out of curiousity, will they go back to being white if the lighting intensity is reduced?
Yes, it is normal.
Under high intensity lighting C.multicolor will turn darker.
I got one under high intensity a female which is dark.
I got another in a dark tank with not much lighting a very white male, that male was once spawning with another female in my previous sps tank which had 3x400w xm 10k halides and it was very dark.
multicolors are like SPS. under intense bright lights they tend to "colour up" hehe.
in all seriousness, the brighter and more intense the lights, the darker your multicolor.
white is normal and in most SPS tanks, they turn a little darkish to grey. but if you want it a solid almost dark charcoal grey-black, then blast them under a few thousand watts of MH. and you'll get a cheap imitation nahackyi's angel!
I've noticed this in other species too, including my flame angel/ rusty angel hybrids... it's the equivalent of taking a Canadian to Hawaii in the dead of winter without providing sunblock!:bounce1:
If I had a nickel for everybody in the past I've seen who thought they had a Centropyge nahackyi rather than a C. multicolor as a result of this I'd probably have about a $1.10 right now...
I'd probably have about a $1.10 right now...
I beginning to wonder if the whole "darking under intense light" thing is true. Me and a friend of mine received mult-color a few months apart. His fish load is much higher than mine and his turn dark pretty quickly, while mine is still white as snow. We both run 3 400w MH and have had them for over a year now. IMO it has more the do with hormones in the tank than light, but it just my theory.
Here is a pic of mine. It been in the tank over a year now. Once agian under 3 400 watt MH, enough light ofr anyone to tan under.
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it could also be related to the food they are given. But if someone noticed one getting darker in bright light and then lighter when the lighting intensity was reduced that is pretty good evidence that it is a light-related phenomenon.
Hmm... I'll post pics this weekend to compare... perhaps it's the type of lighting... as we all know different bulbs have spikes at different wavelengths...
I find it hard to believe it's anything in the water, as these fish were in the same water for over a year and only changed after being put under the halide, which incidentally on this tank is a radium 20k 250 watt. In addition to this the Japanese angelfishes of the world book has a photo of a very dark multicolor where it is almost the lone fish in the tank...
What bulbs do you have and what does your friend Brian?