Darker Clownfish

[justmedanny]

I have a concern with my clownfish. I purchased a beautiful white stripe maroon clown from the LFS and his orange was very bright. After having him for about a month his color started getting darker. Sometimes he hides under a rock and in a little bit of shadow his maroon color just looks black. I know as clownfish age/mature, the fins can gain more black. But what about the body? The fish isn't maroon anymore but more of a faded dark orange/brownish. I've tested my water parameters and everything seems to be acceptable (NO2 = undetectable, PO4 = undetectable, NaCl = 35ppm, Mg = 1350, Temp = 78-82F, Alk = 9, pH = 8.35, Ca = 440). I feed my fish mostly meaty pieces of silversides, shrimp, and squid. Once in a great while I'll feed them pellet food soaked in selcon. It's about a 75gallon and the only other fish are 3 damsel fish, 2 fire shrimps, a couple of snails, and 1 GBTA. So not much of a bioload. Has anyone experienced this? Is it something that is of concern? I did not take before and after pics as I didn't anticipate this happening.

 

[Catchoftheday]

Maroons color do change sometimes they will almost look black .

 

[Winwood]

A lot of maroon pairs exhibit a bit of color differences between the sexes. Most large females tend to get darker with age where as the smaller males tend to remain their bright vibrant red color. This varies from location to location and from individual to individual as well, but in general the larger the maroon the darker it will be.

This is not always the case, however. Occasionally, you will see large vibrantly red colored females come in.

 

[justmedanny]

Ok thanks for the info guys. I think "he" is a she. I've noticed "she" has grown a little bit and she's already killed three other small clown. The only thing she loves is her GBTA. I knew Maroons were one of the aggressive clown species but mine takes it to a whole new level.

 

[Winwood]

Yeah they're a weird species. Super mean except towards their mates. They absolutely cherish their chosen captive males. Everything else is on the kill list.