Neon Tetras Changing Colour

[Blubble37]

I just turned the tank light on to check on my kuhli loach (night is the only time they are out usually) and noticed my neons have lost their neon-ness and their red tail and that has been replaced by a faint red line and a almost ultraviloet colour in their normal neon band!

Heres what the heck i am talking about.

and a normal one...

http/static.howstuffworks.com/gif/neon_tetra-16.jpg

Thanks in advance!

Oh and i just noticed that my Minnows lose nearly all their colour when the light is off, is this normal or is there something wrong?

 

[minnnt]

Yeah it's something they do at night, my cardinals do it also. Also can be a sign of stress.

 

[Blubble37]

fair e nuff.

 

[minnnt]

It is probably just a defence mechanism, the less colour they have the less chance they have of being seen.

 

[Blubble37]

maybe but who can mistake a ultraviloet fish lol!

 

[Noahs ark6]

it's normal, my neons do it aswell

 

[Westwood]

Mine do it as well!

 

[Whitey_144]

maybe but who can mistake a ultraviloet fish lol!

my cardinals do it as well, my Angelfish are quite pale at first light too.

I assume the shoal of tetras together confuses and would be predators, hence why the UV stringking blue would stand out more at night and other colours go less visible.

When my cardinals were stressed (temp wise) they seemed to sit on the bottom and slowly move around, i've seen this a couple of times when i set the tank up...

 

[coldcazzie]

all fish lose colour at night - no need to worry about it!

would be better if you didn't turn the tank light on when they think it's nighttime though - you'll stress them out. If you want to view the khulis while it's dark then you could get some of those blue LEDs to use as "moonlight" or just make do with the room light.

 

[fluttermoth]

My false neons go a lovely coppery red; almost like a glowlight (actually brighter than a glowlight!); they lose the blue altogether.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Yep, my cardinals do it too, i quite like the soft colour they go, almost purple

 

[Blubble37]

My false neons go a lovely coppery red; almost like a glowlight (actually brighter than a glowlight!); they lose the blue altogether.

one q there fluttermoth, why have false neons when you can buy TRUE ones lol!

 

[Essjay]

I can't answer for fluttermoth, but I can tell you that I have green/false neons rather than true neons because I think they are much nicer.

They are smaller, have less red, and the blue stripe is bigger. The blue also turns green at certain angles (hence the other common name green neons). All in all, a much prettier fish in my opnion



Oh, and my green/false neons go dark at night too.