# Electric Blue Hap



## matt-sheeran (Sep 10, 2012)

hey guys, i have a Electric Blue Hap thats about 3.5 inches long. but he's still brown/grey.. i know he is male because when i got him he was a very nice blue with a white strip on the dorsal fin, but i'm guessing they where feeding him food with hormones or what ever in it to make him brighter..
i was just wondering when do they start getting there nice Electric Blue colour?


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## Michael_M (May 31, 2012)

If it was tampered like you think, it could be male or female. They look the same when fed those sort of foods.

If hes subdominate it can take them longer to gain colour. However they are a fairly tough and resilient hap and at 3.5 inches I'd expect at least a little blue on the head.


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## matt-sheeran (Sep 10, 2012)

oh i didn't know that.. hopefully he is male then.. he's probably the more dominant fish in there but he's only the 3rd biggest.. and he does have a bit of blue happening around his lip so far..


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

When did you get him and what other fish are in the tank? 
Could you supply a picture? -You may get more of a definitive answer.


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## matt-sheeran (Sep 10, 2012)

(really bad picture but this is him when i got him)








and this is him now.. he got chased around a bit when he was young and so his colour went (photo taken today)
















see the bit of blue on the lip i was talking about


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## kbhenze (Aug 8, 2011)

I don't think that is a male. Looking at the fins they do no look like they are pointy enough.


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## trashburner (Feb 28, 2012)

Looks like a male to me it might be under stress give it somemore time.


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## k7gixxerguy (Jan 12, 2012)

My females looked like that. All three had a slight blue cast to them if caught in the light right. My male was absolutely vivid at four inches but he was the tank boss too.


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## testeve (Sep 17, 2012)

I have an all male peacock/Hap tank and my freyeri is about 3.5" and he is beautiful! Deep blue/purple with a bright white stripe. He is however the tank boss. He's not even the biggest in the tank. It's probably a female and was hirmoned when you got it. Time will tell though. Maybe try putting it in a tank by itself for a while to see if he colors up?


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## matt-sheeran (Sep 10, 2012)

mine is the boss of the smaller fish but he never trys anything to my jewel or frontosa i have no clue who is the dominant fish yet.. and the bit on his lip is a really nice dark blue i would guess if it was a female it wouldn't be that dark.. but use are right time will tell, i'm pretty sure he's a male but we shall see..


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## matt-sheeran (Sep 10, 2012)

also if he was being over fed would that stop him getting his nice blue colour??.. i'm not deliberately over feeding him, its just when i do feed my fish he is always scoffing his face to the point he just holds it in his mouth till he can fit it in


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Overfeeding will not stop him getting his color. Maybe he is afraid the frontosa will eat him?


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## matt-sheeran (Sep 10, 2012)

pretty confident he's a male now.. he's got about 4 - 5 of them egg spots on his back anal fin and it is also starting a get a slight yellow tinge around the sides of that fin.. i did read somewhere that they may not turn there electric blue for a whole year, all depends on when they mature


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