SAE losing stripes!

[mattoid]

Has anyone else noticed this? It seems my SAEs fade their stripes when the lights go off. At first I just thought it was the angle/reflection etc.
When I turn my lights on the 2ft with them in (2x 6500k LED lamp globes), their stripes are all but gone! Only a feint hint of them. Within 2-4 minutes, they have completely returned to their darkened state.
Am I lucky that I have chameleon SAEs? Or is this the norm?

They get fed/eat a mixture of algae wafers, discus pellets, frozen bloodworm, fresh bloodworm, frozen shrimp, rotifers, fresh zucchini & broccoli stalk and what little algae is available. Heavily planted tank, DIY CO2, no liquid carbon, under gravel fert pellets, 6.8ph, 0 ammonia & nitrites, varies between 10-20 nitrates depending on where in PWC schedule. They do not appear stressed at all, and one of them only has one eye (from when I bought it) but doesn't appear any different in behaviour from the other.



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[emerald76]

In some species stripes are a sign of stress. Not sure about your fish but it's something to look into


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[mattoid]

I'm quite confident, though obviously can't be certain, that they're not stressed, they're in with 3 juvie BN, 4 neon tetras, a very chilled out male DG and some juvie guppies, well out of reach from small hands and other pets. All other fish seem to stay out of their way as they are 1.5 times the size of the DG, but they are in no way aggressive being SAEs.
I'd imagine that if it were stress, that it wouldn't be both of them displaying the fade as it would be unlikely that both of them would be stressed simultaneously?
More curious than concerned...


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[Tacit Blues]

Lots of fish get "dimmer" when the lights go out, and I'd imagine yours are no different!

 

[mattoid]

Thanks. I'd never heard of that or noticed it before in other fish. Are you aware of why? Purely physiological, safety mechanism, social reasoning?


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[Tacit Blues]

I really don't know, but I'd guess it's a safety thing, or maybe because when it gets dark they don't need to worry about the pretty colors?

 

[Luananeko]

Agreed with Tacit, it's natural behavior. All my fish "wash out" at night after the lights go out (including my SAEs, dwarf chain loaches, cardinal tetras, etc). Some fish have more drastic changes than others, but pretty much all of them do it. Its likely tied to the same instinct that washes their colors out over bright substrates and brightens their colors over dark substrates. My guess is that they can't see the colors in their surroundings as well at night, so their fishy camouflage drops their color levels to match what they see

 

[mattoid]

very interesting, and makes perfect sense. this tank has light and dark standard (for aust.) mixed brown gravel so may affect them more. I think I'll get some SAEs for my black substrate tank and see what the difference might be if any (was contemplating a few regardless).
thanks for your replies.


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[mattcham]

All my 6 SAE do this. Its normal.

 

[trennamw]

I doubt it's that they get faded when the lights go out, but that turning the lights on freaks them out and they fade then. All fish I've gotten fade under stress. They'll be bright, then I turn the light off for 10 seconds, then turn it on, and they're all pale. Coming home from the fish store they're always pale too until they've been in their new home awhile.


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[Luananeko]

I doubt it's that they get faded when the lights go out, but that turning the lights on freaks them out and they fade then. All fish I've gotten fade under stress. They'll be bright, then I turn the light off for 10 seconds, then turn it on, and they're all pale. Coming home from the fish store they're always pale too until they've been in their new home awhile.

My plant lighting photo period is rather short, but the other lights in the room illuminate the tank enough I can still see the fish once the plant lights are off for the day. I've watched the colors on all my fish fade soon after the tank lights turn off for the day. It doesn't appear to be stress related at all, it only happens once all the fish settle down into their usual sleeping spots.

 

[mattoid]

My plant lighting photo period is rather short, but the other lights in the room illuminate the tank enough I can still see the fish once the plant lights are off for the day. I've watched the colors on all my fish fade soon after the tank lights turn off for the day. It doesn't appear to be stress related at all, it only happens once all the fish settle down into their usual sleeping spots.

This is what I've been noticing too. lights generally go on as slowly as possible (probably more for my eyes/brain's benefit )with lights around the tank going on first prior to tank lights which are brighter. Generally same applies in reverse when turning them off.

All my 6 SAE do this. Its normal.

This is comforting to know, I've only had them for 4 or so weeks.


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