefer to read or look at my tank. Thankyou very much Santa at Algae Scrubber.net.
andy,
P.S. I used to watch Lemieux, Jagr, Francis, Coffey, Stevens, Samuelsson, et al from thirty yards away while consuming obscene amounts of beer and nachos with jalopeno peppers. Ben Franklin would say that this was more proof that the universe wants us to be happy.
POSITIVE ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
