Percula question with pic's

elegance coral

elegance coral

They call me EC
sn853245wt7.jpg

sn853246ys4.jpg

I bought these percs yesterday from my LFS. I got them while they were still in the shipping bag, so I didn't get a good look at them. As you can see, one of them was very ill and didn't make it through the night. All I could see through the shipping bag was it's coloration.
My question is, at what size would you say they reach full color development? These clowns are only about an inch long at best. The LFS swears they are wild caught. I will be going back today to get another one to replace the one that died. I would just like some opinions on whether these fish will change colors as they mature or not.
 
IMO it's impossible to tell with wild caught clowns. They're an inch long, but they could be several years old.

If they are still juveniles, maybe they'll darken up more towards the onyx end of things, but if they were just not part of the dominant pair they may already have reached adult coloration.
 
That's basically what I was wondering. So even if they can't mature into sexually active adults, their colors will still develop, in your opinion, right? I honestly have no idea myself. I find it strange for this batch of clowns the LFS has, to have so much black, and a tanjareen Orange color, at such a small size. I'm trying to upload a pic to show size, but I'm having some PC problems.
 
Obviously I don't know for sure, but my assumption would be that coloration is related more to age than size.
 
OMG such a shame!! Poor guy. Percula's tan up under MH lighting as well as other clowns over the years. The dark will get darker and the color parts will get more intense.

It could very well be possible they gain massive amounts of color with age. But I tend to think it comes from lighting. No real proof tho just what I have seen. Maybe someone with more experience can chime in...

My Clarki got VERY brilliant color over a few years of MH lighting.

That BTA is barley alive. I have one like that that I am trying to nurse back to health. What lighting are you using and how long have you had it. It should be a brownish color. Looks like you just bought it.

Don't post pictures of dead clowns please makes me feel sorry for them. I know it does happen sometimes. God I am such a softie lol!
 
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Cool then maybe you can light him up and see if he has any Zoo left and rebuild it. That is what I am trying to do on my week old BTA. He is a little tan on one side that is facing the light. But he moved half way up the rock last night and opened up....
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13027892#post13027892 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stagefright13
OMG such a shame!! Poor guy. Percula's tan up under MH lighting as well as other clowns over the years. The dark will get darker and the color parts will get more intense.

It could very well be possible they gain massive amounts of color with age. But I tend to think it comes from lighting. No real proof tho just what I have seen. Maybe someone with more experience can chime in...

My Clarki got VERY brilliant color over a few years of MH lighting.

That BTA is barley alive. I have one like that that I am trying to nurse back to health. What lighting are you using and how long have you had it. It should be a brownish color. Looks like you just bought it.

Don't post pictures of dead clowns please makes me feel sorry for them. I know it does happen sometimes. God I am such a softie lol!
Click to expand...
I'm sorry for the dead clown pic. I just wanted to show the color and size of the fish my LFS got in. Maybe I've been looking at to many CB clowns lately, but I find it amazing that clowns at such a small size would have such great coloration. I'm very curious about what will happen to their color as they grow. Is this their final adult coloration, or will it continue to change as they grow?

The owner will be picking up the anemone today. I have it under a small florescent in a 10gl tank. It is right in front of a window, where it gets blasted by the morning Florida sun, though. I have only had it for about a week, but it's color has improved in that time.
 
Something to think about in relation to coloration being a factor of age and or sexual maturity...

Maroon clowns color doesn't develop until their sexually defined. Or the Female's coloration doesn't develop until she has been female for a while - right?

I don't know how this would relate to percula's - especially with the development of the onyx coloring - but something to think about.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13037953#post13037953 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kimsie
Something to think about in relation to coloration being a factor of age and or sexual maturity...

Maroon clowns color doesn't develop until their sexually defined. Or the Female's coloration doesn't develop until she has been female for a while - right?
I don't know how this would relate to percula's - especially with the development of the onyx coloring - but something to think about.
Click to expand...
I have no idea. I've never heard that. I know that my Maroons have gone through a slow constant color change. They started out red with bright yellow stripes. Then slowly changed to maroon. Now they are turning almost black. Even the yellow stripe has a grayish color to it. What color change are you referring to ?
 
Well - are both of your maroon's the same color? With most maroon parings they both start out that same bright redish orange - then the male gets slightly darker - but the famale usually gets MUCH darker to the dark maroon almost black - while the male stays a lighter color.

That is the color change regarding sexual maturity that I was referring to.
 
They are about the same color now. I can see what you're saying now, though. The female did start getting darker much sooner than the male.
So..... If the same holds true with Perc's, these clowns should still have some coloring up to do, right?
 
Yeah - that part I don't have any idea about! I'm not sure if percs and maroons share the same color development strategy's if that's the right word. One thing that has me wondering about percs is Mobert's tank. Do you know the one I'm talking about where she has 27 true percs from the same clutch in one of her tanks? If I remember correctly they started out with very little black - but after a year or two many of them had stronger colors with black too even though surly some of them weren't either male or female... At least one would think. I'll see if I can find her thread again...
 
I remember. I think the thread is titled "27clowns in a ?gallon, 27 months", or something like that. Ill look for it too. I would like to check out the color differences in those fish.
 
Oh Mobert - Thank you so much for posting these! I was having such a hard time trying to find the thread. Hopefully this will help EC!

I'm going to bookmark this now so I have them! :)
 
I may be completely wrong but I think MH lights tan the clowns up and give them brilliant color over a long period. I have also heard good food helps also.

I have used MH lighting for almost the whole time on my tank. And in my 29 gallon the Percula, cinnamon, and now Clarki all got a deep color. The orange got deeper, the yellow got brighter and the brown got darker. By alot!

But I did notice the females get more colorful sooner. But like I said I am no expert. Just describing what I have seen in my little tank.

I just put my MH back in my tank yesterday and will see in a while if the baby Clarki tans up. I believe it will. I'll post the results. But you know how it goes. Everything is slow in a reef tank. :)
 
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They are actually getting darker.
Here they are shortly after I got them.
sn853369editedhr9.jpg


And here they are today. If the female keeps going, she'll be an onyx before long. It would be cool to have a wild caught onyx.
onyxediteddo6.jpg
 
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