Anampses neoguinaicus Hi, <cheers> I have been searching for information on Anampses neoguinaicus for a while. Beside short listings (your site, fish base) there does not seem to be much information.  <with good reason... they are staggeringly difficult to keep alive in captivity. They are extremely sensitive to shipping duress and they are one of those fishes that may have an unexplained component of their diet that we have not found like substitute for. Legend in the trade is that Anampses are one of those fishes that "don't eat" in captivity which is a dreadful mistruth. The few that do service shipping will often eat prepared foods just fine... they simply don't service on them (like the same bogus legends about Moorish Idols, Pinnatus bats, etc... they have VERY strict diets regarding nutritional composition. A specimen eating in the LFS display does not equal a "good" specimen)> Can you give me some ideas on where to find more information?  <Bob, Steve and the rest of the crew will see this post and respond if they can contribute. You do have your work cut out for you. I'm confident that all of us hear would say that if you must try to keep this animal... PLEASE do it in a species tank (no mixed community fishes). And my strong advice is to treat is like a leopard wrasse: huge tank is needed with an upstream fishless refugium established for 6-12 months before you even think about buying an Anampses). Massive amounts of natural plankton are needed. Don't be shy about letting some turf algae to grow on the rocks too (many Crustacea will culture here)> Also, I can spell the name, but I have no idea how to pronounce this, help please. <Anampses: Ah-nom-sis> Clownfish swallowed by the clam, Jim <Dog ate my homework, Anthony> BTW: Belated Happy Birthday Bob <I'll pass the well-wish along... I believe he is still passed out with M&M's stuffed in his naval (he won the bet BTW). Thank kindly>

Tamarin Wrasses  12/5/05 Dear Wet Web Crew <Hello Melinda.> I just purchased (on a whim, yes, I know, I'm going to fishy hell) <Yes you are. I sentence you to Fishy Hell, you'll be forced to share a 6 gallon tank with a mated pair of Queen Triggers. Good luck with that.> <<Good God man, you're RUTHLESS!  MH>> a Lennardi wrasse for my 55 gallon reef tank. It is still a juvenile, with the spotted black, yellow and white markings and is approximately 3 inches long. I know he/she'll get rather bigger than this <Yes, it does, a larger tank really is necessary for this animal to thrive not only for room but due to its feeding habits. A mature/large reef type setting is a must.> - I saw an adult at the shop too. So far (touch wood) it seems very happy - swimming with the Chromis and generally acting like a happy, <No Quarantine at all? Even with the eating habits of this animal I would still be weary about putting your current inhabitants at risk for disease. I hope it has been at the local store for at least a few weeks.> healthy fish. (Btw, I'm in Western Australia, so the fish didn't have far to travel and so doesn't seem to have suffered any ill-effects from shipping. They had maybe 5 of them on display in their holding tanks, and all appeared to be very happy little fish.) <Make sure to provide meaty foods of a marine origin, nutritional supplements such as Selcon and Zoe aren't a bad idea either.> Of course, it buries itself from about 5pm onwards  <Normal Behavior. I hope you have a deep enough sand bed, at least 3 inches.> - so much for my "display" fish lol... But at least it's happy doing what it does. After quizzing the "learned" fish shop guy for maybe half an hour about this one fish (does it do well in tanks - yes; is it aggressive - no; what does it eat - brine shrimp...ha, yes I know, I'm not feeding it brine shrimp), I finally felt comfortable making the purchase. Then I read what Wet Web had to say about the Tamarins. I guess my questions, now, are:  1) what else should I feed it, besides Mysid and large meaty pieces of krill, to keep it happy? <Clams, scallops, squid and other marine meats are all acceptable'¦.if the fish accepts them> I have a thriving population of little "dudes" in my tank, that I'm sure it will be happy to munch on.  <'¦And deplete eventually.> Would you recommend also setting up a refugium to maintain the constant supply of mini dudes? <Refugiums are a great asset, if possible I encourage having one on all marine aquaria. And since your tank is rather on the small side for this animal I definitely encourage a fishless refugium for micro-fauna production.> 2) Are your concerns about Tamarins due largely to their poor reaction to shipping, or for other reasons also? <Their general unwillingness to take prepared foods is also a 'deal-breaker.' Eating habits are quite similar to dragonets.> 3) Can they actually be kept happy and healthy in the aquarium? <Can they? Yes of course even in the toughest fish there are always some exceptions. Though honestly these animals usually end up starving. Only recommended for VERY large mature reef tanks with established fishless refugiums.> 4) What are the sorts of things you recommend I do to keep this fish happy and healthy? <Start with the refugium, and do not introduce any fish that will compete for their food source such as other wrasses and dragonets.> 5) Do they enjoy strong water flow? <Yes.> Thank you very much in advance for any help you can give me. <Welcome.> <Adam J.>