a lil concerned about my golden mbuna

[orang3julius]

well, as some of you may know i have a 55g mbuna tank. currently my pH is at 8.2, my gh and kh are at good standards, my lighting is fine, my nitrite levels are at 0, the temp is at 81*. My only concern is that my golden mbuna may have some kind of sickness? [hoping she doesn't.. i think it's a female] well, here is a pic if you guys can help, as you can see she seems to have some blackness covering her face and parts of her body, next time i can get a better pic, maybe i'll post it up... but if you guys know something is wrong please tell me. thanks in ahead.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71/orang3twister/goldeneyemelsfish.jpg

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

:duh: :duh: :duh:

I believe I mentioned at LEAST once that females and juvies are yellow/black and the males will turn black/blue when they mature. You should be doing your research on the fish you keep...

What you have there is either a maturing male or an overly aggressive and territorial female which will sometimes turn that degree of darkness. If it keeps gettin darker, its a male, and your in for even more aggression.


;)
-Diana

[orang3julius]

i really hope it's not a male... how long do you think this "stage" will take?

[kay-bee]

If it's a male auratus the color transformation is far from complete (and once achieved will most likely be permanent unless a more dominant male forces the fish in question to revert to juvenile coloration as a disguise); if it's a female sporting dominant coloration, it's hard to say.

What other fish are in the tank, any particular rivals? The female auratus (if indeed female) may be using the color transformation to signal dominance and the current color may be mood related.