How common is this?
I have two tanks with Peacock Bass. Two Azul and one Mono along w/ a few other large fish are in an 800 gallon. The largest bass in that tank is about 16-18" long and inclined to eat anything half his size or smaller. In a smaller 106 gallon grow out I have two Kelberi's and one Xingu. The fish in the grow out are about 7" long and the Xingu is a fairly dull looking hulk of a fish however, the two Kelberis have vibrant colors along w/ a thick black lateral line that runs down the body of the fish clear back to the caudal peduncle. One of the two Kelberi's has a habit of changing his color dramatically multiple times during the day and for no predictable reason (no stress, etc.) will completely lose its dark green and gold color as well as the thick black lateral line and transition into a bright golden colored fish covered in speckles that you would swear is completely different from the one it appeared as a couple minutes prior.
In 50 years of fish keeping I've never seen anything like it but I've only been keeping Peacocks for a couple three years or so. Is this relatively common? None of my other Peacocks shift their camo like this and this little 7 inch dude's been doing it ever since it grew out of juvi camo.
It's a pronounced enough change that people that aren't fish keepers will comment on how dramatically he shifts colors and patterns and it doesn't appear to be connected to any activity in the tank or movements around the tank w/ people walking in, etc. That fish has seen me walk up to the tank hundreds of times and is as cool as a cucumber when I walk up. The other odd bit that seems to distinguish it from a stress change is his colors aren't washed out. When he changes he goes from a vibrantly colored fish to a differently looking and maybe even more vibrantly colored fish. My guess based on its age and how long he's been doing it is that it is unlikely to be related to breeding behavior.
Age? I brought that fish home on March 5, 2023 and it was tiny... about half the length of my thumb.
How unusual is that fish?
I have two tanks with Peacock Bass. Two Azul and one Mono along w/ a few other large fish are in an 800 gallon. The largest bass in that tank is about 16-18" long and inclined to eat anything half his size or smaller. In a smaller 106 gallon grow out I have two Kelberi's and one Xingu. The fish in the grow out are about 7" long and the Xingu is a fairly dull looking hulk of a fish however, the two Kelberis have vibrant colors along w/ a thick black lateral line that runs down the body of the fish clear back to the caudal peduncle. One of the two Kelberi's has a habit of changing his color dramatically multiple times during the day and for no predictable reason (no stress, etc.) will completely lose its dark green and gold color as well as the thick black lateral line and transition into a bright golden colored fish covered in speckles that you would swear is completely different from the one it appeared as a couple minutes prior.
In 50 years of fish keeping I've never seen anything like it but I've only been keeping Peacocks for a couple three years or so. Is this relatively common? None of my other Peacocks shift their camo like this and this little 7 inch dude's been doing it ever since it grew out of juvi camo.
It's a pronounced enough change that people that aren't fish keepers will comment on how dramatically he shifts colors and patterns and it doesn't appear to be connected to any activity in the tank or movements around the tank w/ people walking in, etc. That fish has seen me walk up to the tank hundreds of times and is as cool as a cucumber when I walk up. The other odd bit that seems to distinguish it from a stress change is his colors aren't washed out. When he changes he goes from a vibrantly colored fish to a differently looking and maybe even more vibrantly colored fish. My guess based on its age and how long he's been doing it is that it is unlikely to be related to breeding behavior.
Age? I brought that fish home on March 5, 2023 and it was tiny... about half the length of my thumb.
How unusual is that fish?
