New Discus Changed Colors?

[Billn911]

Hi,
I have 5 new Discus, all are eating and calm, appear healthy. I have one that was all yellow on Monday and as of Saturday he is noticeably larger and now has a black face and fins. He’s being aggressive to the other 3 large discus and appears to be guarding a small orange/yellow discus in the back area. I’m unclear if this is a sign of spawning or if he’s stressed. Any ideas on the face change?

[PillBox_]

I can't give my opinion on the subject, however i can give you some information for you to make your own decisions as to whats is going on.

Discus fry (babies) are attracted to dark colors and they eat off of there parents slime coats. So a mother/father discus will darken themselves so the fry can find their parents to eat off the slime coat.

[Ryan925]

Photos?

[Billn911]

Photos?

Trying to upload pics for the first time, here's before and after 6 days apart:

113339
113340

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Trying to upload pics for the first time, here's before and after 6 days apart:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but looks like a stress reaction. If so, most likely doesn't like your water.

Never had a full yellow before but all the others I've had when they turn dark I know there's usually something wrong with my water quality.

EDIT: if the cause of stress is the water quality then you'd need to rectify this sooner rather than later or the fish will probably get sick.

[Second Hand Pat]

My guess is the fish is in spawning mode and that it is PB based. Many discus (including wilds) will have darken fins while in breeding mode. Since breeding is stressful the face of the fish is showing some pepping. Now you could up your water changes just to rule out water quality as a source of stress.
Pat

[Billn911]

My guess is the fish is in spawning mode and that it is PB based. Many discus (including wilds) will have darken fins while in breeding mode. Since breeding is stressful the face of the fish is showing some pepping. Now you could up your water changes just to rule out water quality as a source of stress.
Pat

I’ll step up my changes. Do the females only do that or both? Would be nice to sex them. The yellow one in question is guarding the little orange one in a specific area of the tank. Also aggressive darting the other fish away.

[Second Hand Pat]

I’ll step up my changes. Do the females only do that or both? Would be nice to sex them. The yellow one in question is guarding the little orange one in a specific area of the tank. Also aggressive darting the other fish away.

I would think both would Bill.
Pat

[jmf3460]

It looks like peppering to me

[Kyla]

Do u have dark background or substrate? That can cause them to darken.

My yellow on female turned much darker all around the rims of her fins and on her tail when she had eggs as well.

[Billn911]

The back of my tank is painted black and there’s a black heater. Craziest thing my two clown loaches that I just moved out of quarantine did the same thing. My water readings are perfect and he never has gone back to yellow. I’m thinking it’s the background at this point. Not sure if moving them to a bright or bare background will reverse this or not.

[RogueDiscus]

Assuming your water is fine, it could still be a combination of the things mentioned, but it looks to be PB peppering from stress. Mating, 5 fish pecking order fights, dark environment, loaches.

[Willie]

I've noticed that discus will have more color in darker and more patterned backgrounds. For example, discus in heavily planted tanks will look more vibrant. That's not to suggest that they're any healthier or happier - the natural discus environment has no plants. It's just that their coloration becomes more vivid.

I paint all my tanks a light blue as a matter of course. It makes the blue diamonds look almost angelic, LOL!

Willie