Let Them Flash!

[Serioussnaps]

Tanaka......how are you ...hope all is well.. couple of q's...trying to get it right before i buy(a good habit i formed after a while)

1)Would you consider the flashers to be more aggressive as a whole than fairy wrasses?
2) Also, or are the variations between particulars to frequent to define a generalization....to what extent are the lubbockis aggressive Tanaka?The lubbocki's are what I am considering as my choice...you and others have told me they remain relatively small and are an alternative to those that get larger....
3)Are the female C. lubbocki unsightly(as compared to others) or just not colorful(i have only seen pics of males)
4)Would two male lubbockis present problems of aggression and competition to a harmful extent in say a 55 g or 75 g tank....I plan on putting them in the 55g..I have a 90 but want to leave it dry right now(saving it for a species tank)

 

[H.Tanaka]

Firefishes were successfully kept together with fairies and flashers as far as I experienced, but I provided so many holes to hid for firefishes. No serious damages to them with F&F's. So I think they will be OK.

F&F's are generally non-aggressive and peaceful; they sometimes show some aggressiveness at first but settle down soon, in some several days. This is the period that we could see their gorgeous colorations of males! As far as I know C, filamentosus, C. tonozukai, and C. rubripinnis are the trio that are the most aggressive in the genus; they can chase other males or females of the same or different spp. for a while.

I don't think that C. lubbocki is aggressive; males went so well with others without any trouble until now. Females of C. lubbocki are also colorful but simply red overall and white ventrally with a black spot on caudal peduncle. Males and females can be kept together with a great success. This species has two distinct color morphs in male forms as you know, but without any different behavior. I saw and kept the largest male of 8cm in total length.

 

[H.Tanaka]

falconut,

Yes, they are Paracheilinus cyaneus, males. I hope you can see their displaying colors like this.

 

[heuerfan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7702019#post7702019 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by H.Tanaka
falconut,

Yes, they are Paracheilinus cyaneus, males. I hope you can see their displaying colors like this.

Beautiful fish Tanaka. This is the one i am looking for. I currently have only one flasher (Mccosker) with a tank full of Fairy wrasses. The tank is 72 gallons. If i find this Cyaneus, would it be okay in my tank or do you think the Mccosker will kill it? I'm thinking it should be okay but would like your opinion.

Thanks,
Steven

 

[H.Tanaka]

Thanks.

No, your Mccoskei would not harn a new comer but at first it would threat it. No serious wound would be seen.

 

[blface]

Here's a pic of my new McCoskers' I just picked up today. I'm guessing it's a male. It was awesome watching it flash at all of the other fairies in the tank when they came to check out the new addition. This was the best pic I could manage. Sorry it's a little blurry.

 

[falconut]

Tanaka - Thanks for the conformation. I only have one, all 3 photos are of the same fish. But it does display beautiful colors.

 

[Peter Schmiedel]

Hello!

to my big surprise the bathiphylus are much more mature then I expected from fish of this size (max 5 cm) - they are spawning already!!

The male shows rose - pink coloration on his back when flashing, he also has a yellow anal fin and his chest is whitish. As he is small, a extrem fast swimmer and as he has 160 x 100 x 70 cm for his courtship swims it is extremly difficult to take a decent picture. In the last three days he spawned with at least 3 of the females. During courtship he is also dominating all C.lineatus.


The females did not much change compared to the juvenile picture:

The orange coloration on their back became a bit darker and some scales are blackish there.

Hiroyuki I really admire your patients and picture skills!! Also I spend some hours with my D10 yesterday I did not manage to shoot a picture which I want to share. And besides that they are not correctly sharp the rose pink color is not to see when using a flash light from the front.

On Friday I added 3 C. rubrimagrinatus but they are haveing a hard time being bullied by the females of C. lineatus. Not bad enough to worry so they should be out in the open within a few days.

I would like to add 4-5 C. rhomboidalis but they are not available in Europe and with the agression shown by the lineatus I have my doubts.

 

[H.Tanaka]

Thank you falconut, and I hope you can take better shots of all your fishes.

Also thanks, Peter. It is very interesting that your fishes have spawned; I have never heard of such a great news, and I wish you to take any shots of the moment ! Can you take several shots from a distance at first ?

 

[Peter Schmiedel]

Hiroyuki ,

almost all my fish spawn regularly. My focus of interest is keeping fish in pairs and groups. With the proper tank set up, sufficient feeding and mixed groups this is an easy goal to reach. As you can see between placing the bathyphilus and spawning was only 3 weeks! Thats why I also question the max size of 10 cm ad mentioned in some books. I believe they will not reach this size.

Distance shot is quite difficult as I normally only do 100mm macro shots and a lot of windows in the house reflect badly, But I will give it a try. You want to have an impression of the tank set up in general? Or you want to see the fish community? Or the spawning / courtship swimming?

 

[H.Tanaka]

Peter,

I was very impressed with your story in detail. I want to see their displaying behavior and colorations, and thank you so much.

Ichthyologists always use SL (standard length), and TL (total length) will be deleted when a fish species is described. Book authors use TL for their popular books but TL is sometimes not so accurate or exaggerated. The fish size (TL) will often be based upon expectation. C. bathyphilus reaches 10cm TL as far as I know (a friend in Vanuatu informed me) but some say it will stay within 9cm, and I am not sure.

I have once kept a male of some 12cm TL of Paracheilinus octotaenia and sent photos to John Randall. He immediately replied that he has never seen or heard such a large individual. This species was believed to reach just over 9cm at largest.

Of course, aquarium specimens do not reach their full sizes, as you know.

 

[H.Tanaka]

Paracheilinus spp. 1

Paracheilinus spp. 1

Here is an ID sheet-1.

P. angulatus, P. attenuatus and P. bellae. I have never kept the last one.

 

[H.Tanaka]

Paracheilinus spp. 2

Paracheilinus spp. 2

ID sheet-2

P. carpenteri, P. cyaneus and P. filamentosus.

 

[H.Tanaka]

ID sheet-3

P. flavianalis, P. hemitaeniatus, and P. lineopunctatus. P. hemitaeniatus probably has never been shipped to any country.

 

[H.Tanaka]

ID sheet-4

P. mccoskeri and P. octotaenia. A variation from Kenya has a mostly red anal fin.

 

[H.Tanaka]

ID sheet-5

P. piscilineatus, P. rubricaudalis and P. togeanensis. The last species has never been shipped.

 

[blface]

Dr. T. do you think my pic above is of a McCosker or another flasher?? After seeing your latest pics I'm not to sure about the id.

 

[Serioussnaps]

Awesome pics Tanka...thanks for your reply post

 

[Peter Schmiedel]

Hiroyuki,

wonderfull pictures - thanks for sharing! It will enabale everyone to identify their fish. Hope one day we will have charts from all flashers where we will also see the correct females.

this early evening (18:00 - 20:00 CET) the male spawned with 3 females. For a few seconds all for fish where so close together that I assume he spawned at least with two off them - As we where just having diner I could not tell from the distance. It looked like the femals where in waiting line. Sometimes it is an advantage to have most of the tanks in the living room.

Basic behavior pattern is always the same: Male starts increasing rose coloration on the back, starts to approach first femals slowly with color getting more intense, next trun is him approaching the femal in extremly fast donwards or upwards swims (depends on her postition) then they shot to the sureface. During the asscent he shows the most intensive coloration. They do that several times and when the eggs get hydrated and the females cloaca (missing the correct english term here - sorry) si fully open you can gess pretty much when the spawing itself will take place. As my other wrasse before also these do spawn in the full current of the pump outlet.

I will try to shoot a series where you can see it, but have diffculties with the reflection of my 12 tank rack system and the windows in the living room.

 

[snorvich]

Peter, I am extremely interested in your spawning behavior. I have two tanks of fairy wrasses, all of which contain at least pairs. Did you purchase the C. bathyphilus as a pair or a harem? If a harem, how many females (I have a pair). In what size tank is this occurring? Which fish are spawning? Do you have other pairs/harems, and if so which ones? I would love to try and emulate. What is your feeding schedule and what do you feed? Thanks for any information you can share.