Odd coloration on pinima

[crowconor]

^^^^good call my occel and mono do this sometimes......also sometimes if i leave the lights on my tank for tooo long the colors get very bad...but i dont think it wiould cause him to lose color for 3 weeks

 

[catfishlover106]

hmm idunno Hpizzle...I was just giving out something even though it wasn't probable. Im now thinking Xanthic, Leucistic...cuz from his discription saying its been hanging onto its coloration for about 2-3 weeks...But interesting and awesome cichla Nontheless Can't wait for more updates

 

[orinocensis1]

he is prob just stressed. just do a W/C and see what happends. GL though man

 

[mjuniorc]

stressed..... water seems low in the tank.....

 

[catfishlover106]

stressed..... water seems low in the tank.....

I just noticed that too...hmm how big is his growout tank and whats the water level on that tank? Seems to have alot of stuff in the tank...maybe stressed from being packed into a crammed tank? Hey Bro any input on this?

 

[thefishguy7]

hmm don't think its his diet thats causing him to lose the bars and markings. Maybe its just a shy bloomer? Its still young so we should be seeing too much markings on it yet. Like on my Pinima which is only an inch bigger than yurs it barely has markings but has the long vertical line sometimes but also has 4 spots like forming now, but very vaint

Not shy, he will eat from my hand

idk catfish bro. if it had lost his patterns, he would still be the same base colored. hes ****ing white dude. that something more along the lines of xanthic IMHO....

sweet bass btw.

I thought along those lines but highly unlikely

what's up thefisguy.. your pinima looks great and yes more pictures would be awsome .. it's common for cichla to lose their markings every now and again.. his mood will change and they will show back one day , maybe sooner then later... did you do a large water change or do anything different to the tank? 99 percent of the time a cichlas markings change due to stress or mood.. nothing to be worried about

so what do you soak your pellets in?

Don't think it's stress because he's been like that for a while.
Water with mushed up garlic
Maybe it will pop back a few days from now? Time will tell.

dont think this would cause them to lose coloration for 2-3 WEEKS.
leucistic??
i think it might be a coloration...eh...change?
whatever you call it...
like albinos,leucistics,xanthics etc.

Highly unlikely, but possible?

Are there any othe cichla in the tank? They will also display colors to establish dominance. If there are no other fish in there to contend with, he may have no need to display? Just a thought. If there arent any other cichla in there throw another in...his mood will change almost immediatly and I bet he starts showing some color

No other cichla in the tank, I have a slightly larger minnow in the tank, likes to chase it around. I'll give it a shot!

^^^^good call my occel and mono do this sometimes......also sometimes if i leave the lights on my tank for tooo long the colors get very bad...but i dont think it wiould cause him to lose color for 3 weeks

Lights on 14 hours a day, about.

hmm idunno Hpizzle...I was just giving out something even though it wasn't probable. Im now thinking Xanthic, Leucistic...cuz from his discription saying its been hanging onto its coloration for about 2-3 weeks...But interesting and awesome cichla Nontheless Can't wait for more updates

I'll be sure to keep everyone updated

he is prob just stressed. just do a W/C and see what happends. GL though man

Not stressed, he is due for a water change though, I only do them every 10 days or so on his tank, only 2 small fish in there and relatively large filters

stressed..... water seems low in the tank.....

Yes, water is low because the room gets very hot(it evaporates quickly). This tank is not cleaned often as others as stated. Water quality is fine I assure you.

I just noticed that too...hmm how big is his growout tank and whats the water level on that tank? Seems to have alot of stuff in the tank...maybe stressed from being packed into a crammed tank? Hey Bro any input on this?

1 piece of driftwood, 1 plant, heater, spongefilter, and some aquaclear filter. Water is 1.5" from the top, tank is 24x12x18 (old tank, with odd dims) Of course I will move him to a larger enclosure when he outgrows this one.

I'll start doing more frequent water changes, and add a few more bass.
Perhaps upgrade to a larger tank right now? I usually like to upgrade tanks with the fish, but you guys are the experts.
Thanks for the help!

 

[bOOsteN aUdI]

garlic in the water? lol do a water change bradda and maybe a larger grow out and a higher water level.. i had my cichla do this before, i am telling you its due to stress. i have had it done with low water leveled grow out tanks, small grow out tanks, lights left on to long (24 hour periods), light substrates, STRESS.. do a water change and see if that helps. what's your ph, nitirites, nitrates, ammonia? he is deff not leucustic if he once had color.

 

[RedTailKinG]

thts cool tho i like it he would really stand out with other pb with him wonder if it would stay like this keep us posted

 

[justintrask]

definately interested in how this develops. keep us updated!

 

[thefishguy7]

garlic in the water? lol do a water change bradda and maybe a larger grow out and a higher water level.. i had my cichla do this before, i am telling you its due to stress. i have had it done with low water leveled grow out tanks, small grow out tanks, lights left on to long (24 hour periods), light substrates, STRESS.. do a water change and see if that helps. what's your ph, nitirites, nitrates, ammonia? he is deff not leucustic if he once had color.

No, I soak massivore pellets in garlic water, he doesn't swim around in garlic. haha
I'll check the params tomorrow, my pH is probably low.