ryphtank @ryphtank - Tumblr Blog

Red Sea Reefer 350 equipment list

- Reef Tops lid

- Evergrow LEDs

- Jebao 6500 return pump

- Jebao 3-head dosing pump

- Maxspect XF330 single pump

- Heater

- Inkbird heater controller

WANT LIST

SKIMMER: Bubble Magus curve 5

ATO unit

dragon-in-a-fez

im really intrigued by the idea of using citric acid for cleaning aquarium gear, is there a reason you prefer it? asking cuz i use white vinegar personally and im always really anxious that im contaminating stuff/not cleaning well enough/not rinsing well enough lol

citric acid is safe in tank water in trace amounts, so if you don't do a very good job rinsing you're basically fine! that's the main reason I use it, also unlike vinegar you can buy it in powder form and mix it up yourself so you don't have to buy/store large containers of liquid

ryphtank

Seconding this genius

Don't be confused by the rocks that I've got,

I've just, I've just gotta lotta rocks

Used to have a little but now I have a lot

And I'm gonna put them all in my reef tanks (it's a rock!)

#fluval spec V #fluval spec #fluval spec reef tank #fluval spec V reef tank #Pico reef tank

aliquid-de-magis

scrunglebunny time yaaaaay!!!

so my colleagues and i are apparently world-class experts at keeping these things healthy in captivity, which *does* explain why i never see them as exhibits anywhere, but is also a bit baffling to me because like, they're not difficult??? sure, they need stable water parameters and a large sandbed, but so does a stingray, and i can't fathom a professional aquarist having trouble maintaining water params. that's just something an aquarist should be doing as a matter of course, regardless of what they're keeping. a blue hippo tang is waaaay more delicate, and people successfully raise those all the time.

the other thing i hear is that it's impossible to get them to eat, but i don't buy that either. LOOK at this little guy. look how jazzed he is for dinnertime. he stands there all stanced up on his tippies with his nose against the glass every day waiting for me. i've only had him for two weeks but he'll try anything i offer him (and i offer a big variety of foods) because he knows i give out tasty presents to all the good babies. and he knows he's a good baby!!!

so people ask me what's the secret and i'm like, idk be nice to them??? are y'all out there *not* being nice to your fish???

baffling.

ryphtank

How many have you kept and for how long?

I was planning on keeping a frogfish for a long time. I did a lot of research, but got most of my help from an expert in keeping predatory fish (these, lionfish, scorpion fish, etc)

His research had shown that feeding them properly was key to getting them to live past a year, which was average lifespan in hobby tanks.

Trying to wean them onto dead food was possible, but didnt give them enough of the critical nutrients they needed, leading them to perish once they'd used up what they had stored, thus the year-long lifespan

So live food only, but FW fish - especially goldfish - have the wrong nutrients and can cause liver problems (iirc) leading to death

SW fish can transfer pathogens, so he concluded brackish fish were the best feeders.

I was going to set a brackish tank up anyway, so I just adjusted stocking to add black mollies, and was hoping for a lifespan of at least 3 years

I put everything on hold for a while (became disabled, then a house move) so by the time (now) I was ready to start cycling and setting things up, I went back to refresh my memory on frogfish and found that my friend had decided never to keep frogfish again

He said that there's something in their diet that the hobby can't provide for them yet, and that as they're all wild-caught (haven't cracked raising them in captivity yet) he felt it really was just taking a fish from the wild to die

Hearing that from a guy who was basically an authority on these fish made me decide that if he had given them up, that was a pretty good sign I should too.

I've got nothing against, eg, people trying to keep copperbands and the like, because people have had really good success with them

But keeping a fish that could potentially starve to death even as I feed it, really turned me off

If you've had success keeping walking bats going for a while, would you be inclined to share how and what you feed, and how long you've had them live on average?

There's a lot of people who'd like to know how to keep these guys and his friends alive and thriving in our tanks, and it'd be cool if you've found the missing piece to doing that

aliquid-de-magis

okay, so! of the walking batfish that have been entrusted to me in my time at the store, i've only ever lost one. (so, like, better than our track record with zebra flounders.) unfortunately, being a store, i have zero stats about their viability in the long term. i think three months or so is the longest i've ever had any given individual. :(

thus, the point you raise is something i admit i hadn't ever considered! i don't think i noticed any obvious signs of nutrient deficiencies in my guys as time went on, tho. no darkening of skin, eroding of fin tissue, clouding of eyes, lethargy, things like that...but obviously three months is way too short a time frame to say anything definitive about that.

now, that being said! i want to point out something that you and your friend appear not to have considered, something that potentially could be a huge factor (your friend who sounds awesome and i already have mad respect for, btw)

did he never offer invertebrates? even with more commonly kept finicky eaters like lionfish, our first live offering at the store is usually ghost shrimp rather than any kind of fish. there's a number of advantages to ghost shrimp as live feeders which i'd be happy to get into later, but with regard to batfish i don't think fish even make up the bulk of their diet in the wild.

my evidence is anecdotal of course, but in my experience even a dried krill on tongs gets a more enthusiastic reception from a batfish than a live free-swimming feeder fish. offering live shrimp on tongs is my first step to teaching them to eat frozen food in the first place. they also seem really interested in worms and things that are cut into worm shapes. i've had success with tiny octopus tentacles too.

so, i think that's an avenue worth exploring! i know i'm just a pet store aquarist and have no actual research qualifications, but it is EXTREMELY important to me that the babies do well, and NOT just until i can sell them. i want them to live long happy lives! i want DATA. i want UPDATES. i probably have AUTISM.

and, ya know, if it turns out we *can't* keep them healthy in captivity long term? then i don't want us to have them. i'll tell my boss that i just won't sell any we get in. i've done it before, i stopped us from stocking bubble eye goldfish and spider morph ball pythons.

ryphtank

Considering how fragile they are, that's awesome! Sounds like you've got a good ship.

From what I can remember, it was something to do with their liver function - I think he'd written a paper on it? - they looked fine and they were 'eating' but they still perished early

He's amazing! He took so much time and patience helping me understand the ins and outs of keeping those little guys, and I was adamant I was only going to feed live, etc etc, but they're really expensive and hard to get here and I wouldn't want to watch one of my little guys die because of me

I think he was feeding ghost shrimp when they were small until they got a little bigger? I didn't want to faff around with ghost shrimp, and mollies would be an easier cheaper way to feed.

I was going to keep the frogfish, and then when he passed on (I was hoping for 3 years or more) move to an anemone/clownfish situation, as the tank would have matured. Now I'm just going semi-aggressive and adding a nem later, in a year or so

LOL

No, but that's really impressive. I wish your fish shop was near me. I have to get all my stock online :/ I saw your fire eels on your other posts, gorgeous! I really liked all your clips, those tanks are sparkling.