deathtroll

does anyone know about how long it would take a subdominant ice blue (metriaclima greshakei) to color up after it is removed from the dominant one. I had to remove it because my dominnat male went on the war path and killed this ones brother and attacked this one. I have a friend that will take it if it colors up but I don't have much time to wait I don't have the tank space to keep him out of my main tank and all of his new tank mates are not compatible with him.

MissMTS

He should color up very quickly is the environment is optimal If he is in cramped quarters or stressed he might not though. I think the best thing to do is have your friend take him and he will probably color up in his tank.

Shawnie

if its a female, they have more brownish color on them and wont brighten up ....

heres some good info for you http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profile...ies.php?id=794

MissMTS

Good point Shawnie.....I was assuming that it was a male.

deathtroll

yea its male he tried to show his color not to long after I put him in my main tank.
my female is left alone unless it's time to spawn. it was during her first spawn when he started to color up the first time but my big male put an end to that.
I just saw my friends fish and I'm not sure about giving him this one now his fish are really small and this one is about 3.5 in and aggressive
the tank it's in now is to small only a twenty gal only place I had to put him other than my snapping turtles cage.

Shawnie

metriaclima greshakei are super agressive towards other males of their own kind.....1m to 3f is the best...so if your friend dont take him, maybe you can exchange him at your LFS?

deathtroll

The first female I got was sold to me as male. the lfs don't sell the female for some reason the one I got them from don't take fish from people after 14 days. I'll try the other lfs in the area and see what they say. I'm still trying to find more females. I can't find them locally I can't find males anymore either so I can't get more like I did the last time by them making a mistake unless I have better luck with the next batch of fry

Angela_96

It should be an instant effect for it to color up. I have two breeding groups in my 58g tank, and got rid of a fish that was intimidating both groups. Instantly my males got bright again, and I have 1 female holding already.

There has to be something else in the tank intimidating it? Is it the tank where you have the met species mixed? If so mixing met species will cause that, just as lab, psuedo, etc. The males will fight.

deathtroll

right now he's in with more of a semi aggressive tank. with my african knife fish, rainbow shark, and a blue gourami. the knife is in protective custody because of nipped fins the rainbow shark is about to be rehomed. as you can guess this temperary home is not working out but my gourami is the one picking on the ice blu right now that might be why he is not coloring as fast but he is starting to show some blue now its been a couple of days since I removed him from the 55.

thanks for all the help.