Hawaiian Flame Wrasse Question
- Thread starter FishGuy5
- Start date
triggerfish1976
New member
But do they become terminal males?
buzzbombtom
New member
i have also heard that the color that they have will not be quite the same as what they would be in the wild. p.s. i got the second best make in the shipment that you got yours in. i put pics up in the thread in mars. 
cwoods8
New member
Actually.....my camera was uncharged....and could not find the charger....(mostly i was too lazy to find it)
This is not the first time i have had flames......a couple of years ago i had a harem of three......(1 terminal male and 2 females). Probably the best looking flames i have seen...
Aggression amongst female flames are known.....one was more dominant than the other, and i assume this is the reason the lesser of the two went carpet surfing. Stuck with two, i figured that things would work out. To my surprise, the female began to show aggression towards the male and began to flash bravely in his presence. I couldn't believe what i was seeing......she changed into a terminal male.......colors were much more intense than the original male......to the point where the now-male had purple along with the red and yellow coloration. Well they tolerated each other for awhile...(i didn't have another tank set up to seperate them)....mind you the tank was covered...except for that one slit in the back!)
Well the big one eventually got his way.......little male....caught the banzai pipeline!
cwoods8
New member
To answer the first question.........yes.......super/terminal males will often be bigger than females or initial males while supporting intense coloration...(incredibly intense)
Like most animals (as well as male homosapiens
), the idea is to attract as many females as one can....i.e....the best genes wins...Harems are often formed with one terminal male and many females, and perhaps initial males (in flames.....same color patterns as terminal...but often dull and small)....
Hope that clarified things up a little.....
philter4
New member
The research in the wild says no, not all males become supermales. I have read (so it must be true LOL)in blue head wrasse that super males are fish that actually became males either very young or were born male, either way, they were functional male while still small and with female color.
The other problem in aquariums is that the males in the wild become supermale by dominance and use pharamones to stop other females and younger males from becoming supermale. This is important because in a fish tank we keep other closely related fish in the same tank and it is very possible that a closely related fish could be preventing the flame from changing to a supermale.
This means that in your tank you have to have all the conditions correct for a fish to change to a supermale, you have to have a fish that is genetically programmed to be a supermale and you have to eliminate all competitors that would stop him from the change.
The other problem in aquariums is that the males in the wild become supermale by dominance and use pharamones to stop other females and younger males from becoming supermale. This is important because in a fish tank we keep other closely related fish in the same tank and it is very possible that a closely related fish could be preventing the flame from changing to a supermale.
This means that in your tank you have to have all the conditions correct for a fish to change to a supermale, you have to have a fish that is genetically programmed to be a supermale and you have to eliminate all competitors that would stop him from the change.
