Help for very pale cichlid

[Aquarium Girl]

I bought 3 small peacocks from the assorted peacocks tank at my LFS. They are yet unidentified but similar in colouring - it appears that one may be a Rubin Red and another an orange shoulder peacock, but the 3rd which showed some orange and purple coloration when purchased has not grown like the other 2 and always appears to be very pale. His colours diminished to nothing after I did a 50% PWC and rescaped but that was 2 weeks ago. He has more colour in the morning after lights have been off which leads me to believe he's being bullied. Can that sort of stress kill him? I love each and every one of my fishies and want him to grow up big and strong! Any thoughts/ideas?

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Same guy in the morning ....

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Could be bullied or its going to be the non dominate 1

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Could be bullied or its going to be the non dominate 1

He's looking a bit better after a couple of days with the light turned off for a bit longer each day so I think it's a bit of both. Thanks for the input.

 

[bamadude91]

Your water looks crystal clear and just from the two pictures you have it appears the little guy has plenty of places to hide, so I agree with Andrew that it's probably being submissive.
If the guy was constantly being chased around the tank where he never got any rest, you could attribute the loss of color largely to stress, which can potentially lead to ill health and death. You also have to take into consideration that the brilliance of colorization you see in dominant fish when compared to the pale colorization of submissive fish is just an aesthetic marker of a pecking order. It isn't anything to worry about unless the guy is never catching a break with his tankmates.

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Your water looks crystal clear and just from the two pictures you have it appears the little guy has plenty of places to hide, so I agree with Andrew that it's probably being submissive.
If the guy was constantly being chased around the tank where he never got any rest, you could attribute the loss of color largely to stress, which can potentially lead to ill health and death. You also have to take into consideration that the brilliance of colorization you see in dominant fish when compared to the pale colorization of submissive fish is just an aesthetic marker of a pecking order. It isn't anything to worry about unless the guy is never catching a break with his tankmates.

Thank you! That puts my mind at ease a little. He is getting picked on by a couple of larger peacocks but it's not constant - mostly when they all come out because they think it's time for a feed. He is eating well though and looking better. I hope his colour comes out as he grows. The water is really clear - so glad I went with Eheim.