- Location
- Wantagh, Long Island, NY
Hey All,
I need to vent (b/c I wanted to cry) so I figured I'd come here and tell you all a story of heartbreak, blood, sweat, tears and finally redemption.
So, I owned a Flame Angel that took a sudden interest in a beautiful Rainbow Stylo frag I picked up from Advanced Aquatics in Williston Park (Go if you haven't been, great store) I've been slowly transitioning to SPS, doing the easy stuff like birdsnests and the like. Water is great after I installed a RO Bioreactor. Hydras are beautiful and glow from blocks away..."you should see it from out here! Only one thing in the world could've dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window..."
But I digress...it's not Christmastime.
Time to get the Flame out. Traps were useless. 3 nets forming an impenetrable "wall" were a failure. Hands...huge meat paddles. Sucking out all the water seemed a messy overkill, so the next best thing was rock removal. Scary propostion because of the aforementioned SPS interest, and a fully stocked tank of LPS and love. I did everything right. 30 G Rubbermaid. Flow. Water at temp and SP and pH. Then came the hard part. Meticulous removal. Trying not to stir the sand too much. Discovering long lost Red Crab - Misty - and a serpent starfish I see infrequently but discovered he grew larger than my hand in 2 years. Remember - Hand = Giant. Not one broken coral. Water looked decently clean. Success
Caught the Flame - and 2 Pajama Cardinals I inherited with the tank and have called the ugliest pigs on this green and blue Earth. So, they're going too I decided.
Success. Took about an hour to put the rock back in some semblance of what it was like. Actually, I like the new layout a bit better, but we'll see how the corals take it. Chupacabra, the Coral Banded Shrimp seems pleased as well, and he's never very happy.
I decided keeping the Flame in the Rubbermaid was mean. My affinity is boundless. He's been a beautiful addition to this reef, my first fish in this hobby and a month of picking doesn't mean he should be forgotten in the sump or Rubbermaid. So, I put him in a mesh "holding tank" in the DT for pickup just the next day. Checked on him overnight. Doing well. Doesn't look stressed. Perfect.
So, a nice member here on MR arrives to pick up. I'm bagging water, shooting the sh't with the guy, grab my net like I've done a million times and scoop. Much to my chagrin, however, the net gets caught in a corner of the mesh quarantine, the Flame's dorsal fin gets caught in the net, and the gleam of a Hyrda LED hits me just right in the cornea and WALLA.
Flame Goes. Back. Into. The. Display.
At this point, I'm not sure if I wanted to cry, scream, jump out my window in shame or laugh to the point of breathlessness. My new MR friend is flabbergasted. I can only imagine the crap going on in his head...the utmost gentleman about the whole situation though. But, I'm beating myself up I can only imagine this man wants to strangle me.
I apologize profusely. I promise recapture, meanwhile my head is spinning. The Flame is happy as a pig in sh't, weaving in and out of the beautiful rocks, mocking me. I can see his grin from a mile away. D'ck.
If anyone can relate, add your story here. I need a good laugh at your expense. Haha.
All is right in the world. Thank the stars I had the Rubbermaid still sitting filled and was able to catch the Flame again, removing less than half the original rock as before. It was almost a capitulation. He must've heard my weeping in the corner and said to himself...ah, f'ck it. I'll go.
Happy reefing all! Hope you enjoyed these few minutes out of your day and hopefully I made you chuckle
I need to vent (b/c I wanted to cry) so I figured I'd come here and tell you all a story of heartbreak, blood, sweat, tears and finally redemption.
So, I owned a Flame Angel that took a sudden interest in a beautiful Rainbow Stylo frag I picked up from Advanced Aquatics in Williston Park (Go if you haven't been, great store) I've been slowly transitioning to SPS, doing the easy stuff like birdsnests and the like. Water is great after I installed a RO Bioreactor. Hydras are beautiful and glow from blocks away..."you should see it from out here! Only one thing in the world could've dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window..."
But I digress...it's not Christmastime.
Time to get the Flame out. Traps were useless. 3 nets forming an impenetrable "wall" were a failure. Hands...huge meat paddles. Sucking out all the water seemed a messy overkill, so the next best thing was rock removal. Scary propostion because of the aforementioned SPS interest, and a fully stocked tank of LPS and love. I did everything right. 30 G Rubbermaid. Flow. Water at temp and SP and pH. Then came the hard part. Meticulous removal. Trying not to stir the sand too much. Discovering long lost Red Crab - Misty - and a serpent starfish I see infrequently but discovered he grew larger than my hand in 2 years. Remember - Hand = Giant. Not one broken coral. Water looked decently clean. Success
Caught the Flame - and 2 Pajama Cardinals I inherited with the tank and have called the ugliest pigs on this green and blue Earth. So, they're going too I decided.
Success. Took about an hour to put the rock back in some semblance of what it was like. Actually, I like the new layout a bit better, but we'll see how the corals take it. Chupacabra, the Coral Banded Shrimp seems pleased as well, and he's never very happy.
I decided keeping the Flame in the Rubbermaid was mean. My affinity is boundless. He's been a beautiful addition to this reef, my first fish in this hobby and a month of picking doesn't mean he should be forgotten in the sump or Rubbermaid. So, I put him in a mesh "holding tank" in the DT for pickup just the next day. Checked on him overnight. Doing well. Doesn't look stressed. Perfect.
So, a nice member here on MR arrives to pick up. I'm bagging water, shooting the sh't with the guy, grab my net like I've done a million times and scoop. Much to my chagrin, however, the net gets caught in a corner of the mesh quarantine, the Flame's dorsal fin gets caught in the net, and the gleam of a Hyrda LED hits me just right in the cornea and WALLA.
Flame Goes. Back. Into. The. Display.
At this point, I'm not sure if I wanted to cry, scream, jump out my window in shame or laugh to the point of breathlessness. My new MR friend is flabbergasted. I can only imagine the crap going on in his head...the utmost gentleman about the whole situation though. But, I'm beating myself up I can only imagine this man wants to strangle me.
I apologize profusely. I promise recapture, meanwhile my head is spinning. The Flame is happy as a pig in sh't, weaving in and out of the beautiful rocks, mocking me. I can see his grin from a mile away. D'ck.
If anyone can relate, add your story here. I need a good laugh at your expense. Haha.
All is right in the world. Thank the stars I had the Rubbermaid still sitting filled and was able to catch the Flame again, removing less than half the original rock as before. It was almost a capitulation. He must've heard my weeping in the corner and said to himself...ah, f'ck it. I'll go.
Happy reefing all! Hope you enjoyed these few minutes out of your day and hopefully I made you chuckle
