Valuable fish: looking for opinions from fish lovers.

[LaloJ]

A couple of days ago, I was talking with some people who are in charge of importing marine fish here in Mexico, I was looking for a Multibarred angel and a couple of butterflies, so unfortunately I couldn't locate the fish, only a couple de Auriga butterflies in a bad/fair state, and some CBB's that possibly didn't feed on anything until now. That led me to think that, honestly, my fish options are going to be quite limited to stock my tank in the near or distant future, so in the event that I do get these species, I'd better take care of them with my life, since getting them again will be difficult and I don't have a wish list for the future for the same situation, I may never get some fish from that list. So all of that led me to think of a possible option to keep the fish that I have wanted for years separately, just like Mr.Urakami in Japan (for example), who only keeps a Peppermint angel (dang) along with a shrimp as the only companion.
I'm not talking about keeping a separate fish in each tank, it may be possible in any case if your pockets are capable of acquiring a holy grail fish like Mr.Urakami's, possibly he doesn't need anything else. So speaking in my case, and taking into account the pockets and the availability of fish that we have in Mexico, I would be happy if I get a couple of Multibarred angels, Golden angelfish is impressive for me, and also Venustus angelfish of course. If I could keep these guys together or separately, or maybe in a couple of tanks I would without a doubt. Speaking of butterflies, I love coralive butterflies, they are incredibly beautiful fish but extremely difficult to keep, I haven't seen any available for years and the last time I kept one of them I did it with Chaetodon baronessa at the end of 2018, so in that area there are not many options. It's very possible that given the circumstances, I have to opt for this way of keeping only a few species, I still don't know for sure.
Here in Mexico there are times when a fantastic fish can be available and quite possibly it's difficult to be at the right time and place, for example: a couple of years ago Venustus angel appeared, and I'm sure very few people knew that it was a special fish, I just saw it on a FB story, of a guy who was focusing on other fish and you could see P. venustus in another tank in the background, I have no idea who took it and if that fish is still alive, I hope so but I doubt it a lot.
So, if you were to choose to keep some fish separately, or isolate them from a reef tank, either because they are valuable or important to you, or because you fear for the integrity of your corals, or because you have a cretin fish who would never leave your new valuable fish alone, how would you do it? What size tank would you use? What would be that valuable fish that would be worth keeping apart from the rest?

 

[blaxsun]

I threw caution to the wind and put a bunch of non-reef safe fish in my reef tank.

 

[i cant think]

I threw caution to the wind and put a bunch of non-reef safe fish in my reef tank.

We think alike!
My tank has never had just reef safe fish in it, my first fish was a foxface then a cbb.
Now its kind of overflowing with reef risky fish. It’s hard to name them all as I tend to miss out on a couple so an FTS is the best way.

 

[blaxsun]

We think alike!
My tank has never had just reef safe fish in it, my first fish was a foxface then a cbb.
Now its kind of overflowing with reef risky fish. It’s hard to name them all as I tend to miss out on a couple so an FTS is the best way.

Haha. I've got three dwarf angels, an emperor angel, foxface and racoon butterfly. So far they only pick at acans, blastos and doughnuts (and the odd nuisance paly/zoa).

 

[i cant think]

Haha. I've got three dwarf angels, an emperor angel, foxface and racoon butterfly. So far they only pick at acans, blastos and doughnuts (and the odd nuisance paly/zoa).

I mainly avoid fleshy LPS and stick to the more skeleton types (Torches, Finbriaphyllia, Leptastrea and others). Surprisingly they avoid most SPS unless it’s already going downhill.

 

[blaxsun]

I mainly avoid fleshy LPS and stick to the more skeleton types (Torches, Finbriaphyllia, Leptastrea and others). Surprisingly they avoid most SPS unless it’s already going downhill.

I think you're probably onto something. I have one really massive acropora, but as it's home for a half a dozen fish I don't think they'd let anyone get away with poking at it...

 

[LaloJ]

Great job guys, I've always read that LPS and also seafans are preferred by some angels and butterflies, although I like those guys so much that I wouldn't mind if they eat them haha.

 

[LaloJ]

How about a tank of approximately 45/50 gallons to keep a single Multibar angel? with some small sized companions maybe a pair of colorful Nemateleotris or maybe aurora or yasha gobies for example.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I'm in a similar situation as you and have the same mindset but here the fish that rarely show up in your side of the world are almost commonplace here sometimes, although you can't expect the shops here to reliably stock anything so when you see something you really like, you've gotta get it.

 

[LaloJ]

I'm in a similar situation as you and have the same mindset but here the fish that rarely show up in your side of the world are almost commonplace here sometimes, although you can't expect the shops here to reliably stock anything so when you see something you really like, you've gotta get it.

I agree that leaving fish in the store for too long can be counterproductive, if you want to then bring the fish home right away. I can't imagine that, for example, french angels are rare in your location, when here they are cheap and there are many, poorly cared for and unfortunately almost always sick of course.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Here the health depends on the shop. Since the transportation chain is much shorter they generally arrive very healthy. Some of the shops keep the fish healthy by feeding and housing them well while some other shops end up with a bunch of sick fish in a short time...just by walking into the shop you can usually tell instantly which category they fall into. I haven't worked at a shop here but I did work for one in America years back and the mortality rate within a few days of receiving a shipment was very sad. We had to nurse very stressed and sometimes sick fish back to health whereas here they arrive healthy for the most part.

I agree that leaving fish in the store for too long can be counterproductive, if you want to then bring the fish home right away. I can't imagine that, for example, french angels are rare in your location, when here they are cheap and there are many, poorly cared for and unfortunately almost always sick of course.

 

[LaloJ]

Here the health depends on the shop. Since the transportation chain is much shorter they generally arrive very healthy. Some of the shops keep the fish healthy by feeding and housing them well while some other shops end up with a bunch of sick fish in a short time...just by walking into the shop you can usually tell instantly which category they fall into. I haven't worked at a shop here but I did work for one in America years back and the mortality rate within a few days of receiving a shipment was very sad. We had to nurse very stressed and sometimes sick fish back to health whereas here they arrive healthy for the most part.

The situation with the importation of fish here in Mexico is similar to your experience working in that store, almost everything is centered in the capital of the country, I'm not saying that all those who import marine fish here are the same, but in their most.
Years ago there was a guy who got fish from quality marine, it was very high quality fish, more expensive but it was worth it, I never had a single sick fish when I was able to buy those fish, unfortunately he withdrew when import prices went down the clouds during the pandemic.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

The situation with the importation of fish here in Mexico is similar to your experience working in that store, almost everything is centered in the capital of the country, I'm not saying that all those who import marine fish here are the same, but in their most.
Years ago there was a guy who got fish from quality marine, it was very high quality fish, more expensive but it was worth it, I never had a single sick fish when I was able to buy those fish, unfortunately he withdrew when import prices went down the clouds during the pandemic.

That's unfortunate that you lost your good source for fish. I think one of the most important factors which dictates how successful one is with the majority of fish species is their level of health at the time of purchase. That would explain why certain shops seem to have more of the fish they sell live longer than other shops and also offer an alternative explanation as to why pre-quarantined fish seem to do better. I have a feeling it isn't because they've been inspected and treated for parasites or diseases but because they've been taken better care of than other fish for at least a couple months after being imported so they aren't stressed to the degree newly imported fish are.

 

[LaloJ]

That's unfortunate that you lost your good source for fish. I think one of the most important factors which dictates how successful one is with the majority of fish species is their level of health at the time of purchase. That would explain why certain shops seem to have more of the fish they sell live longer than other shops and also offer an alternative explanation as to why pre-quarantined fish seem to do better. I have a feeling it isn't because they've been inspected and treated for parasites or diseases but because they've been taken better care of than other fish for at least a couple months after being imported so they aren't stressed to the degree newly imported fish are.

That's right, much of its success depends on how it was collected, even how it was treated to get to our particular tanks. For me, quarantine has taken on great importance since I learned to manage it, so I always highly recommend it, since according to my experience and the quality of the fish that are mostly handled here, there is nothing like keeping diseases out from main tank, and when someone gets the "throw and wait" method most of the time it ends badly and it's usually beginner aquarists who do it that way. On the other hand, if an lfs is very trustworthy and knows the methods of conditioning/quarantining fish, it's likely that you will be able to obtain healthy fish that can enter your main tank without problem.