Clown Getting Darker On Top

[pixiefish]

I know I saw a topic thread on this once before but I can't seem to find it. The question is, is that one of my clowns back is turning dark and I was wondering if that had to do with the number of hours the lights on the tanks are on. Is this the clowns equalivent of a sunburn? Is this normal? How many hours in a day should the lights be on or should I just hand him a bottle of suntan lotion?

 

[teresaq]

nothing to do with lights, your clown is maturing and turning female.

 

[zigster]

both of my clowns backs have gotten darker, i use spf 45 on them now, seems to do the trick

 

[lil.guppy]

Originally Posted by TeresaQ
http:///forum/post/3030754
nothing to do with lights, your clown is maturing and turning female.
Really?
Because I noticed my fishes back turning dark awhile back too.

 

[aquarium125g]

%
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
http:///forum/post/3030754
nothing to do with lights, your clown is maturing and turning female.
i always thought thats the biggest one was the female

 

[lil.guppy]

Originally Posted by AQUARIUM125G
http:///forum/post/3032056
%
i always thought thats the biggest one was the female

Thats what I thought

 

[windlasher]

Originally Posted by TeresaQ
http:///forum/post/3030754
nothing to do with lights, your clown is maturing and turning female.
Mine is doing that too. So how long does that take to happen?
Does he wake up feeling confused... like a woman in a mans body, wander around in a daze for a while and then decide to go for reassignment surgery in Bangkok, or is it just one day he wakes up and WHAMMO, new girl parts?

I jest, but I do want to know.
thanks.

 

[blazetamer]

I am NOT sure but have been told in the past that it just means that they are maturing I know I have a mated pair and BOTH thier backs got a bit dark after they paired up ...My juvies on the other hand still look "normal"
once again I am NOT sure!!

 

[truperc]

From what I have read food pigments can play a significant role in this as well.

 

[mr.clownfish]

if the female has a darker top then after a while the male will start getting black. they match each other, even in coloring.
if the clowns top is not black then eventually it will get black, all about maturing.

 

[small triggers]

I also thought that sometimes they can get dark spots when they touch their anemones?? more like spots though

 

[rod buehle]

you all have these ideas/answers, but without even knowing or asking what type of clown?
Yes, some species can and will turn darker with strong lighting (onyx pers for example)..
YEs, some will darken as they become female(with age).. (tomatoes for example)..
some will have stings/spots from hosting in a non natural host. (ocellaris for example)
Yes, foods can play a role and may make some clowns darker.. Chrysopterus for example, but foods shouldnt tun an ocellaris black..
The male matching the female.. Thats a new one on me

. Its certainly wrong with some species..
So,, What kind of clowns are being discussed in this thread??

 

[mr.clownfish]

Originally Posted by Rod Buehle
http:///forum/post/3033252
you all have these ideas/answers, but without even knowing or asking what type of clown?
Yes, some species can and will turn darker with strong lighting (onyx pers for example)..
YEs, some will darken as they become female(with age).. (tomatoes for example)..
some will have stings/spots from hosting in a non natural host. (ocellaris for example)
Yes, foods can play a role and may make some clowns darker.. Chrysopterus for example, but foods shouldnt tun an ocellaris black..
The male matching the female.. Thats a new one on me

. Its certainly wrong with some species..
So,, What kind of clowns are being discussed in this thread??
that has happened to me for every clown fish i have ever had. if i bought a clown 3ins long that is kind of on the dark colored side, and bought a smaller 1.5in bright orange male, in about 2 months or less it all ways gets as dark as the female. I'm saying this from experience.
i know u have a lot of tanks with nice anemones and clowns.
have a good look at all of them and try to remember how they looked when u bought them, and now see if they have turned to about the same color as their mate. but my experience has only been with perculas. im not sure about the others.

 

[coastie5685]

Originally Posted by windlasher
http:///forum/post/3032560
Mine is doing that too. So how long does that take to happen?
Does he wake up feeling confused... like a woman in a mans body, wander around in a daze for a while and then decide to go for reassignment surgery in Bangkok, or is it just one day he wakes up and WHAMMO, new girl parts?

I jest, but I do want to know.
thanks.
+infinite... awesome. like? really? what if dudes morphed into females one day?
eh nah.. not a good mental picture.. nevermind.

 

[rod buehle]

Originally Posted by Mr.clownfish
http:///forum/post/3033857
that has happened to me for every clown fish i have ever had. if i bought a clown 3ins long that is kind of on the dark colored side, and bought a smaller 1.5in bright orange male, in about 2 months or less it all ways gets as dark as the female. I'm saying this from experience.
i know u have a lot of tanks with nice anemones and clowns.
have a good look at all of them and try to remember how they looked when u bought them, and now see if they have turned to about the same color as their mate. but my experience has only been with perculas. im not sure about the others.
the point of my post was to sayh that yes, they can change color, but, usually different species might do it for different reasons, and for so may post with their reasoning without even knowing the species of clown being discussed

. You even said that your only experience is with percs. Are you certain that the OP was posting about percs?
OK, I went and looked at some of my clowns.. 4 pair of percs,.. they are close, but I can spot the male from female in a second, and its not because of size. Some of my males are a little darker, some of my females are a little darker.. My saddlebacks.. Male is darker than the female.. her nose is still brown
My ocellaris are very similar in color. Skunks and nigripes are both close to their mate. The pair below has been together for a few years and they are not even close

So, giving reasoning on color changes without knowing species is not easy to do.. Most every one of the reasoning's could be correct but how do we know without knowing the species.
With your pecs, they have probably colored do to a few factors, and the reason that "they have matched their mate" are because they are in the same system with same parameters, same conditions. I guess one could think that the clowns are matching their mate, instead of them receiving the same conditions. With percs, I know of a few things to bring out the black in the onyx percs that I raise. One of them is intense lighting, second is their choice of host anemone.. different factors for different clowns

 

[mr.clownfish]

wow nice tomatoes!
i think its most common in perculas. i dont know

their is still a lot to learn

 

[reeftanker84]

the same has happened to my one oscoleris clowns,i baught it and it was a differant shade of orange and over the last month its gotten alot blacker and now resembles a perc but the fish i have had for 5 years has not changed colors at all and both are fed mysid shrimp the one turning dark is larger and constantly harasses my little one.