yikai

more pics!

Minilabrus striatus. 1 of 4. very touchy and sensitive fish.

amazing footage! shutterstock has a good collection of videos including C. walindi in the wild. unfortunately the website only allows videos to be shared and re-posted if you buy them.

cf. lanceolatus is not related even the slightest to cirrhilabrus lanceolatus. the term 'cf.' means to confer, and is placed infront of the suffix lanceolatus because it is undescribed, and it "looks superficially similar" to the real C. lanceolatus. this is only because it possesses a lancet shaped tail. the real lanceolatus grows to 7 inches including tail, while cf. lanceolatus grows to only 3 inches. it is a small fairy wrasse. the body patterning, size, and frequent hybrids with C. lunatus means that it is more closely related to lunatus than any other species. infact, lunatus x cf. lanceolatus hybrids are one of the only known hybrids known to occur with frequency. the two species mix in the wild. i hope it gets described one day. calling it cf. lanceolatus is such a chore! and yes, it is one of the most pretty of the cirrhilabrus.

various images of pintail fairy in the wild.

i do not have that lunatus anymore. i have switched my cirrhilabrus collection as such. 2 females, 1 submale pintails and this alpha male hybrid. adding anymore males will probably disrupt the dynamics. i try not to allow this hybrid to be anything less than terminal. although maybe adding more pintails will allow enough subjects to allow a 2nd male to emerge. but i don't think i want so many fairies in my tank. almost all the regular cirrhilabrus do not interest me anymore, but mostly because i've kept them before or they are not interesting to me. squirei and johnsoni are gorgeous but similar. the former remains exclusive to cairns marine and is very expensive. johnsoni on the other hand, has dwindled down to irregular collections and proves to be rare and expensive. i can't afford squirei and i can't keep johnsoni with my current stock. the only other species i may consider keeping is C. brunneus and/or C. marjorie. Brunneus is rare but obtainable from RVS, and can mix well with my pintail complex harem in my display. marjorie is common now and cheap, but i have always loved this species since the beginning, and will consider keeping it again in my smaller attached tank. claire is way too expensive, but one is coming next week for another reefer. no prizes for guessing. i will however, be taking pictures. this would be the second time i've seen claire in real life and i tell you, it's amazing. one of the most unique of cirrhilabrus. there are still many fairy wrasses that have not entered the trade, and will shake the reefing world one day when they eventually enter the market.

i have. i am very selective when it comes to Cirrhilabrus now. Only a few species excite me, and those are the ones that have not entered the trade before. I cannot pass up on a hybrid!

a longirostris longnose! but these melanistic forms cannot retain the darkness.

another look at the big male pintail.

i am overwhelmed with excitement. i have never felt this excited for a fish for a long time! i have been waiting anxiously for the past week for the arrival of this very special fish. i'll skip all the boring details. if you want to know more, here's all the information compiled nicely with many pics. http://reefbuilders.com/2013/10/31/incredibly-rare-cirrhilabrus-hybrid-rvs-fishworld-lands-iwarna-aquafarm-singapore/ it's a hybrid fairy wrasse.

double post. pictures for the next post here.

thanks! i'm using a nikon D5000, 105mm lens. for these pics they were shot at iso 800, speed 125 F8. i used fill flash. no video or fts! the corals are healthy but still fighting some algae from NTS. it really does look like a zebra!! the face especially. very horse like! nikon D5000, 105mm lens. thanks!!

beautiful submale with developing lancet shape tail and dorsal fin blotch. keep this with a female and in a few months, will grow into a handsome alpha male. reefers please do not be disappointed with the size of these wrasses. alpha males are very rare and hard to obtain, and only one-two pieces will come in months. the females and sub-males are more common, but by no means useless. i have waited 6 years for pintail wrasse to appear in the trade and this is the first time ever that singapore has this fish.

it looks nothing like a carpenter wrasse! carpenter wrasse is a flasher while this is a fairy. here is another picture of an alpha male pintail displaying in a tank. and compare with carpenter's on the right.

new really alpha male pintails at rvs

cirrhilabrus brunneus and lunatus in the wild.

oh i cant say enough good things about this tank. a bold reefer with beautiful sps and healthy angels. i never thought i'd see the day. in singapore at least. love it.

the japanese are very brave. their manicured SPS tanks are always so gorgeous and yet filled to the brim with many angels and butterflies.

klyve, read this article. it will give you many choices if you decide u want to try butterfly in ur reef. http://reefbuilders.com/2013/10/29/keeping-butterflyfish-reefs-avoid/

the aberrant PBrT is insane. i love it!

they are not sps eaters in the wild, but they will nip. butterflies are itchy mouths and golden butterfly will def do more damage than queen. u can try, but remove when u feel that its too stressful for your coral. in general, avoid all butterflies from the genus Chaetodon. There are some exceptions. these are the butterflies that can be kept with SPS without much problems. Chaetodon tinkeri, declivis, mitratus, burgess are all ok. these are deep water butterflies from the subgenus (roaps) that will not nip on corals as much, especially SPS. safe to keep. Chaetodon assarius, guentheri, nippon are also ok. these are more planktivorous butterfly and feed in water column, and not so much on corals and rocks. longnose, copperband, marginalis, pyramid butterflies, and all species not from chaetodon genus are best with SPS. Prognathodes butterflies are also excellent. sorry if the scientific names are a little tedious. many of them don't have common names and it makes it more confusing. just do a google search. i love butterflies and always love keeping some in reef tanks. there are many that are suitable.

Long time no update. been busy to take pics and such. just some random macro shots

We've not had Juvis in sg before. Smallest maybe 3 inch

a very alpha philippine lunatus.

aiyo yo look at that fuscipinnis and bodianus sp!! gorgeous!!