Fishmosy's Chameleon tank

[fishmosy]

I have noticed in one tank that all the babies and some adults are lighter in color like yours fishmosy . But in my big tank with the fish , they are darker in color and the babies are showing the stripes already . So i'm starting to think if there is no predators around they stay a lighter color . If there is predators around they go darker to match the substrate.

Its certainly a possibility about the predators. It makes logical sense. 

I dont have fish in with my chameleons, yet mine have made a dramatic change in colour since I boosted the TDS to 200 and maintained it there. Will post pics soon. 

[fishmosy]

One thing I noticed today was that the eyes of my chameleons are red surrounding a black centre, whereas my cherry shrimp have completely black eyes. Could this be a way to tell them apart? Anybody else seen this difference? 

[maddog_12]

One thing I noticed today was that the eyes of my chameleons are red surrounding a black centre, whereas my cherry shrimp have completely black eyes. Could this be a way to tell them apart? Anybody else seen this difference? 

​Thats interesting , i have a look when i get home today and see if i can see the same .

[maddog_12]

I had a look and its hard to tell atm , i know the chameleons are darker then the cherrys tho except for the males .

[fishmosy]

 

Edited July 10, 2015 by fishmosy

[maddog_12]

My son has a tank with guppies in it and they had some fry so i done a test on sunday. I put two small fry in the chameleon tank to see what happens . Yesterday i noticed the young shrimps are starting to change color (going darker and getting stripes ). So it comes down to having predators in the tank for the good colors

[fishmosy]

How big were the guppies? I dont think fry (as in < 1 cm) would register as a threat to the shrimp. 

[maddog_12]

How big were the guppies? I dont think fry (as in < 1 cm) would register as a threat to the shrimp. 

they are about 3 cm ,

In my other tank , the chameleons are with black tetras , rasbora and neons . The black tetras swim down near the bottom up and down slowly like a shark . The chameleons are nice color . I dont lose that many in that tank because i make sure the fish are full all the time .

[fishmosy]

Ah, 3cm is not really a fry. It makes sense that predation avoidance would be a reason for colour change in chameleons, particularly given they are not a large shrimp. 

Edited July 10, 2015 by fishmosy

[fishmosy]

Just updating this thread.

Here is how the tank looks now since my makeover. I've removed all the snails as I needed them in another tank and I dosed the tank to get rid of the hundreds of planaria. I've added a typus and a couple of gracilirostris, and some of the red Vallisneria which I got from Cairns. Breeding has slowed down considerably probably because the tank is unheated, but I still see the occasional berried female.

[JacksonL]

Very nice tank! I love the natural look to it.

 

[fishmosy]

[revolutionhope]

How are those chameleons doing ben ?

 

[fishmosy]

Same same. Still breeding like anything but no consistency in the colouration of the offspring - except to say they seem to be the lighter browns, blues and reds, rather than the nicer dark brown/black and white. I haven't been selecting offspring to breed from as I've been focusing on other projects.

I caught my son playing in the tank TWICE last week so its in desperate need of a re-scape. I'll probably tear it down shortly and replace it with a larger tank for some Sulawesi shrimp, which would suit the room better (this tank is in the hottest room in the house - although that hasn't really bothered the chameleons). I think that would be a good opportunity to start a highly selective program with the chameleons on my shrimp rack. I'll probably start with chameleons from wild caught stock, specifically the darker brown/black with white stripes (as that is my favorite pattern) and then heavily select the offspring to select for that pattern and colour.

[Baccus]

I notice that many of my chameleons tend to be a solid dark brownie red with a light back stripe down the centre of their back. I also get the dark and light striped ones like a zebra but I usually only see around 4 like that. I think the others tend to take on the more solid colour because they usually seem to hide out in the large hollow log that dominates their tank. Even when the chameleons are out and about in the tank they are often still only to be found under the hollow log.

The tank only houses one potential predator Spotted Blue Eyes so that might also have a bearing on the shrimps colouration, but the little Blackmore River shrimp don't seem bothered by the Spotted Blue Eyes and can always be seen getting about on the substrate.

One of my usual solid coloured girls, it might also pay to take notice how the girls change colouration in relation to being berried with eggs and soon to hatch shrimplets

And the zebra patterned ones

Maybe with a breeding experiment in "setting" certain colourations in chameleons you will need to also play with the darkness of the water eg low light, tannin stained. The darkness of the substrate eg white sand vs black sand. Plantings heavily planted vs minimal plants. I suspect that eventually you will find a combo that forces the shrimp to adopt the pattern that you like best, but if they get moved to a different tank they would quickly change their markings and colours again to suit (in their opinion) the new surrounds.

[fishmosy]

I agree. Dave's notes seem to indicate that the black/white patterns tend to occur when the shrimp are caught from leafy habitats, and other colours dominate elsewhere. Just really don't have the space or time to dedicate to testing this.