Fish Tan – You can’t Be Serious

Yes you read the title right Fish Tan, what’s that all about. Well apparently fish can get tan (ok not a tan but sunburn) and as the sun is so strong these days then it could harm them. Is this true?It is yes, although fish in the wild can swim to deeper waters to avoid the sun light or find shade in reeds and other plants. So there is not really a major problem concerning fish getting sunburn. That said I have read a couple of reports with information gathered by scientists that some fish in the wild are ‘suffering from what we would call classic sunburn‘.

But what about our fish in our ponds when that sun is beaming down on a hot summers day. If your pond is of a good size and is fairly deep in places then the fish have got the depth of water to avoid the sun. So if your pond is fairly shallow then it is important to make sure you have enough plants so that the fish can find some shade from the sun.

This is not a problem I think many pond owners will suffer from, I certainly haven’t even though some of my fish have been known to stay on the surface for quite a while basking in the sun. But I have never noticed any kind of problem with their scales in respect of any kind of deterioration or colour change. That said I have heard other people tell tales about their fish having problems because of the sun.

The best bet is to make sure you have the plants to provide shade for your fish, but if they won’t use them, there is really nothing you can do to stop them sunbathing.

I guess some fish are just sun worshippers.