My Blue Diamond is now Black

[CammieTime]

So I have two very pretty blue diamonds. One is very pretty light blue like he always was, but his friend is now all black all of the time...what gives? He used to be a very pretty dark blue, darker than the other one, but now he is just black, but he still swims around and stuff. What's going on?

[Elite Aquaria]

If always black then looks like he may be sick...Has he lost his appetite? Or does he hide all the time?

[CammieTime]

I think he lost his appetite, but I know that he does not hide all of the time.

[Mack]

How do the gills look? The dark color could be a sign of low oxygen levels.

[Peachtree Discus]

move quickly....

drop a bubble source into the tank and try to get access to a scope and have a look into some discus poo stew :vomit:

[KDodds]

One thing I've noticed about discus, besides their being incredibly dumb, even if they weren't cichlids, is that they seem to "got to bed" earlier than most other fish, and "wake up" later. My BD goes into night colors around 2-2½ hours before lights off and doesn't "color up" until 1-2 hours after lights on. The red scribbled takes its time as well, but not as much time. What I'm getting at is that if you have a busy life, aren't able to see them during the height of the day, you might be missing a time period where it's colored up fine. High traffic areas can also cause darkening, whether through stress or some "protective" mechanism, who knows. I'm just throwing out some alternative possibilities.

Is it eating well? Does it still "attack" food? Does its coloration change when/if it's feeding aggressively?

[waters10]

One thing I've noticed about discus, besides their being incredibly dumb, even if they weren't cichlids, is that they seem to "got to bed" earlier than most other fish, and "wake up" later. My BD goes into night colors around 2-2½ hours before lights off and doesn't "color up" until 1-2 hours after lights on. The red scribbled takes its time as well, but not as much time. What I'm getting at is that if you have a busy life, aren't able to see them during the height of the day, you might be missing a time period where it's colored up fine. High traffic areas can also cause darkening, whether through stress or some "protective" mechanism, who knows. I'm just throwing out some alternative possibilities.

Is it eating well? Does it still "attack" food? Does its coloration change when/if it's feeding aggressively?
Don't want to dismiss your possibility, but I thought that BD's get pale when sleeping, not darker. :)

Darker is one thing that can be multiple things, but "black" is another. So if he's really that dark, I'd say he's sick. The quest now is to find out what disease ...

[shawnhu]

Any new introductions to the tank lately? If he's lost his appetite, it could be the common diseases such as Hex or worms.

[KDodds]

Don't want to dismiss your possibility, but I thought that BD's get pale when sleeping, not darker. :)

Darker is one thing that can be multiple things, but "black" is another. So if he's really that dark, I'd say he's sick. The quest now is to find out what disease ...


Apparently not all of them. Mine's sleeping under the driftwood in a cave-like area and goes dark every night at about the same time. Throughout the day it's your traditional BD colors, powdery blue, red eyes, no stress bars, and near to black at "twilight" and "dawn". No signs of distress or disease, stress or injury.

[Roxanne]

FWIW...at night, my diamond goes dark ...my melon goes pale....tho my diamond seems to be darker since he has become lowest in the hierarchy...

have you treated them for anything since you got them?

[Roxanne]

...and have you seen it's poop?...is it's gut bloated?