Lemon's butterflyfish dominated reef

[yikai]

Mine still hiding under a rock. The green one comes out already but has taken a spot i dun like it to be in.

give it time. they will go very very deep into some stupid hole and stick there until it's impossible to remove it. then from that spot it will extend out it's body and tentacles.

bubble tips are very annoying in that sense.

[MOssrope]

wow bro.

your so on the ball for snapping up all these nice and rare stuff!

bta was from iwarna too?

[cedricang]

yay after hiding for 2 days, it finally came out and omg... expand to 3x the size!

Hmm...very nice staff you got Lemon, but imo, that's gonna be another challenge for your up coming sps stocking (if it is still happening)

[yikai]

wow bro.

your so on the ball for snapping up all these nice and rare stuff!

bta was from iwarna too?

yes from iwarna.

Hmm...very nice staff you got Lemon, but imo, that's gonna be another challenge for your up coming sps stocking (if it is still happening)

of coz i'm still stocking on sps! just very slowly lah. i don't want to rush into things...

i've been busy with the diatoms that most new tanks will have. and also with some fish i've been collecting. can't get too many coz the bioload will be too high.

the bubble tip is designated on it's own rock island in the middle of the sand. so it won't run around.

i have 2 "islands". one for the bubble tip and the other for invasive soft corals like xenia and cespitularia.

it's not impossible to keep SPS with a little bit more fish than conventional. and also with anemone and softies.

i know most people advocate SPS tanks with no nutrients, no fish, no everything. running zeovit to keep nutrients so low that the SPS become pastel. i'm not a fan of this actually.

there's two kinds of SPS tank from the way i see it. sps tank with no fish and just sps. and SPS tank with angels. one famous example is John coppolino from reef central. mpoletti (spelling) is another one.

although i'm new with SPS, i'm willing to learn and take the risk and go for the second option. no one here dares to put angels with SPS. not sure is it because of the lack of interest, or the fear of their non-reef safe qualities.

if you understand the fish and the coral, it's very possible to achieve both. bioload might be an issue, and though my system isn't as grand as theirs, with appropriate number of fish, it's still achievable.

big dream, but hey. nothing is impossible right?

hopefully 1 year down the road. i will post a FTS with healthy SPS ( dont have to be rare, just healthy), and gorgeous angels cruising the tank.

[cedricang]

Agree with you totally.

I like reef tank to be natural, i.e a mix reef with softies swaying around and fish swimming and darting all over.

That's why lately have been stocking up more softies

Was very tempting to get BTA all along but am just afraid that one fine day should it decided to move and that's where the problem may start.

Actually, sps and fish load is a function of how the nutrient export is to be maintain, the more the fish load, the more it has to be exported aggressively. No sweat for sps as long as the nutrient is taken care of.

[yikai]

Agree with you totally.

I like reef tank to be natural, i.e a mix reef with softies swaying around and fish swimming and darting all over.

That's why lately have been stocking up more softies

Was very tempting to get BTA all along but am just afraid that one fine day should it decided to move and that's where the problem may start.

Actually, sps and fish load is a function of how the nutrient export is to be maintain, the more the fish load, the more it has to be exported aggressively. No sweat for sps as long as the nutrient is taken care of.

i'm not a fan of anemone because they like to move. but that problem is settled if you create an island just for it surrounded by sand, and i did. the anemone will not likely move to the sand and be confined to the rocks. bubble tips are very tamed already. dont move much once they find a nice spot.

yeah i like to have a tank with just as many nice fish as there are corals. these two go hand in hand and i never really liked those gorgeous sps tanks devoid of life.

nutrient export is important! running PO4 and NO3 removing products as well as regular water change to keep nutrients low.

will test my diligence when the time comes bah. i'm still a fish person at heart. so even when it comes to corals, even the basic and simple stuff is enough to satisfy me

the real challenge will be maintaining the bioload. should not be a problem (now) as most of my fish are very small such as wrasses. have a few angels so will take that into consideration.

thanks for all your comments! it's good to listen to such inputs coz many times i wander off and forget about the requirements of the corals and not just the fish alone!

[yikai]

oh yah forgot to post this too.

dragonface pipe. bought together with the banded pipe.

abit unorthodox for pipefish to be in the main display, but it's not impossible. both are feeding on mysis.

love how it slithers around the tank instead of swimming.

both are suprisingly strong swimmers though! dont see them so weak they are strong. unphased by the strong waves from the tunze 6105 even at full power.

[Eniram]

YK, have you kept kenya tree coral before? Read that its toxic to LPS and stony corals, could this toxic (chemical warfare) be the same as leather corals or is more of physical warfare?

[yikai]

YK, have you kept kenya tree coral before? Read that its toxic to LPS and stony corals, could this toxic (chemical warfare) be the same as leather corals or is more of physical warfare?

yes have kept capnella before.

coral warfare between softies and SPS is a big misunderstanding. yes there is chemical warfare. but can be easily overcomed by carbon and water change.

there are many ppl keeping sinularias, sarcophyton, capnella etc all with SPS. even with anemones. no problem if you run carbon and water change.

[kelvin70]

yes have kept capnella before.

coral warfare between softies and SPS is a big misunderstanding. yes there is chemical warfare. but can be easily overcomed by carbon and water change.

there are many ppl keeping sinularias, sarcophyton, capnella etc all with SPS. even with anemones. no problem if you run carbon and water change.

wahhhhhhhh bro, Super nice live stocks can show us your full tank pix ???

[yikai]

wahhhhhhhh bro, Super nice live stocks can show us your full tank pix ???

no FTS yet!

[Ketchup]

FTS! FTS! Maybe me and desi go your place and kajiao u...

[yikai]

FTS! FTS! Maybe me and desi go your place and kajiao u...

there's nothing in the tank?

what's there to FTS? no corals nothing. just rocks and water. and a few fish.

[Eniram]

not forgetting sea hares!

[AloysiusMun]

Bro, how's ur Vanuatu Flasher doing? I got one too. Very beautiful species, I am sure you are like me, no regrets getting it. Hahaha.

[yikai]

Bro, how's ur Vanuatu Flasher doing? I got one too. Very beautiful species, I am sure you are like me, no regrets getting it. Hahaha.

i seldom regret the things i buy. Alot of thought goes into what i buy and for the Paracheilinus rubricaudalis, it was a no brainer.

The super gorgeous flasher wrasse that is found only in fiji and vanuatu is a must have for any wrasse fanatic or fish collector.

Interestingly, specimens from fiji have a vertical band on their tail while specimens from vanuatu do not. I am still waiting for the fiji ones.

This species is interesting as it's primary nuptual colours are intense yellow. I hope you get to see your vanuatu flasher wrasse performing it's flashing. You will notice that the whole body turns intense yellow and the fins turn red.

this is unusual when compared to other flasher wrasse. most other flasher wrasses turn bright metallic blue when flashing. The vanuatu flasher however, turns a bright warm yellow instead.

[AloysiusMun]

Yes yes I do observe the intense coloration when it flashes. I went down to Iwarna wanting to get the Exquisite Wrasse from Vanuatu as the coloration is what I feel the most beautiful amongst all the other regions. However the specimen wasn't as such, a pity. The Flasher was my second choice amongst the list. No regrets though!

Wow you are really a walking Marine Encyclopedia eh! Definitely could learn a thing or two from you.

Hahaha

A pic of my Flasher doing his thing.

Your's should be even brighter yellow as your specimen was brighter than mine when I observed it in Iwarna.

Any chance that as the Flasher mature it will develop a deeper yellow?

[yikai]

Yes yes I do observe the intense coloration when it flashes. I went down to Iwarna wanting to get the Exquisite Wrasse from Vanuatu as the coloration is what I feel the most beautiful amongst all the other regions. However the specimen wasn't as such, a pity. The Flasher was my second choice amongst the list. No regrets though!

Wow you are really a walking Marine Encyclopedia eh! Definitely could learn a thing or two from you.

Hahaha

A pic of my Flasher doing his thing.

Your's should be even brighter yellow as your specimen was brighter than mine when I observed it in Iwarna.

Your picture does not show it flashing.

A flashing vanuatu flasher wrasse will display intense yellow colour and the lines on the body will turn metallic blue. the caudal fin will turn bright red. the species name allocated to this is rubricaudalis. rubri = red, caudalis means tail fin in latin. so translated in english means red tail.

That's a beautiful specimen nonetheless. i love it's dorsal filament. it has the sturdiest and most robust dorsal filament of all the flasher wrasses. Good job in acquiring one. This is one of the more prominent species in the hobby and definitely cannot compare to it's much cheaper cousins from philippines and indonesia.

here's a picture of a flashing one and check out the intense yellow along with the blood red tail.

Photo courtesy of Dr. hiroyuki tanaka.

[AloysiusMun]

Yeah I do love the Dorsal Fin as well.

Hmm..

From what I read, it will flash to attract mates as well as to fend off other Males. Will it flash at other Wrasses as well or the only way to get him to flash is to introduce another male?

[yikai]

Yeah I do love the Dorsal Fin as well.

Hmm..

From what I read, it will flash to attract mates as well as to fend off other Males. Will it flash at other Wrasses as well or the only way to get him to flash is to introduce another male?

they flash when they get excited.

bascially, a harem of females, another male, other wrasse, other fish, reflection etc will naturally excite it. and thus, invoke flashing behaviour. It's hard to say what will invoke flashing. but the best bet will be other wrasses and females. other wrasses in the same genus is even better. getting other flasher wrasses will also cause flashing. defending territories and chasing will also produce results

when flashing, the wrasse will swim at super high speed so a hood or cover is needed to prevent jumping.

Exquisite fairy wrasse is a highly variable species. there are 5 known variants of exquisite wrasse ranging from indonesia, australia, fiji, vanuatu etc. all 5 variants from different locations will exhibit different colouration.

my personal favourite will be the ones coming out of africa and maldives. they exhibit the most amount of pink on their face and when kept till alpha/terminal male, the dorsal fins will turn yellow.

specimens from vanuatu will have very little to no pink on their face and the body will be predominantly green. interestingly, exquisite wrasses from vanuatu may occasionally have bright yellow dorsal fins. this is only seen in large alpha males.

take a look at the photo below from liveaquaria. the vanuatu one looks spectacular, but it's almost impossible to obtain one like that. the colours are only from terminal males.

exquisite wrasses from maldives and africa (pink faced ones) will not fade colour in captivity. specimens from vanuatu and especially indonesia (from my experience), will fade to a dull green. You can check with bro LaW regarding exquisite from indonesia. I was with him at CF and found a gorgeous exquisite with a bright yellow saddle on it's green body. the colour faded to dark green eventually

so choose your wrasses wisely

[yikai]

aloysius, here are the 5 variants of exquisite wrasses currently recognised.

DNA analysis may reveal that the variants are actually different species instead of variants. but for now they are known as exquisite wrasse 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Here is the real exquisite wrasse from africa.

The pink face is stunning and this is my favourite amongst the 5.

[yikai]

This is exquisite variant 1.

This one is currently confined to maldives and i've seen it here a few times. but very very rare. i have owned one before. but never kept it long enough to develop it's awesome orange tail. bro greencloud has one. not sure if it's still alive with him. gorgeous he has taken a video of it flashing. saw it in real life before and it was gorgeous.

the colours are awesome. look at the tail. when flashing, the tail turns bright orange/yellow.

(top and bottom left photos show males flashing, so actual colours are the ones on the bottom right.)

[yikai]

Exquisite variant 2.

from the fijian regions. this may be the vanuatu one as well.

(pic shows a male flashing, so actual colours are not like that)

[yikai]

Exquisite variant 3.

May be restricted to japan only. notice the black patch on the rear end of the dorsal fin.

(flashing male. real colours not known to me)

[yikai]

exquisite variant 4.

this one is very common in indonesia shipments. dull green with intense red fins. the pectoral fins are clear and outlined in red. however, the colours will fade very badly. have kept before and few other bros have shared their experience with me.

the colours are not very nice to begin with anyway...