# yellow turned brown?????



## mrace33 (Aug 3, 2008)

I have this yellow fish that has black and white stripes along its body and has now turned brown i think he may be dieing is there anything I can do or just let it happen. should i treat my whole tank for something if so what could i use
any help would be great
thanks


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

could be an auratus going to male coloration or something. Do you have a clue as to what type fish it is, or a pic?


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## mrace33 (Aug 3, 2008)

i am working on a pic. this all new to me so i dont know what type of fish all i know is i have bought africans from local fish stores


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

I'm thinking the same way as bulldog7. Look in the profile section under Melanochromis auratus and see if that is your fish. Sounds like an auratus turning to the male coloration to me.


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## mrace33 (Aug 3, 2008)

it is the fish in the back ground and all the yellow has turned brown


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

yep an auratus, the change in color may be normal or due to stress. More than likely it's a male going through the change. I've got a female that has male colors but she never went through the brown stage, just a pretty instant change and never went back.


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## mrace33 (Aug 3, 2008)

the brown has just happened in the last few hours. seems to be active as all the other fish i have in there . are there any fish that stay like this one is yellow or just the labs. I know i can't mix the two lakes types of fish because of water types so i cant have the peacocks right? if this is a male and the other one does not cahnge color that should mean i have apair? are they hard to breed and should i get a small tanks for the two to do there thing? i have had some luck with gourami's in the past
thanks
matt


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Auratus are very aggressive and should be kept in 75G or larger tanks. One male and 6-8 females usually has the best success, mbuna are harem breeders.

I've never kept them because I wanted to avoid the aggression, but I've never seen just the head turn brown like that. Maybe cichlidaholic will chime in, she used to try to keep them because her husband liked them.


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## mrace33 (Aug 3, 2008)

i have 6 different kinds in my tank and only 2 of them they seem to all get along ok some chasing every once and a while but no one has turned up dead or beaten. 
Dewdrop what type of fish is that on your picture to the left i would love to get some of those. i am also looking to get a larger tank i currently have a 37 gallon and after we remodel our living room am going to buy a 75 gallon tank. i only got the 37 to try and see if i could even keep cichlids been at it for a few months and things seem to be ok other than the brown fish but he might be fine too so i am going to get into it deeper.
thanks
matt


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## Joea (May 25, 2004)

Hello Matt. I would suggest you go through our LIBRARYand read some articles on the fish you have and how best to keep them.

African cichlids can be very territorial and as such, can't just be placed in a tank in any combination without careful consideration to their territorial needs and often aggressive nature. Your fish are still juveniles and will likely become more aggressive and more problematic as they mature, particularly in this tank. _Melanochromis auratus_ are one of the nastiest of all mbuna and the male that is changing colour is reaching sexual maturity and may start killing off its tankmates.

It would be best to identify all of the fish you have and start there, before you get into it any deeper. You may just be setting yourself up for disaster.

Post pictures of all your fish or have a look through our African Cichlid Genus Gallery to try and match your fish to the pictures.


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## mrace33 (Aug 3, 2008)

here are my fish i have found that i have the Melanochromis auratus ,melanochromis johannii,pseudotropheus cabro and a couple others i have not yet found but i have pictures

the blue one









the one with stripes


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## mrace33 (Aug 3, 2008)

the striped on on top in the middle


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

I think my fish is a Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (maingano). Really mellow fish for being a Melanochromis. I had 3 auratus (also a Melanochomis) in my 55g. tank (got them before I knew any better). All 3 turned out to be males and now I'm down to 2 of them but in seperate tanks. You can't keep more than one male in a tank unless it's a huge tank (a 55g. sure isn't big enough) especially without females for them. I wouldn't say they are a fish for beginners (like me :wink: but I'm hard headed and still trying).

In your fist pic, the blue fish looks like Metriaclima callainos (cobalt) & pretty nice fish) but I don't know what that yellow and brown one is...I don't think it's a cabro...looks more peacock or hap to me with the pointy face.

I'm not sure about the fish in the middle in the second pic either...maybe some type of red top zebra but it's face looks to pointy too. Better let someone with more experience than I have help. I do see the johanni and cabro in the second pic though :thumb: That cabro is suppose to get really mean too but I've never had them.

The fish that get real mean don't get that way until they get mature and sometime then not even for a while...sometimes a year or two and maybe longer but when they say it will happen believe me it does... normally. There are rare exceptions when someone gets a fish that doesn't act like expected of it's species but that's an "abnormality" for lack of a better word.


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

One additional piece of advise is that it is generally not recommended to mix two species of Melanochromis in the same tank.


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## mrace33 (Aug 3, 2008)

that figures those are the ones i like


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## padlock 08 (Jul 31, 2008)

that brownish fish in the second picture is some kind of female peacock, she looks exactly like my females "aulonacara sp. stuartgranti maleri"-"sunshine peacock" but i'm not sure as all female peacocks look similar. peacocks shouldn't be mixed with mbuna and no two types of peacock should be housed in the same tank if there are females present as they will crossbreed and produce hybrids, of course this is alright as long as you don't let the hybrids leave your tanks


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