Texas Cichlid Turned Completely BLACK!!

[heavenboy77]

So I have a huge problem and at this point I am getting worried because one of my smaller Texas cichlids turned completely black. And not only that she now has bite marks on her tail area and pieces of her fins missing not huge pieces but little pieces missing and on her tail area she bad bite marks. I have been trying to get more Texas cichlids in my tank to do what all the experts told me and that is to get more Texas cichlids in my tank and they will begin to not be so territorial but idk I now have about 6 Texas cichlids in my tank and the newer male I got is now just a huge bully and we didn't have any of these problems till he got out into my tank he literally chases all the fish and tried to bully them he is I would say like just a few inches bigger then the rest. And he is just a huge bully literally I've don't some research and I know when the bottom half of the Texas cichlid Is black it has to do with matting but there is no information at all on what it means when the entire Texas cichlid turns black like she was a Grey color with like blue spots but now she is jet black her entire body and I've noticed bite marks idk what I should do or how I should fix this but can someone help me please because I love each one of these fish but I got her and her male first so I love them more then my new breeding pair truthfully so seeing her like this Is honestly pissing me off truthfully so someone anyone please help

 

[tlindsey]

So I have a huge problem and at this point I am getting worried because one of my smaller Texas cichlids turned completely black. And not only that she now has bite marks on her tail area and pieces of her fins missing not huge pieces but little pieces missing and on her tail area she bad bite marks. I have been trying to get more Texas cichlids in my tank to do what all the experts told me and that is to get more Texas cichlids in my tank and they will begin to not be so territorial but idk I now have about 6 Texas cichlids in my tank and the newer male I got is now just a huge bully and we didn't have any of these problems till he got out into my tank he literally chases all the fish and tried to bully them he is I would say like just a few inches bigger then the rest. And he is just a huge bully literally I've don't some research and I know when the bottom half of the Texas cichlid Is black it has to do with matting but there is no information at all on what it means when the entire Texas cichlid turns black like she was a Grey color with like blue spots but now she is jet black her entire body and I've noticed bite marks idk what I should do or how I should fix this but can someone help me please because I love each one of these fish but I got her and her male first so I love them more then my new breeding pair truthfully so seeing her like this Is honestly pissing me off truthfully so someone anyone please help

View attachment 1561491

Welcome aboard
Here is a interesting thread

Thread 'Can someone please tell what happened to my texas cichlid' https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/can-someone-please-tell-what-happened-to-my-texas-cichlid.764529/

 

[Jexnell]

Seems he is trying to blend in with the dark substrate. Cichlids main predators are birds. So with the gravel being so dark he is trying to hide in his current environment. I have had them in dark substrate tanks do the same thing, and light in light substrate tanks.
Here it is in a dark substrate tank

Same fish in a light substrate tank

 

[danotaylor]

Check your water parameters to make sure you're not having a cycling issue. The white on the tail could be ammonia burns. Your water looks milky.

 

[duanes]

All Herichthys (the genus Texas cichlids are in) have the abilty to darken when placed on dark substrate.
In fact when mature many Herichthyw tend to turn black, when able to spawn, despite substrate.

Above is a female, Herichthys in nornal color.
Below is a female H carpintus in spawning color.

Another factor may be that some Herichthys these days are hybrids,
and if so, there is a chance that there is another species mixed in, that may influence color production.
Below is another Herichthys in spawning color, it is H bartoni

And another Herichthys of the labridens complex in (the female in the foreground) ,

And to illustrate how color of substrate effects color, in a natural setting,
there are 3 Herichthys in the pic below, over natural substrate below

 

[danotaylor]

Increasing numbers works to a degree w African Cichlids, particularly from Lake Malawi, but not CA fish.
The “experts” advising you clearly don’t know what they are talking about. Adding more fish is not the answer to dealing w aggression in Central American cichlids tanks.
These fish do not become less territorial in greater numbers. As duanes has mentioned many times on this forum, a lot of CA cichlids have huge solo territories.
How big is your tank anyway? Depending on tank size, you need to reduce your number of Texas to either a pair, or 1 male wet pet.

 

[HUKIT]

Increasing numbers works to a degree w African Cichlids, particularly from Lake Malawi, but not CA fish.
The “experts” advising you clearly don’t know what they are talking about. Adding more fish is not the answer to dealing w aggression in Central American cichlids tanks.
These fish do not become less territorial in greater numbers. As duanes has mentioned many times on this forum, a lot of CA cichlids have huge solo territories.
How big is your tank anyway? Depending on tank size, you need to reduce your number of Texas to either a pair, or 1 male wet pet.

danotaylor is spot on as that is not a viable option to reduce aggression with large central’s. I know it’s hard to tell what size of the aquarium but looks like a 55g so unless that’s a very large tank that stocking will only end one way. I always recommend doing more research as it’s good to get a few opinions rather than the one source who maybe just trying to sell more fish.

 

[heavenboy77]

So I have been watching her all night and I've noticed that the two males are fighting over here and trying to pair with her one mail comes and gets next to her and defends her then another male comes fights and then he defend her so on and so forth I thought they were completely fighting her but it looks like the males ate trying to pair with her... which makes perfect since one of the original males is like 3 inches smaller than the new male and he paired with her before like 2 weeks ago they had eggs but I guess they were dud eggs because it was there first batch and then they waited like 4 or 5 days and I guess they knew they were bad because on like the 5th day he and her started eating them. So I guess she is ready to start breeding again and there fighting for the rights to breed with her. I thought they were fighting her but it looks like they are both fighting to defend her and breed with her.. and my tank is about like a 80 gallon Gallon tank I guess I'm gonna be a grandaddy really soon

 

[heavenboy77]

The fish right behind her above her kinda is the other female and the fish right infront of her is the new male and the fish right behind her kind of below her is the original male she mated with before when she had the first clutch of eggs

 

[heavenboy77]

danotaylor is spot on as that is not a viable option to reduce aggression with large central’s. I know it’s hard to tell what size of the aquarium but looks like a 55g so unless that’s a very large tank that stocking will only end one way. I always recommend doing more research as it’s good to get a few opinions rather than the one source who maybe just trying to sell more fish.

I have like a 80 or 100 gallon tank I honestly thought it was a 50 gallon until I seen a 50 gallon and was like wow my tank is way bigger then that lmao