# How long will it take a fish who was stressed to regain colo



## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

I traded in some extra male juveniles today at the local fish shop and convinced my wife to let me get a trio of protomelas "tangerine tigers" who were in a 125 with a grab bag of large africans roughly 75% mbuna and the trio i picked up and another 3 or 4 haps. In the tank, the male was colored down quite a bit but I figured in a tank like that it's to be expected. I got them home and put them in 40 long (48x12x12) (they're roughly 4-5") for the meantime, to quarantine. The male remained colored down for a bit until he must have caught a glimpse of himself in a reflection because he exploded with color until he must have figured out it was just him, at which point he re-lost most of his color and went to hiding amongst the rocks. I've never purchased large fish before and my wife is worried he is going to look this way forever. I on the other hand figure he's had a rough day and had been stressed for at least 3 weeks in the mixed tank he came from. I'm guessing it'll take some time before he feels comfortable with the new tank and my family walking around.

I'm wondering how long acclimation typically takes with larger fish and how long we can expect him to be colored down before we get to see his true colors. All three of them ate tonight and their feces are normal and other than the stressed coloration, and shyness, they seem healthy (the male did sustain damage to one scale while being caught).

Thanks again,
Adam


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## jnick (Aug 17, 2011)

It took my Venustus just about 1.5-2 weeks to color back up after being in a fight with my Moorii. Give it some time and once he begins to feel comfortable again and dominate, he will begin to regain his color.


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

If he has color to begin with (which it sounds like he does) he'll eventually color up, providing he is kept in a good environment. 
It can take anywhere from a couple days to a few weeks.


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## Michael_M (May 31, 2012)

My 15cm Red Empress is still being touche with his colour after 2 weeks of being in my 180g. He is quite larger than his other tankmates but I think protomelas are just late bloomers and I expect him retain his dominant colour more often after he grows a bit more and settles in a bit more.


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

To update, it's been three days, they haven't eaten in a few days and basically sat behind some rocks. Their color comes and goes but mostly they hide. When i first enter the room they are swimming around, but hide when they see me, I've been leaving that tank alone, move slowly in the room and only approach to tank to feed them at night. They seem to be getting used to me as now they slowly swim over to the rocks instead of darting wildly, the females no longer hide, they just swim over towards the rocks where the male is hiding.

The not eating thing is bothering me but I suppose if I were fearful for my life, eating wouldn't be my first priority either.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

lilscoots said:


> To update, it's been three days, they haven't eaten in a few days and basically sat behind some rocks. Their color comes and goes but mostly they hide. When i first enter the room they are swimming around, but hide when they see me, I've been leaving that tank alone, move slowly in the room and only approach to tank to feed them at night. They seem to be getting used to me as now they slowly swim over to the rocks instead of darting wildly, the females no longer hide, they just swim over towards the rocks where the male is hiding.
> 
> The not eating thing is bothering me but I suppose if I were fearful for my life, eating wouldn't be my first priority either.


How many fish are in the tank? It will take some time to acclimate plus if there is only a few fish in the tank this may explain their shyness. I know when I keep just a few in a tank they tend to be skittish.


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

There are 4 now, I added a smaller male borleyi who hangs out with them. I was thinking or adding some female aulonocara I have hanging around in another tank. I've noticed too that when there aren't a lot of fish they tend to be overly shy. They were doing better until my wife decided to show my 1.5 yr old the "new fish"...as I'm saying from across the room "no, no, please don't" and the fish go crazy crashing into everything.........


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

lilscoots said:


> There are 4 now, I added a smaller male borleyi who hangs out with them. I was thinking or adding some female aulonocara I have hanging around in another tank. I've noticed too that when there aren't a lot of fish they tend to be overly shy. They were doing better until my wife decided to show my 1.5 yr old the "new fish"...as I'm saying from across the room "no, no, please don't" and the fish go crazy crashing into everything.........


Yep...I know how you feel. I try to enter the fish room slowly as not to startle them.


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

Sounds like there needs to be more fish in the tank.
Three days if not eating is ok, but you want to keep an eye on them. Leave the lights out and keep the tank darkened.


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

Update again, He's gotten color back, but he hides behind the equipment all the time except to come eat at feeding time. The two females, swim around normally. There are also 6 juveniles female haps/peacocks in the tank as well. I'm thinking I might add a few rocks so he can hide in rocks instead of behind the equipment?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Are there no rocks at all? It is typical for a harassed fish to lurk behind the equipment even though there are perfectly good rocks and caves available for him to take refuge in. It makes no sense, I know. But fish after fish, year after year, I have found this to be true.


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

Yes, you could add a few rocks and see what happens. Also, watch the tank to see if there is an aggressor.


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

There are rocks, but not any caves, I was thinking that I could add a few leaning rocks and create some caves. All the other fish are female, and half his size except the 2 female tangerine tigers are about an inch smaller at 4". None of the fish bother him, he just hides. When he does come out to feed, he darts to the food grabs as much as he can and darts back.

The other thing I was thinking is to just move him into the all male tank where he would again be 2" larger than anyone else in there but thought this might not be the best as it would just include more moving around and more stress.


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

Probably best to let things be for a while, especially if he doesn't look harassed.


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

So, we had to move some fish from my all male tank today and switched some other guys in and at the same time despite your suggestions I moved the tangerine tiger into the all male tank. It seems that one of the two "females" he came with may have in fact been a very colored down male...

When I removed the colored male, the other fish became more yellow and it looks like there is some blue sheen to the face. It's really faint. I'm no good at venting. Can females show this yellow body color and blue face sheen?

The Male has been hanging out in a corner for the most part of today but as I'm typing this he's swimming around with the other 15 males. He has good color and no one seems to mind him at all. I guess time will tell. He seems to be behaving like a few other fish I've added, where the first day they were timid.


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

Another three days have gone by. He's got good color, eats when I drop food near him, still doesn't come out and eat with the others. He stays in one corner most of the time. When he does swim out (which is becoming more frequent but still only a few times a day) all the other fish give way to him. He'll swim out with everyone else for a while but if he sees someone moving in the room he returns to his corner. I'm not too worried. We had a blue regal peacock hide in a cave for three weeks when we first got him. Seems it's just going to take time....I'm so impatient.


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

Update: His color has been improving daily, today he looks really nice and is swimming around with everyone else. He still hides when new people approach the tank and when my 2 and 4 year old girls come to the glass but he's gotten used to me and my wife and no longer hides when we're around. I'm so glad I took a chance on him.


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

Glad to hear it. It's a process, but it's worth it.


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