Fish changing color

[cyberbeer65]

Can anyone tell me why my african is turning black?
He used to be so pretty,white w/black stripes and very vibrant yellow fringe.
Her is the smallest fish i have,but he dosen't get picked on too much and i see him eating well.

 

[Glasslaer]

When I was picking out my African cichlids, I picked out all these beautifully colored fish that I thought I wanted. Then, one of the LFS guys who had cichlids told me that almost all of the ones I was looking at turned dark as they came into sexual maturity. He steered me to the red zebras, which are a bright orange young and stay that way as they mature, and peacocks, which were rather homely youngsters, but turned brilliant colors as they matured.

You don't list the species of your African (and I am to ignorant to guess!) but that would be my first thought.

 

[cyberbeer65]

Thanks for the speedy reply,thats probably what it is,the fish is maturing.
Because i didn't think he was dieing.
i forgot the name of the african,when i go back to the lfs i'll have to jot that down....lol

 

[jonathan03]

Many cichlids, even south american, change color. I had a red devil that was green with black stripes and turned out to be a yellow orange color. Its just camoflauge that helps them in the wild.

Its also one of the reasons why african cichlids are mislabeled so often. They are lots of species that look similar and some change dramatically in color as they age.