Junior's Reef

[Gary Majchrzak]

interesting "brown phase" period

interesting "brown phase" period

those fish were in the same aquarium all that time with the same (Heteractis magnifica?) anemone?

 

[maxxII]

They've been with the same anemone the entire time, however, in 2007 they got moved from the 58 gallon tank to a 120 gallon tank where they currently reside.

I need to take a new pic of the female as the light orange spot under her dorsal fin is now gone and is completely black.

Nick

 

[maxxII]

Pics as of just a few minutes ago:

Male Perc

Female, (Sorry its slightly out of focus, was using point and shoot)

Both

Nick

 

[maxxII]

Gary, just thought of something while posting on another related thread...

I just remembered that the anemone "sting" did not affect me the first year or two I had it, which happened to be the same window the clowns went through their weird brown phase. The tentacles were sticky and the feeding response was good, but it didnt burn me.

After that two year period, and still currently, the anemone will burn me and leave a nasty welt for a couple of hours, to a few weeks depending on where I'm stung by it. Hands, couple of hours, inner arm while cleaning the tank, weeks.

I know that Carpets are notorious for being fish eaters and having a potent "Sting"/powerful nematocysts. It is also documented that clownfish in Carpet anemones go melanistic and it has been hypothesized that the stronger nematocysts cause the clowns to get darker.

Could it be that it took my H.magnifica about 2 years to get back to full health and develop the more powerful nematocysts that will burn me and caused the clowns to go melanistic again?

Nick

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

you might be onto something

you might be onto something

I've never heard of this but it sounds entirely plausible. More research needed!

 

[maxxII]

I have no idea how I would go about researching that further....seriously.

I've got my own anecdotal statements and recollections but no hard fast documented observations and repeatable tests/evaluations....

I may have to post this up in the Clownfish & Anemone forum sometime tomorrow, (going to work in a few minutes) and see what that generates....

Nick

 

[maxxII]

Started a thread here:

H.magnifica health & melanism in Percs?


Be interesting to see what comes of it.

Nick

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Nick

Nick

this is Julian Sprung's reply to me:

It is true-- you can see it in the wild. When A. clarkii or A. percula are in Stichodactyla (carpet) anemones they have lots of black. When A. clarkii is in Heteractis crispa it is brown, when A. percula is in Heteractis magnifica it looks like the typical ocellaris (albeit a very orange one).

There may be some genetic component in the case of percula. A. percula in S. gigantea (typical "onyx" clowns) are found near shore, in seagrass, and in lagoons while A. pecula in H. magnifica are found on offshore clearwater high energy reefs. So, they are somewhat separated. It would be interesting to take offspring of each and put them in the opposite host to see what happens.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

today's pix

today's pix

Pocillipora that settled on penductor (in sunlight)

 

[maxxII]

this is Julian Sprung's reply to me:

It is true-- you can see it in the wild. When A. clarkii or A. percula are in Stichodactyla (carpet) anemones they have lots of black. When A. clarkii is in Heteractis crispa it is brown, when A. percula is in Heteractis magnifica it looks like the typical ocellaris (albeit a very orange one).

There may be some genetic component in the case of percula. A. percula in S. gigantea (typical "onyx" clowns) are found near shore, in seagrass, and in lagoons while A. pecula in H. magnifica are found on offshore clearwater high energy reefs. So, they are somewhat separated. It would be interesting to take offspring of each and put them in the opposite host to see what happens.

Okay, I'll swap ya Percs....

How big a thermos do you think they'll need to go from StL to New York?



ETA- My Ritteri just decided to wander around its rock. Its on an island and not able to get to any powerheads etc, but its moved to the back side of the rock and isnt really visible now...sigh.

Anemones should stay where I put them. Its all for my convienance.....


Nick

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Love the "peek-a-boo" pic! :lol:

 

[redreef85]

That is an awesome picture! Is that where he sleeps and you caught him with a top-down, or is he posing again?

 

[Mock]

Prolly been asked before in this thread but how do you keep the Anemone from walking all over all the corals in the tank?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

the peek a boo top down was an accident- I snapped the pic for corals and I didn't know the fish was looking up at me until I put it up for resizing. The anemone has wandered and has killed corals. There's some good pix of the destruction somewhere earlier in this thread.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

 

[maxxII]

Cant remember if I've asked you about this yet, but have you heard Junior grunting?

LFS nearby used to have Clyde who was a large male Emperor like Junior, and you could hear him grunting from several feet away. Usually when you failed to feed him or acknowledge his greatness...

Great photo's as always Gary.

Nick

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I've heard about Clyde before. I can hear Junior grunt no matter where I am in my house! His grunts sound especially loud in the basement because they get amplified by the aquarium stand and main flooring.

 

[maxxII]

Thought I'd told you about him before. Sadly, Clyde didnt survive moving from the store when it closed to his new home...I heard he got killed in a disease outbreak.

Its hilarious to see such a beautiful fish with such personality, and then to see the reactions of people nearby when the fish grunts like a pig....

One day I'll have a large enough tank to house one comfortably....

Until then I live vicariously through you and Junior...

Nick

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

my daughter

my daughter

of whom knows nothing about this thread *out of the blue this morning* remarked how Junior is the BEST thing in my aquarium