I got my original group in September 2005, from Rare Earth. Here they are on the first day, moments after unpacking.
Naturally, I was smitten. They were such charming little monsters, and I learned a lot through trial and error rising them up.
Sure are nice looking when you wash the dirt off them. Their size and coloration lead me to believe the line is of Western Australian origin. They’re too large for NTs, and look nothing like the small, darker, contrasty QLD acanthurus. Anyway, they turned out to be 2.2, and in the spring of 2007 they began to breed.
That tiny little dude got the job done eventually. He bred both females, and the girls laid a day apart. The entire enclosure had a deep soil/sand substrate, but I also sunk a nesting box filled with the same sand/soil mix, because I was paranoid about humidity content and thought the box would be easier to maintain. First female to lay dug her own tunnel, and laid 3 viable eggs. Second female used the box.
First female found the eggs before I did, and the above site greeted me when I checked on them. She laid 6 eggs total. Four were destroyed, the other two made it.
About 100 days later, my very first babies entered the world!
