Bicolour Anthias

[phoenixhieghts]

I have two of these, a male and a female.

The male recently, his fins have turned black (or at least developed black patchs on them) and he has become very dominant in the tank.
Are these two things associated do you think?
Has anyone ever heard of this??

Khal

[lunatik_69]

There are some fish that change their colors when they take the "Alpha Male" role. These kind of fish are usually in schools and change colors in order for the herd to know who's in charge now. Hope this helps. Luna

[nemo1991]

i am not positive but i think luna is definatly right, and i have a tang that used to change the shade of his color, he was normally really light brown with royal blue spots and when he got scared or aggresive, he got really really dark brown and the blue spots turned black ahaha weird

[phoenixhieghts]

Originally Posted by lunatik_69

There are some fish that change their colors when they take the "Alpha Male" role. These kind of fish are usually in schools and change colors in order for the herd to know who's in charge now. Hope this helps. Luna

Thanks Luna - Im a little worried now to add any other fish! But i assumed the black colouration is due to his dominince - he's always chasing the female and my damsel.

[lunatik_69]

Originally Posted by phoenixhieghts

Thanks Luna - Im a little worried now to add any other fish! But i assumed the black colouration is due to his dominince - he's always chasing the female and my damsel.

My ref. book states that you can have 8 females and 1 male in a school, but they suggest that you have a 135g tank. Luna