Fish changing color
 

Hey I have a Melanochromis auratus ( i think) He used to be very colorful but now he has turned completely grey/black.. he is still very active and eating well. and the other fish of the same breed is totally fine... do you have any idea why he is like this??

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/img/auratus1.jpg[/img]

How long have you had it? If he is new he could be adapting to the new color of your substrate.

Please post your pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels to insure they are not the cause. They should be 0,0,<40. Tank size and filtration as well as age of the tank will help also.

tank size is a 33 gallon..
i have a magnum HOT and also an internal Fluval filter
It is not overstocked i only have 6 fish in there
and i just did all my testing and everything read 0 and the PH was 7.6


hope i got all the info you wanted


Oh what is the normal temperature for the tank..

What type of test kit are you using? your results are worrying. Either your tank has not started cycling yet or your test kit is faulty. There is no ocassion where your nitrates would be 0 in a fully cycled, healthy tank.

I have the master test kit from Pet Smart.. and my tank is about 4 months old, but i used the gravel from my old aquarium when i set this one up so it cycled pretty quick. I'm not new to having an aquarium, i am new to having cichlids though.

I just retested my Nitrates, and they are at 5 ppm.. I'm sorry i think i just had a typo...

You're fish is a male, he will turn that color. The female will remain the reverse.

non-dominant males will also stay the typical female color until the dominant one is removed.