Pic of our pinnate batfish!

[Pan]

Originally Posted by Diana

haha.... dont remind me what they turn into! I'm hoping he will decide to stay young and pretty...

We've had him for over 2 months now and he's a real pig. It took a few days to get him eating Selcon enriched brine shrimp, but now he fights with our snowflake moray for krill. He'll eat anything we throw in there. Made quick work of our aptasia too. :P

It was a moral dilemma when purchasing this guy. We knew how hard they were to feed, how big they get, and what the success rate was in captivity, so we really didnt want to support the capture of these beautiful little fishies. But after seeing him at J&L we almost felt a need to "save" him since it was likely many of the hobbyests who would purchase him would not have the patience to get him eating. It took 2 days of me squirting a few brine shrimps in the tank every 10 minutes and then running to hide behind the couch so I didnt spook him.

I think the aptasia may have gotten his appetite going, though.


-Diana

everytime you "save" a fish the vendor buys another....

[Diana]

Originally Posted by Subdued

everytime you "save" a fish the vendor buys another....

We realize that... and honestly I've only ever seen two in the lower mainland, and one of those is ours. The other one came into J&L about a year ago. They rarely will bring one in, and we've expressed to them that they should not be ordered.

Its the same thing with any hard to keep fish. It comes down to a situation where either the fish has a high chance of dieing, or you purchase it and do your best, knowing that your care will be better than many others who would have bought it and thrown it in their tank with triggers and puffers.

Like I said, it was a moral dilemma. We try to be responsible hobbyists but it doesn't always work.

-Diana

[Joe Reefer]

Wow, I thought they looked the same when they matured. Nice fish BTW.

[Raf]

Thanks for the nice comments everybody!

Oh, and as for the squirt and run, I had a good laugh but unfortunately, no video. LOL!

[deepRED]

Originally Posted by Subdued

everytime you "save" a fish the vendor buys another....

Fish like these are rarely ordered in by responsible shops. Sometimes the suppliers will be short of something a shop orders and "throw" something else in, thinking that it might be wanted.