# Why did my blue johanni turn red????



## KRob68 (Mar 25, 2014)

I have two male Blue Johannis'.. they were perfectly fine and healthy and looked exactly the same.. but then i transferred them to another, larger tank and suddenly within just a few minutes one of them (the most aggresive one) turned red... my question is WHY and will he go back to his normal colors??


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Dominant male turns Red from blue? Not sure that describes ANY Mbuna. If he really turns red, that would be pretty special... you don't seem impressed thou.

Do you have any pics to confirm what these actually are?


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## Thalas_shaya (Mar 10, 2014)

It sounds like you had a male and a female that was wearing male coloring, or a male that took on female coloring after the move. I don't know specifically if Ps. johanni can do that, but I've heard of other species doing it, so I'm going to assume it's possible. Usually this type of cross-dressing is an attempt to dodge aggression by looking less target-like. And, yes, the color change can be dramatic and take place in 5 minutes or so. Keep an eye on it and let us know what they do! Would love to see pics.


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## KRob68 (Mar 25, 2014)

i tried to get a decent picture of them but they dont want to cooperate.. lol.. I have had both of them for a couple months and as i said they looked exactly the same and i am confident they are both males. I had them with several other cichlids in my 42 gal tank.. i recently acquired another 55 gal and since they were so territorial i moved only those 2 fish so they would have more space but at the present they are the only 2 fish in that tank, as soon as i released them, the most aggressive of the 2 males turned red.. the strange thing is that a couple times i have noticed he seems to want to return to normal because his fins will darken back up and the dark stripe on his body returns but the body itself remains red, but then the other one starts chasing him and he goes back to all red.. i have been trying all morning to catch one of them and return it to its original tank to see what happens.. but they are fast and i have had no luck because they hide under all the rock


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

No idea. We'll need some pictures.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

opcorn:

Just to sure... This is Melanochromis Johannii? Is this a red orange color that it changed to?
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=760


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## KRob68 (Mar 25, 2014)

UPDATE.. I am very new to the world of cichlids and i think i have been misinformed. i bought these two out of tank labled blue johanni.. but today i was told that it is possibly a maingano. how do i tell the difference? even in pics that i research i cant tell because they look so similar to me.. i caught the one that had changed colors and put it back in its original tank and it immediately turned back to its original dark colors.. it was quite amazing.. i have taken decent pics that i wanted to post in hopes someone can put the issue of what it is to rest but i dont know how to post it on here???


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Posting pics- http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?nomobile=1&f=9&t=255437

True Melanochromis Johannii start out an orange yellowish color as juveniles. As the males mature, they go through a color transformation. Females stay orange/yellow. But not the other way around. Pseudotropheus cyaneorhabdos(Maingano) start out with the blue/black striping, and males and females retain that coloration into adulthood.

I think Thalas may be right about the female taking on a male coloration.


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## KRob68 (Mar 25, 2014)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> opcorn:
> 
> Just to sure... This is Melanochromis Johannii? Is this a red orange color that it changed to?
> http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=760


No.. i cant get my pictures to upload, but i really believe i was misinformed about what it is.. i believe that it is a maingano, not a blue johanni. .. I bought them at the same time and they looked exactly alike though one was more aggressive than the other.. i removed only the two of them and put them in a larger tank by theirselves.. within minutes one of them turned a solid peachy red and the other chased it relentlessly.. when he was able to hide and when i turned the light off he would start to resume his normal coloring until the other one seen him... i removed him and put him back in his original tank and he now looks exactly like he did to start with.. it was indeed very strange


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## Eric_S (Feb 27, 2007)

Please keep trying to upload those pics. Use photobucket. It's easy.

I have the plain boring blue/black maingano. I'd love to see a red one. :wink:


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

There is a fish commonly sold as "Electric Blue Johanni" which somewhat resembles a poorly bred Maingano, but may be hybrids. The name "Johanni" may also be used rather broadly, and is confusing, not all fish sold are the exact species.

Now if you say that the fish was chased and then turned "red", that at least makes more sense. The yellow- orangeish color would be the juvenile color, and the fish went back to that. The darker fish is the dominant fish. Now calling them "red" seems like a big exaggeration... are you serious about being red?


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## KRob68 (Mar 25, 2014)

okay here is a picture of what i was told was a blue johanni, but i think it is a maingano... at least i hope this link works ... this is the fish that turned red for a day until i returned it to its original tank. the other one looks exactly like this


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Looks more like M. Johannii to me. The striping is not as defined, and kind of broken. Of course, there's always the chance it's a hybrid of some sort depending on where you bought it from. If the one fish is changing to a reddish orange color, then it most certainly is not a Maingano.


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## rennsport2011 (Oct 21, 2013)

What you experienced is quite common. The male "johanni" (term used loosely) was moved to a new tank, and lost his dominant colouration, going back to the juvenile phase. This is very common with Haps and Peacocks, a little less so with mbuna but it still happens when they aren't dominant.

It is only johanni (and the very uncommon interruptus) that are "red" (but really yellow/orange), and not the maingano. Maingano will never be red/orange/yellow.

This fish is a "johanni" or a hybrid of, both of which are pretty common.


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