Will a fish have different colors if they return them back to the wild?

[studd muffin]

Will a fish have different colors if you return them back to the wild? Just wondering because in the beginning of summer i let my sail fin pleco go in my 6000 pond for the very first time. Yesterday i accidentally scooped him up in my net and saw that he got a lot bigger and is darker! I can barely see his spots on his body and on his fin.

What do you guys think?

I dont have any plans on letting my fish go into the wild.

 

[studd muffin]

This is not my pleco but as you can see it has spotted patterns. Mine doesnt look like that anymore. Its darker.

 

[Reptilesfishbirdsmammals]

when i saw this question i thought your nuts cause you NEVER let a animal go to the wild thats a pet like a python to non native country *cough* florida with pythons -.- idiots..but idk id think theyd always have a different color in a wilder habitat cause i mean for example if you put it like this a kissing gourami is actually olive gray in the wild but is pink in captivity so thats a way to put it so id say yes..=)

 

[studd muffin]

when i saw this question i thought your nuts cause you NEVER let a animal go to the wild thats a pet like a python to non native country *cough* florida with pythons -.- idiots..but idk id think theyd always have a different color in a wilder habitat cause i mean for example if you put it like this a kissing gourami is actually olive gray in the wild but is pink in captivity so thats a way to put it so id say yes..=)

Lol. I know better not to release a fish into the wild.

 

[studd muffin]

when i saw this question i thought your nuts cause you NEVER let a animal go to the wild thats a pet like a python to non native country *cough* florida with pythons -.- idiots..but idk id think theyd always have a different color in a wilder habitat cause i mean for example if you put it like this a kissing gourami is actually olive gray in the wild but is pink in captivity so thats a way to put it so id say yes..=)

I never knew that!

 

[flipstylex]

the best u can do is if you have a pond, put it in there for a couple months and bring it back in your tank.... see if it makes a difference

 

[Zfishies]

^great idea u could do a science fair on that

 

[bigblue22]

under different lighting and substrates fish tend to change color

 

[BlackShark11k]

Darker can also mean stressed. Your putting it in a different setup, a pond will probably have much more subdued lighting then a tank, as well as more room and, depending on the pond and the tank different substrate which causes the fish to have different color tones. Not to mention water temperature and pond vs. tank parameters (pond being more acidic I would assume due to rain water. Plecos are SA fish so...)

BTW, I am pretty sure kissing gouramis are only pink in captivity beacuse it is a color mutation, oligomelanism or leucism something like that. You can keep the normally olive green ones in captivity, they look the same as the farmed ones in Thailand, just less attractive in aquaria to some people.

 

[studd muffin]

Darker can also mean stressed. Your putting it in a different setup, a pond will probably have much more subdued lighting then a tank, as well as more room and, depending on the pond and the tank different substrate which causes the fish to have different color tones. Not to mention water temperature and pond vs. tank parameters (pond being more acidic I would assume due to rain water. Plecos are SA fish so...)

BTW, I am pretty sure kissing gouramis are only pink in captivity beacuse it is a color mutation, oligomelanism or leucism something like that. You can keep the normally olive green ones in captivity, they look the same as the farmed ones in Thailand, just less attractive in aquaria to some people.

I live in california and the weather is warm enough to keep my pleco outside. There are many many hiding spots where he can hide like in between the rocks and other places to keep away from the light.