My Diamond Tail Flasher, P. attenuatus

[TheShrimpNibbler]

I finally got one of these this morning! I’m so excited! Sorry for the bad photo.

 

[OrionN]

Well, My friend Mike got his Diamond tail, and I got my two. They grew really fast with good feeding and right now the largest one is about 1.5 and the smaller one is about 1.25. The larger one also started to have his dorsal spike and the tail elongated to the diamond shape that is their namesake. I put them in my DT yesterday. Both went into hiding but have come out to feed. I got a quick pictures of them just now. Here they are. I am very glad and relieved that they did not ended yo been Harlequin Tusk dinner. I did feed the Tusk ahead until he is really full before I added the Diamond Tail to the tank.
Larger Diamond Tail

Smaller of the two

 

[OrionN]

More pictures. They are growing fast, mature quite nicely and great color.
Smaller

Larger

Both

 

[OrionN]

I cannot believe how fast this wrasse grow and change. less than 1 inch 2/16/2020 to about 1.5 inches on 3/29/2020. Here are the pictures from 2/16/2020. Today picture ^^^
My smaller one is almost exacty same coloration as the larger one 6 weeks ago.
2/16/2020

 

[TheShrimpNibbler]

They are gorgeous!

 

[OrionN]

My Diamond Tail Flashers are very bold fish. Both of mine are just barely over 1 inch, the next in size is my Carpenter which is closer to 2.5-3 inches, but they hold their ow quite well. They dart into the coral if any larger fish or wrasse pay close attention to them, only to dart out the other side and continue to hunt for foo or doing what ever they are doing.
The R L corner of the tank, where they choose to reside is quite heavy in flow, I turn down the flow there a bit so they have easier time getting their food, but I suspect they will do fine even if I did not turn it down. An other reason is decrease the flow help a lot in taken pictures, it decrease fish movement. I don't really have a lot of time during right now but will have more time during the weekend. I am sure I will get better pictures over the weekend. It is harder to photograph small fish like these because they are fast moving, and too small. The automatic focus have a hard time key in on them. I have to go back to manual focus, which I have not done for fast moving objects for a long time. I even forgot which direction to turn the focus ring as I anticipate wrasse movement. It took me a while before I can get this skill back. By then the light got too dim and the fish went to sleep.
I will try to diligently taken pictures and see if I can document the changes of my Diamond Tail from female to male.
With the speed of the change, I am glad to report that my female does not seem to continue to have her 10th dorsal ray elongate any more.
Pictures last night as the light fade of the young Male Diamond Tail Flasher

 

[OrionN]

I sorta hit the Jackpot this AM. I just have my camera and see if I can get lucky. Here are two of the pictures I got. The coloration have change a lot just over the last several days. However, light angulation really make a different in bringing out these coloration at this time. An example of this is below. Same lightl, same camera setting, just slight angle of the fish which clearly show the florescent color in one and not the other.
This is the very best picture of my Diamond Back Wrasse.

Very light different light angle result in mark decrease of the florescent coloration below, but I am happy with this picture to, if nothing else, just to bring out the point I am trying to document.

 

[fcmatt]

Nice pics. Doesn't seem shy. Definitely pretty.

 

[OrionN]

And 32 hrs later

 

[OrionN]

No change. Just better pictures. This guy is flashing a lot, thus easy to take good pictures.

 

[OrionN]

He is such a good eater. Look at his stomach.
12 days and more blue is coming in. More on the edge and also more on the Dorsal and Anal fins.
I am trying to document the changes and how quickly it changes in my aquarium. This fish is a really must have flasher IMO.

 

[OrionN]

Picture of my female. She is at 1.5 inch, larger than the size the male was when he started transformation to male. I definitely thinks he is suppressing her from changing. At this time, at 1.5 inch she show no evidence of any male characteristic. She is really dark due to the high light in my tank.

 

[OrionN]

Some additional color developement. This is a great wrasse to have. Flashign a lot and so beautiful, even if he is not fully developed yet.

 

[OrionN]

Head and Tail shot of the Male Diamond Tail Flasher from this AM. I can't quite filter out the blue coloration of early morning sunrise in the tank.

 

[OrionN]

My male Diamond Tail Flasher is about 1.75+ inches and the female is nearly 1.5 inches. The male is just still a initial phase male, but he is hyper-sexed. He display and court the female all day long, absolutely anytime I look into the tank, I see him courting the female. He does not bite her, just display and swim around and around her. Once he is fully color in, it will be a sight to see.
The female Diamond Tail flasher is about 1.75 inches plus. This is much larger than my male was when he start to change. I think he is pestering her prevent her from changing. Here is a video of the courtship this evening, interrupted by the the aggressive Red-fin Fairy wrasse. The interruption did not last long, and the Diamond Tail pair go right back into it.

 

[OrionN]

Picture I took today. He is hyper-sexed. He pestered the female Diamond tail to no end. Every time I looking into the tank, he is display and court her. I do think this really supressed her from changing sex. He is now about 1.75 inches or so and she is shy of 1.5 inches. She is much larger than he was when he change sex. She can be seen in picture #2 below. No evidence of any change. I also attach the last picture I took of her on 4/18/2020 below

Female on 4/18/2020

 

[TheShrimpNibbler]

Absolutely stunning! I’m amazed every time I see this fish.

 

[evolved]

Picture I took today. He is hyper-sexed. He pestered the female Diamond tail to no end. Every time I looking into the tank, he is display and court her. I do think this really supressed her from changing sex. He is now about 1.75 inches or so and she is shy of 1.5 inches. She is much larger than he was when he change sex. She can be seen in picture #2 below. No evidence of any change. I also attach the last picture I took of her on 4/18/2020 below

Female on 4/18/2020

I had johnsoni in the past that behaved this way. They even spawned together several times a week. But after about 6 months, the female turned male regardless.

 

[OrionN]

He continue to pursuits her relentlessly.

 

[OrionN]

@TheShrimpNibbler
How is your Diamond Tail Flasher?