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Yellow Lab turning white

Started by LabRat, March 17, 2016, 11:46:16 AM

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LabRat

So a few weeks ago I got a 65gal tank with a colony of various Cichlids from someone on here, and though everything seems to be going smoothly the Yellow Lab has gone through a few weird color changes.

When I picked him (her?) up, she was a nice solid yellow. We transferred her into a large bucket with a few Convicts for transport and then I set up the tank. Setup took longer than I would have liked, and by the time I had everything ready to go the Yellow Lab had lost almost all of his color and was looking almost how what I would expect an Albino to look.  After a few days color began to return and everything was going well, but then last night I noticed the yellow coloring was starting to fade and this morning she looks almost white again.

Is this color changing something I need to be worried about? Does it have a specific cause?  All the others in the tank look to be doing well.


Edit: after rereading this, I realize I was all over the place with the him/her. There is only 1 Yellow Lab in the tank

Papdul16

Could be a number of things
I guessing it would be a female and she is Stress    ....Stress will cause fish to loose color.
Check PH ?
Quality of  food
TRY switching around of the rocks


7 tanks running of African cichlids

LabRat

Food is the same as they were being fed at the old home.
My 4 year old got into my test kits, and long story short I can't check the PH till I get a new one. I'm pretty sure the sand is supposed to buffer the PH, but I'll make a point of checking it as soon as I can.

Move the rocks around how? Create more hiding spaces?

bitterman

Check all your water parameters, a spike in water chemistry can stress fish and make them loose colour. Also check temperature.

Could also be other fish picking on the lab and causing stress.

Bruce

LabRat

I think I might know why the lab is feeling stressed, I found this last night, plus 4-5 additional hiding among the rocks.  Once I knew what was happening, I realized mama was guarding the cave quite viciously.

The lab in particular would usually hide in this spot.

LabRat

Oops,  meant to post this photo as well.