One of my electric yellows looks a bit off color?

Question

the black top fin looks less colorish and the body isnt the bright yellow it used to be.

is this normal or is the fish possibly sick? (if sick, what do i do)

thanks

yes it is an cichlid. no the others dont pick on him. i actually have 2 of these, same size. one seems fine the other off color. thanks

everything in the tank is fine. the one that i think is wrong the black fin is just not black anymore. more like grey. and it's yellow color is more like dark yellow now.....

the other same one has the dark black fin and regluar yellow color.

Answer 1

Hi King and ty Ev,

My read on this, though it's not 100%, is that you have two males, and one is subdueing his colors is why you see the color change. Ditto to sir Ghapy as well. I spoke directly with fivespeed and Ash, both whom keep cichilds extensively too, and just like Ghapy said, you're going to see a wide range of colors in these fish. I have four myself, and I now have a brooding female carrying in my group. I have seen them shimmy circle and liplock several times before looking at the dorsal and ventral fins. Now knowing I have at least one female, and looking at the fins, I deduced how to sex them properly. The black on the males will be very black and looking like a straight line in the dorsal fin and very striking black on the ventral fins as well. That is what you would want to look and see. You probably just have two males that have had it out over territory in the tank is all, and one is dominant and one is submissive I bet.

JV

Answer 2

It could be the result of stress. I'm not sure about sickness. Sometimes when tanks are labeled Yellow Labs/Electric Yellows, some of the fish aren't pure electric yellows and tend to be a mixture of other mbuna. In later years the color change, but i'm pretty sure this isn't your case. Might just be stress. How's the water? temp? has anything changed in its environment?

Answer 3

This type of thing in my experience is almost always stress, so just keep a close eye on things in the tank and make sure he isn't getting picked on by the other lab or any other fish in the tank - these are one of the weaker mbuna available afterall. Otherwise I wouldn't worry too much about it, color in Malawi cichlids tends to range from faded to vivid depending on a number of factors.

On thing I've found with lab caeruleus is that they tend to be much more lively and social when they're kept in groups and it takes any negative attention from other fish from any one target.

Answer 4

If you are referring to an African Cichlid, it is quite possible that this particular fish has had a loss in status. African cichlids communicate through their color. It could be sick, too, or just feeling weak or low.

If it is an African, has another fish picked on it or do you use the lake salt? Those are possible things to check for.

Answer 5

here are some great sites about an electric yellow lab
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_labido.php
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Labidochromis.htm

It might be a female and carrying a brood
The second site shows you on how to sex them


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB


Edit*
it sounds like you have a male and a female on your hand, compare them to the second link and see.

Answer 6

ask yourself, since the first answerer says theycommunicate through color, then ask yourself...what would you feel if you're going red, or blue or white or whatever color your pet is turning into?