Rainbow Cichlid Coloration Question

[elting44]

I am new to keeping H. Multispinosa and I have a question/concern:

I aquired 2 rainbows about 10 days ago. I am fairly certain they are both female. They seemed to have settled after a day or so, they are active and eating well. They are in a 55 gal with a (surprisingly) un-paired male and female convict.

There is no agression in the tank, the rainbows swim among the convicts seemingly without a care. The male convict is around 4.5" TL. The rainbows are around 1.5" TL

they are eating a varied diet of NLS, with spirulina infused brine shrimp and bloodworms. Water parameters are 0 amm, 0 nitrite, ~20ppm nitrate. There are plenty of hardscaped caves and nooks for them to retreat to should they feel threatened, which judging by their behavior, they are not.

My concern is with their coloration. I have read that rainbows take a while to color up and that females are generally more drab than males, but both of these fish have prominent vertical barring and "Y" shaped patterns on their sides. In the pictures and videos I have seen of other rainbows, they have a black lateral bar, but no real vertical pattern to speak of. Most of the pictures I have come across are adults though. Is this just juvenile coloration or should I be concerned that they are stressed.

below are a few pics, what do you think?

No Flash:

With Flash:

Cell Phone:

 

[Rivers2k]

They look normal to me. They will change from the current coloration to bright yellow quite often. I moved fish from one tank to another and it took days for them to come out of hiding and get back the bright yellow color. It can be frustrating but then the yellow comes out and all is good again then the next day back to brown . I have had mine since fry .5" to now 3.5" I would like to get more as I hear they do fantastic in groups.

 

[elting44]

They look normal to me. They will change from the current coloration to bright yellow quite often. I moved fish from one tank to another and it took days for them to come out of hiding and get back the bright yellow color. It can be frustrating but then the yellow comes out and all is good again then the next day back to brown . I have had mine since fry .5" to now 3.5" I would like to get more as I hear they do fantastic in groups.

Thanks for the reassurance, hopefully I can track down a male and add him to the mix. I'd assume that would bring out some more color as well. I would like to end up with a pair of each rainbows and convicts in the 55g.

 

[ryansmith83]

Mine only changed to bright yellow if they were fighting or courting. Most of the time they were the same color as yours. I originally grew them out in a bare bottom tank with a light background and they didn't show any of the black patterning, but moving them into a 210 community with a black background brought it out. They're like a lot of other CA/SA fish in that they will try to camouflage themselves by blending into their background. If you have a darker tank with lots of wood/decorations they'll probably continue to show their mottled pattern unless they start spawning and show off their breeding dress.

 

[elting44]

Mine only changed to bright yellow if they were fighting or courting. Most of the time they were the same color as yours. I originally grew them out in a bare bottom tank with a light background and they didn't show any of the black patterning, but moving them into a 210 community with a black background brought it out. They're like a lot of other CA/SA fish in that they will try to camouflage themselves by blending into their background. If you have a darker tank with lots of wood/decorations they'll probably continue to show their mottled pattern unless they start spawning and show off their breeding dress.

Good to know, thanks for the input, I had not considered that. The substrate is a light colored sand mixed with medium sized gravel, the background is black, and there is a good deal of river rock and driftwood.

I'd assume the lighter color sand would bring out the yellow, but you might be on to something with the background.

 

[duanes]

Yours look normal to me, mine were also in a light sand substrate tank, and do not show as much dark banding as yours.

I have about 10 just moved to a kiddy pool in hope of a spawn this summer.
Because they are algae feeders in nature I would imagine a high in veggie/algae vitamin food would have a lot to do with bringing out color.

 

[elting44]

Yours look normal to me, mine were also in a light sand substrate tank, and do not show as much dark banding as yours.
....I have about 10 just moved to a kiddy pool in hope of a spawn this summer.
Because they are algae feeders in nature I would imagine a high in veggie/algae vitamin food would have a lot to do with bringing out color.

How large are your Duanes?

Thats why I went with the Spirulina infused brine shrimp in addition to the bloodworms.

I have some TetraVeggie Xtreme algae wafers that I will occasionally drop in for my bristlenose, problem is the male Convict doesnt even let them sink to the bottom before he is chomping on them. When he does the rainbows will gladly follow him around gobbling up the particles that he leaves in his wake

 

[duanes]

Mine are @2"-2.5", just going on 1 year old.