My Xmas present: A. latezonatus

[Peter Schmiedel]

Hi!

Finally I could convince my girlfriend that a fish is always the perfect present for a fish obsessed person like myself

Luckly my wholesaler had a adult pair on stock. The female is about 11 cm TL and the male about 8 cm TL. But unfortunatley they had only this damn colored H. crispa - but as I had no big anemon free I needed to take one. I normally do not support sales of unnatural cross breeding or coloration of corals.







These fish are the weirdest anemonfish I have ever seen. They spend a lot of time in the caves of their tank, or are swimming far away of the anemon. Only in the night they are deep hidden in the H. crispa.

I have them now about a week and they are in a tank 120x40x40 cm, To give them a safe feeling the tank has 8 A. leptachantus and 4 baby C. argi to swim around.

It is remarkable how high these anemon fish can jump, while catching them I was really surprise about the flying anemon fishes!

Attached observations from Rudie Kuiter whom I asked to shade some light on the unusal behavior pattern of this fish:

[COLOR=blue]Hi Peter,
In the late seventees, I often joined a friend of mine who collected marinefish for the shop he worked at. When we went up north from Sydney there were a couple of places where latezonatus occurred and we would collect one pair at the time, eventhough there were lots. Regarding the latezonatus, I did not take notice of the anemones and we did not attempt to collects them. The fish was unusual in behaviour and unlike other anemone fishes, they were difficult to catch and not staying with the anemone. They were often swimming high above the reef and in one place, North Stradbroke Island, anemones were scarce and some individuals did not associate with them at all. In NSW (Solitary Islands) the water gets cold when current run from the south, probably reaching 15°C or even less, but I don’t know how it would effect them. Some fish would hide I suppose as it slows them down and become more vunerable. They obviously can handle these conditions for a certain period.
They are also the species that is the deepest where anemones dwell. Where you get different anemonefishes together, such as akindynos, the latter would be in the shallower anemones and latezonatus deeper, usually around the 20 m depth.
Would be nice if you can breed them. Good luck with this
With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year
Rudie [/COLOR=blue]

[marinebetta]

Hi Peter,

Welcome to the club!

Nice looking latz, the male looks like it still has subadult colors. I also find them a bit strange in behaviour in that they don't have very strong pairing behaviour. I have 3 now and am still wondering if I have 2 females and 1 male, or 1 female and 2 males! So far no distinctive male/female behaviour from the middle one (which is actually just as big as the most dominant, presumably female one). The smallest, obviously is male as he has showed typical submissive behaviour before to the other two.

Keep a close eye on them....they seem to be pretty vulnerable to brook and can go downhill pretty fast even if in good condition!

[ricordiaking]

Hello Peter, welcome to the latz owners club
Nice looking pair of fish you've got there, the small male kinda looks like mine. Anyway good luck with them.

[clownfish75]

Is there a club if you own these things?

woohooooo

Christian

[Gary Majchrzak]

I'm not in the "club"
but
Merry Christmas, Peter!

[ricordiaking]

Originally posted by clownfish75
Is there a club if you own these things?

woohooooo

Christian

Hey Chris a special club, members only

[clownfish75]

well im in, i have 3 pairs!!!

So if i breed them first do i get my own club? or do i become the president!!!


Christian

[Peter Schmiedel]

Christian,

as they swim in your front yard I believe you dont count

Could you give us some more information on their behavior etc in the wild?

Merry Christmas to all!

[clownfish75]

Hi Peter

Ther eis little to no info about their wild behaviour, all i know if they like it cool, certainly lower water temps should make a difference.

They are also ment ot naturally occur with BTA.

thats about all i know

Christian

[terryp01]

Nice present, you think she will buy me a pair?

I would also settle for a pair of McCullochi's as well (Clownfish 75)

>

[Peter Schmiedel]

Hi,

so, what seems to be the big problem to get the latz to spawn?
Does the reproduction cycle only start with lower temps?
Or does the female not produce eggs?
Or do they have nest and the larvae are not fertilised?
Or the are fertilised but the larve do not develop correctly and don't hatch?
Or is rasing the frey the issue as they need cooler water food containing special amino acids or what ever?

Would be helpfull to know if offspring is only reported seasonally...?

[marinebetta]

I think the problem has been keeping them alive long enough to spawn.

Believe there have been reports of spawning pairs but so far mostly in display tanks, and without any attempts at raising the larvae.

[Peter Schmiedel]

Hi MB,

mine start to worry me - breathing sequence is increased, only them and none of the other fish in the same system

[marinebetta]

Peter,

Keep a real close eye on them. I'm sure I don't need to tell you to look out for flashing, fine white dots, slime etc. Often one of the earliest signs are flashing and a decrease in appetite - when well they are such pigs! - so any reduction of appetite will be suspect.

If you even think they have a problem, it's probably best that you put them in a quarantine tank and start treatment. Often hesitating will just tip them over to the other side. You can read all about us ex-latz owner's woes on the other forum.....

[SuperNerd]

Originally posted by clownfish75
Ther eis little to no info about their wild behaviour, all i know if they like it cool, certainly lower water temps should make a difference.

How low?

[Peter Schmiedel]

Hi MB,

the good think is they are eating really like pigs, so appetite is still normal, no other behavior signs which are concerning. I could observe that they where looking for cleaning fish or shrimps as they aproached my S. picturatus (??) and my Stenopus tenuirostris in order to be cleaned.

I added one L. dimidatus and 4 L. ambonensis to bring the fish back in they comfort zone. Additionally I connected by 55 Watt UV lamp to be prepared for any trouble. And I added an airstone to make sure the O2 level is on the max (these tanks don't have a protein skimmer). My food is always addional soaked in vitamines and garlic (Tropic Marin Liptovit) to ensure maximum nutrient level.

Both fish show no visual sign of any infection, the male has a small spot on the side which could be from a fight or whatever but could also be the basis of new trouble.

The interesting thing is that after feeding the breathing goes up a lot ?! I alos observed white feeces of the male fish - but only ones and so far I am not to concerned about that.

Yesterday the actions taken seem to show first positiv results as the breathing speed has been decreased but is still more then usual.

[LargeAngels]

Nice pair!! Good luck. Does anyone have any that have been kept over a year? All mine went blind around a year. Total of 4 pairs. I know eco-tropic had the same issue with all the ones he had when he had his breeding setup.

[mwp]

Peter, I don't know if you have this product available to you in Belgium, but check out Tropic Science's Marine Max - it's a vitamin and probiotic bacterial mix. I use it in my reefs daily when I have ANY sign of disease and it seems to be beneficial to the fish. It isn't a medication, but may possibly help lower the level of some negative bacterias + help with general immune system function. I dose the tanks once per week when all is well (which it usually is).

I also regularly dose Reef Plus to my tanks (another Vitamin compound). Of course, foods with garlic are another thing to consider too. I also will put Novaqua Plus into the reef if there is skin damage to help keep slime coats up.

Just some thoughts.

Matt

[MarinaP]

It might help to dim the lights and cover tank walls with newspaper. They are big jumpers, so cover the top. Eggcrate alone will not do it, I would put something heavy on top of eggcrate to secure it in place.

They like to swim alot, like A. chrysopterus do, so give them a long tank.

They are also very neurotic, so approach the tank slowly, otherwise they will go nuts hitting themselves against the rock, tank walls, etc.

Best of luck.

[clownfish75]

large angel what temp did you have your fish at?

Mine are happy each pair has an anemone and there is a cover on the tank.

there is no frantic swimming and they are as tam at feed time as any other species and much more gregarious than many pairs of nigripes, ocellaris, percs and tomato clowns.

Christian

[Peter Schmiedel]

Thanks to all for the further hints!

@Matt,
I don't know the product syou mentioned, but believe what I have is similar products. Adding the Lsymatha seems to increase their comfort a lot.


@Marina
cant cover the tank as may rack system set up does not allow it completly. They are in the anemon during the night and in the rockwork if spooked during the day. The male already realized that I am the food "dispencer" and less shy. Female still needs to learn a lot.

[LargeAngels]

clownfish75: Both warm and cool. Eco-tropic and I both found that temp. didn't seem to matter.

[marinebetta]

Originally posted by LargeAngels
clownfish75: Both warm and cool. Eco-tropic and I both found that temp. didn't seem to matter.

LA: What's your "warm"? I'm interested in your experiences with them in warmer waters. Had my last batch in waters ranging from night lows of down to 25C to daytime highs of about 29C and IMO they were fine....till the brook struck! Those kinds of temp for us is "warm" but maybe for you guys it "hot"

[LargeAngels]

marinebetta: My warm was around 80-81°F (27°C.)

[marinebetta]

Thanks, bro. Did either of you notice any difference in behaviour (including any spawning behaviour) or health at these two temp ranges (besides the blindness and eventual demise...)?