shark losses color at night

[JettMillenia]

Hello my aquarium is fairly new and has been cycled. I have a 29gallon tank. With 1 betta, 1 blue dwarf gourami,1 Dalmatian Molly and 1 red tail shark. My worry is in the morning when I switch on my light my sharks tail is clear white. But regains his bright red color back after sometime the light has been on. I know stress or sickness can cause that. Is this common? Thank you

 

[i3k]

I think it's normal when they are young or new to their environment. I've had my red tail shark for about 5 years now and he is always very black with bright red tail. He does lose a bit of color when I feed and he gets excited...but quickly regains the red color on his tail.

When you turn the lights on, is the shark out and about or is he/she in one spot (sleeping). If you turn the lights on early in the morning, try turning them on a bit later when the shark is fully active.

 

[melosu58]

I`m not much of a FW expert but even in SW they lose their color at night time esp. when the lights go out.

 

[JettMillenia]

He's out and about. And I turn my light on when I leave foe work at 7am. Well thank you, I wasn't too worried but I didn't want something to go unnoticed.

 

[Vircomore]

Yea, in general - if the lighting level in your tank changes drastically (going from pitch black to full light on) - fish can be shocked by it and lose their color briefly. My Neon Tetras will have a weaker "stripe" in the morning, but it'll come back as the day goes.

I also have a small 5-bulb LED Moonlight retrofitted into my hood so that even the nighttime in the tank is still a bit illuminated.

 

[Vircomore]

A good idea would be to turn on the room lights in the room where your aquarium sits, and then after a few minutes turn on the tank lights. Just give them a more gradual transition.

Remember, aquarium lights are designed to mimic full sunlight - so just imagine if you rolled out of bed and were on the beach in the summer. You'd probably lose some color too.

 

[JettMillenia]

Lol I see your point. Ill try not blasting them with light all at once. I like the idea of the LEDs durning the night

 

[dkpate]

I always turn on a room light for a bit before the fish lights come on. My harlequin rasboras lose their little black hatchet mark every night, and it comes back after the light has been on for about 5 minutes.