BD pair coloring change?

[Timbo]

seems i have a couple blue diamonds in love..err, lust. they hang around the filter inlet toob and are biting at it, the other comes up occasionally, bites/cleans and they vibrate together and do the over-the-top loop at each other. one thing i've noticed however is that the color of both their fins has gotten remarkably darker, having gone from clear to dark...is this common with BD's?

:) there's a leopard about the same size as the (assumed) pair that wants in on the action. its always over by them, and being more dominant than them, almost seems like he is trying to break up them up..he is vibrating, shaking too and often chases away the other male, but the chasee always comes back and its a trio of them hangin together, but fights break out amongst them as the two males duke it out. fun to watch.

i dont think i'll separate the BD's yet (they are in a 90 with 7 others about the same size 6" and i dont really have the time or inclination raise a brood of BD's) but i may have to separate them, as the SS is getting quite aggressive with the BD male (who seems to be the female's first choice as far as daddy's go).

anyway, is it common for fins on BD's to go dark when starting up this crap?

[Alight]

is it common for fins on BD's to go dark when starting up this crap

Yes. When the pair spawns, not only will the fins go dark, but the whole fish will become quite dark, either early on, or when the eggs hatch. This is quite adaptive as the fry are attracted more to the dark color than to the lighter color. From what I've experienced, if the pair does not become dark, they eat the eggs and/or the fry.

[pcsb23]

Timbo, I don't have BD's.. but a friend does! When they spawned they looked more like black diamonds! They went REALLY dark.

hth,

[Timbo]

they're spawning. about 100-120 eggs so far. male looks like he knows what he's doing but wont know for sure for a day or so. the spawn is on the AC filter inlet tube.

guess we'll just let nature takes it course this time :)

[traco]

Congrats, Timbo!! Both on your discus spawning and also, no "editing" of your post. :sun: (joking, on the second half of that sentence). But seriously, congrats and let us know how things progress with them. I had read that rose reds can really darken up when spawning but didn't know that about blue diamonds. Learn something new each day.

[Stillwater Aquatics]

Congrats!

Yes it is a typicall color change for BD's though some only the fins and some the entire body, here is my pair one of each...
http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3C23948%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3276%3E%3B%3B2%3E579%3E WSNRCG%3D3233666998755nu0mrj

[AADiscus]

We have a pair right now with fry on them and they are very, VERY dark. It's amazing what pretty light color blue they are and then how dark they get.

[Kenny's Discus]

Hi Timbo - congratulations! Mine are the same as Jon's and Angela's.