Elephantnose fish changing colors?

Question

Last night I bought an elephantnose fish to add to my 30 gallon aquarium. I currently have 2 angelfish in there and the man at the store said the elephantnose would be fine with them. He also said that the elephantnose may become pale for the first couple of days due to stress.
Well, anyway, he was put in the tank last night and the lights have been kept off. When I got up this morning, the top half of him was completely white. It almost looks as if he has a white coating, but the other fish are still okay, and it's only his top half.
I did treat for fungus about a week ago with a penicillin treatment. Do you think this could cause his color change, or is it natural? Please help me save him!

Answer 1

Unfortunately these are one of many fish sold too lightly by pet stores. I'll bet he didn't tell you how they need calm, peaceful, and well planted tanks, and very good water quality. Did he tell you how they are schooling fish and need their own numbers both to live a stress free life and exhibit the most natural behaviour? Are you aware that they can sometimes be difficult to feed and need to be catored to, and how a tank with larger gravel in which food sinks into can ultimately starve the fish if you are not careful to make sure they get food?

Anyway, I went off topic. The color of the fish going pale is probably stress. If he isn't relieved of the stress it will turn into worse problems. These fish are not long lived when kept by those who don't understand them.

Answer 2

I'm going to agree with Danielle Z on this - elephant noses should be kept singly. In addition to being somewhat aggressive to their own species, they have a mild electrical charge (you can't feel it and it can't hurt you or the other fish) that they use to locate food. If they're kept in groups (or with knife fish that also produce an electrical field for navigation) their "signals" tend to get confused. They should have a larger (55 gallon at least) tank.

The coloration may just be stress - he was just moved into a new tank. The angelfish may be picking on him as well. Elephants are rather shy and need lots of hiding places.

Keep an eye on the color, though. I'm concerned that you say it looks like a "coating" rather than "he's just pale". I'm add in a link to a website that gives info on fish diseases. If the color doesn't return to normal or you notice that this is a coating, you can use the "symptoms" list to help diagnose the ailment: http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/stressdisease.shtml Once you have a name, look it up in a couple of websites to find out your treatment options.

Info on elephant nose fish:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1882
http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10elephantnose.htm

Answer 3

Elephant nose are more nocturnal in nature. It isn't uncommon for varities of fish to change color (light dark) when adding to a new tank, or while the light is out in the tank. Elephant nose are very specific fish and require certain water paramiters. If only the top of your fish is white(ish) chances are he is slightly stressed. Be sure you have pleanty of hiding places for him in your tank.

Elephant Nose are shy by nature and will require a well planted aquarium, with subdued lighting and a soft substrate. You must include hiding places in the form of clay pipes, rockwork or driftwood. They should be kept singly as they are somewhat aggressive to their own species. Nocturnal in nature they will become more active at dusk and start looking for food, it is important to provide this to them after the lights come out. Given time they will become active with the other fish with the lights on. Feed them with Tubifex worms, Mosquito larva and Bloodworms. They are a member of the electric fish family and emit a small electrical charges that change with their mood. They are very sensitive to water quality and I have read that some municipal water companies use them as a gauge of water purity

I would keep a close eye on him. for the next couple of days. You want to be sure Ich doesn't set in due to his stress.

You can keep only one elephant nose in your tank. Some experts say you should have a goup of 3 or more, however they tend to be aggressive towards their own kind as well. They are wonderful jumpers and they WILL jump from the tank. They are curious fish. Here a good sight to help with their personalities.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile42.html

Answer 4

The color change is most likely totally natural and just stress related.

I too would advise you to try to return the fish as it will not live well in a 30 gallon tank with noother elephant nose around.

MM

Answer 5

Quite a few fish will do this - especially brightly colored ones or ones that contrast with the color of the environment. There's nothing quite like these colors to advertise "Here I am!". So most fish will become pale so they blend into their environment better.

Answer 6

my common pleco changes colors,most of the time hes full colored dark or light but sometimes he has dark spots on him or light patches different to the rest of him. I've heard its because hes changing because of the lights being on during the day and he'll change back over night.

sorry if its not much help.

Answer 7

You should have never got him, they get way to large for a 30 GALLON tank

I cant stand people who work at fish stores and know NUTHING

Answer 8

did the pet store guy tell you there suicidal fish... keep your tank lid closed they like to jump out and if your not around to see them do it they will lie on the floor and die i dont h\know why they do this but we had that problem at the pet store i used to work at and our fish dept head for all three stores told us there *sucidal*