Royal Farlowella cat fish lost colour

[NewbieJen]

So I have two beautiful Royal Farlowella Cat fish who are both very outgoing, active, non-stop munching away on the tank, the plants, the decor and the food - I feed algae wafer, shrimp pellets and cat fish pellets - I also feed baby brine shrimp.

I noticed a few days ago on of my Royals had lost most of it's colour, I started observing and it is acting completely normal - still very active throughout the tank, eating, pooping.

I have searched so much online and can find nothing. The only thing I found was that when breeding they can sometimes have albino babies - which makes me think I could be having a case of Benjamin Button here lol.

I do 20% water changes twice a week and have never had spiked ammonia, nitrates are 20-40, ph 7.6, zero nitrites and zero to small amounts of ammonia - but as mentioned I do regular twice weekly water changes.

Nothing has changed, all other fish are very active, shrimp are berried, red neon's laying eggs, variety of food.

Anyone with any experience - the fish doesn't act stressed in the slightest, it is acting no different.

I am baffled.

Thanks in advance.

Jen

 

[Colin_T]

How long have you had the whiptail catfish for?

Have you got a picture of the fish before it changed colour?
Post a picture of the other one so we can compare it.

The only time I have seen fish lose colour and look like that is when their skin has come off.
Did the fish develop any red patches on its body just before this started?

Do you have driftwood and algae in the tank?
They need these to help their digestion. If you don't get any algae growing, increase the lighting times by an hour a day and see if you get some. If there is no algae after a couple of weeks, increase the photoperiod by another hour and monitor for algae over a couple of weeks. You can have the tank light on for up to 16 hours a day but most tanks are fine with 8-12 hours a day. The main thing is to make sure there is some algae for the fish.

Check your tap water for nitrates. You want the tank nitrates as close to 0ppm as possible, and under 20ppm at all times. If your tap water has low or no nitrates, do bigger water changes to get the nitrates down.

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Post a picture of the entire tank so we can see how much cover there is for the fish.

It's possible the fish is fading due to the white substrate. Fish will increase or decrease their colour depending on their surroundings. they do this so they don't stand out as much. If you have a very bright tank with white substrate and no floating plants, the fish might be fading to blend in with the sand.

 

[NewbieJen]

I have had them about 6 weeks.
There is a picture of the other one in the post, it is on the slate dark brown/light brown. It's the 3rd picture, but also on the 1st and 2nd picture the colour on the head was the colour all down.

I do have nitrates in the tap water, I have a lot of plants, I have switched out filter media to matrix (2 weeks ago) and have some de-nitrate arriving next week that I am just going to put in the corner of the tank. I also add Seachem safe every couple of days.

The lights are the 24/7 led lights that mimic natural light, so they fade and on off and are on for around 8 hours a day.

There is algae on the driftwood and some of the decor, not much on the tank, but they are all over and I also feed algae pellets which they munch on. they also munch on the shrimp pellets and the cat fish pellets, I put in cucumber a couple of times a week and also spinach. So I do believe that they are getting a variety and enough food - the one losing colour is bigger than the other.

There hasn't been any red or sore/diseased looking spots or parts, it isn't hiding out, it is acting as active as it has when it got here and has grown bigger than the other one - maybe they are different sexes ?

The substrate is pool filter sand 3/4 and the 1/4 is white gravel.

It has lost more colour on its face now so I expect over the next week it will be totally albino, which I believe they do sell albino ones - but it just seems strange to be fully coloured to losing it all.

Picture is of tank although a little re-arranged now and then the two royals when I got them as babies and they, then the smaller one with all his markings munching on the algae just now!

I wonder if these were originally albino - or bred from albino - they are the Twig cat fish family.

 

[NewbieJen]

Royal just came up to the front of the tank for a photo shoot lol

 

[Colin_T]

They aren't albino because they have skin colour and normal coloured eyes. Albinos have pink eyes and no pigment in the skin.

You need a picture on the back of the tank and some floating plants. I believe the fish is fading out to match its surroundings. The other fish isn't as fussed by the brightly lit conditions but this one seems to be trying to blend in with the substrate. I could be wrong but the only health issue that causes loss of colour like this is bacterial infections that eat away the skin and the fish doesn't appear to have that.

Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) is a good floating plant that can also be grown in the substrate. It uses lots of nutrients like nitrates when floating on the surface. It's also pretty easy to control compared to some floating plants.

Is the tank dark at night?
The fish and plants need 8 hours of darkness to sleep and process what has happened during the day. If your light has a blue light that comes on at night, turn it off. There's no blue light during the night.

I would add some floating plants and a picture on the back and then monitor the fish. I doubt it's a disease and more likely behaviour to try and blend in with its surroundings.

 

[NewbieJen]

Good point on the albino, I was more meaning the loss of colour though.

I have floating plants - hornwort, there are also java plant flouting around and I have a blue backing on the tank - the picture of the tank was when I first set it up - I have re-arranged it slightly now, but it is a lot more planted and as I say a back on back.

The lighting is a 24/7 full spectrum LED - Gradient Orange light (sunrise) from 6 am to 8 am; Gradient White light from 8 am to 6 pm; Gradient Blue light (moonlight) from 6 pm to 10:50 pm; The 24/7 lighting aquarium lights are off in other time periods.

There is a lot of slate and a decent sized drifwood with plants all around, so only light on the substrate really - but I think what you say makes sense as the only reason.

I have been googling like crazy and the only thing I could find was stress, but it definitely isn't acting stressed or any different.

I will continue to monitor and see - I could put some black sand in - maybe along the front if you think that might help?? Or of it really matters??

Thank you so much for your input and insight it truly is appreciated this definitely has me baffled lol.

 

[NewbieJen]

Tank as it is now - you can't see floating plants from this angle and it's not that bright at moment I just turned light up for the picture

I'll continue to monitor and keep you updated , ?

 

[Colin_T]

The fish isn't majorly stressed if it's eating and swimming around normally. The only stress factor I can see is the white substrate. I wouldn't change it to black but I would add more floating plants, especially over the middle when the sand looks really bright. See if that helps.

In the wild these fish naturally occur in black water (stained with tannins from rotting plants and wood). The waterways usually have trees along them that shade them from sun light. The substrate has a layer of leaf litter and mulm over it so you can't see the sand. Comparing that to your tank, you have nice clear water, which makes it easy to see the fish and allows for good light penetration. Minimal shade between the light and water, and nice clean substrate. I think the fish is just trying to blend in. It's pretty cool tho

 

[NewbieJen]

Hi Colin,

The picture is somewhat deceiving as the water isn't clear at all, although I do understand what you are saying in that it isn't dark and brackish - as mentioned I put the light on full LED for the sake of the picture.

The sand is brown it isn't white and the part that is gravel is where most of the plants are and really isn't a lot showing at all - even the sand isn't a lot showing as I have a lot of slate - but again understand what you are saying about a fishes natural environment and this is why I have tried to make it with natural products the slate, live plants and not keep a perfect looking tank - it is far from that.

There are so many caves and tunnels for the fish. I do have several of the capatta leaves in the tank but they are at the back and on the bottom of one of the big caves/tunnels - that just happened to float under there lol.

I have some of the black diamond coal slag that I can put over some of the sand and maybe even some of the gravel and maybe that will help darken it somewhat. The sand is not as near bright as it appears in the photo, but wouldn't imagine it would hurt

I want to see the fish of course, but I also want it to be an environment they are comfortable with - yes my pleasure, but their lives

Thank you again so much for your feedback I will work on it tomorrow

Jen