cerreta
Premium Member
The story of how Pobrecito came to be a miracle baby!
You thought Nemo had a treacherous beginning to life, meet Pobrecito!
I was looking into the sump at some frags and I saw a lil flashing in the back of the tank. As I squatted down for a better look I discovered a baby Bangaii Cardinalfish swimming around down there.
Just like a lil baby with tiny toes and tiny fingers, this lil guy was fully formed, except all his parts were tiny. He had long fins just like an adult Bangaii. He has become known as Pobrecito (poor little baby).
His story is totally amazing. His parents are kept in the Nano tank located adjacent to the main display on the chiller stand. I believe the father is mouth brooding right now. I have fed the fish the last two evenings and one Bangaii eats while the other refuses to take food. A good sign of mouth brooding. However, his cheeks are not puffy from babies. So, I think the other guys has some growing to do, if there are still in papas mouth. If not, then the story of Pobrecito parallels the sole survivorship of Nemo even more closely.
So here is the story:
Pobrecito must have escaped from his fathers jaws into the wild as a mere morsel. And morsel he was to the saddleback clownfish and four stripe-headed gobies (the little ¾†long guys). After escaping near death of being a morsel, he managed to get spit through Niagara Falls. The water crashed through teeth of the overflow filter. From here, Pobrecito had to get sucked into a whirlpool created by a Durso Standpipe with an attached strainer. So image the size of him at this stage of life. Thos slits in the strainer are about 1/8" apart.
From here a one way trip through a water slide crashes into the sump. The amazing part is that his life was likely to end since the water dumps into a filter sock that is tightly sealed shut and the opening of the sock is suspended above the water level. However, I recall a time last week when the sock became clogged and the water would pour over the sock. This must have been his master plan to escape all along.
The journey does not end there. Next he had to travel to the depths of the deep, dark sump where scary worms and crustaceans live. This must have been as scary as Nemo’s adventure to the deep dark waters where he met a frogfish. Next, he swam under the drain chamber baffle while avoiding a sucking pump. Then the water got colder, darker and stiller as he was in the Live Rock Fragment chamber. Like a maze he had to wiggle and squirm his way through the jungle of rock towards the light. And then came an oasis awaiting his arrival.
Pobrecito came to rest in a converted refugium. While most of the weeds are gone, the water is calm, the sand is smooth and white, and small corals are scattered about. Ahhhhhh . . . heaven! As his heartbeat began to normalize and his belly began to stir, he caught glimpses of food everywhere. Little copepods danced right into his mouth. Even Marlin could not ask for a better place to raise his only survivor. In fact, I think his father will find his way (not the hard way) to the oasis so his brothers and sisters (if they are still incubating) can grow up in such an oasis.
You thought Nemo had a treacherous beginning to life, meet Pobrecito!
I was looking into the sump at some frags and I saw a lil flashing in the back of the tank. As I squatted down for a better look I discovered a baby Bangaii Cardinalfish swimming around down there.
Just like a lil baby with tiny toes and tiny fingers, this lil guy was fully formed, except all his parts were tiny. He had long fins just like an adult Bangaii. He has become known as Pobrecito (poor little baby).
His story is totally amazing. His parents are kept in the Nano tank located adjacent to the main display on the chiller stand. I believe the father is mouth brooding right now. I have fed the fish the last two evenings and one Bangaii eats while the other refuses to take food. A good sign of mouth brooding. However, his cheeks are not puffy from babies. So, I think the other guys has some growing to do, if there are still in papas mouth. If not, then the story of Pobrecito parallels the sole survivorship of Nemo even more closely.
So here is the story:
Pobrecito must have escaped from his fathers jaws into the wild as a mere morsel. And morsel he was to the saddleback clownfish and four stripe-headed gobies (the little ¾†long guys). After escaping near death of being a morsel, he managed to get spit through Niagara Falls. The water crashed through teeth of the overflow filter. From here, Pobrecito had to get sucked into a whirlpool created by a Durso Standpipe with an attached strainer. So image the size of him at this stage of life. Thos slits in the strainer are about 1/8" apart.
From here a one way trip through a water slide crashes into the sump. The amazing part is that his life was likely to end since the water dumps into a filter sock that is tightly sealed shut and the opening of the sock is suspended above the water level. However, I recall a time last week when the sock became clogged and the water would pour over the sock. This must have been his master plan to escape all along.
The journey does not end there. Next he had to travel to the depths of the deep, dark sump where scary worms and crustaceans live. This must have been as scary as Nemo’s adventure to the deep dark waters where he met a frogfish. Next, he swam under the drain chamber baffle while avoiding a sucking pump. Then the water got colder, darker and stiller as he was in the Live Rock Fragment chamber. Like a maze he had to wiggle and squirm his way through the jungle of rock towards the light. And then came an oasis awaiting his arrival.
Pobrecito came to rest in a converted refugium. While most of the weeds are gone, the water is calm, the sand is smooth and white, and small corals are scattered about. Ahhhhhh . . . heaven! As his heartbeat began to normalize and his belly began to stir, he caught glimpses of food everywhere. Little copepods danced right into his mouth. Even Marlin could not ask for a better place to raise his only survivor. In fact, I think his father will find his way (not the hard way) to the oasis so his brothers and sisters (if they are still incubating) can grow up in such an oasis.
