Obscure/uncommon fish

[Kasrift]

Go to your shop on a quiet moment and ask them where they get what from.
What sources they have good experiences with. Tell them what you are looking for and if they are willing to help you to get those fish.

I always discuss with the shop how they suggest to get a fish I ask for. Over time I have developed some preferences of myself as well. Certain more sensitive fish I rather get from a specific wholesaler or have them transshipped from a certain area and quarantined at the fish store.

The fish that I mention as tank bred, you can just look up at Biota of ORA. Order from them or through your LFS.
All fish I mentioned are hardy fish in my experience and reasonably regularly offered in the trade (a few times a year). But in small numbers so you (or your LFS) need to be on top of it. Here in Europe (The Netherlands) I regularly check the stock of wholesalers myself. De Jong Marine Life and Tropical Marine Centre (TMC) have made their stock list publicly accessible.

I know what day of the week my LFS gets orders in from the wholesalers, so if there is something I want that I had not ordered already I let them know and they bring it in for me. Depending on the fish I let the shop do quarantine or I pick-up the fish in the bag of the wholesaler.

When I feel it is important that a wholesaler doesn't just pick any fish, I know some retailers that regularly go there and hand pick. Then I ask one of them to go and see if one of the fish meets my expectations. In the case of TMC (located in Lisbon, Portugal), they send videos of fish to shop owners on request. Then I can pick a fish from the video.



I have had Luzonichthys whitleyi. They were very hardy and easy to care for.
They are very active fish and really need a place to dart away when they feel threatened.

Even the hardiest of fish can come in bad.
So based on your experience alone I would not deem an group of fish as not hardy.

The WWC ones are Luzonichthys waitei. Seem to be different types.

 

[ReneReef]

Some pics:

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

@TangerineSpeedo

Yes have been trying to get my hands on a couple for a bit. Ironically a couple summers ago I found some in a fish store that was already acclimated to warmer water. But since it was the middle of summer I didn’t have an extra chiller to go the other way. @Eric Cohen said he could probably get some for me from Encinitas Mx. but they are pretty expensive and now with tariffs… I have my sculpins, that’s ok for now.

 

[Paul B]

Never heard of those before!

Razor Shrimpfish. I had those a few times. Really cool fish

You can see some here in my tank.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Razor Shrimpfish. I had those a few times. Really cool fish

You can see some here in my tank.

Did they eat live baby brine and pods?

 

[gordoncheers]

For me it would be a blotcheye soldier fish. I've seen some in my LFS but have never kept them. Apparently they're reef safe but may pick on shrimp.

 

[Paul B]

Did they eat live baby brine and pods?

No pods, Just baby brine shrimp. Billions of them.

 

[Slocke]

I haven't seen a green Rockmover Wrasse dragon thing yet on the forums. I saw it only once at petco, but never again. Don't know if that's an uncommon fish, but I thought it looked pretty neat.

My favorite fish but it is evil but also just super inquisitive and funny.

 

[Anna K]

My favorite fish but it is evil but also just super inquisitive and funny.

Does it change color as it ages?

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

I haven't seen a green Rockmover Wrasse dragon thing yet on the forums. I saw it only once at petco, but never again. Don't know if that's an uncommon fish, but I thought it looked pretty neat.

once caught one in the wild. a baby abt two inches. but im not american so will never know

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

For me it would be a blotcheye soldier fish. I've seen some in my LFS but have never kept them. Apparently they're reef safe but may pick on shrimp.

yep. will smoke em. we use meat to catch these. tasty and nice

 

[Slocke]

Does it change color as it ages?

More of a pattern change than a color change. This page of my thread features some of my favorite videos of both my dragon and some I saw in the wild!
Post in thread 'There's something fishy about this build...'
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/theres-something-fishy-about-this-build.1055155/post-13360642

 

[Kasrift]

Some pics:

You have some super cool fish. I love rare oddities as well.

Right now I have an Ora Randall Assessor, skilletfish, and a Hybrid Powder Blue Tang.

I'm still setting up my 200g, tang finished quarantine and I'm waiting for the Aquabiomics eDNA test results next week.

I have a pink streaked wrasse and a long fin black ice clown as well, but those aren't that uncommon.

I plan to have a mimic puffer filefish, curious wormfish, orange spotted filefish and a spotted drumfish if I can source one. Same thing with an Atlantic sailfin blenny, they are hard to source.

 

[Rach77]

Those are really cool. I’ve never heard of them. I’ll have to look around and see if anywhere has any

Saron shrimp can be found at reefcleaners.org I believe they may be seasonal

 

[Rach77]

I also have a dragon wrasse and a kamohara blenny. I'm not sure which is more entertaining. The dragon wrasse makes sure that he eats first always

 

[Sigmund]

Occelate Eel Blenny. Loved this guy, wish i could find another. Had for about 7 years.

 

[Slocke]

Snake eels!!

Snake Eels: The Safe Moray Alternative?

Snake Eels: The Safe Moray Alternative? by @Slocke Myrichthys colubrinus - The Banded Snake Eel Snake eels are a more rarely seen but available eel in the aquarium hobby, but are they a viable option for someone looking for a more unusual eel...

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