stripes fading on blue ring angel

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I haven't seen the pair of blue rings up close. If you get a minute at work, could you take a look at the mated blue rings and see if the male has faded stripes? It's a stretch but maybe it has something to do with being married. JK. But can you look just for anyhow?

Sorry - I did check ours out in person last week - their stripes are not faded at all.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

I got a pair of little bitty blue rings almost three years ago and they have done well. Today though, I noticed the bottom stripes on the big male are fading. @Jay Hemdal

Their diet consists of Marine life spectrum and TDO pellets in the morning and alternating whole mussels, oysters and clams in the afternoon.

Sorry about the dirty glass.

Ive seen this in the past and often due to stress and poor die. The stripes are generally pronounced and when faded, can be due to water quality, intimidation and again diet which contributes to melatin and coloration.
What foods are you offering it?

 

[salty joe]

In the morning I feed New Life Spectrum and TDO pellets and in the afternoon I alternate whole mussels, clams and oysters.

 

[salty joe]

 

[salty joe]

I got a better picture, it's more like the stripes are spreading than fading. Same exact thing on both sides. Not affecting his much smaller mate at all. Just strange.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I got a better picture, it's more like the stripes are spreading than fading. Same exact thing on both sides. Not affecting his much smaller mate at all. Just strange.

The angel looks pretty good otherwise!

Jay

 

[salty joe]

 

[salty joe]

My big blue ring's stripes are filling in! It looks like one stripe will be a closed loop. Super happy and super interesting to me!

 

[sc50964]

My big blue ring's stripes are filling in! It looks like one stripe will be a closed loop. Super happy and super interesting to me!

So is it diet or just growth?

 

[salty joe]

IDK. The only thing I can figure is he had a growth spurt and the stripes couldn't keep up. And now they are filling in. Wild guess. This fish has grown fast from the getgo.

The female's stripes have been unchanged and look great. In a few more months I hope the male has great stripes again.

 

[sc50964]

IDK. The only thing I can figure is he had a growth spurt and the stripes couldn't keep up. And now they are filling in. Wild guess. This fish has grown fast from the getgo.

The female's stripes have been unchanged and look great. In a few more months I hope the male has great stripes again.

How do you tell the male from female? Is it the little bone next to their gills?

 

[salty joe]

I got them when they were tiny juvis about the size of a quarter or half dollar. They are all female from the getgo and the dominant becomes male. It was quickly apparent which fish was dominant. Surprisingly, it was the smaller of the two. Now, he is bigger by far.

 

[salty joe]

@Jay Hemdal Hi Jay, I wonder if you could take a look at your male blue ring and see if he developed the same type stripe pattern that my male did. I thought his stripes were fading away, they were just changing! I wish I could get a picture with his dorsal fin up, just a gorgeous fish.

My female is in the top picture.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I won’t be back at the Zoo for a couple of weeks, I made a note to try to stop by the aquarium and take a look…..

One thing - did I mention that is some cases where Pomacanthus angels are raised in tanks from juvenile to adult form, the change is different than is seen in the wild. Our blue rings were acquired as adults, so there may be differences because of that.

 

[salty joe]

Thanks and that's interesting

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks and that's interesting

Usually, with captive raised angels, you see a change in the timing of their color change - either faster or slower than "normal" for a wild fish. I've seen captive French angels that retained partial juvenile coloration long into adulthood. I've also had Chaetodontoplus angels change into adult coloration sooner than normal.

 

[salty joe]

I'm pretty sure these juvis were wild caught. I got them from USA Livestock and was told they were wild caught. Also, the change did not happen until well after adulthood.

Just noticed you said captive raised and I read captive bred...