A 12-gallon nano-reef tank.
I had two 12-gallon nanocube reef tanks with live rock, deep live sand beds, very frequent water changes, and consistently great water readings. I’d read a lot before setting them up. I enjoyed the maintenance. I didn’t want to overpopulate.
I ended up buying a scooter blenny on impulse at a fish store I didn’t usually go to. First mistake. Their advice was wrong. He was actually an occellated dragonet — a fish that needs at least 30 gallons and a mature, copepod-rich sand bed to survive, not a 12-gallon tank that was two months old. I paid $24 for him as a “red scooter blenny.” He should have cost $5.99 and been sold with an honest description of his requirements.
He was active and looked well-fed for about a month. Then I moved an anemone into his tank — I’d looked it up, couldn’t find any contraindications for dragonets and anemones. This was my second mistake.
Found him in a hole in the rock a few days later. Emaciated, black-eyed, still moving but not okay. The anemone didn’t look guilty. They rarely do. He died that night.
I processed for a while. I’d killed him — through impulse buying, inadequate research, and a decision that seemed fine based on incomplete information. The fish store was wrong. The books I had were incomplete. And the fish paid for it.
I named him Scooter. He deserves at least the acknowledgment of a name.