Reef nutrition

Great selection of QT’d fish at High Tide

JVU

JVU

Past President
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I stopped by High Tide Aquatics yesterday. Kenny @under_water_ninja has a large selection of healthy truly QT’d fish available at the moment. Maybe the largest/best selection I’ve seen there, the tanks are bursting at the seams with healthy fish goodness. He’s the only LFS with the HumbleFish QT stamp of approval I believe, which is pretty amazing. We are very fortunate to have someone who does the hard work for us.

He keeps his stock list well updated if you want to check before you go, though he’s at ReefStock this weekend so it could be a couple days out of date right now. You can also call to check (341) 420-0200 (yes I just noticed the 420 lol). He has some BAR members minding the store when he’s out, which is fun. I was able to chat with Daniel @The_Lazy_Reefer yesterday.

www.hightideaquatics.net

Quarantined Saltwater Fish — High Tide Aquatics

Clownfish, Tangs, Angelfish, Blennys, Goby's and more! Everything from reef-safe to predator fish.
www.hightideaquatics.net www.hightideaquatics.net

I got some Lyretail Anthias, and I’m very happy with them.

He also has a very nice selection of coral at the moment. I’m not going to tell you which ones I have my eye on since I need to make some more space first :)
 
I've bought from Kenny in 3 years:

Yellow Wrasse
Spotted mandarin
Carpenter's flasher wrasse (jumped my fault)
Buan's goby (rehomed, alive I assume)
Sleeper head goby (rehomed to @derek_SR )
Pink streak wrasse
Sixline wrasse (jumped through a lid!)
Cherub angel (rehomed, alive)
2x Algae blenny (one for another tank, both alive)
Tomini tang
3x purple firefish (one replacement female that disappeared during a 3 week vacation)
Black saltwater Molly
2x Springeri damsel (one rehomed to @Turkeysammich )
Bellus angel

So 16/17 success with only 1 unexplained death (not counting the jumpers and likely aggression from the firefish male) and zero fish disease (confirmed with Aquabiomics) or feeding issues in 3 years. I'd say that's pretty great considering how long our animals can live.

I'd challenge other members to track their fish success like this too because Kenny is definitely doing something to improve the hobby. Granted I also carefully introduce new fish with an acclimation box and stick to less aggressive species :)
 
High Tide is the only store I would buy my fish from, unless a) Kenny does not have the fish such as the captive bred Yellow Tang I bought from Biota at the time, or b) the fish is from another member in which case I would ask him to quarantine for me and pay for the quarantine (if it works with his schedule).

I got the following fish from him for the IM 150:

- White Tail
- Blue throat trigger (male)
- Blue throat trigger (female) - quarantine only
- Melanurus wrasse
- One-spot fox face

All of them are super healthy.

I also got two fish for my nano tank:

- A Royal Gramma which got killed almost instantly and most likely by a very aggressive cherub angel (which is now in Daddy Hooks care for this reason if still alive) - I did not use an acclimation box or mirror at that time - lesson learened.
- A six line wrasse - the only fish in the nano tank and she is very happy to have the tank all for herself :).
 
Alexander1312 said:
High Tide is the only store I would buy my fish from, unless a) Kenny does not have the fish such as the captive bred Yellow Tang I bought from Biota at the time, or b) the fish is from another member in which case I would ask him to quarantine for me and pay for the quarantine (if it works with his schedule).

I got the following fish from him for the IM 150:

- White Tail
- Blue throat trigger (male)
- Blue throat trigger (female) - quarantine only
- Melanurus wrasse
- One-spot fox face

All of them are super healthy.

I also got two fish for my nano tank:

- A Royal Gramma which got killed almost instantly and most likely by a very aggressive cherub angel (which is now in Daddy Hooks care for this reason if still alive) - I did not use an acclimation box or mirror at that time - lesson learened.
- A six line wrasse - the only fish in the nano tank and she is very happy to have the tank all for herself :).
Click to expand...
Cherubs are little terrorists sometimes!
 
Alexander1312 said:
High Tide is the only store I would buy my fish from, unless a) Kenny does not have the fish such as the captive bred Yellow Tang I bought from Biota at the time, or b) the fish is from another member in which case I would ask him to quarantine for me and pay for the quarantine (if it works with his schedule).

I got the following fish from him for the IM 150:

- White Tail
- Blue throat trigger (male)
- Blue throat trigger (female) - quarantine only
- Melanurus wrasse
- One-spot fox face

All of them are super healthy.

I also got two fish for my nano tank:

- A Royal Gramma which got killed almost instantly and most likely by a very aggressive cherub angel (which is now in Daddy Hooks care for this reason if still alive) - I did not use an acclimation box or mirror at that time - lesson learened.
- A six line wrasse - the only fish in the nano tank and she is very happy to have the tank all for herself :).
Click to expand...

Alive and well. No problems with it. It is the smaller fish in the tank.

IMG_5059.jpeg
 
All the fish I've purchased from Kenny have been happy, healthy, and long lived. I'd especially like to highlight two main things:

1. I got a mandarin dragonet pair and a copperband butterfly from him when I was stocking my 200g. Not only did he ensure they ate frozen and made it through QT eating well, they were eating well within twenty minutes of being added to my tank.

2. The red sea has personal significance to me, and I really wanted a red sea desjardini sailfin. I also really wanted a hybrid Achilles, but was concerned about the variability of the tail spot on the hybrids. Kenny was kind enough to listen and go above and beyond in working with his supplier to get fish I'd be happy with.

10/10, and we're beyond lucky to have him in our backyard.
 
One other thing to mention is High Tide Aquatics is one of the few places that keeps inverts in fish less systems. There used to be a few stores in the South Bay with invert only tanks but recently started adding fish to their tanks with snails and crabs. This is super annoying since I do not enjoy quarantining inverts but I don’t have much choice unless I make the one hour+ drive to visit Kenny. Will likely make the long drive again soon when I need to refresh of the cleanup crew or want to add a fish.
 
My HTA fish list. All eating and doing great. Best part was dropping them straight into the tank without fear.
Blue tang, 4/2023
Bimaculatus anthias qty 3, 4/2023, 1 bullied
Banded sleeper goby, 4/2023
Flameback angelfish, 9/2023
Blue star leopard wrasse, 9/2023
Black leopard wrasse, 9/2023
Blue throat trigger, 2/2025
Sexy shrimp qty 2
 
Picked up in July or August 2024
30 minute acclimation according to Kenny’s instructions. All alive, kicking, thriving, and fat!
Yellow Mimic Tang
Blue Tang
Scopas Tang
Watanabe Angelfish
Swallowtail Angelfish
Flame Angelfish
 
I would like to inquire whether those of you who purchase QT fish also take the time to quarantine corals sourced from local fish stores and frag swaps. I’ve noticed that some stores that quarantine their fish may also offer corals brought in by hobbyists who do not quarantine, which could potentially lead to the introduction of issues such as ich into their systems
 
Edgar Sandoval said:
I would like to inquire whether those of you who purchase QT fish also take the time to quarantine corals sourced from local fish stores and frag swaps. I’ve noticed that some stores that quarantine their fish may also offer corals brought in by hobbyists who do not quarantine, which could potentially lead to the introduction of issues such as ich into their systems
Click to expand...
I do. Full QT of all invertebrates (except for urchins, which tomonts can't encyst on) and coral. The only exceptions are invertebrates purchased from Inverted Reef, or coral purchased from @Arvin R at Kay's Coral Cove.
 
Edgar Sandoval said:
I would like to inquire whether those of you who purchase QT fish also take the time to quarantine corals sourced from local fish stores and frag swaps. I’ve noticed that some stores that quarantine their fish may also offer corals brought in by hobbyists who do not quarantine, which could potentially lead to the introduction of issues such as ich into their systems
Click to expand...
I haven't been able to for the most part. Yet I'm crazy selective about what corals and from who or what vendor they come from in determining if it's something I would place in my main tank or not.

Once I get my frag tank set up, and lights hung i will be even more crazy about what will go into my 200gal tank.

So I will be planning to have a type of quarantine period for corals in the lowboy frag tank.

From frag swaps rarely will more than 2-3 corals touch my main tank
 
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