Are plecos supposed to change color?

Question

sometimes he is dark grey with black spots. other times he has patches of white and light grey. other times hes a bit sandy brown. sometimes you cant even see the spots. is my pleco supposed to change color like this? he does it constantly

Answer 1

Yes they do change colour.

Sometimes it's a sign of stress ( poor water quality etc), but often they will change colour just to hide, or if they are in a bad mood.

My 12" Gibby will fade to a mottled colour in 30 secs if I walk up to the tank and stare at it. 5 mins later it's back to normal.

So while it can be a sign of stress they are almost Chamelion like in their colour scheme.

Ian

Answer 2

Depending on its mood, its color changes. If it is at its darkest color and really good to look at, it is very happy and it's showing it. If it is stressed or afraid, it becomes really dull and sometimes turn white but return to its natural color after it has been over the stress. This is caused by either an outside(e.g. you suddenly approaching and it is startled or loud and sudden noises) or inside(ammonia, non-ideal temperature, improper feeding, etc.) forces.

Answer 3

Mine dose that when he is in the dark to long or he is stress out. So they can change color but they shouldn't.  

Answer 4

Yes plecos do in fact all aquatic animals do. This is to do with the cells of the fish. The sunlight, temp and cleanliness of the wate effects this. Plecos also use this as camoflauge.