Our catfish changes color!

Sasquatch · Post by **Sasquatch** » 13 Apr 2007, 14:41

We're not sure what to make of it, but it's probably symptomatic of something.

Basically what happens is that at one moment our bumblebee catfish (Microglanis iheringi) looks fine and the next time we see him, he's all pale. Sometimes it's only his head, but sometimes it's his whole body.

I think it's related to water quality, since our pH is on the high side (as high as 8.2), not ideal for a catfish.

My girlfriend thinks that the food may have gone bad. Namely the beef heart and silversides we sometimes feed him.

It might also have to do with him being a fat pig and he's so bloated it streches out the color. We don't know where he find the food, but even when we don't feed him, his belly doesn't get smaller!

We've done water changes and stopped feeding him for a day and he goes back to normal. He's still active and feeding well and it doesn't change when he's a different color.

Any ideas what the cause might be, and wether or not it's dangerous?

Thanks.

synoguy · Post by **synoguy** » 13 Apr 2007, 18:02

Does he ever fight/squable with any other fish? i've noticed a similar reaction with a couple of my synos (yea i know different family but still) i have two S. albertis that fight everynow and then and one of them will almost turn totally silver during the aggression and a short while after.

Post by **Silurus** » 13 Apr 2007, 22:06

Beef heart is not ideal fish food, so I would take it off the diet to see if this helps. It might not be a pH issue, as I have kept Microglanis in moderately hard water without issues.

Sasquatch · Post by **Sasquatch** » 13 Apr 2007, 23:29

I don't think it would be an aggresion problem, he's the biggest fish in the tank and all the other (4 platies) get out of the way when he comes out.

Someone on another forum suggested that it might be a shock reaction to the lights when then turn on. Could that be possible?

In any case, we'll lay off the veal heart and see if it happens again.

Keep the advice coming.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 20 Apr 2007, 21:15

They do show different colors or color strengths depending on shock or stress caused by sudden switching on the lights, disease or other stressors.

Sasquatch · Post by **Sasquatch** » 21 Apr 2007, 12:32

We're also starting to think it's the sudden light changes.

The water quality is good and the pH, though high, is stable. We haven't fed him any of the food items we thought make him sick. There's no aggression with the other fish.

But the last two nights we've noticed that he's become all pale just after the lights went off. His whole body was of a lighter color, except his lateral line.

He's become much less shy that when we first got him and is spending much more time outside the two caves he usually hides in. Could it be that when he gets caught outside during the light change, he reacts that way?

Thanks all.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 21 Apr 2007, 14:51

I would say that you have it right. If it is coming out and it eats it is doing well. Another thing that can affect it's color is whether it is on a dark or light substrate. They will do their best to blend in.

I think that your pH is too high for it to have it's best colors but I would not try to lower it unless you can do so by diluting the water with RO or rain water to the point where peat filtration can help lower the pH.
I think that the peat stained water would help bring up the color even more.

Obviously it is not a fatal condition to have such a high pH but it is only when the water parameters are optimized that we usually see the colors of softwater fishes at their best.

Sasquatch · Post by **Sasquatch** » 21 Apr 2007, 16:14

apistomaster wrote:I would say that you have it right. If it is coming out and it eats it is doing well. Another thing that can affect it's color is whether it is on a dark or light substrate. They will do their best to blend in.

I think that your pH is too high for it to have it's best colors but I would not try to lower it unless you can do so by diluting the water with RO or rain water to the point where peat filtration can help lower the pH.
I think that the peat stained water would help bring up the color even more.

Obviously it is not a fatal condition to have such a high pH but it is only when the water parameters are optimized that we usually see the colors of softwater fishes at their best.

Yeah, we kinda got screwed with our substrate. It's a mix of natural gravel (various shades of brown) and colored substrate (light and dark greens). Where we got shafted is that the natural gravel has some limestone in it, so even though our tap water is around pH 7.5, it gets pushed up to above 8.0 by the gravel. The hardness is pretty high too.

We do twice weekly water changes to keep the pH around 8.0. If we leave it for more than a week, it starts climbing to 8.2, even 8.4.

But we're getting the upper hand, the hardness has been coming down and we occasionally get pH readings of 7.8, so we're slowly dissolving the limestone and getting rid of it.