yikai

what anthias is this? my guess is pulcherrimus anthias since it came from the indian ocean, christmas islands. it looks like randalls but randalls is a pacific species. but why is the ventral fin yellow?

i really like this tank though. will discuss with jake if it's worth a post.

maybe i should do a write up on your 5 gallon pico reef on reefbuilders

i posted a picture of a super red clarion i saw in long beach aquarium of the pacific when i was in L.A it was in qt with a humeralis and a copperband. now all three are put on display and you can see this clarion is indeed super orange, almost red. it's unlike most clarions i've seen.

isn't it Acanthocepola indica? there's really a cusk eel? which section? i did not see it.

It's so deep water that they probably exist in other areas too, just that too deep to explore. Peppermint angels may have range extensions outside cook island for all we know, but ad of yet it's still endemic. As to collecting and repopulating other areas, most scientists frown upon it because introducing an alien species to a habitat that it was not intended to be in may have serious consequences to the ecosystem. Even though how small it may be, say, a little peppermint angel

in the wild it will stand up.

?

I've seen 3-4 inch multicolors!

i think the ventralis are quanrantined and treated and kept in a cool water system so they are healthy and fat!

the personatus tank is so gorgeous. i love watching video updates on the tank and fish growth. the personatus have grown from just a tiny 2 inch juvenile. the emperor is slowly changing in to adults and the bandits are so healthy and big now! the multicolor as well. it's almost the same size as the bandit! my fav japanese tank. throw in debelius angel and other rare fish and it'll be super amazing. not that it already isn't!

tinker butterfly at old town aquarium

debelius is rare but cannot compare with the peppermint angelfish. peppermint angel is very very deepwater and endemic to the cook islands. it is in a league of it's own in terms of rarity. debelius angel is deep, but not as deep and is an indian ocean species. it can be found in mautirius, reunion and aldabra. there's only one collector for debelius angel and he knows the spot. however there has not been any collection recently and the fish is very hard to get now. debelius angels are rare in the wild too, and only a few specimens are seen each time. this led to many believing that the principle population exists much deeper in the waters. there has been some breeding attempts with this species by RCT hawaii and they did manage to breed a few. but this fish still remains extremely hard to obtain and super difficult. so far only the japanese are getting it and they pay many thousands for it. but less than 10k. and it is without a doubt one of the most beautiful and holy grail dwarf angel species in the world.

In my opinion, no angelfish is difficult to keep. Only difficult to adapt to captive life. Once they settle down and you acquire a specimen that can adapt to the tank, they are hardy as hell. Difficult will mean that throughout captivity, every step is faced with challenge. But that's not the case for most Angels. Once past the initial stage and if they survive, they do very well. All the species listed in this thread are very sensitive and super hard to adapt. Healthy specimens are difficult to come by too.

amazing! finally a pair of tapeinosoma dottybacks hit the U.S this dottyback still remains a super rare fish and i'm very lucky to have one. although i do not have the female. you can read more about it on reefbuilders.

false shepardi pair

these captive bred mccs are so cheap! only $300+!

here is another amazing video to show you the abundance of litus butterfly in easter island. a diver swims down to open a coconut and suddenly a group of them appear out of nowhere and begin eating the coconut! coconut also can eat! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTTMTSQGsxo&feature=related

centropyge debelius is one of the holy grail dwarf angels. the navy blue body is really gorgeous.

they're also so unafraid of humans! they just eat from your hands and follow you everywhere. put food in a bag and they'll all swim inside. and you can sell them for 1k each no problem! so far there's not been any videos of the elusive hotumatua angel in the wild and i've searched all the easter island scuba videos to no avail. centropyges are too secretive and prefer the cover of the rocks to be featured in such general diving videos. the fearless litus on the other hand...... perfect candidate to steal limelight. it's actually not bad looking. the white outline is quite stark. the waters in easter island is very cold at 22-24C!

check out this scuba dive video in easter island. the endemic and super rare chaetodon litus is sprawling all over and it's so abundant there! if you look really closely you can spot the also endemic, chrysiptera rapanui. they are also super common in easter island.

it's actually not a hybrid, but a yellow morph of the brown scopas tang. cf often brings them in. these tangs are caught from the philippines and yellow tangs are not found there, so not hybrids. just a yellow variation of the scopas tang.

all super rare and many of them i've never even heard of before

the pylei dottyback is smithi!