Tetra Color Gone When Light First Turned on

[Roan Art]

See, now rainbowfish are different.

When my tank lights come on around 6 am, the clowns roll out of their tunnel all pale and washed out, but the rainbows look like someone dumped Crayolas in the water.

They spawn in the early morning just before and after the sun comes up and that's when their colors are consistantly the brightest.

They're like this at night as well, just when it starts to get dark. And during the day. Hrmp! I guess they just like doing the nasty

Roan

 

[echoofformless]

Certainly normal. My neons in fact have a certain sleep position that they get into - they sort of angle themselves to slightly face downward at about 45 degrees, lose their color and just stay there until the lights come on. Then they slowly come back to color and start swimming around merrily.

 

[DirkW]

Neon Tetra's also get pale when they're stressed. Mine loose their color when I'm netting out a batch of Molly or Swordtail fry from the tank they share.

 

[patoloco]

:OT: :OT:

DirkW: your avatar just seem to have started singing Karma Charmeleon.

Weird things runnings trough my mind today

 

[rrkss]

The colors are caused by the manufacture of certain pigments. They are used by the fish to identify each other ... At night when the fish are sleeping and are in the dark, it would be a waste of the fish's energy to manufacture pigments and as the pigments naturally break down the fish turns pale. This same reason applies to the fish's color when they are healthy and happy vs when they are sick. When a fish is sick, they are using their energy on fighting their disease or trying to heal and that is why sick fish appear pale because they are not making as much pigment.

 

[PeeJay]

Neon Tetra's also get pale when they're stressed. Mine loose their color when I'm netting out a batch of Molly or Swordtail fry from the tank they share.

Yes, my Blackskirts also get very pale when I net them as well. But once they are not stressed, their colours come back. Also, I've read that Blackskirts loose colouration as they get older.

 

[RTR]

The pigments are not manufactured de novo every day, they are just clumped or dispersed depending on mood/sleep/health, etc - hormonally controlled.

 

[TetraFreak]

The pigments are not manufactured de novo every day, they are just clumped or dispersed depending on mood/sleep/health, etc - hormonally controlled.

Great Info Everyone!

So Tetras DO need their "Beauty Sleep" then! :joke: