yikai

hawaiian nahackyi angel filmed by brian greene.

koji's beautiful peppermints. all feeding and living in a deepwater set up.

it probably inhabits the whole micronesian chain of islands.

a juvenile was also seen in Japan, at 5m depth. it was there for many months observed by divers before disappearing one day. FIVE. METERS. DEEP.

one day before news of nahackyi appeared, digiman and i were having a conversation on how 2013 was the year of the dwarf angels. this year alone we've seen 2 nigriocellas, numerous peppermints and narcosis and a debelius. in addition to the numerous "rare" dwarves like interruptus, joculator, colini that are already quite a staple in the market. the only thing that could add wonders to this list would be a nahackyi, and it may very well come true. the maraschino cherry on top of my whipped cream sundae would be abei. and then book closed for 2013. we still want surprises for next year.

golden angel is one of the top 3 most difficult angelfish to keep. they are the dictionary definition of shy and will never survive in a bustling community tank unless properly acclimated. to keep a golden angel, you need a dim tank with very peaceful and slow moving fish, lots of liverocks to graze and alot alot of luck. once it starts feeding it can over time learn to be more brave. but it will still be very shy for a dwarf angel. it is highly unlikely, and i would dare to say impossible, that your golden angel is the culprit behind your RG's tail attack. good luck with this fish.

No it will not melt or deform. This is the same material used for certain overflow teeth so it is saltwater and heat resistant,

Yes pencil wrasses are tough. and male pencils will not keep colors without a female. i've yet to see a female of this pseudojuloides.

cannot dump shrimps in like that. you need to slowly acclimate them by dripping your water slowly into the shrimp water.

vessel in japan used to have a handful of them too!

Pseudojuloides sp! A new one and this time in the U.S. Greenwich aquaria.

i am not sure. but there are casualties for sure. the peppermints are arriving smaller and healthier by the batches though.

i think the 9 at BH are not including the ones going to the u.s

my fav fish of the whole shipment. chromis sp and yellow morph mystery

6 of the 9 peppermints.

Cirrhilabrus claire

had some requests as to what lid or hood i'm using. i am not using a hood, but a DIY tank cover to prevent my fish from jumping. the cover is made using an aluminium frame, DIY and fitted to the exact dimensions of the tank. there is a white screen net that is screwed onto the aluminium window. i did a comparison with egg crate. egg crate cuts about 30%+ light penetration, whereas this screen cuts negligible amount of light. it is not as thick nor diffractive as egg crates, and it is very thin and the holes are not too small. the whole cover is very light, heat and rust proof, and effective. prevents fish jumping out, and keeps the light coming in. i asked IWARNA to DIY this for me, and they are offering this service. it is not overly expensive considering the work man ship and the benefits compared to eggcrates. good investment for a long lasting and very useful product. if you are keeping wrasses and SPS, then egg crates are a definite no. the egg crates are bulky, cuts too much light, and will brittle under prolong exposure to MH. not to mention the holes in eggcrates are not a guaranteed with jumping fish.

there's a new Claire fairy wrasse at BH now. C. claire is a most amazing species. It is the last species of fairy wrasse to have its live picture taken in year 2012. described in 2001. for 11 years the only known pics of this fish were the dead holotypes. it's type location was cook island, roratonga. all the claire fairy wrasses have been collected from tahiti now which means a range extension for this species. this was the first pair ever to be caught, sold, and seen by the world in 2012. i was fortunate to see and photograph this fish. although it was swimming with a narcosis and bodianus sp at BH, i could think of nothing more but admiring the fairy wrasse. it has a unique greenish coloration. will always be the most fascinating fairy wrasse for me.

these are three deepwater anthias that were all wrongly identified in the past. all three are similar and have been erroneously labelled as "odontanthias chrysostictus" with the help of digiman and reading some description pdf papers, it's safe to say we've more or less figured out a way on differentiating O. katayamai, O. chrysostictus and O. tapui. read here for more. http://reefbuilders.com/2013/10/01/confusion-straightened-differences-odontanthias-chrysostictus-katayamai-tapui/

gorgeous pics of rare fish in the wild. also by rufus. look at the peppermint displaying awesome paracentropyge behavior!! upside down swimming.

these are two of my favorite pics from rufus. a box of white bar sanguineus hogfish variants and a Plectranthias winniensis!!!!!!!!!!!

not that i know of, but whoever does has to be mentally prepared and can provide for what he/she is paying for. do not be clouded by success stories all over the internet. many peppermints have entered the hobby but only a small handful are alive. being a deepwater paracentropyge, it is a difficult fish. the buyer should also provide a dedicated set up with dim lights and suitable aquascape. in a full blown reef tank with bright lights and various other run of the mill fish, the fish will lose its value, look cheap, and will not do well.

Absolutely gorgeous and insightful! Thanks for sharing