New Chrysopterus!

[Winwood]

Well some interesting developments have occurred since the addition of the new crispa. Unfortunately, it's exactly what I was fearing. Since the anemone hit the tank the female clown has barely left it. Last night right before I went to bed I fed the tank and the female made a quick trip into the open to chase down some food. To my surprise her color had completely changed into the drab tan colors I've seen other white tail chrysopterus do. Her black was completely washed out and her regularly yellow pectoral fins and snout were a burnt orange color. The transformation occurred in a matter of hours.

This morning her colors have returned to normal however, and she seems to be spending more time in the open. One thing I've noticed is the more time she spends in the anemone the more she seems to lose her vibrant colors. When she's out exploring the tank and when she is feeding she seems to more or less return to her normal colors. The male, who isn't allowed to spend as much time in the anemone, has retained his bright coloration.

 

[Winwood]

Here's another shot of them today. She has more or less returned to her original color.

 

[worm5406]

Where did the mag go?

 

[Winwood]

Where did the mag go?

I traded it for the crispa. I really liked that anemone but clowns wanted nothing to do with it.

 

[Reefvette]

The is also an ultimate pairing blue stripes love crispa and mertens like crack

 

[Winwood]

Lol! Yup!^^^ a few more update pics.

 

[Winwood]

I wanted to share this pic because it shows the subdued coloration of my female when she spends a lot of time in the anemone.

 

[Rare Angels]

Hey Winwood,

Love the white tailed variety of chrysopterus, but have never been able to keep them.

Got any updates?

 

[jwoyshnar]

What size is your tank? Looks real nice. Funny I just traded my crispa for a Mag.

 

[Winwood]

So this update has good and bad parts. The bad part is the clowns have faded dramatically in color, as I feared would happen. For that reason I swapped out the crispa for a haddon's carpet. This, however, seemed to have little affect on their coloration.

The good news though, with some help from a friend, I was able to purchase a nice merten's carpet. For that reason I moved some things around in my tank to give it a comfy spot to live. It is settling in nicely. Pictures of it are difficult because of its location but I gave it a shot. Here's what I got from a few quick snaps of the iPhone.

 

[worm5406]

DIET... What are you feeding them?

 

[Winwood]

It could very well be a dietary issue. However, it seems to only be an issue with the white tail variety of these fish. I have never had a problem with yellow tail chrysopterus fading like this.

For the record I'm feeding Rod's, formula 2 pellets, omega one flakes, mysis, mega marine and diced up krill.

 

[Winwood]

And cyclop-eeze

 

[Winwood]

Switched out my MH 20k radium for a much whiter 14k plusrite bulb in an experiment to see if it will affect the clowns color. This spectrum seems a lot friendlier to the iPhone camera and I was actually able to get a few photos of the mert that are relatively accurate to what I see when I look at with my own eyes.

An interesting side note, when I snap photos with my iPhone of the tank with the 20k bulb, the non HDR shots show blue lines through them. With this 14k, it shows red/pinkish lines. Does this mean this bulb is putting off a lot more infrared light, where as the radium is putting off more ultraviolet?

Example 14k non HDR

Same photo HDR

 

[Winwood]

What size is your tank? Looks real nice. Funny I just traded my crispa for a Mag.

The tank is 30x30x20 inches. So whatever that works out to be. Yeah I like the magnifica better but I wanted something the clowns would interact with.

 

[Ron Popeil]

i wish we could pin point what it is about these fish that causes their unfortunate color loss.

if it was as simple as light spectrum, id be happy to change over to plasma or 10k halides.

i too believe it has something to do with diet, but i wish i could identify what specific element is missing from a manufactured marine food.


so far, i think most people who care for this fish have had them under all sorts of lighting, with all types of salts, with all types of anemones and used all types of foods. with no luck.

whatever it is, it takes between 14 and 30 days to happen.

 

[worm5406]

I wonder if they are put back in the wild if they regain the color.

Kinda like an orca fin goes limp in captivity.

 

[Winwood]

Well, I figured it can't hurt. I noticed on you're other thread, chrysopterus color loss, one of the members was keeping a white tail under the 14 k plusrite bulb and it was maintaining its color. I figured I'd try it for a month or two and see what happens.

 

[Reefvette]

Congrats

Congrats

Congrats on the mertens. So was it an immediate love festival?

 

[Winwood]

Umm... Kinda. They were really bonded to the haddoni. After the male found the mert, it was game over for the male. He has a hard time leaving even for food. The female is more promiscuous and goes back and forth. She usually sleeps in the haddoni.