I bought 2 Rams over the weekend and their colours are very pale

The blue on them are great, but everything else is rather pale, especially the black patch on the front of the dorsal fin. I know they should have soft acidic water but at the moment, the water in the tank is neytral and hard (something I am trying to remedy). Could this be the reason??

They are feeding well (been on a diet of primarily blood worm - live, frozen and freeze dried) and are active, so they are not sick.

Thanks.

the stress of moving to a new environment and one which doesn't have ideal water conditions for them is probably the cause

Of course - the stress of moving! Forgot about that ....

Hope they get nicer colours as they settle then and the water conditions is more as it should be for them.

Thank you.

Hey, just incase you don't know the chemicals to buffer Ph are very bad.Use some bogwood and peat in the filter to lower the Ph.Stay away from rocks which you have found on a beach or in a feild as these are likely to raise your Ph.

mine took a couple of weeks to colour up, they just need to settle in
Angel