Remember that Rolling Stones song "Fade to Black"?

[Sati]

My fish do that when they sleep apparently. Every morning I turn the light on for my tank my fishy's colors are very muted. Within a minute or two their color is back and bright as ever. I think they must blend into their darker surrounding for a sort of camouflage at night. It's nothing I'm worried about. They do this every day. I've also noticed that they do this when I first bring them home from lfs and they are stressed. I just wondered if many of you have noticed this in your fish as well :]

 

[RogerMcAllen]

It is what they do so predators can't see them. I have a female betta that goes from red to grey with dark vertilce stripes.

 

[madasafish]

I used to think camouflage was limited to a few species of animals. Now I'm convinced that most fish can do it! My neon tetras fade at night (they become completely invisible when next to the black substrate), as do my Head-and-Tail-Light Tetras. Both the regular plecos and the bristlenose plecos I've had have changed their color distinctly (from an off-white to a dark brown) to fit their surroundings, especially when in transport from the store/when changing tanks. My blue crayfish change from a light blue on a white substrate to an intense blue on a black substrate. It seems that a lot of aquatic creatures have this ability. now I know!

 

[Capt.Gorilla]

I noticed that my corys do that, they turn from biege to a beautiful emerald green.

 

[shawmutt]

My cardinals did that all the time, and my cichlids will fade in and out during the day too (thier color not the actual fish ).

 

[tkos]

I have 2 flying foxes in my parents tank that go almost completely white after lights out. It is weird if you check them out in the middle of the night. Takes them a bit to get back to full colour in the morning.

 

[Sati]

I have 4 different types of tetras and it's especially prominate in them :]

 

[Guest]

Actualy the song is titled:

"Paint it Black"

But yes, most fish do this. It is actually nicer to your fish if you can turn on the lights in the room for a half hour or so before turning on tank lights. It's not such an abrupt way to get up.

 

[ferret]

Fade to Black is Metallica

 

[Patwa]

I noticed that my corys do that, they turn from biege to a beautiful emerald green.

are you talking about a drastic overall colour change???? i've had beige corys for ages and i've never seen that sort of transformation...

BUT.....some beige corys do show an iridescence under certain light conditions - and the resulting colour is usually a green 'emerald' colour (i've seen this on a both my Panda Cory and my my skunk cory...and i think my old albino cory had the same appearance.....it usually is focused on their cheeks or their sides)

Which beige corys do you have?? I want one!

Zach.

 

[Sati]

Dang, that's my favorite Stones song too. Don't tell them I messed up