yikai

kh, mg, ca are just building blocks needed to build the calcium carbonate skeleton. they get majority of their food from a symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that lives inside the tissue and cells of the SPS. this zooxanthellae is found on other photosynthetic corals. the zooxanthellae photosynthesizes and produces sugars that feed the SPS. also they obtain nutrients from plankton and other suspended food particles, which they consume primarily at night. this makes up a smaller part of their nutrition.

PNG's leucokranos clown's stamp.

my fav clown, fuscocaudatus clown is featured on seychell's stamp.

genicanthus spinus is also featured on pitcairn's stamp.

plenty! smithi butterfly is featured on pitcairn island's stamp. rightfully so! super rare fish.

if u wanna come we can arrange for a visit merry xmas and happy new year!

main cause for browness? oh plenty.. nitrates phosphates lighting parameters etc etc etc. SPS are like women during the time of the month. only difference is SPS is like that every day of the month, every month of the year. temperamental and bitchy. they can die on you for the slightest misnomer or turn brown due to slightest change. they can even RTN if you change your phosphate removing media. so don't get too upset. also some SPS are just impossible to retain the colour. depends on what SPS you keep also. some are just near impossible to maintain the colour in captivity. i'm sure it's possible if you do some magic to it... the people in reefcentral seem to be able to maintain colour very well. but there's a invisible chart or guideline on SPS colour. some are very easy like green birdnest (i've never seen green birdnest turn brown before), while some are very difficult like tricolor SPS or Acropora gemmifera etc. so don't lose hope. try easier SPS that cannot drop colour. like birdnest, chilli pepper monti etc.

very fast growth! my chilli pepper monti not growing as fast as yours but i agre that the bicolor birdnest is a fast grower!

Glassbox design is a blog that showcase fish, coral and equipment that are interesting or special and are worthy of being showcase to the world. It does not sell anything..

So open and not dense! V nice

semicinctus, spinus, takeuchii, personatus. you forgot spinus from the cooks and pitcairn. although not rare as semicinctus and is obtainable, but almost none have ever made it to the trade before and it's very very rare. takeuchii follow closely behind. it's not rare at all. fairly abundant, but illegal to collect. personatus is common but in extreme deep water so make collection very difficult. but some have been collected before. these four are the legendary genicanthus angels that are very rare and will put a mark in history whenever one of any is collected. and yes, like you said, after personatus, a drastic drop is seen as semifasciatus ranks in 5th position. then probably watanabe and the rest behind all hover around the same level of obtainability. all are very common...

and rightfully so. semicinctus and spinus are two of the rarest genicanthus.

lord how biotope will feature the rarest fish in the world because no other place in the world probably hold as many rare fishes in any one place! lord howe butterfly ballina angel semicinctus angel these 3 are unobtainable, protected and endemic to the islands! mcculochi clown conspic angel latezonatus clowns. tricinctus butterfly these 4 are now obtainable but still remain very rare and very expensive and can be found in lord howe. conspic and latz are not endemic. tricinctus butterfly is the exception because it is very rare and all specimens are rumoured to be illegal. together, these 7 fishes will make for an amazing and rare collection of fishes.

yap. semicinctus is very rare and even rarer than smithi butterfly due to limited range. and the females are very beautiful also. how much was it sold for anyway?

this ugly, and incredibly stupid looking fish is another extreme rarity. it's entire known range is found only in new south wales and it is protected in lord howe islands. although it is listed as a lord howe endemic, none have ever been documented there. in fact, they have only been found in a small rocky outcrop called balls pyramid, about 12 dozen miles off lord howe itself. all living photos of the ballinae angel is taken at ball's pyramid. it's relatively common there and scuba depth. but any collection will quickly wipe out the population since ball's pyramid is so small. here's ball's pyramid, and in the back, lord howe island. info and photo courtesy of john copps.

Some fishes are just so rare that it puts the word "rare" in a whole new perspective. This is Genicanthus semicinctus. A swallowtail angel that is endemic only to Lord Howe island. It has been documented in Kermedec before but that was only one specimen. so in all essence, it's a true blue lord howe endemic. there was one specimen to come in to Japan many many years ago. i believe it was illegal. According to Hiroyukia tanaka, the specimen never ate in captivity and the whereabouts of that fish now is unknown. most probably died soon after. it was a large specimen. large genicanthus don't adapt well to captivity and most of the time suffer from infection and reluctance to feed.

digiman, another new year's resolution?

a yellow and black blue tang! so nice and i'll buy it if they come in like this. weird anomalies on common fish are so interesting!

i wont get such a big marginalis. big butterflies don't do well. if u see that photo, the edge of the tail is white and looks like initial stage tail rot. but v minor and with good water quality will heal up nicely. taiwan yes collect their own chrysocephalus angels. it has been unofficially renamed to a more chim scientific name. but i shall just call it chrysocephalus. easier and more globally recognised.

mine died and it's my fav fish. if it ever come again and come one only, you'll have to fight me for it!

nahackyi's fairy wrasse.

show size marginalis!

Juvenile lennard's wrasse. no juveniles were recently collected but this photo is not an old photo either. wonder where it came from.