Coloration

M

meanjean

Medium Fish
#1
May 10, 2005
97
0
0
Kentucky
#1
Bought a common pleco at the store, and it was dark brown, almost black. During transport home it faded to a tan with mid-brown spots. Three weeks later, its mostly brown with slightly darker brown spots. Today I notice the tips of its fins have a reddish-orange tinge to them, still brown with browner spots.

What gives?

By the way, definetly a healthy eater--will consume two discs per day, and keeps the tank almost OCD clean.
 

Balloon Fish

Balloon Fish

Elite Fish
#2
Jul 6, 2004
3,025
0
0
34
San Antonio, Texas
balloonfishy.tripod.com
#2
your pleco sounds normal so i wouldn't worry about it unless there is some color changing disease i dont know about... if its eating at that rate i'm pretty sure its healthy. How big is it? how big is the tank its in? if its not that big of a tank i wouldn't feed it that much each day maybe 1 disc a day to slow down the growth :) but if you have a nice big tank and you want it to grow bigger then 2 discs a day will get you there in no time. Is it eating the disc all by itself?
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#3
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
38
42
Colorado
#3
Stress can change a fish's color. The color change you noticed between the store and the bag was probably stress related... Its possible that he was under stress at the store, then MORE stress in the car and then LOW stress at home now that he's gotten used to your tank and really starting to show his real coloring. A lot of fish also change color as they mature and according to different minerals/chemicals and what not in the water...so yeah, unless you start seeing white on him or tattered fins I dont think I'd worry about color changes. :)
 

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