My Rod's onyx no longer onyx

[gioNVA]

Anyone have their clowns lose the onyx coloration? I've had mine for about 4-5 months and now looks like a regular perc. When I got them they were black between the first two bars. Any factors that can contribute to losing coloration?

I thought it was just some slime coat due to hosting an RBTA but it's been like this for over a month now. I've been feeding a mix of Formula 1 & 2, cyclopeeze, mysis, spirulina flakes. Any ideas?

 

[phender]

It does happen. I have one tank that causes every perc that enters to lose its black. When I move the fish out of the tank, they gradually regain their black. The perc fading tank has a GBTA as the hosting anemone. I know that others have onyx clowns in GBTAs with no effect, but for some reason this anemone seems to fade perc clowns.
New to the tank:

A year or so later:

4 months after their removal from the tank the male has all his color back plus some. The females black is still on the road to recovery. The lights are off right now. I'll post a pic later.

 

[stykthyn]

man that sucks. you buy an onyx just for the black and then it all goes away. I hope you get it figured out.

 

[Rod Buehler]

Hi gioNVA,

you are the third person over a 3 year period,that I have heard of where their clown(s) have lost coloration, and for what its worth, both of the other people have reported that their clowns have regained all of their blackness. I was unable to figure out what may have been the cause. They said they didnt do anything to help them regain color.. It just happened. I have a pair that I have kept for myself and the female is more of a gray than a black. I am hoping that she will regain her color also.
I dont beleive that it is an anemone issue. At least not a specific species, because the others were in a BTA, mine is in a gigantea.
Do your clowns have a host? .

Keep me updated if you would.

Thanks

Rod

 

[gioNVA]

Thanks guys!

Rod, my clowns host a Rose BTA. How long did it take to get the black coloration back? I'll wait and see how they develop but I'm thinking of moving them to another tank just to see. I'll keep you posted.

 

[phender]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8237441#post8237441 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rod Buehler
Hi gioNVA,

......
I dont beleive that it is an anemone issue. At least not a specific species, because the others were in a BTA, mine is in a gigantea.
......
Rod

I know that many people keep their percs(onyx and otherwise) with BTAs and have no trouble with fading colors. However, I have had two different pairs of percs fade in the presence of this particular BTA and then regain their colors once removed. I have seen stress cause the black on percs to go grey, but that is usually short term. In my case the clowns were comfortable enough to spawn several times in the tank. I think you are right in saying that it is not a problem with BTAs in general, but I think it is very possible for some individual anemones (not necessarily species) to have this effect on clowns.

BTW, my fish were not from Rod, they were wild caught.

 

[EMBRYOGUY]

i support phenders premise.

i have experienced the same thing with a bta. several onyx pairs losing there black. after removal, it slowly came back. 3rd pair attempted with this infamous bta, and no problems were observed. this was a wc older pair.

my overview is that some btas can cause individual clowns to lose black. it has nothing to do with wc/captive clowns. its a random, individual thing.

remove it from that paritcular bta would be my recommendation.

 

[EMBRYOGUY]

i support phenders premise.

i have experienced the same thing with a bta. several onyx pairs losing there black. after removal, it slowly came back. 3rd pair attempted with this infamous bta, and no problems were observed. this was a wc older pair.

my overview is that some btas can cause individual clowns to lose black. it has nothing to do with wc/captive clowns. its a random, individual thing.

remove it from that paritcular bta would be my recommendation.

 

[EMBRYOGUY]

i support phenders premise.

i have experienced the same thing with a bta. several onyx pairs losing there black. after removal, it slowly came back. 3rd pair attempted with this infamous bta, and no problems were observed. this was a wc older pair.

my overview is that some btas can cause individual clowns to lose black. it has nothing to do with wc/captive clowns. its a random, individual thing.

remove it from that paritcular bta would be my recommendation.

 

[Rod Buehler]

I guess that I should have said that i dont think its a BTA issue because one of mine is showing the color loss whiole in a gigantea.

gioNVA, I didnt keep in constant contact with the others, but I do know that it was was withing a 6-8 month range.. It could be a shorter time. I just know that after not seeing the people for awhile, when I did see them they said "hey, my clown colored back up". I wish I could provide more info. .

 

[EMBRYOGUY]

ok based on rods observation, it seems. we have no clue ! lol

these crazy clowns do whatever they want sometimes.

 

[phender]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8241615#post8241615 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rod Buehler
I guess that I should have said that i dont think its a BTA issue because one of mine is showing the color loss while in a gigantea. ....
.

Aah, I misread your post. That is interesting. In my case all four percs (2 seperate pairs) faded with the BTA. It is odd that only one of yours is showing the fading.

 

[FiberLux]

Hey Rod, you told me you used a permanent marker for the black, so what's up with this? :lol:

gioNVA, I hope your Onyx color back up real soon!

Boyd

 

[TearDrop]

I have received new clowns that were stressed out and lost almost all of their black. It stayed like that for a week. Once they were eating well and became acclimated to the tank they regained their color. I've always kept mine with RBTA's and have not experienced a color loss with any particular anemones.

 

[phender]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8242031#post8242031 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TearDrop
I have received new clowns that were stressed out and lost almost all of their black. It stayed like that for a week. Once they were eating well and became acclimated to the tank they regained their color. I've always kept mine with RBTA's and have not experienced a color loss with any particular anemones.

That is pretty common. The black becomes an almost greyish white. This fading is different.

Here is a pic of my same clowns today. The male has all the black back plus a completely black dorsal that is absent in the first pic. The female's black is starting to fill back in on her shoulders.

FWIW: These guys are now living with a gigantea. The first pair that regained their black adopted some fuzzy mushrooms.