why do his colors intensify as he hears the surface?

[philipraposo1982]

I have noticed this with my male GT. He always has good color and is a very outgoing social fish, but I do notice that as he approaches the top half of his tank his colors deepen and become noticeably more vibrant.

Any ideas why this might be?

 

[Grinch]

Water absorbs light. As the fish changes distance relative to the light (which I assume is above your tank), the color of the fish (as you perceive it) will change.

 

[philipraposo1982]

Yeah I am aware but this is different. It's almost like instant breading dress as he gets to the surface. But I have done tests with the light to recreate the scenario in the lower part of the tank with no results that come close to what he is displaying at the surface.

 

[Rafini]

could it just be that hes closer to the light and you have one of those purplish output lights that really make cichlid colors pop?
I used one of those on my cichlids a few years ago and I was amazed how well blues and reds showed. My texas looked like a different fish.

 

[MrsE88]

I think I understand what you mean.
For me it's my female that does that. But not at a certain part of the tank. She is normally pretty light, but will instantly go dark with light stripes.
Normal color for her


I snapped a pic when I caught her with her stripes out. She was in a bad mood at the time. For her, she changes when she is irritated. Any other time she is her normal self pictured above.


Perhaps he is just on guard when he nears the top? Any pics?

 

[johnny potatoes]

My GT would change from green to blue. If he was at the back of the tank lit from the light fixture it was green. At the front and lit by the room light and sunlight he was blue. Took me awhile to figure this out.
The same thing was happening with the last group of bass I kept.

 

[philipraposo1982]

I wish I could capture it on photo but its super difficult due to the lighting. He also gets a similar color when I get up close to the tank with my face / beard and he will start glass banging at me. I think its like a attitude / mood thing.