# Yellow Labs turned orange? Any ideas?



## murdog (Jan 9, 2011)

Hello everyone, new to the site and to keeping African Cichlids. I was wondering if anyone might have an explanation for this. I bought two yellow labs (not at the same time) and in transit to my tank they turned orange and have never gone back yellow. Any idea why? Or if they will go back?
Thanks


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## Malawi_Junkie (Nov 26, 2009)

YL are notorious for cross breeding with Red Zebra's. Might just be hybrid's or poor bloodline, did you get them from the same supplier? how big are they?


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Definition of what is yellow and what is orange can differ in the eye of the beholder. Some Yellow Labs may actually be Yellow Lab X Red Zebra hybrids which have been sold commonly. Would need pics to tell what you mean. Also different color lights in store tanks compared to yours may be confusing you. The fish are not going to magically change that way on the way home.


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## murdog (Jan 9, 2011)

You might have it with the cross breeding. But they were bright yellow honest..lol. I thought maybe it was the differences with the lights the 1st time because my wife didn't believe me either. So when we bought the 2nd one (from the same store) it was bright yellow, on the way home she checked it was still yellow. But before we put the bag into the tank for adjusting it was orange. They are not very big maybe 1 1/2 inches. I will try and post a pic. Thanks for your replies, I appreciate the feedback.


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## murdog (Jan 9, 2011)

Here is a pic, hopefully it works
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k52 ... gelabs.jpg


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## dielikemoviestars (Oct 23, 2007)

Yeah I'd guess those are hybrids. Or you have REALLY orange/red lighting. Weird that they changed like that, though.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

IMO it's just your lights. Can't tell for sure if they are pure. Get some more and see if they end up "orange".


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## Franceschi (Jul 5, 2010)

+1 for the lights!!

My lab is clearly yellow, and also clearly different from my red zebra, but darker than the juvies yellow labs I have;
Sometimes when I take a picture of this adult lab, he looks orange on the picture!
My guess is if you bring these fish back to the store, they will "turn yellow" again...

Try changing the lights of your tank to see if something changes; :thumb:


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## murdog (Jan 9, 2011)

I know it is weird, thanks I will give these suggestions a try and let you know.


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

I, too, think it's a matter of lighting.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

You're auratus has a reddish tint to it too. Agree that it's probably the lighting. Try using a bulb at the more blue end of the spectrum, like 10,000k (on the blue side of neutral) or actinic (very blue).


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

noki said:


> IMO it's just your lights. Can't tell for sure if they are pure. Get some more and see if they end up "orange".


How about just netting one during the day and carrying it over to a window to look at it in the sunlight? opcorn:


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## RRasco (Aug 31, 2006)

Or put a flash light up to the tank. I have actinic bulbs in my 110g and it makes all of my fish look blue.


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

RRasco said:


> Or put a flash light up to the tank. I have actinic bulbs in my 110g and it makes all of my fish look blue.


Or just put a lemon in the tank to look at it to see if it turn orange too opcorn:.


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## dielikemoviestars (Oct 23, 2007)

Kanorin said:


> You're auratus has a reddish tint to it too. Agree that it's probably the lighting. Try using a bulb at the more blue end of the spectrum, like 10,000k (on the blue side of neutral) or actinic (very blue).


Yeah I hadn't noticed the auratus before, so I'm moving over to the "lighting" side. The labs still seem to have very little black on their fins for being labs, though.


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## skimbrell (Aug 10, 2012)

I also bought a yellow cichlid. Looked the same for 2 days. I added an orange cichlid on day 3 which started bulling the yellow. Day 4 my yellow cichlid turned light orange.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

murdog said:


> Here is a pic, hopefully it works
> http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k52 ... gelabs.jpg


Those are definitely looking orange ... that's CHEETOS orange. Makes me hungry!


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

GoofBoy said:


> RRasco said:
> 
> 
> > Or put a flash light up to the tank. I have actinic bulbs in my 110g and it makes all of my fish look blue.
> ...


 :lol:


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## cmdel (Jul 27, 2015)

I had a similar experience. My locally owned pet store never carries EYC, so I went to Petsmart and bought 3, which is all they had at the time. Later the local Petco had some in stock and I bought 1 more brought it home and it was much more bright yellow and made the original 3 look orange-ish in color. The ones from Petsmart are either a crossbreed or they could be all females with a duller orange-ish tint to them. From a distance of several feet you can't tell the difference, but get up close and the coloration difference is very obvious.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

The lack of black in the fins makes me agree they are probably hybrids.


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