Kuda seahorse’s gone pale

[ReeceC]

Hi all.
I’ve had my seahorse tank setup for about 6 months now with a pair of kuda seahorses. Male was a tan colour and always really has been and the female was very dark. Almost black. I’ve recently added another pair of kuda seahorses. When they arrived (from same supplier) the new male was a very dull yellow. Almost clear/white. And the femal was bright yellow.

I’ve had these for around 3 weeks now and since they have arrived all 4 of the seahorse have lost all colour and appear very pale.

They are all eating extremely well, I feed them on Betta Choice frozen Mysis and garlic artemia. They seem to love them both.

ive not got any corals in the tank. But I do have 4 feather duster worms of different colours, they like to hold on to these and a large artificial coral ornament in the centre where they also like to hang out.

I’ve also had a slight ammonia spike since adding the extra ponies but since that the tests now show zero. All other readings are correct but still no improvement in colouration since all turned pale.

The photos attached are of the 2nd female seahorse. 1 photo on arrival and other photo today.

could anyone advise me on what I can do to help their colours pop?

Thankyou for any advice on advanced

 

[LgTas]

That is very odd. My guess would be the new additions' colour change is a response to the new environment. This could then have triggered your originals to respond to match them (potentially to avoid standing out to potential predators)... but that's a pure guess.

Edit: I then found this article

Seahorse Color-Color is Not Fixed and Changes

Masters of Camoflage A common misconception about seahorses regards their color. Color in seahorses is NOT fixed and changes based on mood, surroundings, lighting, diet, age, varies with species and many other factors. Seahorses are masters of camouflage and have the ability to expand and...

seahorsesavvy.com

 

[ReeceC]

I was thinking that it might have been some sort of tactic but it’s such a drastic change from their original colouring I just thought it couldn’t be that.

I think I’ve read that post before but couldn’t quite pin point what my problem is.

only thing that I am thinking now is there isn’t a lot of popping colours in the tank. I do have a bright yellow duster worm but that only one. So if I added some more colour (orange, red and yellows) to the tank for them to use as hitching posts it might help.
Also I’m not sure if the sand bed is helping as I’ve gone for the normal white but where I have like an island there is a lot of white circling it and then seem to hang around the bottom a lot.