Cant believe this is the same fish
- Thread starter MikebNJ
- Start date
Tom, you are assuming that black = a stressed dat. It does not always work out that way. From what Mike has described that would include this dat, and this situation. The term "stable" is often a misnomer when it comes to datnoids. In this case black was stable, and the fish became aggro (stressed) when introduced to the Oscar. I have seen this play out many times with dats. Stable, and color, can go either way, depending on the dat.
Right this one was light when the O was in the tank and it was the dominant fish. The removal of the O upset the apple cart and the fish went dark ie destabilized over the abrupt change in it's environment. Now I'm no Dat psychologist so I can only surmise that was the reason for the color change coinciding with the change in its environment. I've seen it before and doesn't seem to be much of a stretch here.
Where you went wrong is that removing the O didn't stress the dat, it calmed the dat down so that it returned to its non stressed coloration = black. If you read the info in the link that I posted previously I explained in detail how this works with dats.
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This isn't its natural environment. I bought the fish that day. The Oscar was only with it for an hour total. Hopefully in a few days it will color up after getting used to its new tank. It was in a large tank with a ton of predators and now its alone safe lol
That comment was directed at Tom. It's all good amigo, I hope that your dat shines for you again in the near future.
Another mini experiment I just witnessed. Dat which was almost fully black goes to Royal pleco at bottom of tank and nudges it with his mouth, Royal tail slaps toward the Dat. Dat immediately colors up then swims past. As soon as he is away from Royal he goes black again.
