Archer Issues....

[Shovelman]

Well was feeding my African knife fish with the lights out and noticed one of my archers was extremely discolored...all the others were full bands and spots ablaze nut this guy had no solid bands only faint dots and wifts of black on his body.... i turned on the lights to see what would happen and after 1 min or so he went back to his regular color....Im also worried because some times they will pace the glass when i come in to feed as its their way of saying (feed me) and on their chinny chin chins, i noticed its white. Not like a raw flesh white just like a calyst but its not raised or fluffy with bacteria. All are eating fine....just starting to see a TINY bit of aggression but only when feeding...i need my lfs and my driftwood in to complete the tank/get my full set of 5 archers... Should i be worrying my mind into a soft stump of pink gelatin?

 

[thereverendturtle]

Nope. The one was just showing its night time pattern, the others will get it at some point after lights out. I wouldn't worry about the chin rub, unless they start getting that raw look. They are just as smart as cichlids and are training you to feed them when you walk in.

 

[KrazyKuhli]

Most fish do that its kinda when they 'Sleep' they go pale. last thing you want to be doing halfasleep is shining in the dark from the moonlight.

 

[maurizio]

Hello Shovelman,
of my 3 Microlepis only one does it in a systematic way, even in daylight. And it can change in a matter of seconds! Few days ago I was feeding, with lights on, he was pale, and by the time it turned around the roots and came out, he was shining again in colours!

It is indeed normal, but my impression is that it is strongly related with the fish "personality": in my case, the other two fishes, more forward and not as easily scared, hardly show the "night dress" even at night, whereas the Shy is often in these conditions.

 

[Shovelman]

Hello Shovelman,
of my 3 Microlepis only one does it in a systematic way, even in daylight. And it can change in a matter of seconds! Few days ago I was feeding, with lights on, he was pale, and by the time it turned around the roots and came out, he was shining again in colours!

It is indeed normal, but my impression is that it is strongly related with the fish "personality": in my case, the other two fishes, more forward and not as easily scared, hardly show the "night dress" even at night, whereas the Shy is often in these conditions.

Awesome thanks everyone for the replies! And maurizio, i agree. One of my four has strongly varying pattern during the night and mid morning until my bright lights come on. Also seems to go into this depache mode when its feeding time....as far as i can tell there are no territorial/ social hierarchy tendencies in my group of 4...so i doubt aggression has anything to do with it...and they all get a fair share of food as well..

I guess its just them! I find them to be almost if not even more personable than puffers or oscars...which tend to be the most social/ "knowledgeable" of humans. Their so cool! Cant get enough of them!

 

[roddy]

Glad to hear they are settling in well after your long wait for them, they looked nice fish. Interesting thoughts on the colour changes. Most information about this seems to be linked to social hierarchy but I think that tends to be more about a darkening of the whole of the body, especially towards the back. Of the five I have, one always changes colour at night to almost brown with the black marks vanishing, this is def not linked to aggression as he is second in line and rarely has anything to do with the top man. Five seems enough for it not to cause any problems but it is easy to see who is who be surprised if you do not get some hierarchy once they settle properly.

 

[maurizio]

Hello all,
in terms of sociability, I can't feel any hierarchy in my group of 3: the only one visibly behaving differently is The Shy, who stays on hiw own most of the time, and joins at due distance mainly, but not only, at lunch time. The other two swim pretty much along all time.

They ALL became much more shy with time, unfortunately, they are quite afraid of me even at lunch time (especially if food is not their favourite!), which is a pity. Perhaps I scare them too much when changing water.

I got some new crickets today, will feed them tomorrow. I might make some movie, if conditions will allow.

 

[Shovelman]

ok guys....have some interesting observations. It seems there is a social hiarchy in my tank allready as one of the 4 archers have darkened almost black on the back 1/2 of their body, honestly i think its awesome how they can change their colors for these reasons, but anyways went to my lfs and got a 5 archer too see if it would ease things up. Sometimes i hear splashing as if the dominant one is chasing and the poor little guy trying to surface...thank god i built the archer cage...

So i added the new guy in with a few plants and so far he seems a little dazed....unlike my pack of 4 who keep swimming together the new guy just kinda drifts around.
What i really hope, but might be whats happening is that the new guy is a different species other than the 4 Toxotes microlepis. The difference in coloration/pattern is slight but as with even my group of Toxotes microlepis some differentiation should be expected. What concerns me the most is that when viewed from above...the new guy is considerably lighter in color than the others on the top of the fish. Is this because they can change it to camouflage from above based on environment?

Ill give the new guy some more time, hopefully he will warm up and start swimming with the others....also i will get pictures later...

still love feeding these veracious little buggers!

 

[snake007]

Sounds like my oscar, when I turn out the lights, then then later turn them on again, hes got this whiteish look then soon colors up, comes to the front and starts pacing the glass, looking at me for food
Normal!

 

[Mowbz]

Most fish do this, but as night its done a specific reason, defense.

As mentioned losely above, you don't want to be bright and shiny in the water while you try to rest. The loss of colour is to tone down their outline and shape/colour against the surroundings at night.

Easy pickings for predators otherwise

 

[Shovelman]

Most fish do this, but as night its done a specific reason, defense.

As mentioned losely above, you don't want to be bright and shiny in the water while you try to rest. The loss of colour is to tone down their outline and shape/colour against the surroundings at night.

Easy pickings for predators otherwise

lol it was only for 1 second.. like literally only a brief minute...its not like i play the alien abduction game with them every night