Pics of my new juvi. Harlequin Tusk

[GSchiemer]

Convinced he's gone. I'd been waiting a looong time for a juvi too. May have been food for the 12 inch diameter rose-bubble tip the clowns call home, but I'd be surprised.

Other option is Dr. Evil the purple lobster that I can't get out of the friggin tank. Too smart for all 4 commercial traps I bought and I can't fit a 2-liter in the tank with all the rock and coral now.

Thanks for the prompt responses and the painfull pictures.

I went through the same experience. If you want to try another juvenile tusk, make sure it's from Australia. The tiny tusks from Indo/Philippines have a VERY poor record of survival.

Greg

Greg, is this poor survival rate because of collection methods or possible cyanide use? I notice Mary/Seacrop sold indo pacific tusks and was hoping to get one from her if it was likely net caught. Otherwise I was going to get a juvenile Austalian from the Marine Center.

I can only speculate why the Indo/Philippine tusks do poorly. I think it's primarily the collection methods, but I also think it's the handling after the collection. Personally, I was burned once and wouldn't take a chance on a Philippine tuskfish, regardless of any "guarantees" that it was net-collected. Get the one from Australia. I know that Marine Center are honest people that quarantine their fish and ship very well.

Greg

 

[jreef1]

As the other one is gone, amazingly a LFS in the area (defined loosely as I was in the car for 2 hrs each way) had another juvinile. Been 3 days and he's eating like a pig although my mystery and 6-line (nasty bugger) have him confined to a foot of swimming on the far left side of my 150.

The mystery and 6-line went at it for a week or so before learning to tolerate eachother, but even given that the tusk is in the wrasse family, I am surprised he would be similar enough to spook the other two. Any views?

 

[TrippingBilly]

Just pick him up earlier in the week after a deposit. 1 inch head to end of body, 1 3/8 inch head to tail. Already eating like a pig.

 

[TrippingBilly]

Just pick him up earlier in the week after a deposit. 1 inch head to end of body, 1 3/8 inch head to tail. Already eating like a pig.

 

[Leopardshark]

Tripping,
was that a live harlequin?? I mean was he live and you placed next to a ruler and then take the pic??
Man you´re cruel with your fish!!! :?

 

[TrippingBilly]

Leopardshark,

Yes, that IS a live Tusk. I posted the pic because there were some people who had said they had never seen one that size. I took the picture b/c I wanted to keep track of his growth, and to see if there are any factors that may contribute to the rate of growth (diet, tankmates, etc.). After a careful acclimation period, I placed him next to the ruler, took a quick picture, and then put him into the tank. He was out of water for perhaps 5 seconds.

So Leopardshark, I guess that makes me a person who's "cruel with my fish", who also keeps a tang and angel in a 12 gallon and also tries to feed a mandarin only flake food. Thank you Leopardshark for jumping to conclusions and opening flaming me on my first post here. I appreciate your benevolent welcome.

My intention in measuring this little guy was so that perhaps, in the future, I could share any information I would be able to collect over the years, in factors relating to growth and foods fed, etc. with the rest of the reef community. I felt this would be a good opportunity since I was fortunate enough to find a very small speciman. So yes, he was alive when I exposed him to air for 5 seconds, I guess that makes me a cruel person, but judging by your comments, I'd say you're quite the saint.

So in conclusion, I'd like to say thanks. Thank you Leopardshark, for reminiding me why I've been reading posts for almost a year, but have to post until now, knowing that there are people like you who have nothing better to do than sit on your fat @$$ and find other people's posts to tear up just to boost your own fish-knowledge ego. This is the same kind of people who rip newbies apart and condemning them to hell for putting a hippo tang in a 50 because they didn't know any better and that's what their LFS told them, instead of being civil and humanely informing them that a tang in a small tank is not a good idea. This is the primary reason I avoid posting, is because of people like you. Thanks again, and by the way, thus far, the Tusk seems to be doing very well. Good day.
TrippingBilly

 

[Leopardshark]

I really don´t care if this is your first, second or third or your thousand post, I really don´t. But I really see cruelty when someone takes a fish out of the water just to measure him with a ruler!!!
I mean, it is pretty common for us to say "I have a 3" angelfish", or "I have a 2-3" wrasse", do you really think that all of us takes the fish out of the water just to measure them??? Of course not!!!
We just take an aprox. by the look inside the tank and that´s all.
I´m no saint at all, but I sure am no cruel with my fish taking them out of the water just to measure them.
Marco

 

[Leopardshark]

BTW, tha ruler is not even taking an exact measure of the fish, becasue the mouth of the tusk doesn´t match the place in the ruler where it starts measuring.

 

[TrippingBilly]

Oh boy, you certainly amuse me. Let me explain this to you as if you were a 5 year old, or perhaps someone who doesn't understand English well... I measured the fish when I took him out of acclimating and put him into the tank. How may I ask, do you transfer your fish from the LFS to you tank? I guess you must snap your fingers and the fish magically goes from the bag or container or whatever to your tank. You must have quite an arsenal of tricks you should share with everyone. So to summerize what I did (yes, again, since you don't really seem to understand), yeah, basically I set up the ruler and in the let's say 3 seconds it would take to transfer the fish from bag to tank directly, I added two seconds by putting him next to the ruler and immediately put him into the tank. And as for your own quote,

"BTW, tha ruler is not even taking an exact measure of the fish, becasue the mouth of the tusk doesn´t match the place in the ruler where it starts measuring."

He is not exactly in line with the ruler, b/c I didn't want to keep him out of water for long. But the way your posts are coming, I guess no logical explanation will suffice. So I leave you with this thought Leopardshark, please be a mature adult (whether you are or not) and take this off the boards and use the PM feature to resolve this issue you obviously have with me. And by the way, you have a PM.
TrippingBilly

 

[Leopardshark]

Ohhh boy, you are indeed a lost case.
You´re not worth my time so I will just live it like that 8)
Marco

 

[TrippingBilly]

You obviously disregarded my PM. Don't be a sore loser just b/c you need to take out your frustration on other ppl. You are right though, if this isn't worth your time, just live it like that. Please do.
TB

 

[iomegas_reef]

You lucky SOB!I've wanted a tusk for so long, NEVER have I seen one under 5". Have fun with it.

 

[TrippingBilly]

I'm actually not very lucky due to my location... I lost about $500 worth of livestock this week due to the northeast power outage, including that baby tusk and some of my favorite and longest kept fish. I need to get a back up power source to avoid these things in the future. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Anyways, where are you located? There is a LFS in my area that is carrying a juvenile Australian tusk that's probably about 2.5 inches and I know they ship so if you want to contact them, I'm sure you can work something out. HTH
TB

 

[Anonymous]

I'm actually not very lucky due to my location... I lost about $500 worth of livestock this week due to the northeast power outage, including that baby tusk and some of my favorite and longest kept fish. I need to get a back up power source to avoid these things in the future. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

TB

Wow, that really sucks. I wondered how many people were affected by that. Here in Indianapolis, we didn't lose power, but there definitely were some spikes--the circuit that has my tank on it was tripped, but thankfully the pumps were only down for about 45 minutes, near as I can figure. Everything still looks happy and healthy.

In case you didn't see any of the threads in the photography forum, I got a tusk about a month ago--big fat happy 8" australian. He's gorgeous and settling happily into my 125. :-D

And btw...

 

[TrippingBilly]

Hey Sharkky, thanks for the welcome. I saw your posts and it looks like you got yourself a very nice, healthy speciman. What camera are you using for those shots? The colors really come out true. I'm trying to get a small juvenile, and hoping that it wont eat inverts if I keep it in the same tank with shrimp, snails, etc. I'm thinking that maybe growing up with shrimp twice his size will keep him from eating them when he's an adult. Oh well, guess I'll have to wait around until another one comes along.
TB

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Sharkky, thanks for the welcome. I saw your posts and it looks like you got yourself a very nice, healthy speciman. What camera are you using for those shots? The colors really come out true. I'm trying to get a small juvenile, and hoping that it wont eat inverts if I keep it in the same tank with shrimp, snails, etc. I'm thinking that maybe growing up with shrimp twice his size will keep him from eating them when he's an adult. Oh well, guess I'll have to wait around until another one comes along.
TB

I agree about getting them small and raising them with inverts. The last time I had a juvenile (about 3"), he didn't bother anything in the tank (until my anemone got him ). Now the big one goes in and my starfish is toast within minutes and he's slowly picking off the crabs, despite my feeding him as much as he can handle. I'm hoping mine eventually adjusts to the idea that the food comes in nice bite-sized chunks once a day before lights-out and anything else is a friend, not a snack. :wink:

As for the camera, I'm shooting a Minolta DiMage 7i. Incredible camera for the price (Paid just shy of $600). I'm pleased with it.

 

[iomegas_reef]

I'm actually not very lucky due to my location... I lost about $500 worth of livestock this week due to the northeast power outage, including that baby tusk and some of my favorite and longest kept fish. I need to get a back up power source to avoid these things in the future. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Anyways, where are you located? There is a LFS in my area that is carrying a juvenile Australian tusk that's probably about 2.5 inches and I know they ship so if you want to contact them, I'm sure you can work something out. HTH
TB

Aww, thats horrible. I lost my dragon wrasse a couple weeks ago due to an unknown bacterial infection. I miss him.

 

[iomegas_reef]

I really don´t care if this is your first, second or third or your thousand post, I really don´t. But I really see cruelty when someone takes a fish out of the water just to measure him with a ruler!!!
I mean, it is pretty common for us to say "I have a 3" angelfish", or "I have a 2-3" wrasse", do you really think that all of us takes the fish out of the water just to measure them??? Of course not!!!
We just take an aprox. by the look inside the tank and that´s all.
I´m no saint at all, but I sure am no cruel with my fish taking them out of the water just to measure them.
Marco

Wah wah wah. It doesnt harm the fish as long as he isnt out of the water for more than a few seconds. I appreciate the pic, it was truely amuzing to see a tusk that tiny.





POLO!FISH OUTTA WATER!

 

[TrippingBilly]

Aww, thats horrible. I lost my dragon wrasse a couple weeks ago due to an unknown bacterial infection. I miss him.

Yeah, obviously I know how it feels to lose fish... I think for some people, it's just about money so it's no big deal when a fish dies, they just go out and buy another one... sucks to spend more money, but it just a fish, right? Well, I think sometimes, we as their keepers need to realize that they are indeed lives and that since we took them out of the ocean (well, not directly, but you know what I mean), we need to provide the best care we can for them in their new artificial home. People talk about being humane to dogs and cats, but it's important to realize that all life should be respected and cared for, especially since we're taking them out of their natural homes. Anyways, since I seemed to have taken so much heat from the picture with a ruler, here's the tusk a few days before the power outage and yes, that's a typical visitherm heater on the right.

 

[TrippingBilly]

oopps forgot the pic... :lol: