clown fish

[josie1]

hi all, Here is a question about pecula clown fish. Ihave 2and they are going on 4 years old... the other day I noticed that one of them is turning really dark. The bright orange color has turned very dark, like even brown or black. Can anyone tell me why the color change?

 

[King Jason]

My maroon did this. I think it has to do with getting older. Kind of like when people get older they loose hair and get wrinkly. I don't have a scientific answer to this though.

 

[josie1]

heehee,yeah could be..thanks for the reply. :lol:

 

[outerbank]

Mine have done the same thing. Their back/dorsal side is dark, almost black. They are about 8 years old and tank raised. This seemed to occur when they were 3 or 4 years old. I think their color was better when I fed vibragro pellots. I may try feeding this again to see if it makes any difference.

As they get older, they seem to get old "crusty" looking grins and jaws to them as well. I kind of like the old looks--they look a little grumpier!

Scott

 

[easygoer2]

Mine looks like that also. Someone told me they get darker when there hosting. Not sure what that means though. Now mine looks more like a frown fish. He's about 7 years old.

 

[LilBugger225]

Are your clowns a mated pair? My female slowly turned very dark after she paired up with my other clown when I put him in the tank. The male never changed color like she did. Then a year and a half or so later they started spawning. My clowns are now probably 3 years old so not as old as yours but this is just my experience.

HTH

LB 8)

 

[King Jason]

I did introduce a male into the tank probably around the same time...hmm

 

[LilBugger225]

In the book "Clownfishes" by Joyce Wilkerson, she refers to this change in color as dichromatism where one sex differs in color. Depending on the species of clownfish, this color difference can be somewhat dramatic. With percs there is not as much of a size difference between males and females than with say maroons so this color difference helps to sex these clownfish. When clownfish go through their gender change, if that is what your clown did, it only takes about a month. The first question I would ask is when did you add the second clown and did the color change happen shortly after? If you don't have Wilkerson's book on clownfishes yet, get it. I highly recommend it.

HTH

LB 8)

 

[King Jason]

It was a while ago so I don't really remember the dates. I didn't really think twice about it till now.