what's your favorie Pseudochromis?

[tsutaoka]

i have Pseudochromis sankeyi, but favor the Springeri

[buddythelion]

Springer's is too cool

[Hormigaquatica]

ORA Indigo Dottyback

If you wanna stick to 'real' fish though, Ive always thought Sankeyi were way underrated; love those things.

[SDguy]

Springeri is my fav...too bad it kills shrimp

[Sheol]

I just bought a P. sankeyi about 10 days ago. What a cool fish, so glad I found it. I was going to get a strawberry dottyback last year, but got my Cherub angel instead. Glad I waited. Love the way these guys imitate those baby coral catfish.
Aside from Sankey's (obviously) I love Orchid dottybacks, P. fridmani. Which happens to be very closely related to P. sankeyi. I see a pattern! LOL.
Never kept any others, though royals & diadems are great looking ( too bad about their personalities!)

Matthew

[Sheol]

Re: Indigo.

Hmm, have a pic, just researching the family lately. Many waiting description show up in fish stores..

Matthew

[LukFox]

I love P. steenei. One day I'll set up a species tank for a pair of those. My LFS has a spawning pair in a refugium on one of their displays, and they're amazing.

[zemuron114]

oblique-lined is my favorite by far. I have a female and they are so pretty. Trying to find her a male. hard to come by though.

[Hormigaquatica]

Originally posted by Sheol
Re: Indigo.

Hmm, have a pic, just researching the family lately.

I could never get mine to hold still long enough to get a decent shot- its really tough to capture their color. Heres a photo I found online anyhow. For the record its a hybrid of P. fridmanii x P. sankeyii

[Jerry W]

I also have a sankey's and love it. Very social and not aggressive. There were several in the tank at the lfs and now I wish I would have purchased three of them as I hear they do fine in groups. Afraid to add more now that mine is well established.

[tsutaoka]

I could never get mine to hold still long enough to get a decent shot- its really tough to capture their color. Heres a photo I found online anyhow. For the record its a hybrid of P. fridmanii x P. sankeyii

Wow...where did you get that one?

Also saw a Mccullochi Pseudochromis this weekend which really cool. Does anyone have one?

[discotu]

just added an arabian to my tank...beautiful!

[Hormigaquatica]

Got mine from a local guy- I think he only had like 2 rounds of them. Id just look for a shop that carries ORA fish and corals. Theyre the only ones that actually have a breeding pair as far as I know.

[tsutaoka]

very cool fish...

[mile sq. reefer]

Pseudo. Elongatus "Red head elegant pseodo."

[Illuminati]

Liveaquaria Divers Den had an ORA Indigo Dottyback. It was there last week when I looked, they have had it for at least a month.

[Sheol]

Not much into hybrids, but that is certainly a pretty fish, as well as being a surprising color. Never would guess blue! Oh well, it also shows just how related the two are.
How is yours temper wise? Aggressive or not too bad?
*****
Isn't Steen's one of the most aggressive Pseudochromis? Or do you have an aggressive tank anyway, Lukfox?
I've seen pics of Oblique lines before, amazing fish, but another little demon..

Matthew

[JM68]

I second the Pseudochromis elongatus. And they are one of the more peaceful pseudos.

[Hormigaquatica]

Aggeression wise, not as peaceful as sankeyii, but not as aggressive as fridmanii either. It harassed my firefish once in a while, and take pot shots at my Banggaiis, but nothing too serious. Mostly aggressive only when other fish came down towards his cave.

[LukFox]

Yeah Steenei's is supposed to be the most aggressive, which is why I said I would set up a species tank for a pair one day.

I kept one for a while, though. My tank isn't exactly peaceful as it is and considering they aren't that big and given my tank size, I took the chance. He was fine till he got about 4.5", when he got significantly more aggressive, took out two fish that were larger than himself, and had to go. Its reputation for being so aggressive is well deserved. Gorgeous fish though, and when he was smaller he only showed aggression to me (drew blood a few times when I wasn't fast enough, but I didn't care so long as he wasn't hurting my other fish) and never showed aggression towards his tank mates. I thought I got lucky for a while there . I wouldn't recommend this dotty to be kept with any other fish, as deceivingly "nice" as they are when they're juveniles and sub adults. When he hit 4.5" he became a different fish.

[Sheol]

Yeah, I just read some stories of them attacking divers in the wild who were trying to photograph them. Obviously, size isn't a factor when they think something is invading their space. I'd stay away from any fish that shows teeth in its portraits! LOL.
By itself, might be interesting, but if I were going for a nasty dottyback, I'd go for the Oblique Lined, too. Or maybe a Sailfin. Pretty fish.
****
Hormiaquatica..
I thought fridmani was more peaceful than P. sankeyi?
My Sankey's gets chased by my C. argi angel ( main reason I decided to go for a dottyback as my last fish in my current reef) but holds his/her own at feeding times. Besides it can swim rings around the cherub when negotiating the LR passages!

Anyone own any rare or unusual dottybacks aside from the Indigo?

Matthew

[axia55]

I'll third the Pseudochromis elongatus vote. I would not call them "peaceful" by any streach, but they are better than the Arabian I used to have. That thing was a devil!

[H.Tanaka]

I like Pseudochromis luteus from Okinawa and Taiwan. It is extremely rare and has a combination of yellow and pink.

[tsutaoka]

I like Pseudochromis luteus from Okinawa and Taiwan. It is extremely rare and has a combination of yellow and pink.

Sounds like an awsome looking fish. I would love to see a picture

[Sheol]

Ditto. Any available pics of P. luteus available?

Matthew