Onyx coloration development
- Thread starter jonnybravo22
- Start date
jonnybravo22
New member
thought i'd post some pics (finally). still learning how to use camera so they're not as nice quality pics as Nick posted but here we go:
I got these fish in mid november 2008, and they were weeks old (almost too young). Pic from a month after i first got them (december 2008):
that's the male.
shot of the pair around the same time, they were super tiny:
that's the female on top and male on bottom
Pics i took today (march 29 2009):
please excuse the dirty glass. male on top, female on bottom
and one more of the female from today:
she's behind a small piece of salt creep on glass
so at this point they are about 5 1/2 months old i would imagine (if they were approx 1 month post hatching when i got them). the female is colored up very nicely already and the male is making progress. i should note that they have endured significant changes to the tank (first i was using tap water w/ no DI, had pretty high stress technique on water changes, had algae overtaking the tank and went from sandy bottom to barebottom) and in that stressful process i noticed the color fade to almost their original color w/ no black. after things stabilized and i started working to make "a stable system" the main goal, the color has come back nicely (was worried for a while).
things i did to make "a more stable system" include:
-putting lights on timers
-having actinics come on for a few hours before main light (transition effect -- my guys really got freaked out when the main light came out w/o any warning and that affected their color and breathing)
-syphon water out for water changes instead of sticking an empty water bottle in there (i know)
-put in better heater for more reliable temp
-automatic feeder
I got these fish in mid november 2008, and they were weeks old (almost too young). Pic from a month after i first got them (december 2008):
that's the male.
shot of the pair around the same time, they were super tiny:
that's the female on top and male on bottom
Pics i took today (march 29 2009):
please excuse the dirty glass. male on top, female on bottom
and one more of the female from today:
she's behind a small piece of salt creep on glass
so at this point they are about 5 1/2 months old i would imagine (if they were approx 1 month post hatching when i got them). the female is colored up very nicely already and the male is making progress. i should note that they have endured significant changes to the tank (first i was using tap water w/ no DI, had pretty high stress technique on water changes, had algae overtaking the tank and went from sandy bottom to barebottom) and in that stressful process i noticed the color fade to almost their original color w/ no black. after things stabilized and i started working to make "a stable system" the main goal, the color has come back nicely (was worried for a while).
things i did to make "a more stable system" include:
-putting lights on timers
-having actinics come on for a few hours before main light (transition effect -- my guys really got freaked out when the main light came out w/o any warning and that affected their color and breathing)
-syphon water out for water changes instead of sticking an empty water bottle in there (i know)
-put in better heater for more reliable temp
-automatic feeder
jonnybravo22
New member
also: they are both getting the third stripe now, it's been slowly coming in for a while. on both it's almost in on one side and starting on the other.
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