melawii

okay so lately I've been wondering, and I don't really want to put any of my fish through experiment to find out so I thought I'd ask around first; what parameters do you think affect fish color the greatest?

I don't mean things like breeding, or color variation. I mean things like... well for example. When I first got my kribs when they were younger they were bright white, dash of pink belly in the females, and deffinate black stripe. Now mine, although they are currently courting, are more of a darker color. The male's stripe doesnt show very well most of the time. Someone told me before that this is becasue I have black-ish gravel and black doesnt reflect light, fish blend in with their substrate blah blah blah. So then I see a pair in a tank with light sand substrate, but the fish colors are washed right out I also then noticed that there were kribs in the same tank where I got my male from with white-ish gravel, black background and wood. They were beautifuly colored!

Basicly what I'm getting at is, what factors do you think bring out the best current colors in fish? In my case, cichlids. And by factors I mean; substrate, background, lighting, water quality, pH, hardiness, etc.
I want to bring out the best colors in my fish when I move them to the 50g so any personal experiance with my dilema is greatly appretiated

Butterfly

Anything that stresses them(aggression, high ammonia, nitrites,nitrates, fluctuating temps and ph for a few) will cause their colors to fade. It will also cause them to get sick.
Carol

Allie

Kribs love heavily planted tanks. Maybe put in some more plants.

gremlin

I don't know much about kribs, goldfish stay brighter colored with exposure to sunlight, although they need to be able to find a shady corner so they don't get a sunburn...My pleco turned almost solid black when he was in my pond (which is black plastic) and when I moved him to a tank for the winter with natural lighter gravel, he lightened up and shows his stripy pattern better, so I would say that was influenced by camoflauge/environment.

Dino

Temperatue is another facot that affects color.
The closer you keep the temperature to the fish's native habitat, the more vibrant it's colors will be.

I agree with Carol, that stress in the biggest factor for affecting color.