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?
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?
