rob2uk

Hi all,

I have had a pair of keyhole cichlids for a couple of months now.
When I first bought them they were about the same size, however one is now much larger than the other.

In the last couple of days the larger of the two has started getting much darker markings - last week they were more light coloured than dark, now this one is almost totally black.

They both seem healthy enough, I've been keeping up with water changes, etc, so I'm pretty sure it's not a desease thing.

Any idea what would cause this sort of colour change?

cheers

Dino

Several things cause color changes in fish.
Maturity, temperature, disease, stress( such as being bullied by other fish).

Sounds to me like you may have a pair developing.
So for this case, i would go with color change being the fish maturing into adult colors.

dino

rob2uk

Mystery solved (I think)!
The Cichlids spent today getting more and more secretive (not sure if that's the word I want...), hiding amongst the plants and under a rock.

Did an ammonia test this afternoon and it was pretty shocking - about 1.5 ppm!

I've done a 50% water change and I can already see a change in their behaviour - they've started swimming around the tank and going for food now!

Obviously I'm going to have to do daily checks on the ammonia levels now, but how long will I need to keep this up for?

Butterfly

What size is your tank?
Carol

rob2uk

It's a 12 gallon... It was supposed to be 10, but I definitely managed to get 12 in without it getting anywhere near overflowing

Butterfly

Your tank is very overcrowded. This could be the cause of your high ammonia readings, as for how long you will have to continue the large water changes I would say until you get a larger tank. As you indicated in another post this was a rescue and was the best you could do for now. Good for you for doing the rescue, we've all been there and understand. Just keep up the large water changes and move them to a larger tank as soon as possible.
Carol