Why is my fish losing it's colors?
- Thread starter mkcsil18
- Start date
greatfullreefer
Active Member
May be due to stress, 45 gallons is way too small of a tank for this species.
lion_crazz
Active Member
If they are in a dark room, it is natural for their colors to be a little faded early in the morning or late at night. If you want to prevent this, or do not like this, you could always throw some moonlights on your tank for a little night time light. Moonlights are very low wattage, so they would not disturb the fish's day/night cycle, but at the same time, they will prevent the fish in your tank from becoming so stressed when it is totally dark in your room. I have 5 moonlights on my 75 and I think they are a great addition.
As for at other times of the day, if your fish are losing their colors, that is from stress, and is definitely something that I would try to find an answer to. Test your water levels. Where is your pH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and specific gravity/salinity? PH should be 8.2-8.3, ammonia and nitrites should be 0, and nitrates should be 0-40, depending on how often you clean your tank. Specific gravity should be 1.020-1.025. Temperature should be 76-80. If any of these levels are off, the fish is going to be stressed out. Most importantly, if any of these levels greatly fluctuate, they are definitely going to stress the fish out. If the specific gravity is 1.021 today, and 1.024 tomorrow, that is going to stress him out big time. More than anything, you want to work towards stability. Also, you said you feed him 'meats'. Well, I would cut that back to one feeding per day, and instead of giving him the second meat feeding, put a sheet of algae/sea weed in the tank that you can buy from your lfs. This will allow him to pick at his food all day (something that tangs naturally do in the wild).
As for at other times of the day, if your fish are losing their colors, that is from stress, and is definitely something that I would try to find an answer to. Test your water levels. Where is your pH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and specific gravity/salinity? PH should be 8.2-8.3, ammonia and nitrites should be 0, and nitrates should be 0-40, depending on how often you clean your tank. Specific gravity should be 1.020-1.025. Temperature should be 76-80. If any of these levels are off, the fish is going to be stressed out. Most importantly, if any of these levels greatly fluctuate, they are definitely going to stress the fish out. If the specific gravity is 1.021 today, and 1.024 tomorrow, that is going to stress him out big time. More than anything, you want to work towards stability. Also, you said you feed him 'meats'. Well, I would cut that back to one feeding per day, and instead of giving him the second meat feeding, put a sheet of algae/sea weed in the tank that you can buy from your lfs. This will allow him to pick at his food all day (something that tangs naturally do in the wild).
mkcsil18
Member
well thanks for all the help, I started feeding them 1 time a day just 3 days ago, yes I have a skimmer, I feel my lighting my be not intence enough, I just ordered a 4 - 96w orbit light bar... should be in tomorow... as for my levels I check them ever 3 days, and the only level that really changed was my nitrates, it went to 20, but I have a water change coming up this weekend, my Ph went doen to 7.8 also... what would cause that?
Again thanks for all the help, I love this place, everyone is very helpful.
Again thanks for all the help, I love this place, everyone is very helpful.
sw65galma
Active Member
Originally posted by mkcsil18
I have an atlantic blue tang and for some reason it seems to be losing it's color??? I am very new to this? does anyone know why? I feed it 2 times a day, meats.
If I'm not mistaken...(which I could Be)
Aren't Tangs Herbivores?
You should be feeding it Algae Strips.
lion_crazz
Active Member
Like I said, continue feeding him the meat once per day, but you should also be putting algae/sea weed sheets in there for him to nibble at as well. You may not see him eat it, but he will pick at it.
pH drop may be due to a low alkalinity. If your alkalinity is too low, your pH will not remain very stable. Go out and get some Kent dKH Super Buffer. This will bring your pH back up to 8.2-8.3, but it will also begin to build your alkalinity to where it should be so that your pH remains stable. When you buy it, put in 2 tsp. (1 tsp. for every 20-30 gallons of water), and then just continue to dose it on your water change water every week so that the water you are putting back into the tank is at a pH of 8.3 and a fairly high alk.
pH drop may be due to a low alkalinity. If your alkalinity is too low, your pH will not remain very stable. Go out and get some Kent dKH Super Buffer. This will bring your pH back up to 8.2-8.3, but it will also begin to build your alkalinity to where it should be so that your pH remains stable. When you buy it, put in 2 tsp. (1 tsp. for every 20-30 gallons of water), and then just continue to dose it on your water change water every week so that the water you are putting back into the tank is at a pH of 8.3 and a fairly high alk.