Morphing Loaches?

Question

Today i took a look at the loaches,
i noticed that all their fins were clear :)
their skin was clear :)
but one of them.. the black stripes were PITCH black
and the other was gray

the one with the ptich black stripes startled me more than i might have startled it xD
but whats with the sudden color change???

i havent changed anything.
not their diet,
no new fish
no new plants etc,
no new temp
no new filter (though i got one - not new-)

and yes clown loaches

sorry i forgot to add such vital detail xD


good thing is they all look healthy, the water is clear only one loach has a darker black stripe(s) than the other.

Answer 1

I assume you mean your clown loaches. Those type of color changes are completely normal in clowon loaches and don't indicate any type of disease or water quality problems at all. Look again in a few hours and you will probably see that they have changed a bit again. Unless you see some other indications that make you think disease or water problems just relax and know that they are ok.

MM

Answer 2

I agree w/ Andy. If everything is testing normal and you haven't changed anything, then it's probably just a dominance issue. I've had clown loaches for 10 years and I always have at least one that is VERY dark and one that has VERY pale stripes. It doesn't necessarily indicate a problem. Now, these guys like to be in groups so you might consider getting another one. I've found that odd numbers work best. It tends to help distribute any aggression amongst all the other clown loaches--not that they are mean, just dominant with their own species. Good luck!

Answer 3

I'm with MM here all the way. I have four clown loaches myself, one juvenile, and three babies. I have not seen them exhibit a color morph that extreme, but my Datnoid tiger barb, and my Lavendar Gourami's do that. My lavendars will at times appear to be all black. My understanding of this, to suppliment onto MM's advice, is sometimes fish do this out of stress. If there are no other tank mates in there but other loaches, you have not changed diet, and water parameters are all clear, I am not sure why they might do that. The only dark horse possibilities I could range, and this is a complete shot in the dark, any shift in PH or temp? Did you do a water change at all recently and maybe didn't treat the water?

JV

Answer 4

Like everything else they have falling out's, which i suspect has happened here theres been a squabble and the one thats brightly coloured is the dominant one, the lesser coloured obviously lost and has become subservient. It happens on occassions but seldom do they do each other damage.

AJ

Answer 5

Usually fish change color due to water temperature change, it happens to my Oscars a lot, usually after a day or so, they change back to their original color.