yikai

ok if you read the link i posted on allopatric species, meridith and personifer could be sympatric. where one species break off into two, but remain in the same population. or they could be totally different non related fish that coincidentally have the same markings. so total of 3 scenarios.

CF always have true percs

Allopatric species means very very similar species that originated from only one spcecies (A). but due to intrinsic forces like shift in tides and plates, the original population of fish is divided into different parts of the world, and evolve into B,C, D etc.. one good example is the argi complex. i don't know which of the argi complex is A, but all of them are allopatric. or so i think. i don't know how scientists classify species to be allopatric or not. but my guess would be through DNA analysis. yes inter-genus hybridisation is very rare. sometimes allopatric species re-unite back together after separation due to again, intrinsic forces. if they can be separated once, they can come back together again. over of course, hundreds and thousands of years. for all we know, meridith and personifer are indeed allopatric that were once separated, which now reunite. of course all this is just guess work on my part since i'm just an 18 year old student with no resources. so just take what we discuss with a pinch of salt. the speculation on wether roaops are allopatric, or meridith and personifer, is just my guess work on trying to tie up all the lose ends and close this chapter once and for all on this group of super interesting species. i don't know if i'm right. i could be VERY wrong, or i could be VERY right. no way to know and i don't have contacts with richard pyle and all other big names to ask like john coppolino does. so i can only guess and read from elsewhere.

The endemicity of tinkeri and flavocoronatus have long been debunked and what more, all 4 of the 5 roaops are found in Majuro, Marshall islands. Am i wrong to assume that tinkeri, flavocoronatus and declivis are allopatric species that were once one species, and that the three 3 arised from allopatric forces? even hybrids amongst the three show little variation which means the genes are extremely similar and pure no? Furthur supporting my initial hypothesis that the allopatricity of the said three species is indeed true? omg i'm such a nerd and i need to know answers!!

what are you talking about!! They are all already found in the Marshall islands in Majuro. This means that all 4 tinkeri complex species have range extensions outside of their previously thought endemicity. Also, colour scheme will never determine wether a fish will hybridise or not. If a potter can hybridise with a fisher, a tinker can hybridise with a miliaris, a multicolour can hybridise with a coral beauty, then there should be no reason why a mitratus will not hybridise with any of the other tinkeri complex. moreover, mitratus is from the same family, same sub genus even! i bet if one person started a population of mitratus in marshall islands, it WILL hybridise with the other 4 species. if a tinkeri from subgenus roaops can hybridise with a miliaris from genus chaetodon, then a mitratus will hybridise no problem with all other tinkeri complex. the only question at hand is will it look nice? well, very difficult to say. but i would assume yes. mitratus is a lovely gorgeous fish. and also the resulting hybrid with mitratus and the other tinkeri hybrids will certainly be VERY interesting. if you notice, declivis, flavocoronatus and tinkeri have very very similar colour forms. they are so similar that i am almost certain that all three are allopatric species that originated from ONE species, that separated it's original population due to intrinsic forces and thus, flavocoronatus, declivis and tinkeri were evolved. all three species are so similar, in fact, that hybrids amongst the three are almost indistinguishable from the parent species. which means that their genes are so so similar that even after hybridisation, the genes are so pure and strong that all resulting hybrids are so un-variable and so predictable. furthur proving my initial hypothesis that all three were result of just ONE fish. so if any of the above 3 mixed with a mitratus, which is very different in colour and pattern, the hybrid will certainly be very interesting.

P. ataenia is one of the most cryptic of all labrids. P. ataenia is the only species in the monotypic genus Pseudocheilinops so it's impossible to compare it's behaviour with similar species. Although i've never kept one before and never will, books and internet resources all state the crypticness of P. ataenia. Even in the wild they are very reclusive and will never be spotted unless deliberately looking for them. But from the video of your tank, it should not have problem settling down and show itself more. The tank looks peaceful with no fast swimming over-powering, active, boisterous fishes like large angels, tangs, big wrasses etc. So it's no surprise that the ataenia is not shy. Let's hope it stays like this even when your stock list is completed.

Something interesting for fish nerds like me to go nuts over. The Roaops subgenus of Chaetodontidae. Initially, Chaetodon (Roaops) flavocornatus was only found in Guam. C. tinkeri was also only thought to be endemic to Hawaii. However, C. flavocoronatus and C. tinkeri have been observed to converge in one place. Majuro in Marshall Islands. Interestingly, C. burgessi and for the first time via one specimen, C. declivis, was ALSO found in Majuro! The four Roaops Butterflies all with distinct ranges in the Pacific are all converging in one area, Majuro. And even MORE interestingly, all of them are inter-breeding. So we have a mish-mash of "tinkeri complex" hybrids among the 4 Roaops in Marshall islands. To a fish nerd, this is like, extreme news. John coppolino and Richard pyle have talked about this before but i've never really paid much attention until now. Randall has published an article about this too. Somewhere in the Marshall islands, 4 of the 5 Roaops are interbreeding, forming a plethora of hybrids with all forms of intermediates! Now if only C. mitratus from the Indian ocean were to make it's way there and holy smokes.

i have less fish than you but my tank looks crowded. but still not crowded enough. the marginalis, longnose, marjorie trio, roseafascia and the maculosus makes the tank look crowded.

or i feel like setting up a specific regional biotope tank. dont have to be big. Carribean - Swissguard basslet - Royal gramma - Queen angel - 4 spot butterfly - Striatus butterfly or Red Sea! my personal favourite biotope laden with sinularia and xenia, featuring - Blue eye anthias - Paucifasciatus butterfly - Asfur angel - Eight line flasher wrasse - Kluzinger wrasse - Chocolate dip chromis or how about Australian biotope? - Lineatus wrasse - Marginalis butterfly - Coradion altivelis - Australian hooded wrasse - Laboutei wrasse - Truncatus butterflyfish or African biotope! - Marcell Butterflyfish - Exquisite wrasse - Africanus angelfish - Flameback angelfish - Radiant wrasse or a hawaiian biotope featuring exotic livestock from Hawaii and nearby islands - Flame wrasse - Fremblii Butterflyfish - Hawaiian ventralis anthias - Lemonpeel - Flame angel - Multicolour - Rhomboid Wrasse (From Marshall's Islands) - Tinkeri butterfly

Feel like setting up a small deepwater tank. with plenty of drop off reefs and overhangs such as these. look at the awesome scape! and the Chelmon marginalis pair in the deepwater Australian biotope.

maybe only. 6 pieces. hopefully we get to see them. Pseudanthias ventralis (hawaiiensis). the hawaiien endemic ventralis anthias that is very rare but also extremely difficult. also maybe bandits, rhomboids, black tang, etc... will have to wait and see Iwarna's post on the forum if these fishes will be confirmed arriving.

coz ur fish too small!

keep the suspence bah.

yeah CF also another place that stocks argentatus.

not today. argentatus no stock now. must wait for philippine shipment @ reborn or iwarna. not all the time. sporadic. east side no peppermint shrimps.

hawaii shipment at iwarna soon. interesting fishes this time round

i want this. ok digi, get from iwarna!

yes. going to japan.

yours was bigger. i unpacked the shipment and saw. came 3. but still a good size to try.

depends on what fish again... most tropical and hardy fish can tahan those kinds of temperature. but then again, very little people keeping deepwater or cooler water fishes like certain angels, butterflies and anthias.. so i guess this does not speak to the majority.

ok touch wood. i have never had problems with bubble algae before and i certainly dont want to!

rufus kimura just caught a tiny thumb sized personatus at 250ft!

no use being sad right? moreover don't feel sad for me! i've fought through all the pests from day 1 till now! diatoms, cyano, hair algae, bryopsis, parasitic isopods. i've got rid of all of them and now i just have dino. what's one more dragon to slay right? haha yes thanks for the link. will try to get rid of them asap.

of course you don't need a chiller but as long as you can keep the temperature low enough for them why not? 28C i believe is still tolerable for bandits. but if no chiller and also no means of reducing temperature and your temp rises to 29 or >30C, then i'm sure your deepwater fishes like bandits will not be able to make it. what temp is your friend keeping his bandits at?

3ft is a lousy size for schooling fishes. firstly, nothing will school in a 3ft tank like what digiman said. 2ndly, even if you manage to get something to school, then you can't add anything else without crowding the tank and making it look full or overload it interms of bioload.