Made a startling discovery by accident. The large tank has an aquaneat led strip light which allows custom settings along with base colors of red, green, and bright blue. Those of you who have read about my fish know about the squabbling between Boss the parrot and Brick the Oscar. It's never been serious and no injuries despite all the nonsense. There are times it gets a bit out of hand, though.
So anyway I mistakenly tapped the "red" led light by mistake. First off, its ugly as sin. Dark and weird looking. But it also stopped my Oscar Brick...he was tussling with Boss and halted like he hit a wall. Then he drifted back aimlessly in the current and turned sideways. So I'm like "the hell's wrong with him?"
Then he swam carefully, not brushing against any objects. So I watched and discovered he can't see in red light! Boss was completely unaffected and went over to 'nudge' him across the tank to his side. Remarkable! He did this the entire time the red light was on. I was amazed, but I have heard of Parrots doing things like watching over impaired fish.
The reason I could tell Brick couldn't see is because when I tapped the tank in front of him he never turned around and jolted away. Normally he looks at me and follows my finger. So he was relying on his lateral line to get around but had no sense of where anything was. My understanding is that different fish see different parts of the spectrum and perceive it a certain way based on their evolution and location/sunlight/water depth they are adapted to.
This also explains Brick's reaction during Xmas when I was wearing a red sweater. He floated away and tilted like he wanted no part of me. He also does this with bold pattern clothes. The Parrots don't care if you wear checkers and dots in neon. But food is the cure. Once he eats Brick is fine with loud color.
So to test my theory further I hit a custom setting resembling sunset with deep magenta/orange tones. Brick was subdued and slowed down. He could clearly see and swim normally but the red spectrum was a factor. It was like he was totally relaxed and went into second gear. Under magenta light Boss is practically flourescent...you can see him 20 feet away. Interestingly enough the red spectrum made Boss more active and exploring, an opposite affect.
I briefly hit the red again. Same result...total disorientation. It also took him a couple of minutes to gather himself after the regular light was on. I have a custom setting I call "low bright white"" that is more natural than the "marine" and "fish" light settings (they are garish and promote algae). The marine is super white/blue tint, the fish is super white/green tint, The "plant " light is neutral white and the "full daylight" is just blinding purple/blue tint white. So I mixed in the blue, magenta and green to tone the white back a bit to look more like regular lower key lighting. When I have it on it looks like the full white light but the tank is more natural in color and the fish not stressed.
I'm no scientist but I think its worth looking into. Just my observations with my own fish regarding led light:
RED = Oscar disoriented, no vision. Parrot is unaffected and becomes more lively, exploring whole tank. No aggression between the two. Territory non existent.
GREEN = Oscar and Parrot normal, still some territorial behavior but reduced.
BLUE = Oscar and Parrot Ok, go into rest mode or patrol tank at low speed. No aggression, lots of interaction. No territory issue.
Regular Light mode = Both are fed on Brick's side of tank...Boss comes over immediately but doesn't overstay when eating. Each fish stays in their territory during the day except when I'm in front of the tank...then Brick roams into Boss' area constantly, almost like out of boredom. I have no idea what this means or why Brick does this only when I'm there.
However if Boss has food on his side they tussle and eventually Brick gets shoved over to his area. If Boss overstays his welcome on Brick's side he gets chased back as well. This is only under regular light, though.
So anyway I mistakenly tapped the "red" led light by mistake. First off, its ugly as sin. Dark and weird looking. But it also stopped my Oscar Brick...he was tussling with Boss and halted like he hit a wall. Then he drifted back aimlessly in the current and turned sideways. So I'm like "the hell's wrong with him?"
Then he swam carefully, not brushing against any objects. So I watched and discovered he can't see in red light! Boss was completely unaffected and went over to 'nudge' him across the tank to his side. Remarkable! He did this the entire time the red light was on. I was amazed, but I have heard of Parrots doing things like watching over impaired fish.
The reason I could tell Brick couldn't see is because when I tapped the tank in front of him he never turned around and jolted away. Normally he looks at me and follows my finger. So he was relying on his lateral line to get around but had no sense of where anything was. My understanding is that different fish see different parts of the spectrum and perceive it a certain way based on their evolution and location/sunlight/water depth they are adapted to.
This also explains Brick's reaction during Xmas when I was wearing a red sweater. He floated away and tilted like he wanted no part of me. He also does this with bold pattern clothes. The Parrots don't care if you wear checkers and dots in neon. But food is the cure. Once he eats Brick is fine with loud color.
So to test my theory further I hit a custom setting resembling sunset with deep magenta/orange tones. Brick was subdued and slowed down. He could clearly see and swim normally but the red spectrum was a factor. It was like he was totally relaxed and went into second gear. Under magenta light Boss is practically flourescent...you can see him 20 feet away. Interestingly enough the red spectrum made Boss more active and exploring, an opposite affect.
I briefly hit the red again. Same result...total disorientation. It also took him a couple of minutes to gather himself after the regular light was on. I have a custom setting I call "low bright white"" that is more natural than the "marine" and "fish" light settings (they are garish and promote algae). The marine is super white/blue tint, the fish is super white/green tint, The "plant " light is neutral white and the "full daylight" is just blinding purple/blue tint white. So I mixed in the blue, magenta and green to tone the white back a bit to look more like regular lower key lighting. When I have it on it looks like the full white light but the tank is more natural in color and the fish not stressed.
I'm no scientist but I think its worth looking into. Just my observations with my own fish regarding led light:
RED = Oscar disoriented, no vision. Parrot is unaffected and becomes more lively, exploring whole tank. No aggression between the two. Territory non existent.
GREEN = Oscar and Parrot normal, still some territorial behavior but reduced.
BLUE = Oscar and Parrot Ok, go into rest mode or patrol tank at low speed. No aggression, lots of interaction. No territory issue.
Regular Light mode = Both are fed on Brick's side of tank...Boss comes over immediately but doesn't overstay when eating. Each fish stays in their territory during the day except when I'm in front of the tank...then Brick roams into Boss' area constantly, almost like out of boredom. I have no idea what this means or why Brick does this only when I'm there.
However if Boss has food on his side they tussle and eventually Brick gets shoved over to his area. If Boss overstays his welcome on Brick's side he gets chased back as well. This is only under regular light, though.
