Banded Pygmy

A big colorful banded... this one is at least two years old... and I just thought it had developed some nice color... and there are not enough banded pictures... so I took her out of the tank and took her portrait.

lovely fish! I enjoy mine very much as well and feel they are under estimated!

how big is she?

lovely fish! I enjoy mine very much as well and feel they are under estimated!

how big is she?

Monsterous... a full inch and a half... I tried to take a picture with the tape measure in it, but my camera focused only on the tape measure and notthe fish, so it didnt turn out...

I was just impressed with the obvious spotting and blue color on her face... I also have to say that this fish acts more like a sunfish than other Elassoma I have kept... comes right to the front glass and is excited at dinner time.

do you think bandeds do more tend to live near the ground than other pygmies? mine especially seem to live around leaves at the bottom of the tank.

Yes I think you're right that zonatum stay near the bottom more, and sometimes I find wild zonatum in leaf litter far away from plant beds. The other pygmy species I find wild ONLY in aquatic plant beds. Also it seems zonatum are more aggressively territorial than evergladei or okefenokee. Sometimes even females can get pretty nasty to each other.

Mike -- That pic is a "her" ?? Never seen a female with such dark fins. Is that an old-age phenomenon?

Edited by gerald, 24 May 2011 - 10:50 AM.

do you think bandeds do more tend to live near the ground than other pygmies?

My Elassoma gilberti prefer the ground, but will hide in surface plants if they are the only cover available.

Gerald,

I am not 100% sure. If you think the dark fins are an indicater, tell me more about that. I was unaware that there was a difference in fin color.

Yes, besides having less iridescent gold/green/blue on the body than males, female Elassoma also generally have clear fins (in between the dark speckles) whereas males get dusky gray fins. It's possible old females might get dusky fins and more body iridescence like males. Dusky fin edges (D,A,+C)is usualy the first sex difference I notice in young males, before the iridescent colors get prominent.

Gerald,

I am not 100% sure. If you think the dark fins are an indicater, tell me more about that. I was unaware that there was a difference in fin color.

do you have any suggestions for me getting my bandeds less shy? i got about 7 of them four to five weeks ago but they still rush away when i only get near to their tank. i haven't had these problems with my e. evergladei and okefenokee. i tried feeding in the dark while sitting next to the tank but without success.
an you help me?

You could try sticking live blackworms all over your face, to make you look more interesting.
Or, feed them only when you have 5-10 min or so to sit still in front of the tank, so they get used to associating your face with food. They may still dash away if you move, but if you're sitting still and they're hungry, they'll gradually learn to come out. Young ones will learn quicker than adults.

Edited by gerald, 22 June 2011 - 09:25 AM.

I have found Elassoma to be less shy if you view them from below, either by putting the tank up high or sitting on a footstool. Might be worth trying this until they get used to you.

I think a lot of species that have terrestrial predators are wary of large objects above them.

... feed them only when you have 5-10 min or so to sit still in front of the tank, so they get used to associating your face with food. They may still dash away if you move, but if you're sitting still and they're hungry, they'll gradually learn to come out. Young ones will learn quicker than adults.

I agree with this advice. If they associate your face with food, then they will fear you less.

I also would like to suggest adding a bit of current near the front glass. So many times, pygmy sunfish setups are designed to be stagnant and to have no water flow. But I've found that if you give them a little section of the tank with current, then some of the more adventurous ones will come out and play in the current like any other fish would. Here's a video of a female Elassoma gilberti playing in the current. That corner she's hanging out in is where the output to the hang on back waterfall filter poured.



Over time, I figured out that they liked current and added a bit more. Here's some Elassoma gilberti playing in the spot in the tank where the waterfall filter created the most water movement:



This second video is after I've started doing the "feed them when you sit down to look at them" technique, where they were less afraid of my face. Back when I fed them by having a standing population of blackworms that wasn't possible, but now that I feed them three times a day with crushed flake food, they can easily associate the sudden presence of food with my face. I also have trimmed down the plants a lot so there are simply less places for them to hide (*evil cackle*). With only enough densely planted region for about ten Elassoma to completely hide their body at any given time, they other seventy are forced out into the open. It's probably mean, but it's working.

Tank before:
http://gallery.nanfa...er/058.JPG.html
It was a bit too densely planted and I could have sworn I had 30 to 40 Elassoma when, after emptying the tank and counting, I actually had 84.

Tank now: http://gallery.nanfa...n tank.jpg.html
See how the densest plants are at the surface? That's to lure them off the substrate and up near the flake food on the surface.
The downside is that they're not breeding (probably because I'm feeding them flakes. They haaate that). I think I'll let the region in the far left grow a bit thicker. Maybe a male will set up a breeding territory if it's denser. I dunno, it's still a work in progress. *nods* Good luck with your pygmies. They're just shy fish, is all. But if they're trained a bit, they can be less shy.

Edited by EricaWieser, 22 June 2011 - 12:45 PM.

thanks for all your answers. i will give it a try and tell my experiences.
torben