Strange Temporary Cardinal Colour Loss

Hi all,

just wanted to ask if this has ever happened to any of you?

I've had my cardinals for a couple of months.

I made sure they were in a mature tank etc.

Everything has been fine with them up until now.

I turned the light off as usual the night before last and when i turned it on again yesterday morning I noticed that the cardinals had lost most of their colour (see picture)



After about half an hour they were getting their colour back as usual and are fine again today.



Water stats, temp etc were all fine.

Just wondered if this has happened to anyone else.


Usual colours

Yep. That's likely from the surprise they get when the lights come on. My fish do that as well. It's kinda like when you're in a dark or dimly lit room, and someone turns the light on and you aren't expecting it. Fish can show their shock/discomfort by going pale or changing colors.

Ahh I wondered if it was something like that, but still being a reasonable 'noob' to this i just wanted to make sure

Thanks Mate

Yeah, my neons do that too. They always get there color back in a couple of minutes after I turn off the light. They seem to loose their color at night.

I thought it was something to do with them being harder to see in the dark because their colours are so bright to protect them from predators.

My Cardinals always look dull when the lights first go on, they brighten up within a few minutes. I always thought it was because there was no point in showing their colours in the dark as nothing could see them. I am probably wrong! Anyway, it's normal. Prettydiscus your reason sounds more sensible than mine!

If you browse this thread from a few years back, I explained this effect.

Just on the funny side, I keep telling my flat mates that they are solar powered... need light to start working properly, HAHA... They just give me wierd looks...