Last September we released a special designer variety of the Goldstripe Maroon clownfish called the Goldflake Maroon. These rare but popular specimens exhibit extra barring and dots. When we increased our efforts to produce more of these prized fish something unique popped up in our larval tanks – solid white colored clownfish, closely resembling the Platinum Percula. We call these new fish Gold Nugget Maroons.
Gold Nugget clownfish begin life with a mostly white body and varying shades of red and maroon on the fins as well as the face. Many individuals also have considerable amounts of white on their face with some even having a white teardrop below their eye. Like their Gold Stripe Maroon parents, it can take a considerable amount of time for the white areas to turn gold. Depending on conditions such as diet, habitat and lighting, these fish may begin to develop a golden hue as early as 4 to 6 months of age but it typically takes more than year . Fully mature adults raised on a quality diet develop into truly stunning golden specimens.
The first few Gold Nuggets were introduced at Aquarama 2013 in Singapore. They were met with much fanfare, even making it into a Singapore newspaper. Finally, production has reached a point where we can offer these spectacular fish to all of our customers starting today.
Based on our experience with this variety, we can say that these fish exhibit classic Gold Stripe intelligence, behavior and feisty disposition. As with our Gold Stripe and Goldflake Maroons, we will be shipping juvenile fish that have not developed their gold coloration yet, but patient hobbyists will be rewarded with amazing adult fish.
