Cardinal Tetras At Night??

[yv1]

I was just wondering.....do cardinals lose their red stripe at night???? when they sleep ???

My cardinals are all beautifully colored during the day but when the lights are off and i turn em back on real quick just to peek they have no red in them...Is this normal for this fish???

This is my first time keeping them and they've survived 2 tank disasters so I think im doing okay with keeping them alive...Ive heard about the neon tetra disease but i read cardinals dont get affected by it.

Anyone know anything about this?? Thanks!!!

 

[shawmutt]

do cardinals lose their red stripe at night????

Mine do, I was very alarmed the first night, and I thought for sure they had ntd and would all die by morning. They've been fine for many months now. I haven't done any research on this, but I'm assuming it's normal.

Ive heard about the neon tetra disease but i read cardinals dont get affected by it.

Yes they do, it can be introduced via a neon tetra that has it. They have to eat the dead neon though

 

[Vanilla Magilla]

My Neons and Blue Rams both do it. It is almost like waking them up for school. They soon get there color back and move about normal.

 

[tkos]

My flying foxes and chocolate gourami turn pure white after lights out. I think it may happen to a lot of fish.

 

[lmw80]

My neon tetras lose their color at night too. When I first got them, I thought they were all dying!! Plus, in the morning after I turn the light on, it takes them a few minutes to get adjusted and start swimming around. They hit the snooze button a couple of times, like their owner, lol...

 

[yv1]

oooh i better keep neons away so they dont get the disease.

thanks everyone i thought maybe they were dying secretly or something. guess its something fish do as a defense mechanism...pretty cool.

whew. weird that only the red turns white and the blue stripe is blue as ever....when i know deep sea fishes/animals are sometimes colored bright bright red because in the dark it makes them invisible and non reflective. (discovery's blue planet is a great series to own)

 

[lmw80]

yv1 - I have Blue Planet on DVD!

 

[Calcifer10000]

You know, I think my red beta does something along those lines, like your cardinals. I was alarmed that its bright red had faded until it was practically white when I turned on the light at night.

Guess it's natural! 8)

 

[reberly]

Our blue zebra cichlid does the opposite thing, he gets VERY dark when the lights are off. When I first turn the lights on, he actually has dark zebra-type stripes. By the time evening rolls around, he's just pure neon blue. He (she?) is my favorite fish.

Ryan

 

[littlelouie]

Yeh my cardinals do the same but when they're "on" they look magnificent. I would love to have 5 more of them in my tank

Louise