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Has anybody noticed the pinkish hue a Zebra can get? Or the blue tint?

I was wondering if this coloration is a sign of maturity, well being or other, or is the pinkish hue due to the diet the fish is getting?

Hi McEve

The blue tinge often appears on the dorsal fin as a sign of good health. I have heard of a fish that had a sky blue tinge all over, but I am yet to see this in person.

As far as a pink tinge goes, certainly never seen that before...... maybe there getting in with the christmas spirit!!!

Pink = girl-zebra
Blue = boy-zebra

You didn't know that

I thought it was just the way the light reflects off the fishes skin ?

What does failed to send message - Debug mode - mean?

INXS wrote:Pink = girl-zebra
Blue = boy-zebra

You didn't know that

I thought it was just the way the light reflects off the fishes skin ?

Hahaha Actually, it didn't even occur to me, silly me

No it's not the reflection of the light.

If none of you have seen the pinkish hue, I can only conclude that it is caused by the food, shrimps for Zebras is popular choise in scandinavia. When I got the gang from Sweden they were all *very* pink. I feed them a variety of foods, so the pinkish hue is much less noticable in them now.

This was taken a while back:


But even today it's still noticeable:


(not the same fish)

Good to hear that the blue tint is a sign of good health!

Wow.. thats quite something special... I wonder if you can get tartan food!!!

INXS, The DEBGUG Mode has been cropiig up a few times. I'm looking into it as we speak.

This can't be right... I browsed through planetcatfish to find pictures of Zebras from other regions, and found these ones:
http://www.picturetrail.com/gid5260806


They are not in Scandinavia, and also have the pinkish hue.

Hi guys

A coulpe of my zebra have a pinkish hue like Mc eve's photos . i will try and get some photos and post them myself, althought could mean dismantling the tank. All i ever see is the occasional tailfin

Still many thoughts on this: shrimp = pink, blueberries = blue

I really think you (McEve) are right about the shrimp turning the fish pink. Many trout hatcheries feed ground shrimp shell mixed into the food to give the trout pink flesh. I believe there is a pigment in shelfish - especially in the shells - that makes the fish turn pink.

There are a number of lakes in sweden and norway where pearch feed mainly on crayfish and it gives them a slightly pink hue.

When the fish eat the shrimp and the flesh turns pink/red it always becomes more appearent in thin skinned/scaled and or white/light coloured fish and areas of fish. Hence the white part of zebras will look pink. That is my guess.

The blue hue I still think is something depending on the light - I also notice it more after big waterchanges - maybe because they feel better because of clean water or because the light shines through the water better.

While we are on the subject of color - anyone have an idea how come zebras sometimes have blue eyes ? I really like it when their eyes are bright blue but it seems to change off and on.

I always thought it was caused by the diet, but I talked to someone who meant it was a sign that the fish was sexually mature, so I started thinking about it... I'm not so sure anymore

Look at du ma's Zebras in this thread http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=240

two looks like they got the pink, one doesn't. You'd think all of them were fed the same thing as they're kept by the same person, or maybe they were recent purchases at the time the picture was taken.

I don't know I'm not so sure it's caused by the diet alone any more, even though I know shrimp will make the flesh of a fish turn pink, or the feathers of a flamingo for that matter. They turn white if they're not fed shellfish.

Maybe it's when they're ready to spawn? But that doesn't really make sense either, as I have a subdominant with a pinkish hue.... Ah well, maybe I should go spend my time thinking about something more important huh

Maybe he is gay?

The pink hue is either food related or a sign of being mature. A guy who was blessed with 40 L46 babies last year, suspected for a long time that this was a sign of maturity.
For all I know it can be a sign of maturity, but certain foods gives the fish the same colour, the only way to find out is to not give them food that is responsible for this hue.. Nobody knows for sure..

If you find this pink hue,what is the size of the zebra who has it?

If the colour is more red than pink, it can be bacterial infection,you can see this thru the skin from the side and of course on the belly.
The one of my first two had this colour his last 4 weeks,before he/she died of Costia 2 years ago now.

The blue hue is a sign the zebra thrive in your care.
This belief got stronger, when i picked up 7 L-46 last year( WC), and none had this blueish colour, I saw that they didn't thrive at all.
In a about 4 weeks 5 out of the 7 got this blueish colour, they were in all sizes from ca 3 cm to ca 10 cm. This would mean that it has nothing to do with the sign of being mature, because the zebra of 2-3 cm could not be mature.