fish who lose color in captivity

[Ron Popeil]

what marine fish lose their color in captivity?

any fish that eat well, dont appear stressed, but lose the bright vivid colors once they have been in an aquarium for a few weeks? any come to mind?

[SDguy]

Some anthias arguably can/do.

[Megatrev62]

None come to mind. Some fish when adult get drab, but definitely not within a few weeks.

[jda]

Any of them if you feed them a horrible diet. Hippos with HLLE, and smaller large angelfish that grow up looking drab are the first examples that come to mind. ...maybe not in 3 weeks, but 3 weeks and they will be on their way.

[hybrid]

i have a 5 inch ausie scotts that lost all his color from not having a female he almost completely black

[Ron Popeil]

so some factors that determine color loss in captivity are:

poor diet
lack of potential mates/potential competition
normal metamorphosis

some anthias lose their vibrant wild coloration? which ones? any picture series of their change?


any other fish that people are finding lose the bright colors of their wild brethren?

[SDguy]

some anthias lose their vibrant wild coloration? which ones? any picture series of their change?


IME it can be any species... it's just more obvious in some than others. Bartletts come to mind. Also IME is definitely diet related... the more frozen seafood meats, cyclopeeze, nutrimar ova, etc in the diet, the more vibrant the colors stay.

[namxas]

The bright red leaf scorps often fade to a creamy/pinkish color.

Supplementation with astaxanthin often helps fish maintain their color.

[Ron Popeil]

what about yellows? what brings back bright yellow?

[SDguy]

what about yellows? what brings back bright yellow?

I generally can't think of bright yellow fading... even the anthias I mentioned, the yellow on the bartletts isn't the part that faded. If yellows faded, TBH, my FOWLR would look like crap :)

[Tactics]

My friend switched to an all flake diet for his fish (probably due to his busy lifestyle). Saw his anthias 2 months later and they looked very pale and drab.

I'm in agreement - a healthy, varied diet is the most important in maintaining colors.

[o2manyfish]

I have a multi-color angel that went into the tank with a bright white body, he swam into the rock work and disappeared for about 9 days. When he finally showed himself his body was dark charcoal grey. It's been over a year now and I have a full grown dark ugly multicolor angel.

I also got a juvenile flame angel which after a couple of months got noticeably darker on the top of his body.

Dave B

[Winwood]

what about yellows? what brings back bright yellow?

I was reading in a cichlid color article that some people mix in yellow bell peppers into their homemade food because of the specific carotenoids found in them bring out yellows in their fish fry.

[Ron Popeil]

do you have a link to that article? i wouldnt mind looking into that...

[Winwood]

Here ya go.
http://www.sonnysfishroom.com/?page_id=252

[Empty Bottles]

Flasher and Fairy wrasses. I have a flasher that has lost a lot of his vibrance in a year, but he is the only wrasse in the tank.

[Ron Popeil]

is anyone playing around with food ingredients and having success boosting colors? beyond astaxanthin for reds? anyone who has used yellow peppers for yellows? any other unique foods tried with noticeable effects?

[o2manyfish]

Jake Adams was visiting a month or so ago and was very impressed with the bright colors inlcuding reds and oranges in some of my fish. He felt that came from the oils in the Reef Nutrition Arcti-pods I feed.

Dave B

[triggerman71]

I had a male crosshatch trigger turn female and loose all his vibrant color including his bright red tail. This was I believe due to the absence of a female

[Ron Popeil]

Dave B, beyond the flame angel and multicolored angel, do you have any fish that you have noticed IMPROVED color with the use of the RN acticpods?