# Rusty Coloring Up?



## swansuite (Mar 2, 2009)

I've had a Rusty for about 6 months now. The fish is probably pretty close to maturity. The guy has never colored up at all and it's been a pretty big disappointment. What I get is brown with some very dull limited orange hues (you have to really look and he has to be under the light). At his best, he's sometimes shown some dark stripes, but the same dull brown color. Are these guys late bloomers or do they only show color in the presence of a female? He's in a fairly active tank, although there's really not much in the way of fighting. All of my other fish (primarily Malawi) are bright as can be and happy little guys. Fish are fed New Life Spectrum, some veggie flake. Thoughts? Thanks!


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

First of all, "he" has to be male. Why are you so sure "he" is a male?

Second, Rusty is a pretty meek Mbuna. For a male of any Malawi cichlid to show full color they usually want to feel dominant or at least non- threatened. The Rusty may be at bottom of the pecking order, so may not show much color.

If you had a female, it could give him a reason to show more color.


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## swansuite (Mar 2, 2009)

Good point. I don't "know" that he's male.... I'm only taking it on good authority. My fish dealer (well reviewed here) vented the fish and I bought it well into maturity (about 3") and the ubiquitous egg spots, which I know aren't always a good indicator. So..... the right answer is: "I don't know."

But I've got to tell you, every fish in my tank is trying to mate with every other fish and the rusty is the only one who gets left out of the rush. In fact, he's the only fish that seems to be left entirely alone all of the time.

After researching a bit more, I'm wondering if he just may be intimidated by his cohabitants and just has his color turned off?


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## larry.beck (Jul 31, 2009)

Any chance you could post a picture? I ask because my females aren't drab brad. They don't get the same quality of lavender as the males, but they're definitely not brown.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

swansuite said:


> After researching a bit more, I'm wondering if he just may be intimidated by his cohabitants and just has his color turned off?


Maybe. What are the dimensions of the tank and what are his tankmates?


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## DrgRcr (Jun 23, 2009)

larry.beck said:


> Any chance you could post a picture? I ask because my females aren't drab brad. They don't get the same quality of lavender as the males, but they're definitely not brown.


Mine are exactly the same. I wound up with 3 males and 5 females. My females are anything but drab and the males have the nice lavender color. Two of them more so than the third, and when they are displaying for the females or posturing against each other, the color becomes even more intense.

I'd agree that maybe they are intimidated. What are the other species they are kept with?


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## football mom (Feb 19, 2006)

I have had a group of Rustys for about 2 years now, they were about 1 inch when I got them.
They were never brown, as juvies sort of a lighter orangey rust. They took a long time to really get that purple/blue, but it was worth the wait, IMO. I have kept 1 male/4 females, and they breed on a regular basis now.


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## swansuite (Mar 2, 2009)

Alas, I'm in transition right now (moving to the mountains), so pics will have to wait until later this week, maybe. The fish are all relocating to a 185g, so I suspect they'll be a whole lot happier. Once we get settled in, I'll revisit this thread and add some pics! I'm excited.... I haven't been a big contributor here.... but I'll be in a much better position to be more involved with the forum.


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## larry.beck (Jul 31, 2009)

Look forward to seeing them in their new home, and hopefully that will encourage them to show themselves as they should.

Side note - which mountains?


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## swansuite (Mar 2, 2009)

I'm moving to Tiger Mountain, which is just outside of Issaquah in the Cascade mtn. foothills. Nice place, hard work. The tank looks great (pics to follow) and all of the fish have colored up much better with all of the room, even the rusty. He's still pretty much brown, but there's a hint of a lighter brown/orange on the edges of his fins now and just a whisper of violet on his sides. Hopefully, he'll continue to progress. I'm about to order a number of fish to help fill up the tank a bit (about 6-7 more: Intermedius, Aulonocara Fire Fish, Pundamilia Nyererei Red Mwanza--show fish, a Duboise Maswa. That's it for now. I hope to get a pic or two up in the next week.


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## larry.beck (Jul 31, 2009)

I almost custom built on Tiger Mountain a year ago! Instead I headed the other direction and am building in Port Madison on the far end of Bainbridge Island. Some of my favorite places in the Seattle area!


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## master chi (Jan 3, 2010)

Ihave two 55 gals both with rusties and From my experience it does take some time and breeding behavior before the males truly start to color up but well worth the wait and efforts The rusty is kinda different from the rest of my mbuna , they don't dig for one and they also have that rare coloration you don't see in other mbuna. very cool though.


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## swansuite (Mar 2, 2009)

Wow, this forum's server definitely does NOT like me. I've been locked out on several different occasions and had to reset my password each time. Absolutely driving me crazy and a little bit of disincentive to come back.

Anyway, I'm in my new home on Tiger Mtn. and have shot some video of the new tank and some pics. All of it includes pics of my Rusty, who briefly colored up (a little bit) after getting into the new spacious surroundings. He's gone back to being colorless. He and my yellow fin are both pretty much black/brown. What's odd about it, is neither of these fish get harrassed at all, while plenty of others are constantly harrassed, but still show their color. I've got a Mwanza I've just put in and I've gotta say, the brightest, most intense red/yellow combination I've ever seen in a fish fresh or salt. He's continually harrassed by nearly every fish in the tank. I mean relentlessly and viciously and he keeps his color on, stands up to every one of them, and is now trying to mate with one of my other vics (x-mas fulu), who may be a female (wasn't supposed to happen!). In case you're worried, don't be... despite giving up a few inches to most of the fish in the tank, he's happy, playful, never pants, and when he's had enough, he just turns around, flares and whoever is after him backs off.

Anyway, rusty is still colorless. I have no idea why. Every other fish in the tank is lit up like the sun. He's healthy, interacts, very much has a life and, like I said, is never harrassed by any other fish in the tank (which is odd, because every other fish in the tank takes plenty of heat).

Okay, hope to have video/pics in the next few days--I might end up having to ask how to facilitate that from someone more experienced here... but it WILL get done! Thanks to all of you for your feedback. I think rusty's lack of color is just going to have to be chalked up to..... ahh, heck, shyness? ; )


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