Temperature causing BTA to bleach?

[lmsmith]

I have a BTA that I've had for about 4 months. I have 3x 150W MHs over my tank, and don't think that lights or water perimeters are the problem because nothing else in the tank is showing any issues and they have been constant.

The only thing that has changed over the last 3 months is the temperature of the tank - it's summer here, so the temp has raised from 26c to approx 30 - 31 deg c. The nem is eating, it's mouth is closed, it looks perfectly healthy except it's bleached (not completely, but the colour is a lot less rich than it usually is).

Has anyone heard of temperature related bleaching? Is there anything I can do other than keep feeding it and making sure the bulbs are good quality and keeping the temp down?

 

[Toddrtrex]

Temps for sure can cause bleaching. If my conversions are right, your tank went from about 78* F to 88* F, which really isn't all that bad. However, if your temps were staying pretty much right at 26C ( 78 F ) with little to no fluctuation, then a jump to 31C ( 88 F ), could very well be the reason for it bleaching.

 

[lmsmith]

It's the only thing I can think of - atcually, having measured the temp today, with a fan on, it could have got even higher to more like 34 - 35 deg c, which is way too high. Until the last month or so, the temp was very stable, and the change would have happened over a day or two (we went from a very cold summer to very very hot really quickly). The bleaching happened over a period of about a week, about a week after the temp went up.