Purple Queen changing..

[MIKE NY]

I have had many species of Anthias over the years so I 've witnessed the female changing to males, but this is a first for me...I have a group of Purple Queens for a few years now and I lost the male about a year ago and no female stepped up so a few weeks I added a couple more females and now the largest female is finally turning male....it's losing the yellow strips and it's tail and dorsel are growing streamers. It spends most of the time seperated from the group and it's appetite has really picked up. ...just curious has this happened for anyone else

 

[SDguy]

Very cool!

Not personally, but my friend Anthony had it happen. And he only had 2 or 3 total.

 

[ca1ore]

Maybe there's a thread on the topic, but to what do you attribute your success with purple queens? I've done well with most anthias I've tried, but have shied from them due to rep as unkeepable.

 

[hedgedrew]

Purple queens very easy formula. Big tank. And lots of feedings small stuff. Like roe and cyclops and baby brine. At least 3x or more per day.

 

[SDguy]

Purple queens very easy formula. Big tank. And lots of feedings small stuff. Like roe and cyclops and baby brine. At least 3x or more per day.

Yeah, I'd say more than three, easily.

An auto feeding setup with a fridge and small foods, like for a NPS tank, would be the easiest, IMO. That's how someone does it that had great success with these fish... I forget who it was.... but it's one of the few tanks I've ever seen pics with this species literally fat and thriving, not just surviving.

 

[Tracey2]

Any pics?

 

[tom obrecht]

Pm sent

 

[SDguy]

This is the system I was thinking of. There are better pictures somewhere...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1894849

 

[jadette]

I had a female purple queen turn male. This is a photo of it in the middle of the transition.



You can see the beak forming and the yellow line slowly disappearing. I had no male purple queens in the tank. The transition was slow at first - It took about 3 weeks to get to this point. Once it hit this point though, the transition to full male was almost immediate. Within a few days.

Interestingly enough, he was not the largest female at the time of transition. Probably the 2nd or 3rd in a group of 5.

 

[Deinonych]

Very, very cool...thanks for sharing!

 

[ryanrid]

I added only female tuka and it took approx 6 months to turn, the males sure are stunning.

 

[MIKE NY]

The key for me is they need multiple feedings during th course of each day, not just a few because they don't eat much at each feeding and they only take small food items so they don't take in the calories like most fish ..combine that with the fact that they are very active out at first light and one of the last ones to turn in at night...so it's very hard to get enough calories into them to combat the amount of calories they burn off...this of course is after trying to get them eating in the first place.....that being written I have alot of fish so I make a "chum" of foods consisting mostly of Larry's and Rod's products as well as flakes, pellets and NutraMar, PE mysis, cyclopeeze when I can find them. I even put in, when available becuase it's seasonal, chop fresh Ulva that I collect at the beach. I then pour alittle in at a time during the course of 5-6 hours each day ...
for me they tend to shoal with other peaceful Anthias like my Dispars and Randall's


here is a close up of the changing female...the yellow strips in the tail are gone and fading on the body as well as the tail and dorsel are begining to grow streamers..

 

[aquaph8]

Nice!!! They look great Mike.

 

[MIKE NY]

thanks Brett...do you still have yours?

 

[aquaph8]

thanks Brett...do you still have yours?

No, I've never tried anymore since my original attempt. I really want to though, maybe soon