Skirt Tetra Color Change - Normal?

[Featheryfish]

I've seen my skirt tetras exhibit more of a pale brown coloration on occasion, but when I turned on the light this morning, almost all of them were a pale brown instead of their more typical inky black. Even the white skirt tetras seemed whiter. They are usually a bit paler in the morning but this was more extreme. I found a little bit of information that seemed to indicate the color change was probably normal, but I'd like to check in with some people who have fish experience chops.

So, 88 degrees F for just shy of 2 weeks to treat a mild case of ich was very successful, I have not seen any trace of it and so I've slowly brought the temperature back down to 78 degrees F. I tested pH, kH, gH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates yesterday and everything was perfect.

It seems like almost any change or event in the aquarium causes the skirt tetras to go into a spawning frenzy (raising the temperature, moving some plants, adding new fish, doing a water change, looking at them funny, etc.) but boy oh boy, nothing has ever excited them more than the temperature being gradually lowered back to 78. For the past day and a half there has been a crazed, nonstop, all-day, all-night tetra orgy. They don't seem to sleep!

Is it safe to assume that their (stress coloration?) is a product of their own berserking and/or the temperature change, or should I investigate other causes?

 

[Essjay]

Did you turn the tank on in a dark room? Fish are paler in the dark.

It is not good for fish for the tank light to go on or off in a dark room. The room light should be switched on, or the room in daylight for at least half an hour before the tank light is turned on; similarly, the room should have the light on or in daylight for at least half an hour after the tank light is turned off.
The tank lights should be on for the same length of time and at the same time of day, every day. A timer is ideal for this.

 

[Featheryfish]

Did you turn the tank on in a dark room? Fish are paler in the dark.

It is not good for fish for the tank light to go on or off in a dark room. The room light should be switched on, or the room in daylight for at least half an hour before the tank light is turned on; similarly, the room should have the light on or in daylight for at least half an hour after the tank light is turned off.
The tank lights should be on for the same length of time and at the same time of day, every day. A timer is ideal for this.

I turn the lights in the room on first for a while, then their moon lights, then a small LED table lamp next to the tank, then I turn on the bright lights. Similar deal in reverse at night. I don't have a dimmer or a timer so I kinda just DIY a sunrise/sunset using what I have l on hand, I don't mind. They're on/off at approximately the same time every day, it's usually the first thing I take care of when I wake up.

I actually wasn't sure if I was being silly making an effort to avoid shocking the fish with sudden light or not, it's just similar to what I've done in the past for other animals like birds so I went with it. It's nice to hear that they probably appreciate it.

I'm thinking about it though... perhaps the angle of the indirect sunlight coming into the living room has changed enough to effect the light levels they experience in the early morning before I wake up... maybe they were getting more ambient light through the curtain before.

If that's the case, I'll try to compensate by increasing the amount of time I leave the other lights on before I turn on the bright tank light. They have colored up again as the day goes on. I'll definitely mess around with the lighting schedule and see if that fixes my washed-out morning fish. Thank you!

 

[Colin_T]

I turn the lights in the room on first for a while, then their moon lights, then a small LED table lamp next to the tank, then I turn on the bright lights. Similar deal in reverse at night.

That's a good way to wake fish up and let them settle down for the night.

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To treat whitespot with heat you normally use 86F because a lot of fish stress at 88F. However, too little too late

The colouration does not sound normal but it could be due to the high temperature.

Most fish will breed when there are temperature or barometric changes. This is linked to warmer spring weather, or cooler winter rainfall.

 

[Featheryfish]

That's a good way to wake fish up and let them settle down for the night.

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To treat whitespot with heat you normally use 86F because a lot of fish stress at 88F. However, too little too late

The colouration does not sound normal but it could be due to the high temperature.

Most fish will breed when there are temperature or barometric changes. This is linked to warmer spring weather, or cooler winter rainfall.

I did 86 for a day, then moved it up to 88 and didn't find any behavior difference between the two. I'd have tried 90 since no once was having any trouble breathing but my heater doesn't go any higher. It just made them go fast and eat a ton. On reflection, I don't think I really ever saw any tetras looking pale during the heat treatment, maybe the faster metabolic rate made then color up more rapidly in the morning. Pasty fish happened at 78 degrees.

Increasing the the length of the light ramp-up solved it.