Re: Emperor Angel sel.  03/11/2008 Crew (Bob), Thanks for your email. Would you then concur that Xmas Island is more desirable then Central Pacific & Eastern / South Asia. <In general, yes> How would you rate specimens from Xmas Island, Australia and Red Sea? <The Red Sea highest... the other locales about equal... more to do with discerning individual specimens> There is quite a difference in price depending on region and I want my chances to be the best they can if a premium is substantiated based on where collected. Many thanks on your response. Best regards, Steven <Welcome. BobF>

Re: Emperor Angel, sel.   3/12/08 Bob, <Steve a reeno> Many thanks again. One more question.... I promise! I did purchase today a Imperator from Aquacon from the New Caledonia region. From speaking to the folks at Marine Depot Live, Aquacon, and Marine Center, the regions of the Red Sea as well as New Caledonia rarely see any of these angels caught in less than 6" range. The one I bought from Aquacon is quite large, however I spoke to the owner and he indicated they have had this fish in quarantine for a little over a month and the fish is eating well and seems to have acclimated to aquarium life. I have acclimated fish previously using the float, drip, test and if OK then net and release. With this being as large of a fish (much larger than the other fish I have acclimated), I am afraid of the amount of ammonia that will be present, as well as the lowered PH level. Would you recommend a small drop of Amquel+ after floating the bag and then a drip procedure, or stabilize temperature, net and introduce. <Mmm... depends on the apparent health... have you read my pieces on acclimating marines on WWM?> My tank has been established for several years, is 300 gallons (small weekly water changes + refugium) and house 1 moray eel, 1 Blond Naso, 1 Chevron, and 1 Orange shoulder Tang.....no new additions in over one year. Your thoughts on this size of Imperator and acclimation procedure is much appreciated. This guy (or gal) cost a pretty penny, and I want to give this fish the best chance for success. Thanks again, Steven <Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/acclimat.htm Bob Fenner>

Re: Emperor Angel -- Need help ASAP 03/15/2008 Bob (Crew) Sorry, I accidentally hit send before finished. To continue, I received the Emperor and the water was cold and bag punctured. The fish seemed rather stable however, not gilling heavily, and swimming around but not fast, kind of graceful. I acclimated using a drip method after a few drops of Amquel+ trying to get temp. and PH stable. The PH was low (low 7's) so after a while the temp. was warmer and I introduced very gently, very smooth transition no trauma transitioning from holding container to tank. First night with lights off he grazed on the few pieces of live rock in the transition tank and was swimming curiously looking at new surroundings. Water -- no detectable ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates, SG 1.021, PH 8.4. He did not eat, but not unusual for first day. Day two, he still was curiously swimming around picking at live rock. Tonight he darted around very fast and seemed to have squeezed out something from his anus...looks like two large loops of spaghetti (maybe intestines?). One loop looks to have a red crusted something attached to it. Does not look like parasite or worm...too thick I think for this, looks like organ to me. Any suggestions or immediate help is greatly appreciated. <It's probably just poop attached to a hair (inadvertently swallowed) or some other stringy material. But without a picture it's hard to say for sure.> Although he arrived with a punctured bag and rather cold water, he seemed very stable with normal apparent gill movement and grazing on live rock...good color too. I was hoping he would pull through but not sure here. If the situation is futile please let me know how to mercifully handle this situation. <Oy, no need to panic just yet I don't think. Generally, there's an expression used in teaching human doctors about diagnosis, it goes something like "when you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras." The same might apply to fish health too... if the fish seems generally healthy, chances are that anything coming out of its anus is just poop. If it were expelling its organs, I imagine it would not appear to be swimming or breathing normally. But do see if you can get him to eat something.> Hoping for the best. Steven <Best, Sara M.>

Re: Emperor Angel -- Need help ASAP 03/16/08 Sara, Thanks for your very quick reply. I don't want to stress the fish with a camera flash but might take a picture tomorrow AM. I am not sure about this being "poop". There are two loops not strings that came out of the anus. The loops are about the diameter of spaghetti and look exactly the same (symmetrical) in nature. I will be patient and observe, but something tells me these are supposed to be inside this fish. These loops are approx. 1/2" in length, they exit the anus and loop right back in and are a dull white color. <Interesting... but I still can't think of any condition or parasite that would cause a fish to expel organs from its anus (that wouldn't be completely debilitating the fish). To me it still sounds like the fish ate something it couldn't digest. But I suppose, it's conceivable that if the fish had an intestinal worm that died for some reason, it would get expelled this way. But I don't know. I'm sure a picture would help. And I do hope Bob or another crew member has more insight into this...> Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Regards, Steven <Best, Sara M.>

Re: Emperor Angel -- Need help ASAP 03/16/08 Sara (Crew), Update as of this AM. The two loops were completely expelled. <excellent> The whole time the Emperor seemed to swim normal, continuing to graze on live rock, and peaceful. The two loops that came out are exactly the same length each (approx. 1.5" circles). They sank to the bottom of the tank and were of no interest to the other fish, which told me these may not be organic in nature. My fish tank is quite tall, but I have a long instrument that I could reach the two pieces so I pulled them out. THESE TWO FLEXIBLE CIRCLES ARE RUBBER BANDS!!! It seems they must have been from the shipping bags either in transit to the retailer or in transit to me. <Hehe! I thought it must be something like this. I almost even suggested rubber bands, but I couldn't believe a fish would accidentally eat those. But I guess it happens!> Emergency over. You were correct...something he ingested. <Yep, but I'm much too mature to say "I told you so." ;-)> Thanks again, Steven <I'm happy for you, the fish. I hope all continues to go well. Best, Sara M.>