Fish Changing Colors

[freshwaterfishlover]

last week I bought 2 Black Skirted Tetras and the bottom Fin was pal. After being in my Tank for a few hours it changed to it's normal Black bottom fin. Samething happened today when I bought 4 More Black Skirted Tetras. Today I also bought a Male and Female Honey Dwarf Gourami. Both were Silver. After being in my tank for a few hours the male turned it's normal orange and Black.

 

[divisible by zero]

i've found that some fish will lose color on the way home, but usually gain it back, and eventually even gain more color after being on a better diet.

 

[freshwaterfishlover]

I feed my Fish 2 types of Pelets, Shrimp Fakes, Algae Tablets and Frozen Food.

 

[dthoffsett]

I've found all of my fish are much brighter than the LFS. There are a few things that can explain that, better quality food - most LFS use a single type of bulk flake to feed all of their fish (some of your better shops also add veggies and a better quality food); stress - in the LFS they are often in heavily stocked tanks with little to no cover, lots of people moving around (and sometimes tapping on the tanks), while at home there are in much better conditions (hopefully ); and in some cases at the LFS they are in diseased or bad water conditions, while at home they should be in a healthy environment. I've also found different lighting conditions can completely change a fish's coloring.

No wonder they look better at home!

 

[Tolak]

It's common for many fish to color up better once they are settled in their environment. After the stress of being shipped, and being kept in an overstocked tank at a shop where their is all sorts of commotion outside their tank many fish will exibit some fading of colors.

 

[loachman]

It's pretty normal. Fish can alter their colors alot.

Every fish I've had experience with has their color wash out when they're stressed. Bright lights, bagging/handling, overcrowding, and poor water quality are all reasons fish will loose color. Once the stressor is removed, their color comes back.

Other things can be done to improve coloring. Good quality foods, especially high in carotene (sp?) and some other vitamins help. Lower lighting and/or dark substrates often help as the bright lights and highly reflective substrates can lead to a more persistent color loss.

The presence of females can also help in some species like rainbowfish. The males will brighten up their coloring to impress the ladies throughout the day. Their color change can be pretty dramatic.

 

[omega59]

i had a goldfish for over 2 years pushing 3, and he went from bright orange to completly white lol.

 

[dthoffsett]

The presence of females can also help in some species like rainbowfish. The males will brighten up their coloring to impress the ladies throughout the day. Their color change can be pretty dramatic.

Yup, forgot about that. You see it alot in African cichlids too, some also change their colors for camoflauge. For example, pseudotropheus crabro live in caves with a species of catfish, while the catfish is there they are yellow with brown bars (females) and blue with darker bars (males), when the catfish leaves the crabros whole body turns very dark so they can steal the catfish's eggs. Once the catfish reappears the crabros quickly turn back into their barred coloring so the catfish won't eat them. I have a female and it's amazing to watch her completely change coloring in just seconds. Pretty cool huh.