Jack Dempsey Very Pale

[G8zzaj]

Hey everyone,

My JD is very pale and seems washed out.

When I got him at 1 inch I grew him out with the frontosa colony in the 180 and he had nice colours but was only small.

Since I moved him to the 150 with an EBJD 5 inches , Green Terror 3 inches, Firemouth 4 inches and Polleni 11 inches, JD is 6 inches now, he is very pale and washed out, there’s been no fights, just a small amount of chasing.

could this cause him to be so washed out?

 

[Deadeye]

Could you post some pics of the fish and tank?
If it went from being dominant to the one being aggressor upon, it will be stressed and show poor colors (a polleni twice its size could definitely stress it out). Moving to a new tank would also be a stressor.
What’s the tank set up like? If there’s a lot of bright decor/sand, a light background, and/or bright lights with minimal cover, the fish will be bright to try to blend in.

 

[G8zzaj]

Pics below.

mum reading changing the substrate to a darker colour may help? But it’s same colour as frontosa tank.

 

[Deadeye]

I’d definitely consider darker substrate - looks like there isn’t much shade from the light either.

 

[G8zzaj]

1st 2 pics are the tank he is in.
2nd is tank he was moved from.

could move him back but ideally wanted all frontosa species only.

 

[krichardson]

I suspect the JD will darken and color up over time after it gets more comfortable in the tank and figures out who is who and where it's place is among them.

 

[G8zzaj]

I’d definitely consider darker substrate - looks like there isn’t much shade from the light either.

decided to pop him in with the frontosa to see what happened before I changed the substrate out etc

he’s coloured up within 5 mins! Must be the bullying in the other tank?

 

[G8zzaj]

I suspect the JD will darken and color up over time after it gets more comfortable in the tank and figures out who is who and where it's place is among them.

He’s been in there for about 3 months and is getting paler.

 

[Deadeye]

Definitely possible it’s aggression based stress - it does look like the front tank has a lot more plant cover as well - consider adding more to the other tank.

 

[duanes]

Because the most common predators of JDs in Mexico are birds, if they are placed over very white substrate they instinctually wash out to blend in with the substrate to become less a sitting duck for predatory birds, and this instinct does not go away just because they are in a tank.

The pic above is a Cenote in Mexico where JDs are found, and in the pic is a cormorant, one of the JDs most common predators.
In the video below (another Cenote) in Mexico, note how dark the JDs are in beginning over darker areas, compared near the end where the JDs in that part are living over lighter substrate in sunlit areas.
Eden2