All of my rosy barbs, who were bright red, are now all brown, or have a very light tinge of red. Could they be trying to blend in with the pond liner? The only red left is a little on the fin and on the belly.
In my experience the brightest rosy barbs I have ever seen were pulled out of a pond.
How big were they when you put them in? Is it possible you got imported hormone fed females? They should color up like males, but usually turn back. Also what variety are you keeping?
I bought them from a pond shop. I will try to find a picture to compare, but this is what they look like now. They used to be bright pink, kind of like male Rainbow Shiners.
Well that’s what I thought, but all of them used to look like this, and out of the 5 I got, 4 are like this. That’s not how it was in the beginning. Here’s an example.