Endler markings disappears then reappears

So I got some guppies from a lfs and their babies had babies with each other and some of their babies ended up looking exactly like an endler! So I have one of those endler looking babies (about a month and half ish old) in a 5 gallon with snails and plants. He has neon yellow on his dorsal fin and a little on the bottom of his tail and and orange circle on the end of his abdomen.

so the weird thing is: he sometimes has a solid black circle right in front of the orange one but sometimes he doesn’t!! Like it disappears and reappears randomly! Is this a normal endler thing?
I just find it bizarre but cool at the same time and wondered if this is a normal thing. My water is perfect 0 a. 0 nitrite and 5 nitrate. So I don’t think it’s a sick thing he seems happy and healthy!
Anyone have any thoughts?

 

My guess would be he is adapting to his surroundings. Like does he change when the lights go on and off and a day after a WC compared to 4 days after a WC?

 

My guess would be he is adapting to his surroundings. Like does he change when the lights go on and off and a day after a WC compared to 4 days after a WC?

I’m not really sure. I only noticed this a few days ago and I haven’t changed the water since I noticed it. I did top off the water a little bit today and his black dot is back. But that’s the only difference In parameters. I thought about the light thing too but when I went to turn off the lights at night he didn’t have the dot and then the next day when I turned them on he didn’t have the dot for like a few hours after (that I noticed) I’ll definitely be more observant about those things though and see.

 

Such a fish doesn´t have top be sick. it´s quite normal when a marking or some markings will fade for a little while. If a parameter changes a bit, this can happen already. Nothing to worry about. But also light may do the trick. But again, nothing to worry about. It´s quite normal.

 

Ok yeah I’m not really worried but I did notice last night he had the black dot and then also had it this morning and then still had it when I got home from work at like 4:30 and then is now 11:30pm and he does not have the dot. The lights were turned on at 7:30 am (I know the lights were on for a really long time today. Oops) so I don’t think it’s the light. Nothing changed in the water parameters either.

 

I have some endler/guppy hybrid mutts that look primarily like the peacock endler. The usually have a black spot on the abdomen, and one on the tail. They lived up through breeding age in a mixed gender breeding tank with plenty of females, then I moved them out into an all male tank so I can change up the line I breed next, just trying to stock my tanks with a variety of endler hybrids.

What I have noticed with them is their eyes, and their spots give away their current mental state.
It they have bright black spots and normal small pupils, they are happy.
If their pupils get big but their spots stay dark, they are irritated, usually by another male out competing them to breed ( they dance for each other).
If they tuck their dorsal and have big eyes and bright spots they are mad, this is usually when they get nippy.
If they stay mad to long, or loose the fight, they start to fade, usually the tail spot goes first, turns almost white.
As they calm down the eyes usually return to normal faster than the spots and they relax the dorsal.
If they have all the signs of being mad, and the tail clamps, it's commonly a water problem, though I haven't seen that in quite some time, or occasionally they are getting ganged up on.
If they have normal eyes, relaxed dorsal and tail and are fading anyhow, it's usually late in the light cycle and they are just tired.
If they keep normal eyes and stay faded for more than a day, they may be sick. This has only happened to me once though.

If your lights are on a timer like mine and you only see them in the end of the cycle like I tend to on weekdays, don't jump to thinking they are sick, wait to observe then an hour or two after the lights come on as that's when they are usually the brightest. Also try to make sure they have 6-8 hours of lights off as they actually sleep allot like we do. I have 12 hour lights off period but it overlaps with when my wife and I are still awake and it getting ready for work, so I would say they probably get about 8 hours of good darkness and they seem to do pretty well with it.

If your lights aren't on a timer, try it out, I find it gets them allot more stable mentally.
The males I have that have never seen a female are generally calmer, but all my males in the male only tank will go through all of these states most days as they go about socializing and competing with each other, I think it's normal for them. I do try to watch for one to get focused out to often though, I have a tiger endler I had to remove from that tank, he's bigger than the rest and would constantly get picked on by all the others (they likely thought he was the most feminine as the female endlers are a good but larger than the males typically) he eventually quit fighting and stayed pale. He is doing much better as the only guppy hanging out with a school of rasboras, and seems to be happier.

I hope you enjoy these little guys as much as I do, I'm fascinated by all their various expressions and antics.