Wild Onyx Clownfish. Take 3
 

Today was my lucky day because I was able to procure a pair of wild caught Onyx clowns. This is my third try at keeping wild caught Onyx clowns.

Here's my new pair
http://i.imgur.com/nCplAkI.png
QT procedure
First the new clowns went through a Quick-Ich X bath in a 2 gallon tank filled half way for 45 mins. The medication contains 22% formaldehyde known to be effective against brooklynella (although most suggest using 37%). 22% is better than 0.
http://i.imgur.com/c7qMkTc.png
http://i.imgur.com/LrlRleC.png
Then they were placed in a 10 gallon QT with a full recommended dose of Quick Ich-X. After 3 days they will be treated with Maracyn 2 and subsequently with PraziPro
http://i.imgur.com/FaJZox0.png

Here's a video of the new pair in QT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e0qBOVo0Qk

Good luck. Nice pair.

Thanks!

Nice looking pair, I hope they do well for you. What anemone do you plan for them?

Hey bud, thanks. Probably a smaller Crispa or small Haddoni. Definitely no Mag or BTA because I would hate for them to lose their black colors and turn orange. LOL
How are your blue and tan/purple gigs doing?

Good luck!

Was that the only pair they had?
Any idea which importer they got them from?

Thanks, I have no idea. I heard there is pretty much one collecting station in Solomon Islands. Is that true? It's the only pair I saw that had true Onyx colors.

Beautiful pair, I hope this works for you. Good Luck!

So how long does it take for the wc clowns to be caught and then shipped to when you picked them up?

Nice, they will look good in an electric green haddoni.

No change in the blue and tan gig, which is a good thing. Both are healthy considering they are bleached, and the tan one's tentacles are really long. Just introduced two anemone crabs to the bigger one.

Not sure about the collecting stations, but I doubt there are too many.
Did the store import directly or did they get them from Quality Marine, Sea Dwelling Creatures,...?

How did the others look like?
I'm actually looking also for more of this color form:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/at...0&d=1421977902

Nice pick up! The full black dorsal is sweet.

Thank you everyone for the compliments. The clowns have started eating frozen food and one of them ate two pellets. I feel like a proud dad and hope not to jinx anything.

Awesome! If you ever breed any, hit me up!

+1
Those are two beautiful clowns nice find!!

Lol. Will do. They are fairly small now so it might be a while :)

It might be a while before I can get the approval from the wife....
She is still sour from my 90g build.

I would like to keep it that way which unfortunately means no Magnifica or Bubble anemones for them.

LOL, good luck :)

Beautiful Clowns! Tagging along to see how they do, I'm sure they will be fine since it looks like a great treatment plan for them.

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.

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.

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

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.

Nice pair