Secretive fish

[Zeus]

Hi all,

I have a Pygmy Possum Wrasse (Wetmorella Nigropinnata) in QT at the moment and one my sources of info before buying was this article.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2004/fish.htm

I'd just like to comment on the secretiveness of this fish as mentioned in the article. What I have discovered, by accident, is that this fish hates white light but is far from secretive in my QT with blue, or even ambient, light only.

I have tested this with white light and she will hide all day only poking her nose out but never leaving her hiding place except to quickly grab anything floating by, a behaviour that is noted in the AA article, before returning to hiding.

However, under blue or ambient light she is a very different fish altogether, happily swimming all around the tank, curiously approaching the glass to see you and even coming to the surface to take food from the little spatula I use.

Quite fascinating actually.

Now I wonder just how many of these so called "secretive" fish species are like this and although they are peaceful are they truly a suitable choice, for their sake, for a reef under intense lighting?

Campbell

[Gillybaby]

That's a very good point Campbell. I had noticed that my Royal Gramma rarely comes out during the day except for food and then never strays far from its cave. However, when the lights are off but the room lights are on, the Gramma roams the entire tank and has even hand fed!

I imagine this would also be true of deeper water species (not sure if the wrasse is a deep water species or not). I wonder if anyone has ever set up a tank with lower light levels specifically for deeper water species. Could be a nice change from the norm.

[Zeus]

Hi Gilly,

I have been toying with the idea to build a deeper water tank for a while now. I have even bought a Rio125 which is supposed to replace my old freshwater tank but I haven't decided if it will yet. Either way I am going to have a "spare" 80 or 125 litre tank so may just take the plunge and setup a deeper water FOWLR.

Chances are good that'll have made my decision before Christmas. Of course if anyone has any insight into the challenges/problems of a deeper water, blue light only, setup I'd be glad to hear them.

Campbell

[Pinkfish]

I have no experiance in this but good luck on your speciality deep water tank

Mike