A few pics of my pics (PICTURE INTENSIVE)

cschweitzer · #1 02/12/2007, 01:35 PM

Thought I would share some pictures of my picasso perculas as they continue to grow up.

The pair

cschweitzer · #2 02/12/2007, 01:38 PM

And the one that's paired(pairing) up with an onyx

I also have another now that is in a trio with an onyx(probably will be female) and a jigsaw. I want to see which two decide to pair. They have not been overly aggressive toward each other yet, so I don't foresee a problem before I can get one of them out. Besides, I always have another tank without any clowns in it that I could put the loner into. I'll take pics of this trio(not a "true" trio, but the three) when I get a little time.

grinch77 · #3 02/12/2007, 04:13 PM

Those are awesome! Thanks now I cant't decide between a onyx or a picasso.That top pic in the second post the fish looks like it's got some big Elvis sideburns.

Engine 7 · #4 02/12/2007, 04:19 PM

Great looking fish! Everytime I see a thread like this i wish i had started out with a pair...

GSMguy · #5 02/12/2007, 04:21 PM

all ORA?

cschweitzer · #6 02/12/2007, 04:31 PM

Yep...all ORA.

Thank you for all the kind words. Picasso's go pretty much onyx coloration with a lot of really cool bars. Onyx, picasso, and jugsaws are the only type of clowns I have(all perculas, although that scarcely matters).

I would definitely go picasso over onyx if you have the choice. They are usually more expensive and longer of a wait, but I think that the patterns are so cool.

Grinch, you just named my fish...thanks.

GSMguy · #7 02/12/2007, 04:38 PM

i have my LFS ordering me a pair

grinch77 · #8 02/12/2007, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cschweitzer
Yep...all ORA.
Grinch, you just named my fish...thanks.

Not a problem again very cool fish.

geckotail · #9 02/12/2007, 05:33 PM

there very nice, but im concerned about bent gill plates. from what others have told me its a sign of poor water qauality from early breeding. your top pair looks great though.

i have noticed more bent gill plates and other body deformities in black osc and picassos than wild caught clowns,

GSMguy · #10 02/12/2007, 06:02 PM

gecko this is kind of true with all tank bred fish no?

cschweitzer · #11 02/13/2007, 12:24 AM

Well, they're all siblings, I just think ORA has let a few more with slight defomities through because of their popularity. The first pair was from June '06, the last one is from last month. There are always going to be deformities with a percentage of tankbred fish, because in the wild only the strong survive. If a pair of clowns produces two viable offspring in the wild, they have done their part. In captivity, you are trying to keep 99% of every clutch instead of the .0001% from the wild. Chances of deformed fish is much less than a perfectly healthy fish in the wild. He's still cute and doing very well in his home.

I have other theories on this also, but they are just conspiracy theories...you can be paranoid if everyone is out to get you

delphinus · #12 02/13/2007, 01:00 AM

The clowns are nice too of course, but I really dig that S. doliatus you've got there.

Can someone explain to me what a bent gill plate is? Sorry if it's a dumb question.

aquaruki · #13 02/13/2007, 01:24 AM

Bent gill plate is the "cheek" that curves out instead of being straight. Did that make any sense?

Slakker · #14 02/13/2007, 02:27 AM

You can see it in a few of the pictures if you look for it.

If you're asking for an explanation of how it happens and how it can be detrimental, I'm afraid I have no clue.

cschweitzer · #15 02/13/2007, 11:33 AM

Thanks, I love my rabbit. Just FYI, if you ever have a chaeto outbreak in your tank like I did(attached to the rocks, covered all my zoos, killed a lot of stuff), just throw in a scribbled rabbit. This thing cleared a fully encrusted tank of all signs of macro in about three days. he nearly doubled in size during his gorge. Absolutely spectacular results with him.

dc · #16 02/13/2007, 11:39 AM

Those are cute. I like the ones with the patterns, more than the totally white ones.

delphinus · #17 02/13/2007, 11:44 AM

I imagine it's easier to see if you know what to look for .. I was looking at the pictures before I asked and I'm afraid even now after that explanation I'm not entirely certain that I see anything. Oh well, I'll keep looking, thanks for the explanation though.

GSMguy · #18 02/13/2007, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dc
Those are cute. I like the ones with the patterns, more than the totally white ones.

you have seen a totally white clownfish? where?

bkmorris · #19 02/13/2007, 12:54 PM

it seems like ORA lets quite a few deformed fish go into the stores... i was working in an lfs for a while, and many of the clowns that came in from ORA had deformities that seemed to hinder them in some way or another. i thought they culled more carefully? i suppose that is a complicated issue that delves into morality of who dies and who lives... i don't know enough about their practices i guess.

cschweitzer · #20 02/13/2007, 01:45 PM

Brooke, that is somewhat where my conspiricy theories come into play. I'll pm you with my thought, just because it would not be right of me to say why I think what I do without any truth or evidence.

GSMGuy, no I do not have any of the snowflake occelaris.

delphinus, the scribbled rabbitfish is the guy in the bottom of the first picture. Always trying to get in on the clowns action...they are curious buggers, but they pack a whallop of a sting in their dorsal spines. They are extremely peaceful, though, and never catch my fish and has never purposefully stung me.

delphinus · #21 02/13/2007, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cschweitzer
delphinus, the scribbled rabbitfish is the guy in the bottom of the first picture.

Oh ... sorry if I wasn't clear. I know which one is the rabbitfish.

I meant "easier to see if you know what you're looking for" in terms of the bent gill plates (a few people seem to have commented on that about your pictures but I have looked at the pictures several times and don't see anything about what I imagine a "bent gill plate" would be).

I think doliatus is my favourite of the rabbitfish. I bought a juvenile Siganus in December thinking it might have been doliatus but as he's grown in a little he's clearly a virgatus (well .. I think). Not any less endearing of a fish of course, he's a sweetheart, and a wicked algae eater, so I'm glad I got him, but I still do like the doliatus (and wish I had one). I just haven't seen a doliatus come into the stores up my way in a long time, been looking almost a year now. (Sorry for the off-topic tangent by the way.)

cschweitzer · #22 02/13/2007, 04:34 PM

Sorry, my misunderstanding. If you look at the head, you see how it is a little indented on the side, almost where our temples/ears would be? It's the part that covers the gills on a clownfish that becomes a little indented on some of them. There is a little wave where you can see a shadow right through the front bar that is much easier to see in the last two pictures. It has not had an ill effect on my fish, so as of now, nothing that concerns me.

racerw · #23 02/13/2007, 06:13 PM

Cute fish, I have a pair but they are very hard to get a picture of fast little buggers. I would of never noticed the bent gill, people are very observant