Aquarium Hobbyists

Anyone keep Roseline barbs/sharks? I have one that lost all color about a year ago, then a few months later it turned this crazy sunburst orange/yellow scheme.

Ive been wondering if that's common or if it's a mutation?

 

Not sure about freshwater fish, but I know some saltwater fish change color through age (angelfish) and some change gender (seahorse).

I had a 100g saltwater tank set up many years ago, but had to sell off the fish due to a long distance move. Last setup was 1 huge 6" Lionfish (super tame and friendly), 1 Clown Trigger named Dottie (my favorite still miss that one), 2 Picasso triggers (one ate the other) 1 porcupine puffer. Prior to that I had Hawaiian yellow tangs/ foxface lo/foxface rabbit fish (much easier to care for).

One of these days I'll get back into it, but I'd want to upgrade to a 200-300g tank. I've always wanted a saltwater tank that I could swim in with the fish. I've seen a few on the tv show tanked.

 

It's probably a sex/mating thing.

 

Yep, dominant or breeding male most likely. Several fish and even some birds have this trait.

 

cool stuff per Blue Planet:
https://ourblueplanet.bbcearth.com/blog/?article=incredible-sex-changing-fish-from-blue-planet


Many species of fish, like the kobudai, are known as “sequential hermaphrodites”: they can switch sex permanently at a specific point in their lives.

The majority of “sequential hermaphrodites” are known as “protogynous” (Greek for “female first”): they switch from female to male. This includes the kobudai, other wrasses, many species of parrotfish, and a wide variety of reef fish. In most protogynous fish, some fish will start out lives as male, some will switch from female to male at some point, and some will remain as females for the full duration of their lives. However in other species, the sex skew can be more extreme: in the Potter Angelfish, Centropyge potteri, for example, all fish start out lives as females, and all males were at one point female.

Other sequential hermaphrodites are known as “protandrous” (“male first”): males can switch to female at a certain point in their lives, under the right circumstances. Though less common than protogyny, male-to-female sex changes are found in a wide variety of fish, including the Australian barramundi (Lates calcarifer), gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) and the black porgy (Acanthopagrus schlegeli). In the clownfish Clark's anemonefish (Amphiprion clarkii) for example, females are larger than males (the opposite of the situation for the kobudai). They live in small groups within protective sea anemones, with one breeding male and female pair and a number of subordinate non-breeding fish. There is seldom more than two breeding fish, due simply to space constraints. When the dominant female dies, the largest male transforms into a female....

...However the kings and queens of the sex changing game in fish – known as “bidirectional hermaphrodites” or “serial hermaphrodites” – can change back and forth in either direction depending on environmental circumstances. For example, coral gobies (Gobiodon and Paragobiodon) live within crevices inside coral reefs, move very little during their lifetimes, and have limited opportunity to find new mating partners. If any two fish who happen to find each other can form a male-female mating pair – no matter what sexes they are when they meet – this would be advantageous.

 

Its a great theory fellas, but there is no coloration difference between sexes with this species. My googling must suck because I can't find any kind of similar markings or causes of. It definitely started life with the distinctive roseline. I think I have a mutant.




Edit: maybe not. I found this tidbit buried on an info page. Maybe I got a recessive gene from interbreeding.

 

@ rock lobster, I think you may be right about having a mutant.
It would be a pretty risky color scheme in the wild!

About how old was it when the color change started? Juvenile perhaps or mature adult?
Was it captive bred or wild caught?

If you could breed them consistently, you could revolutionize the Barb market!!
(And I'd let you cut me in for 15%, you know, for the 'consultations')


Anyhoo, here is some pretty good general biology info on 'em.

https://www.researchgate.net/public...an_endangered_fish_of_the_Western_Ghats_India

 

Juvenile, he was about 1-1.5 inches when he changed colors.

I just found a shop in indiana that breeds "gold dennisons" and charges a pretty penny for them. I must have lucked out I think.

 

So we're back to the assumption that Rock Lobster came close to killing this fish and therefore it is permanently distorted? lol

 

I've done worse.

So now I have the supervillain of domestic fish? Is it going to put on a bain mask and hold the rest of the tank hostage?

Shit. Time to start breeding a bat-ciclid.

 

Finally took the plunge on the discus. Almost a week now and out of 20 only 1 died basically upon delivery. I had to order online because nobody sells them locally. Pretty happy with them and they seem to mesh well with my angels. I was really apprehensive about these fish but always wanted them, happy so far.

 

From what I read online they are shy and prefer the dark but these act like normal fish

 

Wild caught maybe but these are tank raised and should not be shy. 20 eh? That must have cost a pretty penny.

 

This is interesting https://ourblueplanet.bbcearth.com/blog/?article=incredible-sex-changing-fish-from-blue-planet employee monitoring I had a hermaphrodite fish and then I first learned that this is possible

 

I'm hoping to maybe have angelfish babies someday. The 2 I have paired off, so I put them in a separate tank by themselves. Had an algae bloom from hell, but got one of those UV filters and it cleared it all up.

They let their last brood get to free-swimming, and dad tries to keep them rounded up and protected, but mom is a terrible mother and eats them. Well, brood before last. Last one they just ate all the eggs. It's fun watching them move them around the tank while they are eggs and wigglers.

 

I had Discus that constantly laid eggs. I got them a seperate breeding tank and they wouldn't breed. Put them back in the community tank and they started up again even though I made sure the 20g breeding tank had the same conditions. Fickle bastards!

 

One might even say willful!
I think they are on to your 'fish-sploitation' scheme and are having none of it.

Have you tried moving everyone else to the breeder tank?
Joking, kind of. Maybe your breeding pair just feel cramped in a 20g?

...And we're back to Fickle bastards, lol.

 

Sup! Hope everybody is swimmin belly-side down!
I though I would chime in with a quick tank update- I went all DC motors for my wave makers and sump return pumps.
I been running them a few days now and here are some thoughts.
They are great.
They run super quiet. I cannot hear them at all. My AC return always had a noticeable hum.

I had replaced the AC wave maker pumps several times and needed to again. They work fine when left always on. The problem is they do not tolerate the constant start/start of wave maker controllers.
They work for a while then start to chatter on start up then run in reverse half the time. I then got dead spots and algae outbreaks.
The DC pumps are, again, silent on start up, and so far are flawless. They ramp up the power so water flow is smoother and more laminar.
The controller is plenty flexible enough to create any type of flow/mixing. I particularly like the 10-point power setting.

I would say the listed flow rates are at least as high as advertised. I went a size too big and have to keep them on the lowest setting and disable one of them at night.

As such, all the plants from the Amazon swords to the little cryptos, have perked up and are swaying and wafting in the flow. No more dead spots!
I was also worried it might be too much for the fish and they would just hide at the bottom. On the contrary, they are more active than ever. When the wave maker is stopped, they are lining up to 'surf the wave'. Then they are twisting and flashing back 'upstream'. They are running around displaying more coloration and social/mating behavior than ever. I suspect they approve.

I wanted low draw pumps for a future battery BU system. These should be much more efficient. For example I replaced my 80W AC return pump with an 80W DC return pump that I run at the lowest setting at "25W".

Only yet to be seen how they hold up over time...


*Warning: YMMV. Not a shill for anybody. No gram/no channel. Not a Robot. Potato.

Jebao DCP Sine Wave Water Return Pump
Jebao SOW (1057-5283gph) Wavemaker Pumps with Controller and Magnet Mount

Check out the turbulence created at the surface.

 

Been a while since I updated. It's been a real trial and error year for the new tank. But I finally, finally think I have this plant thing figured out. I'm starting to see more healthy green than holey yellow, and this month has a lot of new (and rapid) growth going on




Part of that is thanks to this guy. I decided for once to get off my tight wallet and invest in a proper CO2 system.




My mutant golden Dennison's is still kicking around too.


I can't remember if this thread ever answered my previous question last year, but I eventually figured out why I have a mutant.

Turns out that it's a super rare variety that stemmed from selective breeding. Maybe a couple of shops deal with them, and they want a premium for 'em. I guess I got lucky and got one by accident (juveniles are born with the original coloring and they eventually change as they mature.)


One year since converting to live plant, a crap ton of cut corners and ignorant mistakes along the way, but the tank is finally starting to look how I want it to.