A horrible, horrible end to my day - Nemo was gone...

[andsoitgoes]

One of the things I enjoy most when I come home to my new tank is saying hi to my fish, including my Percula who is always at the front of the tank waiting for me, on a regular basis.

Today, as I was cleaning out my ZooMed PowerSweep, I noticed its flow was really, really low. This thing does pretty well at pumping, and I was a little taken aback.

I took off the bottom...

As girly as this sounds, I almost cried. I pulled out what I thought was a piece of macro, it wasn't - it was my little Nemo. The guy that when my girls would come into the room, would cause them to point at the tank and shout "NEMO!!"

I was speachless for some time. It hurt so much to see one of the reasons I got into salt not only dead, but dead like THAT.

This is the 2nd time this powerhead has taken a life, and it's been banished to my mixing garbage can - it will never see a tank again. I know that I'm to blame, but it hurts... Was looking forward to seeing this little guy grow up, and now, not so much. It's not like he cost a fortune, but man he was the light of my day in the tank.

I know I need to replace the guy, and I think going for a pair is good, I know replacing a pet isn't the best way to grieve, but I'l take whatever I can get right now... Anyone have a good source for quality tank-raised perculas?

sigh........