Blue phantom.. not blue

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M

mshill90

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 4, 2009
3,179
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Mechanicsburg, PA
A few months back, I bought a blue phantom pleco from Snookn21.

He was the black /blue with blue spots.

Now he is green/black with lime green spots.

Is this normal?

I know it's not an emerald pleco, because I have one of them as well.

Pics tomorrow.
 
Weird! Maybe he is stressed out for some reason?

Mine hasn't been as dark lately either, but is just a paler shade of blue. Normally only when I turn the lights on when he's out.
 
I have 2 of the green and blue in the same tank,,it is hard to tell them apart sometimes. They are the same size about 7 inches. It just depends on thier mood i guess?
 
I mine has done some small color changes but always reverts back to his blue color.
 
What is the tank temperature?
There is some controversy if this fish is the species as the green phantom, and the variation in color depends on the river temperature. The blues are from colder, more upstream waters, while the greens are from warmer more downstream waters. In between the color is mixed.
So maybe if you bring the tank temperature closer to 71, it may switch back to blue?
From PC:

May be the same species as L200 Hemiancistrus subviridis in which case L128 is the northern form. An inky black fish with variable blueish white spots.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=210
 
The tank currently doesn't have a heater in it because it's summer. It stays in the 75 region, which is what we always kept it at.

When I got him, he was the blue variation. He stayed that blue variation. But them I moved them to a bigger tank, and when I caught him I noticed he had changed. He's not stressed at all, and all the other plecos are fine.

He's not an emerald. Mine is as green as ever, so I can tell them apart. The blue itself is about 3-4" in size.

Mine doesn't look like the emerald, and it doesn't look like the blue. haha. It's kinda like my Jaguar cichlid that I can't sex... up for debate.

I'm going to run down, and TRY to get a pic. The tank sits up 3 ft higher than me.. so it's hard sometimes.
 
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