tiger barbs
- Thread starter big G
- Start date
???juliethegr8t
Addicted and in Therapy
Have you checked your water parameters when this happens? Tiger barbs are very sensitive to changes in water. Also, is it possible that they lose their color when they're in the dark? Mine always gets much paler when he's sleeping, but by the time the light has been on for a bit he's back to normal.
water checks out ok. i dont think its a serious prob. they never seem 2b bothered by this and always return 2 normal in a fairly short time. come 2 think on it shouldnt say they . only 1 left dropsy problem 
thanks 4 the reply 
thanks 4 the reply rsz
Cheddar: classic or cliche?
mine used to do that, i thought it was when they were stressed (so the boss looked dark green, the others were sometimes paler, sometimes not) 
A
AquaNut
Guest
My tiger barbs, like many of my other fish, are always pale and washed out looking when I first turn on the tank lights. They are soon their vibrant colours again, though, and I never concern myself with it.
Perhaps Lateral Line could offer us a true explanation of why this happens (I'm sure he has one lol).
Perhaps Lateral Line could offer us a true explanation of why this happens (I'm sure he has one lol).
Most fish have excellent colour vision, (if they didn't - they'd all be black and white - why have vast tracts of expensive to run colour producing cells if nobody can see them?!!??!!??!!).
Like our own eyes, the colour receptors need a lot of light to work, because they only respond to a small part of the spectrum.
When it gets dark, there is not enough light for the colour receptors to work. Consider, when you wake up at night, is your bedroom all coloured, but just dim, or is it black, white and shades of grey?
There is a second group of cells in the eye that simply respond to light intensity, not colour. A white object reflects more light than a black object - eyes, (and I deliberatley make no distinction between yours, mine, or a Neons), see the low light world in monochrome.
Now consider your pattern of spots and stripes which looks so good in the day. At night, although it may not be vividly coloured to whatever is out there trying for a meal, it does show up as marked contrast changes.
By contracting the pigment cells, (chromophores), fish reduce the contrast they offer to night time predators, they grey down into a grey background.
Another group of pigmentation cells are called iridophores. These work not by pigmentation, but include layered guanine crystals. These reflect and refract light. The blue line on a Neon for example is produced in this way. Obviously, if there is no light falling on these cells, they cannot reflect/refract it.
Like our own eyes, the colour receptors need a lot of light to work, because they only respond to a small part of the spectrum.
When it gets dark, there is not enough light for the colour receptors to work. Consider, when you wake up at night, is your bedroom all coloured, but just dim, or is it black, white and shades of grey?
There is a second group of cells in the eye that simply respond to light intensity, not colour. A white object reflects more light than a black object - eyes, (and I deliberatley make no distinction between yours, mine, or a Neons), see the low light world in monochrome.
Now consider your pattern of spots and stripes which looks so good in the day. At night, although it may not be vividly coloured to whatever is out there trying for a meal, it does show up as marked contrast changes.
By contracting the pigment cells, (chromophores), fish reduce the contrast they offer to night time predators, they grey down into a grey background.
Another group of pigmentation cells are called iridophores. These work not by pigmentation, but include layered guanine crystals. These reflect and refract light. The blue line on a Neon for example is produced in this way. Obviously, if there is no light falling on these cells, they cannot reflect/refract it.
Angel03
Fish Crazy
i thought i had a problem with my neon tetras as when i turned on the light they were white then after a few minutes they had there true colour 
A
AquaNut
Guest
Wow LL. Thank you for another amazingly informative post. Maybe if you'd been my science teacher in high school, I wouldn't have become so artsy fartsy with the scientific knowledge of a ten year old. lol I KNEW there had to be a good reason for the loss of colour in the dark. (I also knew you'd be able to tell us what it was 
).
Edit: It has come to my attention that I must add a disclaimer to this post. While LL is certainly wise enough to have been my science teacher in high school, he is by no means old enough to have been!! 
My apologies, A..
Kirsten
).Edit: It has come to my attention
that I must add a disclaimer to this post. While LL is certainly wise enough to have been my science teacher in high school, he is by no means old enough to have been!! My apologies, A.. Kirsten
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