Has anoyone else noticed that these fish seem to be able to fade or be brilliantly colored depending on their level of stress?

I first noticed it when one was chasing another. The one escaping had hardly any color from any angle.

Imagine my surprise when I watched him darken before my very eyes after he had been left alone for less than 2 minutes!

Since then, I have seen others do the same thing.

Iknow, I'm new, these things are really interesting to me...

Yes, it is an interesting phenomenon, but it's not unique to pencilfish. Most fish can change color or show or fade dark markings in response to their environment. My favorite color changes occur among the apistos. Males show intense coloration the instant they spy a rival male, a female, or a mirror, and females can go from drab beige or brown to bright lemon yellow when an interesting male swims by.

If you want to see something really neat with your pencilfish, flip on the tank lights about an hour after they've gone out. The horizontal lines will have essentially vanished, to be replaced by several vertically oriented bars, much like the normal coloration of an Espe's pencilfish. This 'sleep' coloration is assumed by most all pencilfish species.

And in case I haven't conversed with you in another thread, it's nice to meet another fellow Portlander who's into this hobby. :)

WOW! That's really neat - My little algae eaters do not like it when I flip on the light like that.

You're in pdx? Where do you like to buy fish/plants here? I've had some bad luck at a place out on Lombard (can't remember name).

:?

Bell's Tropicals? They've recently started to stock their store with some healthy plants, and IME they've been improving on a monthly basis. But the best place in town is The Wet Spot in the Hollywood district. Second best is Pet 'N' Pond in Clackamas on 82nd Drive. Next would be Caye's Aquarium (= Caye's Pets) on SE Division and about 137th, Aquariums Live in the Sellwood district at the junction of 17th and Milwaukie, Hollywood Aquarium on NE Broadway and about 30th, The Pet Loft on Macadam near Willamette Park, Tropical Hut on SE Division near 39th, and Family Pet Center in the Gateway district.

And no, I don't recommend you flip on the lights at night on a regular basis. ;) Just once is enough to observe the color change phenomenon.

Also, tonight is the monthly GPAS meeting. If you plan on attending I can bring you some plants. Just let me know before 6:30pm. :)

Yeah, it's bells - I got a really unhealthy fish there recently. Did they recently change ownership.

The Wet Spot is also my favorite to date.

Can't make it tonight, but will keep your offer of plants in mind - along with that society. Who knew that pdx had such a thing!

We are just in the process of converting the 20 gallon into a planted tank. (Read: I haven't bought all the new equipment yet). I want to innundate the thing with plants when the lighting, etc is taken care of.

Nannostomus Becfordi
 

Do any of you guys had any interesting expereiences with this pencil fish. I'm buying some tomorrow and am interested in their behavior and coloration patterns? :icon_bigg

i have noticed my rummy nose tetra's do the same thing , i just added some more to my school today and the news ones have only the tip of there nose red (1/8-1/16") and are allmost clear where as the older ones in my tank have the first 1/4" of there body red and the rest is allmost black.

I have 4 One Lined PF, 2 Ruby PF, and 6 Dwarf PF. There very peaceful fish, the One Lined PF just hover around cleaning the tank all day (but don't get much done). They are very interesting fish and so delicate the you can barely see their little fins flapping away, kind of reminds you of a Humming Bird.

My rasboras do the fade thing, no color at night, but during the day some color, and right after you feed them....BAM! Talk about color!! Pencilfish are very nice, never had any, i'd like to get some though