Sunday, February 11, 2007
Ah, my final week (hopefully - I'm praying hard!!) of being a student. Yes, come 2 May there will no doubt be a new set of troubles, bitching and grousing, but for now I'll just have to satisfy myself on whacking the life out of my brains. It's a wonder why I don't get nightmares about stacks of books, scowling professors and irate patients assualting me bodily.
Lots of decisions to be made today. Not just the dumbass 3 pieces of paper that we have to submit, but regarding tomorrow too. Someone's behavior totally irritated me last week, and irked me to the extent where I'd have shot him point-blank if I could. And more politics surfaced during the weekend too. How come I never did come across such troubles during the last 2 years? LOL.
I'm seriously terrified about the exams, to tell the truth. Really trembling in my pants, as I never did before.
Life is so sad.
Right-o, a few photos, some old, some new. Took a dreadful chance today and bought 2 creatures that I'd never dream about getting under normal circumstances. But I'm stressed to the brink right now, and this is my version of risk-taking behavior in depression.
First up, make a guess - what creature is this?
Yep ... somebody shoot me. It is indeed a Pinnatus Batfish. One of those wonderful gems in the ocean - which really should have been left just there. Their survival record is dismal in captivity, and even readily-eating specimens somehow refuse food after a while. I'm just hoping that this guy will make it, he's such an absolute beauty! Reminds me of those Spanish skirts, since the fish doesn't dart around, but rather undulates slowly while hovering in mid-waters.
Trouble came sooner than I thought, though. The Henniochus Butterfly fish was somehow VERY nasty to it, and kept harrassing it. =( Notice the clownfish fleeing the scene, screaming, "FIGHT! FIGHT!". It wasn't a fight - the Butterfly was obviously being a big fat bully.
The other no-no that I bought today is this electric flame scallop. Sigh. Will my sins never be cleansed?!?? Once again, dismal survival records. Those surviving more than a year are rare. It's highly educational, however - I'll post a video up when I find time off to compress it. The mantle edges spark off consistently with a violent, electric blue fluorescence, which you can just make out in the photo (near the right side of the animal).
Now for some of the older animals in the tank that missed out on last week's limelight. First up is this lovely Frogspawn coral (Euphyllia sp.)
We also got 2 of these nice red sponges, in time for the festive season I guess. Sponges are, again, one of those frightfully-difficult creatures to keep alive in captivity, but my old yellow sponge has been growing well for almost 1 whole year (or more, I can't recall exactly) and I'm feeding copious amounts of frozen oyster eggs to the tank each week, so hopefully these will at least stand a chance. I did my utmost to ensure that they didn't get exposed to air while I was handling them, but it has passed through so many hands from the collectors to the wholesalers that I can't guarantee that these won't suffer from air embolism.
Blue waving Anthelia ... ahhhhh. One of my nemeses. I admit, this is my 4th attempt at this SUPPOSEDLY EASY animal. And yet, my previous 3 colonies disappeared without so much as a trace overnight.
And old Colt Coral .. one of those idiot-proof, beginner's corals that still find their way into the seasoned reefer's heart.
And finally, a shameless imitation of Acropora =) It's some kind of finger coral.
Other than these, I also got myself a fantastic specimen of a blue-throat triggerfish. You rarely get them at this size, usually the specimens are HUGE. Was totally spoilt for choice today regarding reef-safe triggerfish, there was a good selection of pink-tails, nigger triggers and black triggers. Obviously I can't afford a crossthatch trigger, but then again I've never seen one for sale before.
Ah, and there was that frogfish that "gave birth" - that'll merit another blog post altogether, and the footage is with YX, so another time perhaps!
There probably won't be any new additions to the tank for a long time to come, since there's a very real chance that I'll be setting up a brand new tank at the end of the year. Most likely only those specimens that I'm hard-pressed to give up on, but those are usually so $$$ that this situation probably won't happen. Dad was dropping sinister hints just now, exclaiming that it'll be difficult logistically to move this tank to its new location. Hmm. Perhaps I should tell him the truth. That this tank ain't going anywhere, I'll simply be getting a NEW ONE. =)
Wenky
11:38 PM
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