Oscar is fading in color

chunkoblue

chunkoblue

AC Members
Nov 26, 2006
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Glenwood, IL
When I got my oscar he was mostly black with some orange (sold as a tiger oscar) but now he has a green head and is mostly orange even the fins.. Could this be due to my lighting? I ordered my light online and they were out of stock and offered me another (more expensive) one but I didn't realize it was for saltwater at the time.. It has a 1000K full spectrum and an actinic bulb. He eats very well, I feed him HBH Oscar grow. Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = 10 ppm, pH=7.6-7.8
 
how long have you had him? i have noticed with my own oscars that they faded in color after a few weeks after buying them because the color-enhancing hormones wore off, and then a few weeks after that they began to color up again, naturally.
 
Food, water temperature/condition, health, stress, and so on, can effect a fish's coloring.
 
I've had him about a month... his color seems to come and go. He's a lot darker before I turn the lights on, and then after 15 minutes or so he starts to fade. He's still a little guy (~4 inches) but has grown about an inch since I got him. He seems happy otherwise (is excited to see me).
 
I have to agree with JC. I think your "tiger" is really a red.
 
Here is a Tiger Oscar up top and the Red Oscar is beneath her. Do yours look like either of these?

TigerOscar-RedOscar.jpg
 
Wow...beautiful oscars, jag

My oscar also faded in color and am hoping that it will come back as he matures. He never had a great deal of coloration anyway and is mostly green with a gorgeous eye spot. But he has some awesome color changes when he gets aggressive or sometimes when just the lighting in the room changes. He gets these dark "giraffe" spots bordered in yellow background...looks really cool, but doesn't last long (a few minutes, at most).
 
EDIT: I am not very observant this morning... i see you're feeding him the HBH.

what are you feeding them? food has a HUGE part in coloration. If youre feeding things like beef and live foods, their coloration is apt to fade rather quickly, as these foods don't have the proper vitamin content to support their rather bright pigmentation.

if you're feeding them pellets/sticks (like you should be), then i would look into water quality and lighting. perhaps it's time to change those bulbs out.. just because it turns on, doesnt mean it's still good. :)
 
also, if you have a very pale or white substrate, your fish gets darker in the dark, then fades out when the lights come on to "blend in" to the surroundings.
 
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