Maturity of your tanks… seems to take so long, but amazing transformations await…

[Magnum Man]

I’m just at the point, that a lot of my fish are starting to color up, and some of my plants have started growing aggressively… I’m a busy guy, and every day I’m starting to notice changes… my African tank has been going for several months, and there are at least 3 varieties of fish in that tank that are dramatically changing color…in my Asian tank, the Tin Foil barb's, which I’ve had for over a year now, their fins didn’t have much color to start, are all cherry red now… the Panda Garra’s are growing rapidly, and fins are turning orange now…I never know what I’m going to see new every day now...

 

[Colin_T]

One of the things I liked about Australian and New Guinea rainbowfishes was the colour changes they go through as they age. They start off as clear larvae living just under the surface. After a month they are silversides swimming in the middle of the water column. A few months later and they had basic colours of juveniles and females. After 6 months the males had the majority of their colour but didn't show all of their colours and size until they were around 2 years old.

It was fascinating to watch and one of the things I like about life and living things. Seeing how birds start off as an egg and turn into an ugly baby (not always but most times), then developing into a young bird and finally colouring up into adult plumage.

Planting a seed in some soil and watching it germinate and sprout. It grows a little bit and produces a few leaves, then grows more and turns into a plant that could be any shape or size. When it matures it produces flowers that get pollinated and produce more seed.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Wait until your fish get to be sebnior citizens. The changes in many fish from old age mimic what happens to us. We get gray hair wrinkles and a lot of things we never had til we aged. Well the same holds true for many of the fish we keep.

Older fish usually show the effects of aging. Colors are less bright. Fins may fray some. In my B&W plecos there is less white and more black. My smaller clown loaches are brightly colored. The ones at 10 inches or more look faded.

Some fish look drab when we get them due to stress and to the fact they have changed parameters several times before they come to us. If the coonditions we provide them are proper, most of the fish will color up given a bit of time to settle in. One species like this for me has been the redline barbs. When they arrive they are drab and faded. But after a month or two in my tanks their colors get so vibrant I have had people as me if I am using hormones or something to make them look as they do. I have no idea how to do this. I rely on good water and good food and nture does the rest. OK- now and then I feed flakes intended to help with color, but this is a boost not a primary color changer for the fish. That is done by good old mother nature.....

edited to fix typos