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Dark belly on GSP? wont go away

3K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  GobyGuy 
#1 ·
So I got another gsp yes I scummed to the cute little eyes , from a walmart and he now lives in a 6.6 gallon tank, it was the only one I had yes I know that they need to be in 30 gallons. He is about 2 inches long and is ravenous for snails and daphnia, I feed him every other day. The water was cycled before he went in, the tank is black sand with rocks around for hiding and such and I move them around every week when I clean it. There is a 30 gallon external filter on it, buffered to lessen the flow. My problem is his belly is constantly grey around the edges and I am worried something is wrong. He lightens back up to white when he is fed or when the light is off. Sometimes I think he is dark to match the environment but I worry something is off I am testing the water later today.
 
#2 ·
What is the salinity? Freshwater? When GSP are small, freshwater is Ok and recommended by many. When they grow, it is good to very, very slowly increase the salinity over a period of several months. For more information on that, you will need to find someone with more experience on GSP.

They also produce a tremendous amount of waste, which is one of the reasons they need to be kept in a 30g tank. Another reason it is recommended they be kept in a 30g tank is that they are very active. If they don't have enough swimming room, they wont be able to gather enough oxygen with their gills.

The black belly could be parasite related. GSP are generally wild-caught, and many of them have parasites. I doubt he is changeing his color to match the inviroment (GSP are generally pretty bright in color).

That is as far as I can go with GSP. Hope this helps!:)
 
#3 ·
Mine had a dark gray belly when I bought him also. I now have him in a 40 gallon brackish set up with crushed coral. On a few occasions his belly has been white, but most of the time it remains the gray color. It could be stress related though outside of the gray belly he seems fine. I've had him for around a year.
 
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