I'm sure this question has come up before and I am sorry if it's repetitive but I've been doing research and not sure if it's stress or normal. I have a discus (not sure of the type) which is about 6". I've had him for about a year now and I keep him with a number of other smaller discus(he's def. the biggest in the tank). Up until about 2 days ago he was bright yellow in the body, his fins are red with the blue patterning and some more blue on the face, recently his body has started turning a dark red and the blue patterning seems to be covering almost his entire body. There's some yellow around the face but it's very faint now. I've been seeing that when they turn dark it usually means stress or a parasite. I'm not sure how "dark" is really defined and this strikes me more as a coloration "change" rather than stress. I've always heard they as they grow their colors change so made it's a result of that. Everyone seems happy and healthy and eating well with no issues. I've been testing the water and all's well. The only thing I've changed lately is I've started adding about 1/3 the recommended dose of "blackwater" treatment to replenish lost minerals after my RO filter. any thoughts?
discus color change, stress or normal?
- Thread starter Draygen
- Start date
If you had some photos of before and after that would help. Are his colors brighter or just darker? Yes as discus grow the color changes. You say he has more spots too? It sound like he is changing colors or depending on the size of the others maybe he or she is in the mood to spawn. Because discus color will change they will have deeper richer color when spawning.
Discus turn black when stressed or sick they might show more bars too. But yours sounds like it could be him getting bright to show domanice or spawning. I wish you had photos.
Discus turn black when stressed or sick they might show more bars too. But yours sounds like it could be him getting bright to show domanice or spawning. I wish you had photos.
It really depends on the type of discus. If you don't know what he is, pictures would help. If he's bright yellow with red fins, it sounds like a pigeon blood type. Pigeon bloods don't have the characteristic stress bars -- the black pigment is broken up into tiny flecks all over the body, which is known as "peppering" in the discus world. So stressed pigeon bloods will often "pepper" which can look like the fish was dropped in dirt or ashes. The peppering can be black or dark purple/blue.
Peppering can show for three reasons: Stress, color change due to breeding/fry-rearing, or a dark background/substrate. Discus do darken when stressed, but also when their environment is dark (which is why a lot of people don't recommend black backgrounds for non-albino discus) or when they're trying to attract their fry.
Peppering can show for three reasons: Stress, color change due to breeding/fry-rearing, or a dark background/substrate. Discus do darken when stressed, but also when their environment is dark (which is why a lot of people don't recommend black backgrounds for non-albino discus) or when they're trying to attract their fry.