Hi, I'm very new to keeping cichlids. We rescued 11 after the previous owner had gone to live in Portugal. After reading about them I was a bit worried as they sounded like naughty fish! We only set out to get some goldfish, but in the end wanted to give the beauties a new home. My question is, all of the fish are beautiful, they live in a 80 gallon tank, and all seem happy. But one fish in particular seemed very stressed initially, but now has settled down. But he changes colour. Sometimes he's a beautiful red but most of the time he's just a light grey. Why is this? He's happy now and eats plenty. The ph in the water is spot on, as is the temperature. Is this normal? Thanks in advance. Em.
Cichlids help
- Thread starter YorkshireMrsP
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There are hundreds(Thousands?) of different species of cichlids from every part of the world, every type of water parameters, different PH, different temperature, different colors, different temperaments...You're going to have to be more specific than "Cichlid, sometimes is red."
Thanks for the reply. I realized I should have at least of popped a picture on, so I have attached one of said fish. Our lodger seems to think it's not cichlid at all, but my husband and I are not sure. There are two other fish in the tank that have the same spots and are the red colour this fish turns into also, so I believe them to be the same kind of fish. They were sold to us as Mbuna. Thanks again
Welcome aboard
The cichlid in the pic is a Jewel Cichlid which is a African Riverine specie. The Blue one may be a Malawian African Cichlid from lake Malawi. Please post a full tank shot so we can identify more of the fish.
Thanks for your reply!! I have uploaded a full tank shot and a few close ups. Some are quite shy, so some of the pictures are pants. The big pink one is the boss of the tank, but no real aggression going on really, just a few chases here and there. The 2 red ones are inseparable, quite sweet. thank you again for your reply. 
Looks like you have a real mixed bag of cichlids. Two Jewels together often times don't get along. Yours apparently do. The big pink tank boss looks to be a Blood Parrot, a Central American hybrid cichlid. The yellow cichlid with black edging on the fins is a Yellow Lab. Most cichlids can intensify or diminish their color by mood. Nice looking tank.
Thanks! The 2 red ones are best pals! The fish I started this post off with, I'll picture again, is a jewel too, but its lost its colour and doesn't seem very happy. We treated the tank for parasites and it picked up again e.g turning a pretty red again, but a day later it turned back to a grey colour. Do jewel fish need a certain number to be happy? He's the only little guy that seems off, I feel sorry for it! A massive thanks everyone!! 
Like stated Cichlids change color for different reasons. Go to Cichlid Forum select African Cichlids and read the threads you will learn plenty on maintaining and behavior.
Your 2nd pic with 2 fish are from Lake Tanganyika and are probably Neolamprologus brichardi but may be N. pulcher, I can't really see the black markings clearly on the fish near the gills.
What are the dimensions of your tank?
Good chance it's not happy because if you have the PH right for the other africans, and judging from the coral rock it's probably about right for them. That means it's too high for the jewel and the parrot.