Half and Half coloration.

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CrimsonFog

CrimsonFog

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 2, 2012
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Warshingtun
Ever seen this before? There is a female divided in the tank with him and he IS charged and ready. But I have never seen him like this before. He has spawned many times with another female and have never shown this half and half coloration.

Any thoughts?


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The general consensus is that it's a form of nerve damage whereby they lose the ability to regulate their coloration on part of their body. Does he glass bang? I've seen some that were permanent and some where it suddenly went back to normal after a period of time.
 
Modest_Man said:
The general consensus is that it's a form of nerve damage whereby they lose the ability to regulate their coloration on part of their body. Does he glass bang? I've seen some that were permanent and some where it suddenly went back to normal after a period of time.
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Since I put a divided female in the tank and he realized he cant get to her, he has been glassbanging on the other side of the tank. He glass bangs at his own reflection. This is new. He's never done it before. Weird.
 
The texas is not the same thing, as that is breeding color for them.

This is a trait I have seen happen in many kinds of cichlids, though it has been shown not to be heritable, what I have heard is the same thing as what modest_man said. I talked to someone recently who has had this happen to a baby from three different batches from the same male (flowerhorn)- this initially made me think it is possibly heritable, although thinking further, this happened also to the same person in the same tanks, so there could be a lurking variable there that only makes it look genetic.

I too believe it to be due to some kind of damage that happens after birth, though there could be genetic factors contributing to it.
I have not head that it causes the fish problems at all, and actually it has become a very valuable trait in some flowerhorns.
I have only seen this trait in cichlids, but it happens in all kinds of cichlids.

View attachment 1007902

All in all, you have a unique fish. There's probably nothing wrong with it. As this trait is apparently not heritable, and nobody so far conclusively knows what causes it, your fish is very special.
 
It's believed to be a form of nerve damage when part of a cichlid turns black. Sometimes it's half their body, sometimes it's one side of their face, etc. People describe it as bruising sometimes but I don't think that's actually what it is. It usually happens after an injury, like slamming into the glass or hitting themselves on something. Sometimes it goes away and sometimes it doesn't. It'd be odd if he could turn it on and off, though.
 
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