Went in to feed the fish dinner and my rubberlip was almost white. I know that stress makes their color change, but he's been in the tank for almost a month now. I checked the levels in my tank and they're all normal. He's slightly darker now, but still very pale. He isn't moving much.
Many fish seem to change color for a variety of reasons. The first Kuhli loach I got lost most of the color in his bands because I didn't have many hiding places for him and the light I was using actually washed his color out. It's now 6 months later after a change of lighting, and decor and I can still EASILY pick him apart from the other two.
My Dwarf Puffer seems to darken when stressed or aggrivated from 'teasing' when feeding. He seems to get angry and impatient when I bring his bloodworms out in a shotglass and set it in front of the tank to thaw, and his color noticably darkens. He was permanently dark for several days when he nearly died from what I think was an ich infection in the gills. Tetras of all varities seem to 'dim' when the tank is dark and slowly regain color after the lights have been turned on.
My striped Raphael Cats have yellow bands that intensify to a bright white when they seem stressed.
I'm really not sure what this could mean on your pleco but I'm guessing there could be a variety of reasons, and I doubt it has anything to do with example #1.
My gold nugget will change colors if the tank was dark and then I turn the light on. He is usually black with gold spots, but when the light comes, he is almost see-through light tan and will gradually get darker as he adjusts to the light being on.
yeah, I got him to help with al algae problem i had. once the algae went away, i fed him algae wafers, every once in awhile, him and my other pleco had cucumber
