Fish very dark while sleeping...Normal?

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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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PuffDaddyCurl
Puffer Fry
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu May 29, 2008 6:45 pm
My Puffers: Green Spotted Puffer (Hamlet)

Fish very dark while sleeping...Normal?

Post by PuffDaddyCurl »

Tank setup and parameters:
1 - Ammonia: 0ppm
- Nitrite: 0ppm
- Nitrate: 10ppm
- pH: 7.8
2 - 10 gallon, GSP
3 - Feeding 6 times a week, 5 days with bloodworm, 1 day with 12 snails.
- Water change schedule: once every other day at 30%
- To clear the water of chlorine I use "Aqua Plus" Tap water Conditioner
4 - In the last week I have done 4 water changes (Including the one that just woke my fish up 5 minutes ago)
5 - Aquarium has been set up for 2 months now.
- I had to cycle it with the fish in it. (Tank has been fully cycled for a little over a month)

Ok as for the question. Every time I come home from work, which is at about 11:00pm, my fish is asleep but darker then his usual bright white and yellow color. Its not a lot darker but the top of him turns from a green/yellow to a brownish yellow. His bellies sides have a bunch of dark circles but his underside is still the normal white. As soon as we wakes up he swims around really fast and goes back to normal colors...Anyone know whats up?

I could just be paranoid but maybe he is having bad dreams thinking about his cycling experience!!! :lol:
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julianchan
Fahaka Puffer
Posts: 709
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:25 am
My Puffers: 1 GSP Elevator.....Lord Vator to everyone else...
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: Fish very dark while sleeping...Normal?

Post by julianchan »

GSP's do get little darker when they are at rest. So long as he does not turn super dark all the time, you should be fine. My guy does the same thing....He gets slightly darker, and has a line on both sides of his cheeks.
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edmlfc1
Mbu Puffer
Posts: 2011
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:03 pm
My Puffers: Elvis (Stars & Stripes) R.I.P. 9/11/11
125G:Fahaka (Annabelle)
Location (country): U.S.A.
Location: Texas

Re: Fish very dark while sleeping...Normal?

Post by edmlfc1 »

It's normal for them to go dark when sleeping. Here are a couple of pictures of my gsp when sleeping. Look in the middle of the rock in the first picture. The second picture you can see him more clearly. I think he was half asleep wondering where that flash was coming from. :D
Image
Image
Need to know what kind of puffer you have? Click on Puffer ID.....Puffer ID: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/
What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
Feeding: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
GSP Article: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
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apachepufferman
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 276
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2008 11:28 pm
My Puffers: 1 fahaka 2 gsp
1 arrowhead 4 dwarfs
1 sap and thats just the puffers!!! So i'm a little fish crazy
Location: boise id

Re: Fish very dark while sleeping...Normal?

Post by apachepufferman »

It seems to be prett normal for my 2 gsp's to get darker at night.

Are you planing an upgrade in tanks soon? Your gsp needs a 30g tank. What is your SG? They also need brackish water. That will make you fish change colors during the day to. He will start stressing out and get a dark belly all the time.
adam
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PuffDaddyCurl
Puffer Fry
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu May 29, 2008 6:45 pm
My Puffers: Green Spotted Puffer (Hamlet)

Re: Fish very dark while sleeping...Normal?

Post by PuffDaddyCurl »

Oh yeah, he has his own 55g tank being cycled right now. About another month and I will feel safe with transferring him over to his new home! the SG I do not know since I dont have a kit for it. Also it is currently FW but the 55g is set up to get him slowly used to brackish water.

Also, thanks for the replies guys! I feel much safer now!
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apachepufferman
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 276
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2008 11:28 pm
My Puffers: 1 fahaka 2 gsp
1 arrowhead 4 dwarfs
1 sap and thats just the puffers!!! So i'm a little fish crazy
Location: boise id

Re: Fish very dark while sleeping...Normal?

Post by apachepufferman »

I would deffinately go pick up a hydrometer, that is what measures your sg. Make sure to get one that starts at 1.0. They are fairly cheap and something that is a must have for BW and SW.
adam
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