Why Is My Seahorse Turning White? (reasons explained)

One of the complaints from many Seahorse keepers is, that their Seahorses are changing color.

The complaints go like this ”why is my Seahorse turning white? why is my Seahorse getting dark? etc. if you are a victim of this, then you surely need some answers and that’s why you are reading this article in the first place, so I suggest you read this article to the end in order to get your complete answers.

Why is my Seahorse turning white? Seahorses can change or alter their colors in order to match with their immediate environment.

One of the reasons your Seahorse may be turning white is that it wants to match its color with the environment it is in.

There are also other reasons why Seahorses may change from their former color to another color. I will explain them later in this article.

It shouldn’t come as a shock to you that Seahorses could alter their color, after all, so many animals could do it too.

Seahorses have this special ability for two reasons which are: to use it to protect themselves in the wild and to use it to flirt.

In the wild where many predators are hunting them to eat, they normally use their special ability to camouflage and stay hidden.

When I say camouflage, I mean, they could turn to the color of the nearest rock, leaves, or trees around them and confuse the predators by making them not to see them.

This special ability is their defense, and they could use it in the tank. So, if your tank is white, there is every chance that they might mimic the color, etc.

So, if your healthy Seahorse is turning white, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it.

Flirting can make a Seahorse alter its color too.

They normally do this especially in the wild in order to attract the opposite sex to mate with them.

During their mating season, they normally do this.

So, if yours are in a big tank or pond with many other Seahorses, it is very common to see this because they want to attract others of the opposite sex.

Stress: Another reason a Seahorse could be turning white is that it is stressed.

Seahorses are not as strong as many aquatic animals, so they are easily affected by many things, and that is why they are a little bit hard to keep in captivity.

Little stress could have a great impact on your Seahorse, such as making it turn white, etc.

Although they could willingly turn white or change color as I explained above, but that is very different from changing color because of stress.

Related: Cab Lionfish change color?

Related: Do Rabbitfish change colors?

When a Seahorse turns white due to stress, it turns in patches. That’s they may have whitetail or head only etc.

This is very different from turning white or any other color in order to camouflage because they change wholly and not partly like when they are stressed.

So, the difference is very clear. Know when they are stressed and when they are willingly changing their color.

There are many factors that could get them stressed such as type of water or water parameters, temperature, tank mates, etc.

Poor Quality Diet: They are very sensitive animals because they are easily affected by many things, including the type of food they eat.

When their body lacks the necessary nutrients, you might notice that their body will start turning white partially or even any color.

This happens when the Diets they eat are not nutritional enough or when they are not eating enough food or when they are on hunger strike.

So many people feed their Seahorses things like brine shrimps. Well, this kind of food is not very nutritional and might cause this.

There are many nutritious foods you can feed your Seahorse such as Mysis shrimps, ghost Shrimps, etc, and you might get good quality foods from many stores, especially online stores.

These are the reasons why your Seahorse may be Changing or altering its color, so know the main reason for that and take the necessary actions if it requires it.

Why Do Seahorses Turn Yellow?

Seahorses could turn yellow due to the type of diet ( nutrition) they take.

Too many Carotenoids in their Diets could make it difficult for them to replenish their yellow and red pigments. This means that their red, yellow, and orange color will fade if their diet is lacking in carotenoids.

Apart from diet, they might decide to turn yellow as a strategy to deceive and hide from the enemy.

So, If yellow is the nearest color to it and only what it can see, it will alter its color to mimic it if it wants, especially when there is a predator around.