Yellow watchman isn't so yellow as I thought

[addicted]

I have a yellow watchman and since I got him I rarely see him for more than half a second. He doesn't even come fully out to eat. We've had him for a couple weeks now and he finally fully came out of his hiding spot today and he doesn't look as yellow as they should. He is more of a greenish yellow almost, a pretty yucky color. Is he maybe stressed and will he brighten up more? I think he may have been this color when my friend brought him to us but I really don't remember. I can't get a picture of him either because he won't come out from under the rocks.

My tests results are:

PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 30 (they used to be 40 so they are getting better)
Salinity: 1.024

The temperature is 79-80 and he's been in the tank for 3 weeks or so with a percula clown, and neon cleaner goby with 5 lbs of live rock (I just added a little over 4 lbs on friday) and about 7 lbs of live sand. The live sand and the 5 lbs of live rock was taken from his prior tank.

I did change out 5 gallons of water this week trying to lower the nitrates but it was all mixed up atleast 24 hours before changing the tank and matched the tank water with salinity, temp, and PH.

Is this a normal thing are some yellow watchman just not as yellow as others? My friend, who gave us everything, didn't really know what he looked liked either, I asked her, but she said she never saw him that much anyways so doesn't remember.

 

[Dentoid]

My guess would be that they have a range of color. Just like any other organism in the animal kingdom. My yellow watchman goby changes color from time to time, probably triggered by his mood. I wouldn't worry about this.

 

[lcstorc]

I would suspect it is darker due to stress. Give him some time to become accustomed to the tank and he may well get brighter.
One thing I don't remember reading is the tank size.

 

[addicted]

I would suspect it is darker due to stress. Give him some time to become accustomed to the tank and he may well get brighter.
One thing I don't remember reading is the tank size.

It's a ten gallon. We are upgrading to a 55 gallon but my friend got sick of her saltwater tank and couldn't find anyone to take the fish and they probably would have ended up down the toilet so we set up the 10 gallon because that was the only tank we had available. He'll get a bigger tank soon though, in about 3 months or so.

 

[Dentoid]

He'll like that!

 

[SaltySam]

I bought a 1 inch yellow watchman because he wasn't yellow. He was a dark color, seems like it was a grayish green. It's been so long I forgot. He was very small and disappeared for what seemed like months. Finally I caught a glimpse of him and realized he was still alive. It was several more weeks before he started coming out long enough to get a good look. He was now yellow and about 2 inches long. I think they get braver as they get larger. I also wonder if the dark color is a juvenile thing, although there were yellow ones of the same size in the tank at the LFS.

 

[Kazzy]

I agree with all of the above, but you might want to do weekly 2 gallon water changes till those nitrates go down. They are a little high.

 

[addicted]

I agree with all of the above, but you might want to do weekly 2 gallon water changes till those nitrates go down. They are a little high.

I usually do 2 gallons a week when I change out the water but the nitrates just aren't coming down. They'll go down slightly after I change out the water (although with this big one they went down to 20 but are not slowly starting to climb). I usually do 2 waterchanges a week of 1 gallon. I just started syphoning the sand the last time though before I was just scooping the water out because I didn't want to disturb the good bacteria.

 

[addicted]

I bought a 1 inch yellow watchman because he wasn't yellow. He was a dark color, seems like it was a grayish green. It's been so long I forgot. He was very small and disappeared for what seemed like months. Finally I caught a glimpse of him and realized he was still alive. It was several more weeks before he started coming out long enough to get a good look. He was now yellow and about 2 inches long. I think they get braver as they get larger. I also wonder if the dark color is a juvenile thing, although there were yellow ones of the same size in the tank at the LFS.

He is pretty big now. He's probably 2 inches or so and hasn't grown any since we got him. My friend had her tank set up for awhile though before we took the ones we got from her. So he was in her tank she said for about 6 months and she said she doesn't really remember seeing him hardly at all except feeding time he'd poke his head out to get the food.

 

[dobejazz]

This is a pic of mine it was bright yellow when I bought it 2 years ago but as it grew it changed.

 

[dobejazz]

another shot

 

[addicted]

another shot

That's about the color of mine now but without the striping on it. He's a wierd greenish color almost. My friend doesn't even know if he always looked this way either (shows you how much attention she paid to the tank:verymad: ). I was just worried he was maybe sick or something but he eats great I know that's basically one of the only times he comes out from the rock is when I'm opening the lid to the tank to feed them.

 

[dobejazz]

Hmm I don't remember I think the bands got darker over time at first it just looked like it was fading

If it's eating and otherwise seems healthy you should be fine