Color change in fish

[MikeS]

I picked up 3 electric blues at a local fish store and brought them home. One of them changed color along the way and is now a washed out grey looking. Will it change back? Was it a result of shock, maybe I replenished the bag water too fast from the tank..

They might have been cobalts. I 'll try posting pictures in the next couple of days.

 

[mtdewlover]

I had the same problem and was mad my beautiful blue fish turned yucky brown white color. He never did turn back and i was told it was b/c thats just the typed of cichlid he is.

 

[semper fi]

sometimes the lighting and the color of the gravel to cause the fish to look as if they have lost their color. could be the stress of being in the bag and the new environment. keep the lights off for a few days and let the new fish get used to the tank and establish territories and then see if the color comes back.

by electric blue, i assume you are referring to johanni's. do you know which strain you have? johanni males are the blue black color and the females are a dull brown color. females are uncommon in lfs since they are not as desirable for the colors they carry.

 

[Auratus]

Most fish loose their color when they are stressed or dont have proper lighting. It will probably change back. It's just stressed out from the move.

 

[Aulonochromis]

Some cichlids are like chameleons, their colors can change dramatically with their moods. If theyre feeling dominant and comfy, they show their bright colors, and when scared, show their dull colors. However, if you buy a brightly colored fish and in a few weeks or months he fades out and never regains that color, he has probably been treated with hormones, an inhumane, yet increasingly common practice, and will never regain the color. Alot of cichlids take a long time to gain their mature adult coloration, so greedy breeders and LFS owners feed them testosterone when young to move them and make a profit. This treatment ruins the fish's ability to make testosteron on their own and can even make them sterile.

I do not know of any cichlid that gets less colorful because "that's the type of cichlid he is". Sounds like a LFS told you a lie. Theyre born plainly colored so theyre better camoflauged and have a better chance of survival.

 

[kidsyd]

They turn the bright blue because they are the dominant fish, and they are showing the others that they ARE dominant. When you take it out of it's environment is has no need to be dominant any longer, so it changes back. For example, but two of the grey ones, and put thenm in the same tank, and one of them with change a bright color, and the other will hide in the corner.