Flame Hawkfish Colour Fading

[luca10]

Hello,

I recently got a flame hawkfish from my reputable LFS, however, when I brought it home I noticed its red colour was slightly fading in some spots. However, over the week, it has gotten worse, looking very faded. He is acting and eating normally, he is always first on the scene during feeding.

Water parameters are normal.

I have 2 clowns, a watchmen goby and a purple firefish.

There are tons of hiding spaces and crevices within the live rock. Im wondering what is causing this and how do improve his vibrancy.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Water parameters are normal.

What specifically are your test results for each parameter?

There are tons of hiding spaces and crevices within the live rock.

What size of tank do you have, and can we see a full tank shot?

Is the fish showing any signs of health issues? (Fast breathing, swimming into powerheads, stringy feces, etc.)

With regards to the coloration:

some things that can impact a fish's coloration (leaving a few irrelevant factors out of the conversation):
-Light (wavelength, intensity, and duration)
-Health
-Diet (including both vitamins, minerals, etc. and pigments like astaxanthin in a fish's diet)
-Various chemicals and hormones
-Genetics

Some things that affect a fish's coloration are immediate (like stress) while others (like lighting and diet) can take much, much longer to make a noticeable difference.

For an example of the difference pigments in a fish's diet can make:
https://nhrec.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/vdocuments.net_clownfish-astaxanthin-study-reed-mariculture-astaxanthin-level-average-preference.pdf For an example of the difference that lighting can make:

Does Lighting Affect Your Fish

About 4 months ago I got 3 Captive Bred Goldflake Angels from Bali Aquarich. In the acclimation bucket one was slightly bigger than the other 2 and started kicking butt. So I tossed him into one of the outdoor frag tanks. The other 2 went into the 750g display tank. One that went into the 750...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[luca10]

What specifically are your test results for each parameter?

What size of tank do you have, and can we see a full tank shot?

Is the fish showing any signs of health issues? (Fast breathing, swimming into powerheads, stringy feces, etc.)

With regards to the coloration:

My tank is 32.5 gallon. Temp is 25 degrees celsius, salinity is 1.025. API test kit shows 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, between 0-5 ppm nitrates.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello,

I recently got a flame hawkfish from my reputable LFS, however, when I brought it home I noticed its red colour was slightly fading in some spots. However, over the week, it has gotten worse, looking very faded. He is acting and eating normally, he is always first on the scene during feeding.

Water parameters are normal.

I have 2 clowns, a watchmen goby and a purple firefish.

There are tons of hiding spaces and crevices within the live rock. Im wondering what is causing this and how do improve his vibrancy.

This can be flukes or in relation to diet
What foods are you feeding?
Is breathing normal or labored?

 

[luca10]

This can be flukes or in relation to diet
What foods are you feeding?
Is breathing normal or labored?

When I bought him from the fish store a week ago, I noticed some colour fading when he was still in the bag as I was bringing him home. However, the fading got worse. The LFS is reputable and quarantines all new fish. At the fist store, he was eating LRS fish frenzy, and I also feed him that along with pellets. He eats a lot. I don't notice any labored breathing.

 

[Jekyl]

When I bought him from the fish store a week ago, I noticed some colour fading when he was still in the bag as I was bringing him home. However, the fading got worse. The LFS is reputable and quarantines all new fish. At the fist store, he was eating LRS fish frenzy, and I also feed him that along with pellets. He eats a lot. I don't notice any labored breathing.

Unfortunately you need to ask more questions about their quarantine process. Most stores run low copper or insufficient hyposalinity. This is done to trick customers and / or save on salt costs. In the end it doesn't actually stop any issues.

 

[MnFish1]

I would consider the fish 'non-quarantined' - unless you can document what methods the store used. The fact that the color faded in the bag - at a minimum suggests that this is at least in part a stress reaction in this fish.

IMHO - the fish looks a bit thin. Looking at your entire tank, (it is a nice tank btw), my guess is that the fish feels like its in the middle of a white bowl with no easy escape - which is why it is 'fading' to match the background.

However, I would consider putting the fish through a quarantine protocol - such as copper for 30 days followed by Prazipro 2 doses 8 days apart - this would need to be done in a hospital type tank.

You could also continue to monitor the fish - In my experience - without more information/symptoms, etc - the coloration may be normal for this fish in this environment.

 

[TardWrangler]

Fish will lighten/change color to match/blend in with an unnatural environment. Happens all the time with many different species

Your tank looks sterile like a laboratory

 

[Malum Argenteum]

live rock

Looks like dry rock?

 

[TardWrangler]

This dry rock phenomena that has taken root within the hobby is not good IMO. Way too many noobs already have a hard enough time getting a grip on what they need to be doing to making things further complicated with starting a system with dry rock. I’ve seen so many problems occur and it doesn’t have to be this way. Just use live rock and eliminate most all of these problems. The thought leaders behind this should be shunned. This will cause people to give up in frustration and kill a bunch of animals just so they can dodge a couple potential hitchhikers?? Lol. The hobby had it right with live rock and worked great for decades. Now we have this nonsense

 

[MnFish1]

This dry rock phenomena that has taken root within the hobby is not good IMO. Way too many noobs already have a hard enough time getting a grip on what they need to be doing to making things further complicated with starting a system with dry rock. I’ve seen so many problems occur and it doesn’t have to be this way. Just use live rock and eliminate most all of these problems. The thought leaders behind this should be shunned. This will cause people to give up in frustration and kill a bunch of animals just so they can dodge a couple potential hitchhikers?? Lol. The hobby had it right with live rock and worked great for decades. Now we have this nonsense

I do not think the type of rock is causing the issue here. Additionally, dry rock and dead coral has been used since the 1970's. I wonder if the fish would do better if it had other fish in the tank.

 

[TardWrangler]

I do not think the type of rock is causing the issue here. Additionally, dry rock and dead coral has been used since the 1970's. I wonder if the fish would do better if it had other fish in the tank.

Yes and we moved away from that type of system because it wasn’t good for the animals.

 

[luca10]

Fish will lighten/change color to match/blend in with an unnatural environment. Happens all the time with many different species

Your tank looks sterile like a laboratory

The tank has only been running for 2 months, and you cannot buy live rock anywhere where I’m from.

 

[TardWrangler]

The tank has only been running for 2 months, and you cannot buy live rock anywhere where I’m from.

My comment wasn’t really directed at you, sorry Luca. I was more just ranting about a issue I’ve been noticing that’s somewhat tied into your post. Good luck with your tank and your flame buddy!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This species tends to fade in captivity in most aquariums. Trouble is, they are also prone to flukes and that can cause them to fade more than normal. Have you seen any scratching/flashing?

Also, the tank looks pretty new (no algae) and very white. That alone can cause fish to turn pale.

As long as it isn't breathing fast, is eating well and isn't scratching, this may just be the fish's "new normal" coloration.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

This dry rock phenomena that has taken root within the hobby is not good IMO.

I agree, though my reason for pointing this out was only to suggest to the OP that their system might be set up differently than they think it is because of inaccurate/ambiguous terminology (CaribSea calls their "LifeRock" 'live rock', for example).

Someone might say 'if you have live rock, then you can do X', and if a person thinks live rock and dry rock are the same thing they might be inadvertently misled. I presumed the OP wasn't clear on this distinction since they called dead rock 'live rock'. That's all I intended.

 

[radiata]

I had a discussion once with an LFS owner (in Avenel, NJ) about buying a fading Flame Hawk. I said you can only buy one in person, and only if you like their coloration. He said I was wrong, and that their coloration is just a function of the salinity this hawk is being kept in.