rmougey
Chair, MACNA 2014
I've always liked G. watanabei angels and have been looking for a pair to add to my reef. This was reinforced after a recent dive trip to New Caledonia, where I had a chance to watch groups of these angels on a rocky slope at 20 meters.
After observing a very nice, unusually small male watanabei angel at my LFS over several weeks, I decided to bring him home. He went directly into my 40 gallon quarantine and exhibited no health or feeding problems over the next 3 months.
Just before removing him from quarantine and placing into the reef, I noticed that the black and white stripes on his flank, which characterize a male, were fading.
He's been in the reef for over 4 months now and most of the characteristic male markings have gone. There is only the telltale remnant of the mid-body yellow stripe, but no trace of the black and white stripes. My watanabei appears to be gender confused.
I am aware that all Genicanthus can change sexes, with female to male being the most common. Unluckily for me, it appears as if my boy wants to be a girl.
So, the question now is what to do with my goal of a pair of these beautiful angels. Do I purchase a female, add her to the tank, hoping that one of them will get with the program and change? Or, do I find another male after waiting for mine to loose all traces of male coloration?
Looking for thoughts from folks that may have experienced this with other genicanthus (or someone who may have had this problem directly).
My thinking at the moment is to find another female to see if I can reverse the change in my boy (um.... girl?). If that doesn't work, I have sufficient space to add another male in the future, which would give me 2 females and a male.
-Rob
After observing a very nice, unusually small male watanabei angel at my LFS over several weeks, I decided to bring him home. He went directly into my 40 gallon quarantine and exhibited no health or feeding problems over the next 3 months.
Just before removing him from quarantine and placing into the reef, I noticed that the black and white stripes on his flank, which characterize a male, were fading.
He's been in the reef for over 4 months now and most of the characteristic male markings have gone. There is only the telltale remnant of the mid-body yellow stripe, but no trace of the black and white stripes. My watanabei appears to be gender confused.
I am aware that all Genicanthus can change sexes, with female to male being the most common. Unluckily for me, it appears as if my boy wants to be a girl.
So, the question now is what to do with my goal of a pair of these beautiful angels. Do I purchase a female, add her to the tank, hoping that one of them will get with the program and change? Or, do I find another male after waiting for mine to loose all traces of male coloration?
Looking for thoughts from folks that may have experienced this with other genicanthus (or someone who may have had this problem directly).
My thinking at the moment is to find another female to see if I can reverse the change in my boy (um.... girl?). If that doesn't work, I have sufficient space to add another male in the future, which would give me 2 females and a male.
-Rob
