Odd Angels

[jasonit]

Recently I noticed that my tank was becoming very cloudy. I soon discovered that my wife was assisting in the feeding process! She said that every time she walked by the tank, they all swam up and looked at her, so she fed them! At any rate, it was obvious that the cloudiness came from an excess of bacteria eating the extra waste. So, I cut back on feeding until the tank cleared up. Now, about the angels... I have 2 juvenile angels, both had beautiful dark stripes. Until the fasting began... They seem completely healthy, swimming, eating, no problems. However they are almost completely washed out, colorwise. They will only show their stripes at feeding time, otherwise they are silver with no trace of a stripe. Is this normal? How can I get their stripes back for good?

 

[Guest]

Jason,
You cut back the food, but did you do a water change? Have you tested for the usual stuff, ammonia and all? If the chemistry is out of whack, it will stress out fish and they will not have their best color, or can wash out completely. Do your tests and change some water, best bet right now.

Oh yeah, angels are total piggies! Mine are constantly looking for food, even when their bellies are stuffed. Cool they have some personality, but ya can't give in to the little beggars! My wife is forbidden to feed the fish most of the time for pretty much the same reason.

 

[loganj]

angels

Agreed, stress will often cause fish to lose color. I expect your angels will regain their color in a few days after things are back to normal.
Logan J

 

[jasonit]

I did do a 25% water change when I started cutting back to food, in order to get rig of some of the excess bacteria. I haven't checked the water chemistry, I will do that tonight. Thanks!

 

[jasonit]

Well, things in the tank seem to be fine. Funny thing, when the lights are off, the Angels show their stripes. When I turn them on, they fade to silver. Is this a camoflage type response?

 

[Wowzers]

Women non-aquarists seem to want to feed the fish all the time (no offense meant).

 

[Toomanyfish]

I had a angel that did the same thing, and for him, the dark stripes were a sign of stress. This fish was very close to the wild type angel, and would only have dark striping when he was excited or scared.
I can't remember if he used to have the dark stripes when he slept, but yeah, that would be part of their camouflage while sleeping.
Discus do the same kind of thing with the stripes.....