Just because the Morse Code Maroon failed to make it doesn’t mean that the Lighting Project is on hold.  Far from it.
The Lightning Maroon is having problems….keeping anemones in the new cage!  They keep LEAVING it, and the Lightning Clown has grown accustomed to having a BTA to frolic in.  So I added some more tiles to the bottom of the cage, but still, the BTAs flee the scene!   Not sure what I’m going to do here, if anything.
Remember my  “jumpers”?  Well, it turns out that the Sumatran Fire Clown was not jumping out of the breeder net, but escaping through a gaping hole that the Bristletail Filefish had gnawed in the netting.  Yesterday, I found the Fire Clown in bad shape, pummeled by all three Centropyge argi and the big Labrador Maroon.  I got it out, put it back in the net, and a couple hours later, found it again out of the net, beat up even more.  It was then that I discovered the hole in the bottom of the net.  The discovery came too late, and the Fire Clown was dead by morning.  Now, this fish was never a risk to either Maroon Clown, as it was far smaller.  I only share this story here to serve as a reminder of how vicious marine fish can be.  I blame the Fire Clown however, for not learning the first and second time to stay IN THE NET where it was safe, and blame myself for not catching the hole sooner.
The Brooklynella on the remaining largest juvie PNG Maroon seems to have disappeared, and all 4 remaining juveniles are doing well.  The one that jumped and got in a tiff with the other seems to be recovering quickly, and honestly may be my utlimate mate choice for the Lightning Maroon.  But I have yet to really think all of that through now.
The big female Gold Stripe Maroon (GSMs are from Sumatra) from Jonica and Scott is settling in well and has taken a shine to her little PNG mate.  There was never the slightest hint of aggression between these two fish.  The female was shy, but a week on is starting to adjust to seeing me come at her from the side (Jonica can tell you that she lived in a big vat, the entire surface covered in Chaetomorpha, so the only way she saw humans for the past several months was from above).  I had some new arrivals show up this week for another breeding project – Meiacanthus bundoon!  They seemed like a great match for this mis-matched pair of Maroon Clowns.  Sadly for Joncia’s GSM, her new “mate” is also up as a possible candidate as a mate to the Lightning Maroon…I like the color, and the fact that it has a broken tailbar to me says “increased chance of genetic predisposition to stripe variations”.  I’ll close with some updated pictures of the GSM, her PNG Mate, and the new Bundoons!

Jonica & Scott's Goldstripe Maroon, and her little PNG white striped mate!

A little community of Bundoon Blennies and a mismatched pair of Maroons!

A little community of Bundoon Blennies and a mismatched pair of Maroons!

Meiacanthus bundoon, the Bundoon Blenny

Meiacanthus bundoon, the Bundoon Blenny