For the love of Genicanthus

[lunner]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13400727#post13400727 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BangkokMatt
Not at all. The male can / will change regardless of whether a female is present. Maybe if you kept them in a harem then the male would stay put. In a pair there are no guarantees what so ever. Many keep pairs and more often than not the male will show female colouration.
The males can revert. You maybe lucky but I would expect your males stripes to fade away.

That is exactly what is happening to my male Wata. He is still a male with his stripes faded for over a few months now. Thinking of adding another female to see if he will revert.

 

[SDguy]

Some interesting ideas in a thread I started regarding that topic:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1440513&highlight=male+genicanthus

 

[BangkokMatt]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13736236#post13736236 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lunner
Thinking of adding another female to see if he will revert.

Add two if you have the space. That would be interesting. Keep us posted.

Disclaimer - I have tried adding extra females unsuccessfully as my present female goes wild. Others have added successfully, I haven't.

 

[flameangel88]

Early Xmas gift--Female Watanabe changing

Early Xmas gift--Female Watanabe changing

I got this female the day after Thanksgiving last year and it started to change couple of days ago.

These pictures were taken last night

 

[BangkokMatt]

Re: Early Xmas gift--Female Watanabe changing

Re: Early Xmas gift--Female Watanabe changing

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13814192#post13814192 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flameangel88

Awesome pic! Good luck with the 'new' male

 

[flameangel88]

Here's an update on the change

11-24-08

11-26

11-27

11-28

I will update again after the complete transformation.

 

[blface]

She's changing really fast. I think the transitional phase is awesome. Can't wait to see more pics.

 

[Bret61081]

How many females do you have in there with her/him?

 

[flameangel88]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13838528#post13838528 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bret61081
How many females do you have in there with her/him?

Originally had three females in there but lost one over the summer. The one that's changing grew and pack on some weight and was more aggressive toward the other female just prior to the change.

I also have two female Bellus and one of them got a bit darker and more aggressive toward the smaller Bellus this week. Not sure if this one is changing or not but I'll monitor the progress.

 

[sohalfr]

I've had 3 females watanabei since August last year and I'm still waiting for a change on the dominant one.

Your experience makes me hope for the future , thanks for sharing.

 

[flameangel88]

I was going to wait till it was complete but looks like the transformation will be done very soon.

Look at the pictures from yesterday
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i287/reeftankpix/Watanabe Changing/IMG_4602.jpg

and today

 

[E.intheC]

I LOVE these angels... they're so incredible and graceful in the water. I wish I could put together a large enough tank to have a pair of of Bellus angels

 

[Cheetos&Cocopuf]

I love the genicanthus and the pics on this thread make me smile.
Here's my newly rescued Watanabei... another foreclosure victim.

Hey BangkokMatt and others, do you think this is a female turning to male or male turning to female? He/she is living very comfortably with my female Bellus.

 

[flameangel88]

From looking at the lines at the bottom (belly) is fading I would say it's changing back from male to female. Comparing the pictures I posted above where the female is changing to male the lines are well defined.

 

[BangkokMatt]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13866378#post13866378 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flameangel88
From looking at the lines at the bottom (belly) is fading I would say it's changing back from male to female. Comparing the pictures I posted above where the female is changing to male the lines are well defined.

Agree

 

[flameangel88]

Who said the change will be quick? This all started back on around 11/20 when I first noticed. I've been waiting and it seems to stopped.

12/4

12/7

12/11

12/16

 

[tcmfish]

Hey enjoy it while you can not many people get to see that! Awesome fish looks great. Nice and fat too!!

 

[flameangel88]

I'm enjoying this very much that I even said this was my early Xmas gift. I've taking pictures on a daily basis to document this transformation till 12/5 where the change slow down quite a bit and only taking pictures every couple of days since. I think on the last picture I begin to see a slight yellow line forming.

One other thing I want to mention is that just prior to the change the angel ate a lot more than usual and the weight she packed on was obvious. They are normally mid-column swimmer and feeder but as she started to change she was also sucking in water from the surface where there was no food but I read somewhere that fish take in the water from the surface (film of protein) for additional nutrition (I don't know this for a fact). As the change is near the completion he has gone up to the surface less now.

 

[tcmfish]

I doubt the fish sucking from the surface had anything to do with gaining weight because most the fish we keep don't come from area's with a calm surface or a surface. In this particular case they would have to travel quite a bit to reach the surface. Maybe it was just begging for more food.

 

[flameangel88]

Point well taken.