Archer Fish

[Trademark]

Hi.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me why my Archer would have pale spots?
I have 3 Seven Spotted Archers in my pond. One of them now has pale spots. He is still just as active and is feeding well, so I'm not sure whats going on. What are some of the causes of this??
Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Fishanatic]

Pale Or white spots? Are they very small? It might be Ich

 

[Trademark]

No extra spots. The spots that are normally black have gone pale. It's not easy to get pics of the fish in my pond (too much reflection), but I took one anyway.

 

[Fishanatic]

A picture could really help.

 

[Trademark]

A picture could really help.

Pic up now.

 

[Trademark]

Here's another one of how they should look. Not as good a pic, but this fish is a fast one.

 

[tarpon]

How long have you had them? Some fish's colors will fade when they are stressed or adjusting to a new home.

 

[Trademark]

How long have you had them? Some fish's colors will fade when they are stressed or adjusting to a new home.

I've had them nearly a year now with no problems and no other fish added in that time. I think he might be at the bottom of the Archer pecking order. But why stress out now? Maybe it just comes down to fish politics.

 

[tarpon]

Stress is really the only thing I can think of if his natural coloring has faded. As long as he's eating thats the important thing. Do you test your water?
That looks like a cool setup BTW.

Hopefully someone else has some ides too.

 

[Trademark]

Thanks Tarpon. I actually hardly ever test the water in my pond. It's wet season here, and we often get over 3 metres of rain in 4 months, so anything I added to the water would be diluted almost immediately. Even so, I've only ever had 1 fish death in my pond in a year and I think that fish wasn't happy when I got him. I have more trouble with my tanks, which I test all the time. The pond just seems to take care of itself. I have a micro biologist friend who brings me test tube samples of snails and microscopic jellyfish and stuff. There's something to be said for a completely natural and self sufficient fish eco system.

 

[Trademark]

Happy days..... My Archer got his spots back. I don't know why, but he seems to have fixed the problem all by himself.