yikai

One of the nicest japanese wrasses. Cirrhilabrus lanceolatus. just look at that gorgeous emerald green dorsal fin and tail!!

this is a very nice fish. old wife.

2 pictures of Paracheilinus bellae. one of the holy grail of flasher wrasses. identified by the yellow patch on the tail. found deep and near marshall islands i think.

Siphonognathus beddomei

Dotalabrus aurantiacus

anywaya very nice fish. 0dax acroptilus

not really difficult. the species are very easy to differentiate. but the hybrids... they are difficult to identify the parents.

and here's something i hope to find. Paracheilinus filamentosus x angulatus. angulatus hybrids are very beautiful.

here's another pic of Paracheilinus angulatus. this one not so alpha. but still, the finnage is very nice. it reminds me of the little cursor produced by your mouse. the arrow. lol

i can't believe you've been waiting angulatus for 6 years..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's SO COMMON AT CF. but anyway can't blame you. CF dont bring in all the time and usually only a few pieces. each time all very pale, and small and all easily confused with the other common ones when they are stressed and in the boxes. angulatus is found only in few parts of phillipines and no where else. so it is likely that only certain suppliers catching from some parts bring it in. that's why iwarna's phillipine suppliers, out of the few, only one today (a different one), brought them in. they must be catching in the correct areas.

they will school in the wild like the photo i posted. but in the tank they might kill themself. unless you get alot, and then get many large angels, tangs and boisterous fish. to initiate schooling behaviour. anyway, most cardinals will end up killing each other anyway. banggai is famous example. in the wild all are schooling, but in tanks, only a pair is accepted.

aiyah. negligible difference lah. both looks 99% identical... anyway, A. properupta can look amazing as well. in fact, i think it's alot nicer than cyanosoma.

which one u waiting 6 years? both have came to singapore before. harlequin brought in attenuatus before during africa shipments a long time ago. that was the only time i know of them coming to singapore. it's a very beautiful flasher. as for angulatus, seen it quite a few times in CF, and that was the only place you can obtain it. Now iwarna brought in so there's 2 LFS with supply of angulatus. iwarna's one is so alpha and beautiful compared to the washed out sub male specimens in CF. anyway both are nice but if u ask me, attenuatus is way more worth the hunt. the only flashers WORTH getting IMO, is - attenuatus (obtainable. just need to get LFS bring in) - mccosker (meh. common, but one of the nicer common ones) - angulatus (boo. can keep 1 just coz it's unique. but that's it) - rubricaudalis (amazing stuff. fiji/vanuatu ONLY. there was once iwarna brough in a harem but i din buy. dam regret) - octotaenia (yes! beautiful flasher from the red sea. obtainable.) and of coz not forgetting the super unobtainable ones. - bellae (keep dreaming) - piscilineatus (HA! got money oso no use) - walton (pfft. stop fooling yourself) - hemitaeniatus (one of the most beautiful flashers IMO) - tongaensis (looks EXACTLY like angulatus, but dorsal fin is rounded, not pointed. other than that, not much difference) both of which are so extremely rare. and then we have these 5.. - cyaneus - filamentosus - carpenteri - flavianalis - lineopunctatus * all are so very common and seriously, no thrill in buying. for beginners, its reccomended because it's cheap, hardy and still nice. but for veterans like us, these are really not worth because there are so many nicer specimens out there that we can hunt. like some of those above.

omg how can you mix them up? paracheilinus attenuatus is found in kenya. and it's soo soooooooo oo oo oooooooooo much prettier than angulatus!!!! and SO MUCH RARER. anyway angulatus is not very rare. CF occasionally have. but this is my first time seeing such big alpha sized ones.

stop feeding them brine shrimp. brine shrimp may be delicious to fishes but it has no nutrition, unless you enrich it with selcon and/or food additives, vitamins. brine shrimp to fishes is like potato chips to humans.

the butterflies posted on liveaquaria is very very limited. and by reefsafe, they usually don't specify coral safe or not. butterflies are a complex group of fish that is difficult to determine their reefsafeness. as a general rule, no butterfly is reefsafe. however, there are some that are compatible in reef tanks. i.e, rarely eat corals. - pyramid butterflies. (both black and yellow) * these two groups of butterflyfishes are planktivores in the wild and eat only plankton. they are therefore, theoratically, reefsafe. i've never see them eating corals or pecking on rocks for that matter. however, as with nature, there may be exceptions. but for this butterfly, chances of eating coral is <1%. 100% safe with SPS - the chelmon butterflies. (copperband, marginalis butterfly, muelleri butterflyfish) * these are not safe with tube worms. however, they are relatively safe with corals. in the wild, they eat invertebrates such as worms and do not eat corals. in the tank however, very rarely will they sample corals. by far one of the safest butterflies. chances of eating coral 5-10% (might be lower). i've kept more than 10 copperbands and none eat corals. 100% safe with SPS. - the prognathodes butterflies (prognathodes marcellae, prognathodes aya etc) * these are expensive, deepwater butterflies that require cooler water. not for beginners. they are however, very safe with corals. they are also very uncommon. chances of eating corals 5-10%. SPS safe. - the forcipiger butterflies. (Yellow longnose butterflyfish) * same as copperband. will eat all your tube worms but is generally a very safe butterflyfish. chances of eating coral 5-10% (might be lower). i've kept many before and none eat my corals. 100% SPS safe. - the roaops butterflies. (Declivis butterfly, mitratus butterfly, tinkeri butterfly) * very expensive, deepwater, and rare. but very very hardy. in the wild, they live so deep that corals are rare. thus, not a natural part of their diet. however, not as reefsafe as the above, but certainly more reefsafe than the other species of butterflies. chances of eating corals 30-40%. Safe with SPS although prolonged nipping may cause stress. - bannerfish. *contrary to popular belief, none of them are reef safe. even both sister species with very similar appearance. tried both, both also eat. Any other species of butterflies should not be considered reef safe at all. the above few are the only ones you should consider, except bannerfish. hope my advice helps you. if you dunno what the fishes i posted above look like, do a google search

water passing through the UV.... anything passing through it will get killed... as said before......... bacteria in water = very negligible.

a gravid C. bathyphilus! how often do you see pregnant fairy wrasses? ALMOST NEVER! and this is a rare one too.

a very rare hybrid. Lineopunctatus X angulatus. somehow all angulatus hybrids are so beautiful. probably due to their very special finnage.

and here's a pic of P. walton flashing.

Paracheilinus walton. a relatively new species there's only one pic. and this is the first holotype.

an undescribed wrasse from coral sea. it resembles mccosker, but has a very strong dorsal filament. it looks like a cross between flavianalis and mccoskeri, but shows no clear characteristics from either parents. looks like a new species. shown below is a true mccosker. these photos are quite old BTW.

nothing rare. just a nice flashing paracheilinus cyaneus.

a very rare Angulatus X filamentosus hybrid. omg it's gorgeous.

the very very rare paracheilinus bellae