what causes african cichilids to loose their color? Also how do you care for them when they have babies? Will?

Answer 1

when they get a little older they might lose a little color feed them color enhancing ciclid food as far as baby's go you need a lot of hiding spots for the fry the male digs a hole in the gravel for mating the female lays her eggs then picks them up in her mouth then goes to the hole where she pecks at the anal fin on the male until he lets say gives it to her in the mouth when the fry begin to hatch she will deposit them in cracks under rocks the male and female both guard the fry until they get big enough to go into general population no special care needed the fish do it all used lava rock in 75 gal. and have had several matings over the years in fact i haven't got a fish for that tank in 5 years good luck

Answer 2

There are many reasons a fish will lose color from stress, illnesses to social behaviors (especially in cichlids). Also there is the added issue that sometime (usually with peacock cichlids), the breeder will feed hormoned food to make the males color up early. You buy the fish, bring it home and feed normal food. They lose the hormones that made them colorful in the first place and you have to wait for them to mature and color up when they were supposed to.

As for fry (baby fish), there are 2 styles of parenting in African cichlids. Many of them are mouthbrooders. They pick up the eggs and keep the babies in their mouths for 3-4 weeks (without eating). Once the fry are released, they take no part in dealing with the fry. If you haven't removed the mom and fry (in her mouth) to a seperate tank before she releases them, the general population will eat them. After she releases them, remove the mother and feed the fry crushed flakes. You'll have to grow them out in a seperate tank if you want to keep them, otherwise any fish small enough to fit in the mouth of a bigger fish will be eaten given the opportunity (a few may survive but not many).

The other style of raising fry is that the mom lays eggs and both parents guard the eggs and the fry. A few african cichlids go so far as to having previvous generations also involved in taking care of the fry and the parents territory.

Answer 3

Normall any fish will lose their color when they are stressed, or the water conditions are not correct. Check PH levels, wter temperature, and nitrate levels, not sure about the babies, www.google.ca or www.elmersaquarium.com will have something on it.