help! fading florida gars? WTF?

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wednesday13

wednesday13

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MFK Member
Mar 2, 2008
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The deep south
hi anyone know what i can do to keep my gars colored up? they seem to fade immediatly after i buy them and contiune to do so...i've tried different temps....different foods...and removing problem fish...nothing seems to work...they look beautiful in the store and its downhill from there..please help! thanx
 
wednesday13;2042178; said:
hi anyone know what i can do to keep my gars colored up? they seem to fade immediatly after i buy them and contiune to do so...i've tried different temps....different foods...and removing problem fish...nothing seems to work...they look beautiful in the store and its downhill from there..please help! thanx
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gars can change color voluntarily so it's not unusual to hear of them doing so...that being said, what is your pH? are you reading any ammonia in the tank? this will cause them to change colors as well. they will also often 'lose' a lot of pattern/color at night...they will also vary quite a bit due to substrate/tank conditions. they often show more contrast on a darker substrate than on lighter substrate, and neutral tones of substrate are somewhat hit or miss. a change in diet can lead to pattern difference, although this isn't seen as drastically in gars, and usually not from pet store to home tanks (it's more often seen as a comparison from wild specimens to captive specimens...wild fish are often more more colorful). those should provide some potential explanations as to why your gars are changing colors. unless it's ammo/or pH related, i wouldn't be too concerned--
--solomon
 
fading colours can also be due to water temperature. slightly warmer water will usually bring out vibrant colours and speed up metabolism so they eat more. good luck! plus higher temps also mean less chance of disease...i keep my gars in tropical climate (in msia) and they have gorgeous colouration and perfect bodies!
 
TLkmDN;2042442; said:
fading colours can also be due to water temperature. slightly warmer water will usually bring out vibrant colours and speed up metabolism so they eat more. good luck! plus higher temps also mean less chance of disease...i keep my gars in tropical climate (in msia) and they have gorgeous colouration and perfect bodies!
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I keep all of mine at temperate conditions (Room temp whatever that may be) and temp has shown zero effect in altering coloration. My fish are just as vibrant at 75 as they are at 60. Pic below was taken at around 60..

Another factor aside from what Solomon noted is the fishes psychological condition. A stressed gar will show a faded colouration. (or a dark one depending on species) If the fish is reacting badly to tankmates or tank conditions they will not colour up very well.

LPY-001.jpg
 
my fishes color fades when they are stress. like my flower horn and texas cichlid for example they would turn gray when they get stress. when ever i aquire a new fish their color fades cause the fish store i buy from is 2 hours away from my house,what i would do is cover the tank so that they wont get spook or something and let them get use to the tank. hope it helps.
 
Polypterus;2042579; said:
I keep all of mine at temperate conditions (Room temp whatever that may be) and temp has shown zero effect in altering coloration. My fish are just as vibrant at 75 as they are at 60. Pic below was taken at around 60..

Another factor aside from what Solomon noted is the fishes psychological condition. A stressed gar will show a faded colouration. (or a dark one depending on species) If the fish is reacting badly to tankmates or tank conditions they will not colour up very well.
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definitely agree on both accounts...i have not seen temperature to affect a gar's pattern at all...and have not tested extreme ends of their tolerance but at that point the pattern change would be stress-related as noted by richard. i have generally kept my gars at 80-82F for years, and have recently changed some to lower temps and have noticed no difference in terms of pattern.--
--solomon

PS-- for general reference in terms of stress, most gar species will go much lighter when stressed, Cuban gars tend to be the exception as they will go much darker when stressed.
 
my bass fades in the day, and my florida gar fade at night

its weird.....
 
E_americanus;2042750; said:
definitely agree on both accounts...i have not seen temperature to affect a gar's pattern at all...and have not tested extreme ends of their tolerance but at that point the pattern change would be stress-related as noted by richard. i have generally kept my gars at 80-82F for years, and have recently changed some to lower temps and have noticed no difference in terms of pattern.--
--solomon

PS-- for general reference in terms of stress, most gar species will go much lighter when stressed, Cuban gars tend to be the exception as they will go much darker when stressed.
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You guys forgot to mention colors of substrate and decor. If you have light colored sand or gravel, this too will change the color of gars. My gar would almost turn white with very little spots when I had it in my light colored gravel. When I put him in my darker mexican rock gravel tank he brightened up. This is true with many fish.
 
ultimatejay;2049336; said:
You guys forgot to mention colors of substrate and decor. If you have light colored sand or gravel, this too will change the color of gars. My gar would almost turn white with very little spots when I had it in my light colored gravel. When I put him in my darker mexican rock gravel tank he brightened up. This is true with many fish.
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check out my initial response--
--solomon
 
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