Cuban cichlid question

[Oplr]

Hello.

I purchased these 2 fish sold as Cuban cichlids from my LFS on Wednesday, they both looked pretty plain at the time but since I've got them home they've come to life.

Their color has come out massively, they are constantly active and come out if they see anyone near the tank. They both looked identical with the scattered pattern until yesterday the bigger of the 2 has become much darker and developed bars instead of scattered pattern and it's head is much darker too. I was wondering why this could be and if its anything to worry about? It's behaviour hasn't changed, they have loads of rocks to hide between and parameters are under 20 nitrate, 0nitrite and 0ammonia.

Since having them I've done a 20% water change daily and feed 3x a day mixing NLS cichlid mix and Fluval bug bites.

Thanks for any info.

 

[Poseidon2.0]

Nice looking fish! What size of tank are you keeping them in?

 

[tlindsey]

the bigger of the 2 has become much darker and developed bars instead of scattered pattern and it's head is much darker too. I was wondering why this could be and if its anything to worry about?

The color difference is the ranking of the 2.
Hopefully you have a male and female and they except each other as a pair or you may have dominance, territorial issues.

 

[Man-made Monsters]

The one with the deep black patch on its dorsal fin near its head is looking like a female. She could be trying to spawn but the male might not be ready to yet. I have keep Cubans before and this is what the female looked like. Many females show more black on their stomachs and gill plates compared to the males.

 

[duanes]

The ones in the 2nd pic, and left in the 3rd pic are females.
Females have the dark area in dorsal, below an adult female.

For males, the dark color in the dorsal remains mottled (below)

 

[Theos.dad]

View attachment 1502502View attachment 1502503View attachment 1502504

Hello.

I purchased these 2 fish sold as Cuban cichlids from my LFS on Wednesday, they both looked pretty plain at the time but since I've got them home they've come to life.

Their color has come out massively, they are constantly active and come out if they see anyone near the tank. They both looked identical with the scattered pattern until yesterday the bigger of the 2 has become much darker and developed bars instead of scattered pattern and it's head is much darker too. I was wondering why this could be and if its anything to worry about? It's behaviour hasn't changed, they have loads of rocks to hide between and parameters are under 20 nitrate, 0nitrite and 0ammonia.

Since having them I've done a 20% water change daily and feed 3x a day mixing NLS cichlid mix and Fluval bug bites.

Thanks for any info.

How big are these roughly? Curious as to what size the female was when she started showing the dorsal blotch