Maybe my Juv Ornatum have started to pair up...your thoughts.

[NOLAGT]

I started out with 7 Juv 1-1.5" ornatums in a 55. Right away after transport they came down with ick and one didnt make it. Then shortly after one jumped out the back of the tank so I was let with 5. Those 5 lived in the 55 for a wile and as they grew and as time went on the pecking order started to fall into place. There was always one that seemed to be the dominant larger one of the tank and had his place under the slate. That one is the lager one in the vid that looks to be a male. He was always the in the background, not chasing the other 4 fish much and liked to stay under his slate. The one in the vid that I think might be female is the one that dominated the other 3 fish and never really messed with the larger presumed male. This one looked different in color too than the larger presumed male...either being the dom female or a sub male I dont know. As time went on that one presumed female killed one of the other 3. I tried to pull it out but it was too far gone and died. Then last night there was another victim of the presumed female but I was able to pull that one and altho badly beaten I think it might make it. As of now there is one left in the 55 that is hiding almost completely black in the upper corner and if the presumed female sees it she will give chase. Now the larger presumed male doesnt pay much attention to it. With the other fish out of the tank (or site) these 2 remaining seem to hang out decent...usually that presumed female is chasing the others all over but now it seems they kinda stick together with out trying to kill one another. In the vid you can see the color difference. The presumed female has blue spangles on the face but not a lot and the over all body color is a tan/yellow where as the presumed male is more blue and is heavy spangled in the face. I notice this difference in my adult ornatums I have too. So maybe they have started to bond? Or maybe its a dom sub male thing? Time will tell...what do you think?

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[fishman09]

got my fingers crossed for you. good luck. looks like pair activity to me but only time will tell. would be awesome to get some f1 ornatum out there

 

[NOLAGT]

I agree...to me it looks pair'ish but im bias lol. The presumed female seems to always have some bright yellow eyes and the presumed male does not. She will flair up on him at times too. I will pull that other one out today and might stick a pot in there just in case. I have no idea if they are even big enough yet. I have had them for about a year...male is maybe 4-4.5" I guess.

 

[jweav]

Sure looks like they are starting to bond to me.Best of luck with them.Beautiful fish

 

[TMSB805]

It does look promising. Best of luck!

 

[NOLAGT]

I moved the last one out of the tank this morning...I wanted to watch how the other two interacted wit that 3rd one still in there. Every time that 3rd one came out of hiding the one I think is female would attack,flaring, and a total color change while the male looking one would not even look at it...like his girl was doing the dirty work for him. So I pulled the 3rd one out and its just the two left...and they are as peaceful as can be swimming around the tank together most of the time. I have not seen two ornatums in a tank be this nice to each other. My larger ones in a 125 lasted a day before one was almost dead. And in this 55 there was always scraping...mostly the one I think is female attacking the other in the tank except her man.

 

[Mateomedina]

i have my fingers crossed for you as well and im on the list if you get fry or need to get rid of the other growouts . I have one question though. Is it Ornatus or Ornatum??

 

[NOLAGT]

Well I took the last one out today and stuck it with the group I am holing for my 374g at home when its set up so I am hoping it will play nice there. The other grow out is healing now but I have a friend local that has some other growouts I might toss that one in the mix.

As for ornatum/ornatus...I had asked jeff rapps about that...I forgot what he said...maybe one is masculine and one is feminine? Same fish tho...

 

[freebyrd]

I have one big male that will terrorize anything and everything. Then i have a bonded pair that just hangs out digs pits and stays together. I have learned that some of these fish can be hyper aggressive and some laid back but wont take any crap from tankmates. The males are more of a jasper green with heavy blue spangles and very ornate fins lots of black on the sides and very predominant red caudal and dorsal fins. My female is smaller and yellow-green with less spangles but more of like turqouise around the lips / face area and very faint red at all. I would say that you have a m/f and they are bonding. Great job! I love to see other people enjoying these fiah as much as i do

 

[freebyrd]

Female i know its not a good pic but you can see her colors

And the hyperaggressive male kind of the same pose

Different shot of him showing the ornate fins and red coloration

And another of the female

Just trying to show sex differences for you to compare your pair to. Im not an expert just a very observative hobbiest