Yes excellent point in regards to lures and colors. I to am an avid fisherman, keeping fish keeps the edge off from me getting grumpy from not fishing.
There are tucanares (Peacock Chiclids/ Peacock Bass) here in some of the lakes in Hawaii and talapia as well as convicts are very popular live baits to use to catch them. My experience is convicts seem to suggest that convicts seem to draw more strikes from largemouth bass than tucanares (Peacock Chiclids). I also recognize that regionally some species of fish seem to prefer different types of bait.
I also know that many predator fish are sensitive to sound and movement. In fact, movement often triggers the strike mechanism in the fish and a little added sound helps as well. Case in point, fishermen who catch largemouth bass, many bass fishermen added rattlers to their plastic worm or lure to create additional sound to catch bass.
Some of the more popular soft plastic grub baits used here in Hawaii for some saltwater predatory game fish are black or white and they work quite effectively here. I have found that the white lures seem to work well when the area has a lot of sand.
In regards to using live black mollys as feeder fish for datnoids, movement isn't a problem because the fish is alive. Thus color must play a role in this equation. Convict chiclids are black and grey, thus there is some contrast in their coloration and probably easier for the datnoid to see and eat. For some predators it is suggested that they see only in black and white, and others only can detect movement.
Well my tank with the datnoids is planted, thus I am assuming that the black mollys when they swim among the plants creates enough contrast that a predator can detect it. I am sure that an Oscar would gobble up the black mollies in a few seconds if given the opportunity. I also have the lights on in the tank for about 8 - 12 hours a day for the plants. I have also noticed that the datnoids seem to prefer dimly lit tanks. Thus hunting in low light conditions shouldn't be an issue and detecting blacks and grays shouldn't be much of an issue.
Thank you for your replies and I look forward to gaining additional insight from any and all experiences that you may have regarding this issue.
thus it brings me back to my original question, are datnoids color blind? And then some follow-up questions would be:
Do datnoids just see in black & white or can they see a good portion of the color spectrum?
Any insight that could be given would be awesome! Thanks!!!!!
please keep the thoughts, ideas, and observations coming!
