Wild Onyx Clownfish. Take 3

CoralsAddiction said:
I would like to keep it that way which unfortunately means no Magnifica or Bubble anemones for them.
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I've been keeping a pair of Rod's Onyx percs since 04 and had them in an H.magnifica anemone non stop (3 mags they've been in all of them over the years), with no loss of color that can be attributed to the anemone.
They turned brown for several months back in 06 and once I began feeding whole uncooked shrimp, scallop, mysis etc and got away from pelleted/dry food they havent lost color since.

I'm more inclined (due to my experiances), to lean towards food being the cause of loss of color vs anemone host.
 
maxxII said:
I'm more inclined (due to my experiances), to lean towards food being the cause of loss of color vs anemone host.
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That may be the cause in general when all colors fade (black & orange) but has nothing to do with host related melanism. That one has been proven to be host related.
However, that doesn't mean that fish that have naturally a lot of black will loose it when hosted by a magnifica.
The C-Quest line was bred to be black under any condition.

However, normal orange percula may get more intense or wider black borders when hosted by a gigantean.
 
maxxII said:
I've been keeping a pair of Rod's Onyx percs since 04 and had them in an H.magnifica anemone non stop (3 mags they've been in all of them over the years), with no loss of color that can be attributed to the anemone.
They turned brown for several months back in 06 and once I began feeding whole uncooked shrimp, scallop, mysis etc and got away from pelleted/dry food they havent lost color since.

I'm more inclined (due to my experiances), to lean towards food being the cause of loss of color vs anemone host.
Click to expand...

Many tank raised Onyx clowns are perfectly capable of retaining their black colors in BTAs and Mags. However many also aren't. That was the case with my all black c-quest onyx clown. She was hosted by a Haddoni until I added a mag. Once she moved into the mag she started to lose her color. I have watched many videos of perculas in the wild and you can never find a black true percula in a Magnifica. All are orange. I can't explain why but that's what happens in the wild. The black ones are always associated with a Gigantea anemone.
Here's a video of my c-quest onyx who one night jumped out of the tank and died.
http://youtu.be/6h5Duez23DE
 
maxxII said:
I've been keeping a pair of Rod's Onyx percs since 04
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I wish Rod was still breeding clowns even if just for the sake of continuing his lineage and for his brand. I understand breeding clowns requires a huge commitment. However, one or two clutches a year at a higher price would be nice to let the clownfish lovers have what they want. I know his female died but I am sure he could have figured something out.
 
BigJohnny said:
IMO wild caught is wrong. Just leave em be.
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If that were the case you would not now nor ever have had the brood stock to start the tank raised fish to begin with. :headwalls:

SOOOOO, with your way of thinking none of us should have any fish so therefore this hobby wouldn't exist.
 
Clowns are doing great. They ate very aggressively earlier. Both ate frozen and the smaller of the two is eating pellets. He's a quick learner. I did a 30% water change and re-dosed quick-ich X per manufacturer's directions.
 
Dkuhlmann said:
If that were the case you would not now nor ever have had the brood stock to start the tank raised fish to begin with. :headwalls:

SOOOOO, with your way of thinking none of us should have any fish so therefore this hobby wouldn't exist.
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No, because stock already exists. "My thinking" is that wild caught is wrong now. I wasn't speaking in past tense. There's plenty of tank raised fish. that's like saying hunting when you have no other option for food is the same as hunting when it's already dead at the store down the street. There's no reason to disrupt nature further.
 
But I'm not trying to hijack the thread. The fish are no longer wild so good luck and continue the discussion!
 
BigJohnny said:
No, because stock already exists. "My thinking" is that wild caught is wrong now. I wasn't speaking in past tense. There's plenty of tank raised fish. that's like saying hunting when you have no other option for food is the same as hunting when it's already dead at the store down the street. There's no reason to disrupt nature further.
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The problem is that most tank raised clowns these days are outright garbage (deformities wise) and the last thing I would want is to create more of those. ORA is IMO one of the biggest offenders, I have not seen a single decent looking clownfish from them around here in the stores. Though others seem to be not much better
Add to that the designer clown castoffs that are often sold as "true percula", if not by the breeder then by uneducated or outright dishonest store personal.

If you want to breed fish that can be used as a reservoir or next generation broodstook you need fish of high quality and that haven't been tinkered with.
That pretty much only leaves wild caught of known origin.

I also don't think there is too much wild harvesting going on anymore as most clowns sold today are designer clowns and locally bred ones by hobbyists.
It is actually quite hard to find any wild clowns in stores (at least around here).

And in the wild they are by no means better of - see here: http://www.cathychurch.com/index.php/kissing-crowls

So I really don't get your point.
 
DasCamel said:
Are you breeding them?
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In the ideal world, yes I would like for them to become a mated pair and raise their babies. Not for commercial purposes (too little money) but just to improve the breed standard as many of the tank raised clowns nowadays are ugly and deformed. Sort of like high quality dog breeders dedicated to improving dog breeds as opposed to puppy mills. Most today's hatcheries (at least locally here) seem to operate like puppy mills.
 
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