Gotcha on the Hogfish. I was wondering if perhaps you meant Peppermint Hogfish or something. Which in a way would be cool, then you could do a yellow assessor
and a peppermint hog!
Definitely without question the leopard pair is doable, along with the mandarin.
On the Ventralis, I think if you wanted to try, they would be worth it. Not exactly sure what they mean by "risks." After being properly QT'ed, the only real risk would be a financial loss if that particular fish didn't adjust to the tank.If you guys are definitely adding Borbonius, I can see the Borb's being too aggressive for the Ventralis. I think the risk of failure with the Ventralis is pretty high (honestly, probably around 75% for an advanced aquarist, 95% overall). But for the other fish, I think they are completely within reason, and I don't see any glaring compatibility issues.
Ventralis are one of the ones I haven't yet tried myself (though that may or may not change shortly
). But I believe their success or demise comes with stocking. I think most people tanks are too "in-between." You either have an absolute calm tank, cardinal, neon goby, percula clown tank with the Ventralis, or you have an overstocked feeding frenzy type tank (David Saxby's, or Pieter's 6-meter). Personally in larger tanks, I love seeing mixed Anthias species. A trio of Red-Saddleds, mixed with a trio or pair of Evansi's, mixed with a Borbonius, would be quite the stunning display.