Who’s the prettiest fish??? Traditional African “dance off”

[Magnum Man]

I woke up this morning, watching some native African dance… my male interuptus, and my male yellow tail are having a “dance off” for the girls… no fin shredding yet, but there is a good dance battle going on between the 2… they don’t look anything alike but they are flashing each other, looks to be initiated by the less mature yellow tail… ( some closeup pictures of the Yellow Tail show that he's maturing nicely, & has gotten a lot more showy, lately ) looks like whenever the male interuptus starts chasing a female interuptus, the yellow tail joins in… hoping it doesn’t come down to fin shredding, as both are starting to get pretty nice looking

 

[Magnum Man]

They are so active it’s hard to get pictures

 

[Magnum Man]

This tank was all juveniles when they were added I may have to thin the population out, if I’m going to have physical interactions between the species, as they mature…

 

[Magnum Man]

I’m not sure if one of the female interuptus started this by signaling she was ready, and it got the yellow tail worked up??? But the yellow tail is staying between the male interuptus, and his females

 

[Colin_T]

Video can sometimes get better footage if the fish won't stay still. Or get a digital SLR camera and use a 1/200 shutter speed with the flash set to on.

 

[Magnum Man]

this is a screen shot of a short video clip, in essence a stop action photo... yellow tails filaments flying in the current...

 

[Magnum Man]

Well, they are at it again today… watching closely, it appears as if the interuptus male is after a particular female, who must be signaling somehow, that she’s receptive, and as soon as he starts courting her, the yellow tail male try’s to intercede… there are 2 interuptus females in the tank, and 3 yellow tail females, so, my male yellow tail must have matured faster than his girls… at times, the challenges are pretty aggressive, but so far, doesn’t look like any filaments have been damaged on either male…
I guess I didn’t really expect such physical challenges between males of different species???

 

[Magnum Man]

The Male Phenacogrammus Aurantiacus thinks there is too much competition, center stage, and finds some peace off to the side…

 

[Magnum Man]

And a small male red Alestopetersius brichardi, being the smallest of a few male brichardi, he’s not filled out and colored up yet… just starting his trident tail… agrees with the quiet behind the plant…

 

[Magnum Man]

Even one of the bigger Alestopetersius brichardi ( this one is supposed to be blue and red, when fully mature) is also avoiding the competition

 

[Magnum Man]

Sorry, todays pictures not a good, most taken with the zoom... The Blood Cap Moon’s (Bathyaethiops breuseghemi ) must have deeper pockets, as they all have front row seats, and seem to enjoy the action around them…

 

[Colin_T]

Try not to use zoom when photographing things, especially moving things. Zooming the lens out increases shake and the risk of movement in the images, it also increases the ISO rating, which makes the images look grainy.

 

[Magnum Man]

this tank being open on both big sides, & one end, the fish are pretty aware of movement, & will move deeper in the tank, even though I leave all the lights out in the room, the other 3 large aquariums next to this one, give off enough light, the fish can see the movement outside of the tank & with the turbidity & tannins in this tank, it makes any pictures with the fish not close to the glass, not very clear... so this is my hardest tank to get good pictures ( you won't see many fish from this tank entered in a fish of the month contest, not that some aren't awesome fish, only that I can't get many good pictures in this tank )... & I have plenty of light, this tank has 2 full length LED lights, because it's a full 24 inches deep...

the one I took from a short video yesterday, turned out pretty awesome, for this tank, & thanks for the suggestion... but it still required the camera close to the glass... I did a short video this morning, but the fish were more sensitive to the camera close to the glass, & I didn't get anything that looked good enough to make a picture from...

 

[Magnum Man]

This is a picture pulled from this morning’s video, of that blood cap... I think it's too deep ( too close to the center ) into the tank...

 

[Colin_T]

can't tell what that is. take lots of pictures and post one that is clear and in focus