Redhead not so red

[nokare]

I got the fish a while ago when it was about 1.5-2 inches. Fish is doing fantastic with beautiful streamers. Honestly I have never had a fish grow so fast! But for being a red head tapajos, it's not looking so red. Curious what everyone thought the issue could be.

 

[nokare]

 

[duanes]

Your cichlid is Acarichthys heckelli, not a red head tapajos, or red hump earth eater.
It doesn't really color up until it hits around 7". Yours is looking like it should
Here are a few I had, in these shots they are about 8"+..


If you use a less white substrate, they tend to show colors off better

 

[nokare]

Your cichlid is Acarichthys heckelli, not a red head tapajos, or red hump earth eater.
It doesn't really color up until it hits around 7". Yours is looking like it should
Here are a few I had, in these shots they are about 8"+..
View attachment 1533683View attachment 1533684View attachment 1533685
View attachment 1533686View attachment 1533687View attachment 1533688
If you use a less white substrate, they tend to show colors off better

Thanks the the reply. Good information to know!

 

[tlindsey]

View attachment 1533682

Welcome aboard

 

[neutrino]

For the sake of your fish's health it really needs to be fed less and slimmed down considerably. Acarichthys heckell can be finicky with their health and a bulging lower body like that isn't good for the health and longevity of any fish.

 

[nokare]

For the sake of your fish's health it really needs to be fed less and slimmed down considerably. Acarichthys heckell can be finicky with their health and a bulging lower body like that isn't good for the health and longevity of any fish.

I appreciate the feedback. How would I feed specifically him less? The rest of the tank needs to be fed but this guy is aggressive with the eating.

 

[neutrino]

I appreciate the feedback. How would I feed specifically him less? The rest of the tank needs to be fed but this guy is aggressive with the eating.

I've had to deal with that sometimes. Short of moving a fish like that to another tank for a while where I could more strictly control feeding until they slimmed down, other things I've done are: 1. feed flake and/or smaller pellets 2. don't feed at some spot all the time (a smart fish figures this out), but change it up so they're not always first to the food. 3. scatter food at the surface or put it in a filter current that scatters it in the tank... all this can let the smaller fish get more and makes feeding less efficient for any one fish to gobble it up before the others get any.

What else is in the tank? The geos I have are all greedy eaters, competition in the group helps keep any one fish from getting it all but I still use filter flow to scatter food so they have to work a bit for it.

 

[nokare]

Mostly discus and angles. I have some tetras, an albino threadfin(much smaller) and a sveni. After finding out this guy is not a tapajos I will be getting some of them lol.

 

[Ogertron3000]

That’s a very nice tank I must say.