noticable color change in JDs

[pomunkey]

i have two jack dempseys cichlids (one male and one female about 3-4 inchs) in my 55gal since Nov22.
i started feeding them "TetraMin Tropical Flakes" and had 6 minnow gold fish for them to eat.

Dec5, i bought "Hikari Cichlid Gold" and "Hikari frozen Blood worms"

tonight while i was feeding them the blood worms, i noticed the blue spots, red along the fin, and the blue around mouth of the male got a lot brighter and prettier

for the female, she started off pretty dark and not to long ago her color has faded and is alot lighter. i noticed this change around Dec4
tonight when she had some blood worms, the blue around her mouth got alot brighter, but her body still isnt as dark as it used to be

any ideas?

 

[CubanB]

hikari is a very good brand of fish food. i use hikari gold on all my fish and it definitely improves their colour and health. as for your female being a light body colour, IME my females have always been alot lighter than my males.

 

[crisper]

A good quality diet for your fish brings out their best colors. Post some pics.

 

[HPIZZLE]

A good quality diet for your fish brings out their best colors. Post some pics.

+1

 

[fobrinkle]

A good quality diet for your fish brings out their best colors. Post some pics.

exactly! try to add ome krill to their diet too.

 

[pomunkey]

yeah i was pretty sure the brightness was from the food
i know females are lighter then males, but still confused on why the faded all of a sudden

my camera sucks so pics arent that good of a quality
picture description is
first two are them last night
third is first day i got them
fourth is whole tank display
fifth is female before lost darkness

 

[pomunkey]

you cant really tell from the pics the change in blue
only camera i have right now is on my cellphone

 

[terminalMTS]

you have a light substrate. JDs bleach out over a light substrate. add some darker gravel or sand and they will look alot better.

 

[pomunkey]

yeah i have drift wood, i just havent gotten around to cleaning it
and plan on getting alot more plants

 

[woofy]

great food gives your fish a nice healthy vibrant look try more varied diet and you'll see ven better results.