Channa color going bright to dark and back?

[quasar]

I have a channa micropeltes, sometimes he's (I just assume its a guy) a solid dark dark blue, and sometimes he'll go almost grey with blue lines, and then back to dark. I've tried to see if maybe stress from lights caused it, but it's not that, I know it's not because he's sick if not that would mean he's been sick for 5 months, and it's not when he's hungry either. The snakehead is about 16" and he lives with a 11.5" tiger oscar. They somehow became what seems to be friends, theres countless days i see them just following each other while swimming or just swimming in sync, so I doubt its a territory thing, the only other fish is a 13" commom pleco. Is it just the normal behavior of my channa?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[quasar]

And yes I realize if it's been going on for 5 months I should have asked earlier, my reason is that the fish is only a year old so i figured it was due to growth

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[crazyfreak204]

well ots not do to growth .i have three and one always gets like this .i really believe that ur mocro is sizing up ur oscar and its more and likely a mood thing.my biggest one does this all the time and then usualy attacks the other two .i could b wrong but this is my experiance .hope this helps and deff keep an eye on that oscar caise i feel that one day he might b supper.just a question how big is ur tank ? and what kind of decor do u jave in it ?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997R using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[quasar]

I just put him in a 4'/18" foot print for now till the summer. Its hard to move things from outside to inside in the winter in Montreal :s. The tank has some floating plants, 1" layer of white gravel rocks, and a pirate ship thats about 17" long, 2" wide and 15" high. In May I'm getting a used 8'/2'(wide) tank from a guy i know for really cheap, we're waiting till then because we dont wana risk slipping on ice/snow

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[-DC-]

Color changes are normally a result of mood, Lighting and stress can also play a roll but it's not unusual at all.

I'd have to agree the behavior your describing is not "friendship" it's displays of dominance territorial behavior and attacks/fights will be the next step and i doubt the oscar will survive a scrap with a micro that size.

Oscar/Micro is a poor mix, Micros are territorial, predatory and have a reputation for destroying tank mates big or small, Oscars are also territorial and will challenge tank mates regularly, even those larger then them. If you want to keep that Oscar alive I'd get him his own tank ASAP.

 

[quasar]

Hmm looks like im giving my aunt an early gift

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[quasar]

Just a slight off topic question, how do you tell apparat channa micropeltes from channa diplogramma? I'm only asking because the shop i bought my guy at has a bad habit of inventing names or using the wrong names.

Heres a couple of photos

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[-DC-]

Once color change starts it's very hard to tell because they go through various similar stages based off age. As young fry there some slight color/pattern differences, and when full grown there are again some minor color/pattern and shape differences but in-between while growing they change so much and have so much variation it's hard to say.

With that said micros are very common , available to pretty much any pet shop in the world where they aren't banned by law, and have very cheap wholesale price. Diplo's on the other hand demand a higher price, they are harder to find and have a limited range and short window each season/year to export out of india.

So although you'll see the occasionally see someone trying to pawn off a micro as a diplo to make a buck, I doubt anyone accidentally calls a diplo a micro , if it's labeled in a shop as a micro, or a "red line" then it's safe to assume its channa micropeltes.