Guys, give me some suggestions on how to entertain my fish

[Ominous Luminous]

He looks really bored! Maybe even depressed.
He should look like this:

Or this:

Right now he looks like this:

 

[xfer]

get one of those "artificially intelligent" wind-up divers with the mini spear-guns who chase the fish around until they wind down. it'll keep him in shape, too, and the spear's really really sharp.

 

[xfer]

poke a marshmallow on the end of each of his spines for decoration

 

[xfer]

doesnt your fish have some kind of super cute name like KIRBY or something?

 

[lizard]

A Volunteer for Hazardous Duty

 

[Ominous Luminous]

Good call. I wonder how long it would take for him to injure himself like he does with everything else I add to the tank.

 

[Ominous Luminous]

Yep, his name is in fact Kirby. But he's cuter than his name sake.

 

[minxnim]

they have those really neat fake rock cliffs you can suction cup to the back of the tank to give him new places to explore and hide in? he's adorable.

 

[Ominous Luminous]

He's injured himself so many times I'm always weary of putting in things on suction cups, especially if they are heavy. Are these rock things heavy? Also, you've brightened his day!

 

[xfer]

he looks pretty scared in your avatar.

 

[Draft Dodging Scarecrow]

Your fish looks cute! Much like my animal in my avatar.

 

[minxnim]

well the suction cup rocks are safe also for reptiles to climb on, the suction cups are pretty strong (i had an oscar and he couldn't pull them off). they're also really light and resin so they're not sharp.

 

[Ominous Luminous]

he looks pretty scared in your avatar.

from what I have read and heard, pufferes puff up not only because they are scared, but sometimes to practice or just for fun. the time he puffed up and i photographed it he did it out of the blue.

Your fish looks cute! Much like my animal in my avatar.

Very true!

well the suction cup rocks are safe also for reptiles to climb on, the suction cups are pretty strong (i had an oscar and he couldn't pull them off). they're also really light and resin so they're not sharp.

I'll have to look into these. Sounds like a good idea.

 

[FalseTodd]

I have to say that the expression in photo #2 looks an awful lot like the frowny face.

 

[xfer]

hey, so, exactly how hard is it to maintain a saltwater tank? last night our house fish/monster died, finally (freshwater) and we're looking to expand. like, what does it entail, what kind of cost, etc?

 

[Ominous Luminous]

Well, it really depends on what kind of fish you want. Puffers are a bit more difficult imo. I have Kirby in an 80 gallon with just a blue damsel (he ate 2 blenies and a sergeant major damsel.) I think there is 100 pounds of live rock, which was around $100, 2 heaters, a power head, and a protein skimmer. I had to buy heater guards and a power head guard because Kirby burnt himself on the heaters and also managed to get half of his head sucked up inside the power head one night.
I think my entire set up was about $800 when all was said and done. About once every couple of weeks I do a 15-30 gallon water change. You'll need to buy salt, which is $50 for about 50 pounds. Also, for puffers or other cool fish you should buy foods such as krill, clams, silver sides, and Kirby's personal favorite octupus tentacle. Hopefully this helps.

 

[xfer]

my god, that's pricey. freshwater it is!

 

[Ominous Luminous]

ha!

 

[xfer]

how much did kirby alone cost?

 

[Ominous Luminous]

$32 or so. He was like a quarter of the size he is now though, but with the same size head.