Hello:
I have a 12" ST at home which is generally a brownish color during the day. However, when the tank lights go off and the only illumination is from a light in the garage, he brightens up to a beautiful salmon-orange with dark black stripes. I have a large 15" gold Dat which is a bright gold most of the time, but the stripes deepen or fade for no apparent reason. I have two 6" ITs that turn a beautiful gold with deep black striping when I toss feeders into the tank and I have a 10" ST which remains a coppery-orange color consistently...all in the same tank. My point is that I am unconvinced that either water parameters (unless it's really bad) or substrate/background color effects the coloration of the Dat. Might be...but I haven't seen it demonstrated in my tank. Frankly, I have stopped worrying about their coloration...I just want them to be healthy.
I have a 12" ST at home which is generally a brownish color during the day. However, when the tank lights go off and the only illumination is from a light in the garage, he brightens up to a beautiful salmon-orange with dark black stripes. I have a large 15" gold Dat which is a bright gold most of the time, but the stripes deepen or fade for no apparent reason. I have two 6" ITs that turn a beautiful gold with deep black striping when I toss feeders into the tank and I have a 10" ST which remains a coppery-orange color consistently...all in the same tank. My point is that I am unconvinced that either water parameters (unless it's really bad) or substrate/background color effects the coloration of the Dat. Might be...but I haven't seen it demonstrated in my tank. Frankly, I have stopped worrying about their coloration...I just want them to be healthy.
