Archerfish Discoloring In A Few Minutes

[maurizio]

Hello folks,
I have three T. Microlepis in a 150 l tank (freshwater at the moment, final goal SG 1.002) since a few days.

One of them has clearly been more shy than the other two, but the interesting thing is the following:
I made the mistake for two consecutive evenings to let the lights go off before feeding, so I had to switch on again, clearly disturbing them, in order to feed. The two of them took only a minute or so to realize that finally food had arrived, but there was no way to have the Shy come out of its hiding place among the roots. When eventually he did, I realized he had almost completely lost its dark bands, compared to the bright and neat black&white of the others. I have read that, if stressed, these fishes tend to darken, but I thought it would happen with time... And the molst amazing thing was, that, in a matter of minutes, finished the dinner, he was back to full colors!! At first I thought it was a light problem, but the thing repeated the day after.

My impression is that the discoloring is connected actually with the lights being off.

For some reason I can't find anymore the way of adding pictures here, the Insert Image button refers only to a web address, and the Browse button at the bottom has disappeared. So, here's the link to my (b)log:
My tank

Anybody ever heard/experienced something like that before?

 

[fluttermoth]

Lots of fish change colour at night; they can go lighter or darker and can develop or lose markings. It's nothing to worry about.

My false neons go a really beautiful deep, purpley royal blue when the lights are out. It takes them five or ten minutes to get their normal colour back if I've switched the lights on too suddenly.

You can put the room lights on for ten minutes before you put the tank lights on, and leave them on for ten minutes after the tank goes out, if you think the fish are at all stressed.

 

[maurizio]

Thanks Fluttermoth,
very interesting.

Indeed I did switch on the room lights some 10 min before going for the tank lights.

The thing is, however, that it's only happening to one of them out of three.

Will keep monitoring, and surely avoid trying to feed them once the lights are off.

 

[Shovelman]

Hey there maurizio! So glad you posted this as im looking into keeping these archers myself (65 gallon fw system)! From what ive seen with my white cloud minnows and black neon tetras is a also what your seeing in your archers, and IMO ok and nothing to be concerned as my fish usually go through a color up stage when the lights suddenly turn on.


If you dont mind me asking, are the archers as much of a joy to kep as i think they are? Im going to ordering in a group of 5-6 of them soon through my trust lfs and was just wondering what they are like?

 

[maurizio]

Hello Shovelman,
it's a pleasure to answer (although I have them since less than a week...).

My impression is that they got a bit more shy with time, instead of getting acquainted: the first day they were quite easy, going around and allowing me to shoot some decent pictures. But let's see, I'm out most of the time when lights are on. Sure this is the price to pay for having only 3 of them.

At least I don't see any bullying behaviour at all, even towards the Shy. Surely it's good to choose carefully at the shop.

I've arranged an aerial part for their antiques, actually I saw them already spitting in the first 48 hours at home, so it's promising. They're quite small, about 5 cm. I've added some pics of the tank and the fish in my (b)log, have a look.

The only food they happily accept is bloodworms, daphniae are accepted with difficulty, and many of them are missed, so they'll easily pollute the tank. Any idea of some dry food for these guys I can add into the feeder for when I'll be on vacation?

 

[Shovelman]

Hello Shovelman,
it's a pleasure to answer (although I have them since less than a week...).

My impression is that they got a bit more shy with time, instead of getting acquainted: the first day they were quite easy, going around and allowing me to shoot some decent pictures. But let's see, I'm out most of the time when lights are on. Sure this is the price to pay for having only 3 of them.

At least I don't see any bullying behaviour at all, even towards the Shy. Surely it's good to choose carefully at the shop.

I've arranged an aerial part for their antiques, actually I saw them already spitting in the first 48 hours at home, so it's promising. They're quite small, about 5 cm. I've added some pics of the tank and the fish in my (b)log, have a look.

The only food they happily accept is bloodworms, daphniae are accepted with difficulty, and many of them are missed, so they'll easily pollute the tank. Any idea of some dry food for these guys I can add into the feeder for when I'll be on vacation?

Awesome! Ive heard of the floating pellets/stick foods have worked with some people....

 

[maurizio]

Yep, I tried the sticksa, but they are not recognized as food. It helps if you break them in little pieces, but then most of them will end uneaten...

 

[Shovelman]

Yep, I tried the sticksa, but they are not recognized as food. It helps if you break them in little pieces, but then most of them will end uneaten...

even tried pinching them with tweezers and trying to imitate a bug to get them to shoot it down and eat it so at least they know what they are?