# Cichlid turning white?



## delta5

I just did a water change as I always do; however, this time I turned the light off for a few minutes. IDK if they were like this before the water change, but one of the smaller electric yellow lab's face is turning white, belly is white, and the bottom fins are white. One of the larger labs has a white belly. They're all acting normal.


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## delta5

BTW, it seems 2 of the labs have paired off together. They're both the largest. One with black stripes, bold yellow color, and the other is dull in comparison and it's belly, underside has turned white.


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## Deeda

Did you remember to add the water conditioner during your water change? Did you match your water temperature fairly close?


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## delta5

Deeda said:


> Did you remember to add the water conditioner during your water change? Did you match your water temperature fairly close?


Yes, I premix everything in a holding tank and heat the water with the heater from my tank.

edit: here are some pics http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/f...-help-electric-yellow-labs-turning-white.html


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## Iggy Newcastle

How large are these labs? I do not see any black finnage, which could indicate a poor strain or possible hybrid.


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## delta5

Iggy Newcastle said:


> How large are these labs? I do not see any black finnage, which could indicate a poor strain or possible hybrid.


The biggest are at most 2.25" I think I keep forgetting they're rather young because they're big compared to my tiger barbs. Does black finnage count the long fin across the top? 2 of them have the black line across their upper fin. 3 came from petsmart and 2 came from a 'mom and pop' store.


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## Iggy Newcastle

Yes the dorsal fin should be black or shade of black, depending on the size of the fish. I've seen labs at Petsmart that are very light in color. Kinda white, like you're describing.


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## delta5

Iggy Newcastle said:


> Yes the dorsal fin should be black or shade of black, depending on the size of the fish. I've seen labs at Petsmart that are very light in color. Kinda white, like you're describing.


So the fish could have been near white this whole time, but wasn't noticeable until comparing it to my other labs? The 2 I got from a 'mom and pop' store have really nice coloring compared to 2 of the 3 fish from petsmart.

edit: With an established 55g tank with an aquaclear 50 and C-220. Do you think I can fit anymore labs into the tank? I have 5 labs, 5 black mollies, 2 red wag platies, and 10 tiger barbs. I want to keep water changes to 1 per week. I got 14-18 plants also.


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## hisplaceresort1

I have a yellow lab female whose stomach turns white sometimes, and has absolutely no black in the anal or ventral fins... until she decides she wants to have a yellow belly and black in the anal and ventral fins...
My other yellow lab, also female, will also have a white belly from time to time. She never has any black on her but goes from electric yellow all over to sometimes having a white belly.
I have no idea why, but some labs can have significant color changes... both my females do.


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## delta5

hisplaceresort1 said:


> I have a yellow lab female whose stomach turns white sometimes, and has absolutely no black in the anal or ventral fins... until she decides she wants to have a yellow belly and black in the anal and ventral fins...
> My other yellow lab, also female, will also have a white belly from time to time. She never has any black on her but goes from electric yellow all over to sometimes having a white belly.
> I have no idea why, but some labs can have significant color changes... both my females do.


After watching some youtube videos of these labs in the wild I give up guessing their sex by color, stripes, fins. I'm just going to vent the 2 big ones and try the others if I can vent the bigger ones.


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