Weekly Update - 8th to 15th March 2010

[Greenmariner]

would like to chide in regarding rhomboids.

rhomboids are not difficult when stable. in fact, very hardy like most other fishes. but, alot of them die from collection

being a deepwater fish, these guys are very delicate especially when shipping. they don't ship well, and are very sensitive to sudden changes in parameters. when buying from shipment day, there is always a risk especially with rhomboids.

rhomboids are very popular and are snapped up within the first few hours. some even go 6am to get it. casualty rates for this fish are very very high, sometimes, and at times, every single one will die. this shipment was not very good. almost all rhomboids were dead within the first day, except bro kueytoc's 1 which i reserved for him. not sure if its still alive. the fatality for this fish proves that they cannot handle shipping well. but bless the person who manage to get a healthy specimen, these guys are tough. i have one that is with me for many many months now. no problem.

don't feel obligated to buy even if you reserve. the LFS will understand and especially iwarna, they have excellent customer service. i know because i was the whole day yesterday and they treat customers with utmost respect. so don't be shy the next time.

rhomboids, like most deepwater wrasses, die within the first few days of transport. if they make it, there's usually a 1 month break in period. this 1 month will be exgtremely crucial to the survival. after this period, usually they will survive long term.

i wish you success in your future trial with the rhomboid wrasse. take note regarding flame wrasse, lineatus and laboutei. they usually bear the same symptoms. but is worse in rhomboids due to their deeper dwelling nature.

when you get home, acclimate and release into betta box. dont leave them in the plastic. rhomboids endure extremely long hours from marshall islands (where they are exclusively found) to our shores. they are beat up due to shipping and decompression. when they get to the LFS, they succumb to successive change in water parameters without proper acclimation. its little wonder why none survives.

do PM me if you have more question regarding wrasses or in this matter, the rhomboid. will be happy to help.

Thanks for your detailed advice. Unfortunately, due to the arrival time of the Rhomboid, I had no time to acclimatise the fish as I had to leave for work shortly thereafter. Had planned to do it after work. For your info, I had kept a hooded wrasse (also called deep water wrasse) for a year & three months. This fish was also bought from Iwarna. It was doing very well until I added a lettuce nudibranch. At about the same time that the nudibranch disappeared ( presumably died ), this wrasse stopped eating for two days. On the third day, the fish disappeared from view ( presumably to hide & die ). Of course, it is possible that the fish died from other unknown causes. Just my theory of the cause of death.

[yikai]

Thanks for your detailed advice. Unfortunately, due to the arrival time of the Rhomboid, I had no time to acclimatise the fish as I had to leave for work shortly thereafter. Had planned to do it after work. For your info, I had kept a hooded wrasse (also called deep water wrasse) for a year & three months. This fish was also bought from Iwarna. It was doing very well until I added a lettuce nudibranch. At about the same time that the nudibranch disappeared ( presumably died ), this wrasse stopped eating for two days. On the third day, the fish disappeared from view ( presumably to hide & die ). Of course, it is possible that the fish died from other unknown causes. Just my theory of the cause of death.

PMed you. lets keep this thread clean of all chit chatting

[Solo77]

Hope this is not chit chating. To clarify, i am also one who reserved the fish. After seeing, i just with auntie and auntie was kind to say " see the condition, i also don't dare to sell to you". She said was okay for me to cancel the reservation. Kudos to them on this and bro Greenmariner, you must be a nice guy as i also felt obliged and if i need to take one. Just check on the reservation system with the shop before commiting.

Like to share my experience buying a Rhomboid wrasse from recent shipment at Iwarna. I bought it via reservation by sms. Collected the wrasse ( abt 3") around 8.30 a.m. There were 2 other bags containing smaller Rhomboids. As Bro LemonLemon said, all were not in good condition. They were all lying at the bottom of the bag. Their stomach area looked flat. But as I had already reserved, felt obligated to go ahead with the purchase despite my misgivings. Took it home & opened the top of the bag & inserted an airstone into the water. Left for my office thereafter. I returned home at 4 p.m. to check on the fish. It was still alive. Went back to office. Later in the night, at around 10.30 p.m., I got home & checked on the fish again. Was shocked to find the fish dead! The morale of the story is not to rush into buying a rare fish without checking its physical condition. Buying by reservation is a bad & costly decision. Just wonder whether other reefers who had bought Rhomboids had the same experience, reservation or not. Or is this a particularly delicate fish?

[yikai]

Hope this is not chit chating. To clarify, i am also one who reserved the fish. After seeing, i just with auntie and auntie was kind to say " see the condition, i also don't dare to sell to you". She said was okay for me to cancel the reservation. Kudos to them on this and bro Greenmariner, you must be a nice guy as i also felt obliged and if i need to take one. Just check on the reservation system with the shop before commiting.

i believe its ok bro.

[TayHongSiang]

bro is the sunburst feeding already??

yes....i got 2 yellow anthias from them last week...so far feeding well and healthy. In fact the randall anthias i got from SL died on me...sian....so GO get it!!!

i will be collecting my anthias tomorrow morning before noon...

[iskay]

RB has got some big size Sunburst when I was there last Mon.

[stevenkoh08]

ha ha will wait till my tank ready then get the sunburst

[cool guy]

any update at ah beng? looking for solar wrasse....

[dachkie]

Hope this is not chit chating. To clarify, i am also one who reserved the fish. After seeing, i just with auntie and auntie was kind to say " see the condition, i also don't dare to sell to you". She said was okay for me to cancel the reservation. Kudos to them on this and bro Greenmariner, you must be a nice guy as i also felt obliged and if i need to take one. Just check on the reservation system with the shop before commiting.

i hope mine isnt chit chating as well since the name of 1 of the best LFS around is mentioned, and to prevent other reefers to think wrongly of this LFS although i'm sure Greenmariner dont meant for it to be that way but just in case, as lemon also know i've been waiting for a rhomboid and i also asked auntie to reserve for me 1 pc the previous day , in the morning she sms me and told me not to take this shipment and wait for the next shipment instead, this i felt is good customer service because they had to take the lost , instead of passing it to customers and since rhomboid's deathrate is so high, they can always say you should have know this wrasse is delicate after you took it and the wrasse is dead. even on the consecutive death of my 2 dead flame wrasse auntie gave me a good price on my 3rd and final flame, how to beat that . just my 2 cents, we should continue to support the good LFSes so that we can have more nice stuffs coming in

[craftsman]

Like to share my experience buying a Rhomboid wrasse from recent shipment at Iwarna. I bought it via reservation by sms. Collected the wrasse ( abt 3") around 8.30 a.m. There were 2 other bags containing smaller Rhomboids. As Bro LemonLemon said, all were not in good condition. They were all lying at the bottom of the bag. Their stomach area looked flat. But as I had already reserved, felt obligated to go ahead with the purchase despite my misgivings. Took it home & opened the top of the bag & inserted an airstone into the water. Left for my office thereafter. I returned home at 4 p.m. to check on the fish. It was still alive. Went back to office. Later in the night, at around 10.30 p.m., I got home & checked on the fish again. Was shocked to find the fish dead! The morale of the story is not to rush into buying a rare fish without checking its physical condition. Buying by reservation is a bad & costly decision. Just wonder whether other reefers who had bought Rhomboids had the same experience, reservation or not. Or is this a particularly delicate fish?

Hi bro Greemariner,

I was lucky to get a nice healthy specimen from Iwarna in their shipment 2 weeks back. My Rhomboid has now passed the 2 week mark, and is eating healthily. In fact, on top of the Rhomboid, I also got a Mystery Wrasse, a flame angel and 3 Barletts, all of which have acclimatised and are healthy in my tank now. 100% survival rate at this time, which I'm very pleased with. Perhaps that particular shipment had a batch of very healthy fishes.

Paul

[tian1974]

next week iwarna got lots lots of beautiful yumas coming! many for you to choose from and you wont miss them this time

[ambystoma82]

300yumas coming in next wk at iwarna...

currently they are having very nice quality zoas.. including some african blue hornets variants..

purple and green yumas..

been there since thurs duno y nobody buy...

[comet88]

Hi All ....... anything in RB today

[wilsontantw]

300yumas coming in next wk at iwarna...

currently they are having very nice quality zoas.. including some african blue hornets variants..

purple and green yumas..

been there since thurs duno y nobody buy...

*nods nods*

Iwarna: good quality zoas - must buy. Cloves (various types, but all in good shape)

Ktizo: rics (multi-coloured, single colour - plenty left) - good pricing. US Zoas - plenty left. Vietnam zoas - farm PRICE! (there's 1 rock with red&yellow face, but must frag out) - best buy!

nice mushrooms as well (various prices)

Pinnacle: nothing much left, but viet shipment arriving later this afternoon. He who is looking for Japanese Sun, must hurry... only 3 or 4 left... priced to clear.

[craftsman]

*nods nods*

Iwarna: good quality zoas - must buy. Cloves (various types, but all in good shape)

Ktizo: rics (multi-coloured, single colour - plenty left) - good pricing. US Zoas - plenty left. Vietnam zoas - farm PRICE! (there's 1 rock with red&yellow face, but must frag out) - best buy!

nice mushrooms as well (various prices)

Pinnacle: nothing much left, but viet shipment arriving later this afternoon. He who is looking for Japanese Sun, must hurry... only 3 or 4 left... priced to clear.

bro Wilson, mind telling where Kitzo is located in Pasir Ris? Thks in advance.

[LaW]

bro Wilson, mind telling where Kitzo is located in Pasir Ris? Thks in advance.

hi paul, it is beside irene.

No7 pasir ris (blk E)

farmway 2 (plot C34)

Spore 519322

Philip: 97328146

[karlyau]

just want to check with you all behind Irene is Ah Beng shop right? abit confuse because if not mistaken there are few lfs there one the 1st row and one on the 2nd row

[craftsman]

hi paul, it is beside irene.

No7 pasir ris (blk E)

farmway 2 (plot C34)

Spore 519322

Philip: 97328146

hey, thks bro Law! where's Irene? Or were u typing on your iPhone with it's intelligent auto word replement bot?

[LaW]

no, im not. using my PC desktop currently.

where's irene? i believe the shop name is i-aquarium if im not wrong.

ehhhh, its located at the block of building next to Ahbeng's block of buildings.

i only know how to drive there.

[craftsman]

So, Irene and Kitzo are in the same plot of land Ah Beng is located in? The entrance gate got a HUGE Arowana right?

[TayHongSiang]

Went to AM during noon...

[reaper78]

Anyone spotted LFS with Blue spot jawfish??

[TayHongSiang]

no corals for now at AM...wait till end of next week...

[Ketchup]

Quick update on LCK and CF..

Went today in afternoon, LCK not much stock at the moment, just lots of Yellow Tangs and PBT (which we itchy finger bought 1 and throw in and pray now).

CF, no corals, all sold... aunty told me stock will be in around 20+ this month. Fish wise, saw some nice PBrT (so hand itchy and bought 1! Haha), nothing stood out otherwise, not much lifestock atm.

[yikai]

LPS shipment at iwarna.

plenty of extremely healthy true octos, hammer and anchors.

trachyphyllia

elegance

goniopora.

Vietnam shipment at pinnicle.

zoas, all of the above LPS and mushrooms.