Fading process - your experiences

[hamfist]

Just interested in your own experiences of the process.

For me, and the fish I've had, it seems to have been that the first 10% of the process seems to happen really slowly (say, over a month or two). And then something "clicks" in the fish and 80% of the fade occurs within a week or so. Then the final 10% again occurs slowly over the following few months.

Is this what others experience ??

 

[BLUECAN]

i have two right now, had them both for a couple months, Both started to fade pretty much right after I got them. One faded completely in a couple days, but has reocurring spirts of black patches they have come back twice even with a week or two in between them. The other who completely turned black and started to fade, only faded on her tail so far and otherwise is very blotchy.... mostly original skin colour unfortunatly, but hers comes and goes too so we shall see...

 

[Chrisplosion]

I had the same experience, first post shows his progression. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4645262#post4645262

 

[jdmkemis]

didnt have the same experience, mine faded in three months

 

[hamfist]

Thanks guys. I'm amazed more people don't have experiences. Possibly we have a lot more faders over here in the UK.

 

[Chicklette]

I want a fader. Amazing!

 

[Kaliedoscope]

I have lots of faders. If they have lots of midas blood fading usually happens quickly, as midas babies fade over about four days on average. Allthough, I did have an interesting fading experience with one of my little Short body RBK faders (They are 'attempted' parrots who have lots of syn and midas blood). First the little guy faded ti stripes and synspillum colours, then after about three weeks he got a big white spot on either side of his belly. This stayed for about two weeks, and frankly scared me because at first glance it looked like a big spot or wound where his scales had rubbed off (at the time he lived in a pvc pipe which I assumed to be the culprit).

Well, after about three weeks of this, and just after moving him to a new tank, the spot faded to yellow. I realized that it was not a wound but a white pre-fade area, and now, after about another two weeks of fading, he is totally yellow with a circle on his belly, a red throat and a black top, sort of like a skunk stripe. So I guess you never know. It has a lot to do with the genotype of the particular fish, and how much natural fader blood is in them, and also, I suspect with the fishes' personality. I see fading as sort of the cichlid equivalent of puberty, the point where they relinquish their baby colours and turn into what they will be as an adult. So it goes that it would take different amounts of time for different fish with different personalities. The fastest faders I've seen are usually the most agressive IME.

Another thing that is important to note is that many faders will have pre-fade colours. One of my flowerhorns, which looked like a zz red dragon when I got him, faded at about 2 inches to black, before eventually fading to orange. My RBK-ish parrot fish generally faded to white first.

Hope this has been helpful, but it really depends on the fishe's personality and parentage

 

[fishnut]

Thanks guys. I'm amazed more people don't have experiences. Possibly we have a lot more faders over here in the UK.

If you are referring to flowerhorn, fader flowerhorn is an old strain. They were popular a few years back when flowerhorns were mainly coming over to the US from Malaysia.

Different fish fades differently. My FH did not fade till he was around 8".

 

[hamfist]

If you are referring to flowerhorn, fader flowerhorn is an old strain. They were popular a few years back when flowerhorns were mainly coming over to the US from Malaysia.

Different fish fades differently. My FH did not fade till he was around 8".

I was thinking of FH's yes.

How long did your's take to fade then ? 8" is obviously late in life to fade but I'm well aware that it can happen almost at any point, although younger is obviously more common.

 

[hamfist]

Allthough, I did have an interesting fading experience with one of my little Short body RBK faders (They are 'attempted' parrots who have lots of syn and midas blood). First the little guy faded ti stripes and synspillum colours, then after about three weeks he got a big white spot on either side of his belly. This stayed for about two weeks, and frankly scared me because at first glance it looked like a big spot or wound where his scales had rubbed off (at the time he lived in a pvc pipe which I assumed to be the culprit).

Well, after about three weeks of this, and just after moving him to a new tank, the spot faded to yellow. I realized that it was not a wound but a white pre-fade area, and now, after about another two weeks of fading, he is totally yellow with a circle on his belly, a red throat and a black top, sort of like a skunk stripe.

Yes, i have a fish with similar type of white fading marks just at the moment. They really do look like "rub" marks at first glance, unless you are aware of the fading process.

The fastest faders I've seen are usually the most agressive IME.

Interesting hypothesis.