Thanks to those members that never judged and made my dreams come to life.

[my2rotties]

So... I saw the arguments about red and yellow list fish, then posts about fish that should not even be attempted by anybody, and if attempted, only experienced reef keepers should try.

So I have a Regal Angel that has been super easy to care for, disease free and eats anything I throw in the tank, as well as zoas and things I wish he wouldn't eat. He is by far the fattest regal angel I have seen aside of Marie's. He is growing and is full of vim and vigor.

Next was the cleaner wrasse that I gave away to another member, since he was bothering my cowfish and I would not stand for it. He was eating nori off the clip, and anything I threw in the tank. Not a single issue with him and I am sure he is happily residing in Carmen's tank to this day.

Next is my Copperband butterfly fish. I have had him since early January and he also eats anything I throw in for food aside of pellets and nori. He is fat and eats from my hands.

Now for my Achilles tang, he has been here for over two months and is a breeze to care for as well. Yes he had ich at the start but nothing now. He is a little trickier to care for since he does not want pellets and only eats nori and brine shrimp. He is fat and is by far the most active fish I have. I asked for help in private messages since I was too afraid to post here. All the help and info I received from some awesome members was taken to heart, and I made the proper adjustments to make sure he thrived. He is getting fatter and is growing... And YES, they do need lots of flow and really strong power heads to play in. He is very happy and I have no worries about his survival.

I have scooter and a mandarin dragonettes... easy as pie... they live with a porcupine puffer and he has not eaten them. I also have several different kinds of shrimp with this big puffer and banana wrasse. I have three anemones in the same tank and it is no big deal. Oh and my very large marine betta that lives with the other fish with no issues.My tank is about 8 months old and all of the fish were added quite early with no issues. People destined me to failure and I have not failed. There are 30 fish, 10 peppermint shrimp, 2 cleaner shrimp, 1 fire shrimp and 1 coral banded shrimp living peacefully with a huge porcupine puffer. The cleaners and fire shrimp even climb onto him and clean him. I would not know it could be done unless I tried...

I had stopped posting about any fish I wanted to try since I would go down in a firestorm of bashing and to I was destined to failing. So, here I am with all the fish that are destined to die, and they all reside happily in a community aquarium together. I have no fighting, no deaths and no issues. I can say that I probably have too many fish in one tank, but they are fine and happy. I have made certain to add an extra 90g tank in my sump room on top of the 72g sump and 55g fuge that are all plumbed together. Because I made these adjustments, I feel this is a big reason I have been successful in the end.

So if someone like me can do this with no problems, why can't anyone else? I did have three angel fish die way back at the start from the same disease, a dogfaced puffer ended up outside of my tank in a freak accident and I did not find her in time, but no other fish have died since. It can be possible for people like me to keep this hard to keep fish even though our tanks are new and we don't have the same amount of experience. Some people blame cyanide, but why is my CBB just fine while most deaths are always blamed on cyanide? Why would mine be any different then the rest?

All it takes is for a member to do their home work, make adjustments to their system and make darned sure to be committed to making this work. I do know some people have had bad luck but it is not always so. Instead of bashing people for asking questions when they have their fish's best interest at heart, perhaps give the knowledge you do have and pass it on, instead of being negative. Sometimes new people do succeed and do take advise at heart if it is advise that helps keep the fish healthy and happy, not saying you will fail so don't do it at all.

Yes my fish are PITA with feeding requirements and their complex needs and wants. However I have done it and will continue to do so. I just wanted to finally say my peace since I did get destined to failure and I did not fail. Some people do have the right tenacity and commitment to be able to make things possible. I just think they are too afraid to come forward and say much, since it always brings controversy. To any people wanting to try new things and are too afraid to ask, just use the search button and private messages to people you see have tried. These people are a blessing and are always more then willing to help other like myself succeed.

I want to thank all those people I have private messaged in past months with all the questions I had on their fish and what they did to make sure things went well. These people were my inspiration and made my dreams of my desired fish come to life for me. All of you know whom you are, and THANKS so much for all your help. I will always be more then happy to help others just like these people helped me. They never judged me, they just helped me. You guys are the best

[Fox]

I just wanted to thank you for coming on here and speaking you peace.

I was going to say it privately but I am not ashamed to admit that I have publicly looked for certain fish and felt humiliated by members of this board afterward.

I hope I speak for those who won't when I say thank you and congratulations!

I hope you and everyone else for that matter enjoy continued success!

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Congrats on keeping these fish alive and healthy.

I too have a big porcupine puffer living with 3 anemones, corals & such with no problems (used to be a 120g fowlr but now its a softy mixed reef).

Didn't have much luck with Achilles or Copperbands, so now I just admire Doofus from afar instead.

Anthony

[my2rotties]

Hey Fox good luck with your future plans for your system, and there are many awesome people on these forums. Seahorsefanatic, I know the Doofus you speak of, it was his owner that really helped me with Ari, my Achilles. With my CBB, he has just always been healthy and eating all along. I think the food I make for my puffer has a big part of him staying alive and healthy though. He really eats a lot of it, and I think there must be nutritional components that he must need in that food.

I should also thank the members that helped me with my corals and mentored me with dosing and my profilux controller, which I still don't have worked into the system yet. After the summer for sure. There are people here that will come all the way to your house in a shot to help you out or loan you tank space, or loan you items when yours break or you have a power failure. There are so many thoughtful and helpful people that hardly ever post, but are always there to help if needed.

[Aleks]

I agree its a little overboard with the fish police at times....Well done, must be a nice tank!

[Clay&Chey]

"let he who is without sin cast the first stone"

good for you for persevering and creating the slice of ocean you desire. I'm new to this hobby and it really perplexed me how how some people can tell people off for the fish they have when they themselves have fish. The fish you choose are cruel to keep but the ones I have aren't? Deep down wouldn't it be cruel to keep ANY fish in a tank away from it's natural habitat. It's like the rapist saying to the petofile, " ya but yours are underage" if your gonna preach what's right and wrong you better be doing no wrong yourself. I agree it takes research, passion and a respect for the life that's in your hands and those who respect that will have a tank of healthly, content fish for years to come.

[Treebeard]

Great post Diana and keep up the good work. Your success is an inspiration to many of us new to the hobby!

[Aquattro]

Diana, keep in mind that many warnings are given with good intent. I was warned that keeping purple anthias was near impossible. I'm an experienced aquarist with the ability to attempt meeting needs of anything they need. I got 4 dead anthias out of that test. so when someone says that "generally" something will die, it doesnt mean always, it means often enough to not risk killing something. If you're going to do it anyway, and it works, great. If it doesnt work, well, lesson learned, and don't try those again.
So if someone says they want to try a butterfly that 99 out of a 100 die, I think the warnings are warranted. Often the warnings come from those that have previously killed those very fish. I know if you post about wanting purple anthias, I'd warn against it.
Now we hope that the warnings come in a tempered tone, but as you know, people are passionate about things, and that often comes through in a bad tone.
I recall a facebook friend going on about a mistreated rottie, she was very passionate and you could see that in the tone
Remember, any negative comments are not because people don't like the poster, it's because they love the fish. Yes, they should maybe re-read then count to 10 before hitting submit, but that's in a perfect world.
we were all new once, and we all killed things we we're warned to not attempt, and mostly we try to save others from that sad situation.

[lastlight]

Well said.

[naesco]

Brad, great explanation.