Dary's tank!

[skywhitney]

I've used saran wrap for this type of stuff before with good outcomes as well

 

[Dary421]

Seems like forever since I’ve been here !!! Just been so busy with life and all the joys that brings too. :-/
On the aquarium side of things ,.. I lost my fox face rabbit fish that I’ve had for years ,..I remember buying him years ago at my local fish store and at that time he was a mature fish compared to the younger ones they had for sale .
As when adding a new fish to your tank you always wonder how your aquarium world will accept your new addition., happily he blended right in and never caused any issues.
I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out just how long I’ve had him as a house guest ,..to the best of my recollections I think I’ve had him for 8 years +- .
About a week or so ago he started to act a little strangely and was not feeding like he was and being a little reclusive ,..overtime he was really slowing down and became sluggish and obviously not doing well ,…so after much deliberation I thought it would be best to net the little guy and close the door .
Kinda sad to see,…everything else is going well.

 

[Andy Sager]

Sadly, fish don't live forever but if you got an additional 8 or more years out of a Foxface when you got him as a mature fish, I'd say you did well. I believe they have a 10-12 year average lifespan even under the best of scenarios in the wild. So unless you got him right after the larval transformation stage, he lived a good life.

 

[Dary421]

Thanks Andy ,…I once read that the average life span of a foxface in an aquarium was something like 5 years ,.. dang ,.. he was such a cool fish to watch and feed everyday ,… on the bright side my powder blue tang is still going strong !!!

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks Andy ,…I once read that the average life span of a foxface in an aquarium was something like 5 years ,.. dang ,.. he was such a cool fish to watch and feed everyday ,… on the bright side my powder blue tang is still going strong !!!

People don't seem to realize that many saltwater fish have really long lifespans. I remember reading about a pair of Clownfish that were observed on the reef in the Marshall islands or maybe Guam for something like 25 years. The 2 fish had distinguishing markings so the observer knew it was the same 2 fish all that time.
It's my understanding that many of the circular tang species ( i.e Yellow, Purples, Sailfins, Powder Blue/ PBrown) can get up into the 20 year range if they are in a tank big enough to support them. I once got in a Sailfin out of Hawaii for a 300 gallon display tank we had at the store. I just wanted 3 or 4 big show quality fish for that tank. We ended up having to donate it to the Miami Seaquarium because it was almost too big for that tank. It barely fit in a standard 100 gallon tank we were using for quarantine. When it opened it's fins, they were taller than the tank. It was HUGE!!!!!! LOL It was just too cruel to keep him even in that big of a tank. So needless to say, we have to be careful what we wish for. LOL

 

[Dary421]

Even after all these years of having a marine aquarium I still find it amazing that we can take a wild caught fish from the wide vast ocean thousands of miles away and somehow duplicate enough of its former environment to keep it in our living rooms and have it live for years ,…truly one of those things that I never take for granted and intrigues me .

 

[Andy Sager]

Even after all these years of having a marine aquarium I still find it amazing that we can take a wild caught fish from the wide vast ocean thousands of miles away and somehow duplicate enough of its former environment to keep it in our living rooms and have it live for years ,…truly one of those things that I never take for granted and intrigues me .

Me too.