fish color change at night

[30gal4fish]

ive been seen my fish change color from good color to pale, when i turn the light on, it takes like 3 -4 min to change to good color again? ive presence the change, is the normal?
sometimes i think they are sick but they change back, i will try to take pictures
my yello tang, his stomach looks brown and is pale
also my angel flame is pale, then after 4 min the color is very strong.
the water condition is perfect.

 

[dougai]

before my yellow tank went blind then just plain retarded it would be pale then when i put on the light it would become a more brighter yellow and i didnt have time to test if it was the light or food but mine def changed color

 

[salty cheese]

Normal, it's a defense mechanism.

 

[bluephi115]

yep im a newbie but had this question over the weekend. I have a tang and every night he does this. the pet store also said this is very normal for some fish, not all do it. dont worry at all!!!

 

[ophiura]

It is actually called "pajama coloration" LOL When fish are stressed, excited, sleeping or whatever they will change colors - getting pale or darker or even adding bars or stripes. Pretty normal for sleeping, however, if you see some of these during the day it may be an indication that something is stressing the fish. So it is great practice to learn the "normal" color of fish and recognize changes in that.

 

[mr_bill]

My clowns don't change color but I had a 3stripe damsel that would get a black square on his forhead when scared. My scooter blenny also changes color to match the CC in my tank when sleeping.

 

[drew2005]

Ive noticed when my lights are out the top part of my clowns turn a lil black. Or it seems to look that way.