color morphs on discus

[soundtweakers]

I have two PB discus that's been in my tank for 4 month. When they first arrived(2 inches) they had very light peach coloration with dark orange fins and no peppering. Now four month later their entire body(4.5 inches) is dark orange with lots of white blotch patterns towards the head, and the dominant of the two has alot more peppering over it's head. I know they'll change color as they grow but how much more change will there be, that's what I'm wondering about??

Also, I have four younger Red Turks(2.5-3 inches) that are all healthy and looks very good when they're out swimming about. but when they're going into hiding in the back of the tank mode, their color dissapears and turn really dark and lookls like a discus about to pass on. That is, until I put some flake in the tank they'll all come out and have a snack and look beautiful. Are they suppose to change color that much??

billy

[brewmaster15]

Hi Billy,
Can you post some pics? On the PBs.....,much will depend on what they are.

On the turks...That behavior sounds familiar for Discus in a tank with much cover for them to hide... hows the tannk set up?

what are your water parameters and what kind of wcs do you do?

-al

[swinters66]

How odd...one of my red turqs does the same thing!! He'll come out and about, eat, etc but when he is under some plants, hiding or whatnot, he gets real dark. When he comes back out....he looks normal. And there's good places for them to "hide" in my tank. The others don't get dark like that...(they arent red turqs.)

Your PBs do sound nice and I too would love to see a pic!

[dandestroy]

mine in the planted tank do the same, they go really dark when under dark wood or leaves, and as soons as they go in the open area over the light sand they become very lighted and clear. Clearly a cameleon like behavior.

funny the couple that where in that tank have kept this behavior in BB tank since I mooved them last week. they go dark when close to the sponge filter.
They can go form dark to light in 1 seconde a vice versa.

[Cosmo]

In general, non-hormoned Discus will "change" coloration several times in the course of going from young juveniles to adults. This applies to most strains but seems to be particularly strong in the PBs.

I bought a 2in Thai Yellow several years back. The entire body was a beautiful yellow color, no spots, no pepper. As he grew to adulthood however, the PB coloration and the "spots" became more and more apparent. He's still a good looking fish, but definatly not a "Thai Yellow". At least no peppering.

Often times I've noticed that the more hiding places you make available, the less your fish will swim freely around the tank and display their full coloration. Possibly a natural protective behavior? Unless your fish are ill, I suspect you'll be seeing them more after they psychologically acclimate to the new BB tank with fewer hiding places.

Jim

[dandestroy]

Often times I've noticed that the more hiding places you make available, the less your fish will swim freely around the tank and display their full coloration. Possibly a natural protective behavior? Unless your fish are ill, I suspect you'll be seeing them more after they psychologically acclimate to the new BB tank with fewer hiding places.

Jim

I totally agree with that

[Harriett]

I agree with the posts here and just wanted to add a couple of things from my experience: when I bring in new youngsters, I don't put any hiding places in the tank anymore--if they CAN hide, they WILL hide; babies are just more naturally skittish and for survival, want to find hiding places. By not giving them things to hide under or behind, they are basically forced to get used to being out in the open. When they eventually get that this exposure doesn't put them at risk, they get brave and more gregarious in behaviour. The other security issue for small discus is pack mentality. The more I have in the baby tank [within reason], the more relaxed they are and the better they eat, etc.
I brought in 13 1.75" WBs from Cary and they just ran the world. A couple months later I chose the 6 I wanted and sold the rest. Though they were 2.5-2.75" at that point, they reverted to skittish freaking out behaviour for a while, piling up in the corner, etc--and still occasionally do. It seems that it was from suddenly being in a much smaller pack. At 3", they are now starting to be braver and more engaging in the environment again---another aspect of discus that is interesting to me: personality.
Harriett

[White Worm]

I have also seen that it happens with some adults when they move from a community tank into a breeder tank. That lost feeling of confidence in numbers creeps up on them but they adapt pretty quickly. Little ones will change behavior immediately upon an environment change or being reduced in numbers. I also give them as little hiding space as possible. I will even push the sponge filter against the wall so they cant get behind it. I will also see them fade in color when nervous...otherwise, just the bars show up more pronounced.

[Owl]

Often times I've noticed that the more hiding places you make available, the less your fish will swim freely around the tank and display their full coloration. Possibly a natural protective behavior?
Jim



I agree with what Jim says regarding natural behaviour pattern ... I personally think it is a genetic trait.

[soundtweakers]

These fish lives in a 55 gallon planted tank that's been running for six years. Here is a picture of the PB when it first arrived in Aug. this year.http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/soundtweakers/olderPBpics.jpg

and here is what it looks like now.http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/soundtweakers/PBdiscus.jpghttp://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/soundtweakers/PBdiscus1.jpgNoted one of the picture has a very dark colored Red Turk in the back.

Here is a pic of the red turk when it's up front.http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/soundtweakers/redturk.jpg
And here is a picture of their home.http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/soundtweakers/mytank.jpg

BTW, water parameter is as follows: PH 7.0 No ammonia, nitrite, and not enough nitrate to support a planted tank. GH at 80ppm Temp. 86F 50-60% WC weekly