Yellow lab is grey?!?! Help!

[Quartz92]

ADVICE NEED HELP!

My male yellow lab is turning grey whats wrong with him?

 

[catmel]

uhm are you talking about a dog or a fish here?
If its a dog, maybe hes just getting old? They turn grey just like us

 

[Quartz92]

Well this is a fish fourm so its a cichlid!

 

[catmel]

Well this is a fish fourm so its a cichlid!

hah.. figures. I've never heard of a yellow lab cichlid before. Sorry I cant help much Good luck

Have you checked your water parameters to make sure everythings ok?
( ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate etc?)

 

[fisch]

Couple basic things to check.
How are your water parameters? (Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite) Any recent changes?
Is this a new fish or have any new fish been added?
Any change in behaivor? Aggression issues?
Any change in coloration/behaivor of other fish?
Do you have a hospital/QT tank available if necessary?

 

[Quartz92]

Ill check the water parameters within the next couple of hours.
3 New fish were added today.
No behaviour or aggression change
One of my socolofi's has become "the boss" but he isn't bosing the yellow lab around.
No quarintine tank.

 

[fisch]

May be stress due to the new fish. Also with no quarantine it could be one of the new fish had a disease. Although I would not suspect it to show itself so soon.
Another thing to consider is diet. If its only one fish showing poor coloring its not all that likely. Just make sure it is getting its fair share at feeding time.
Still check those water parameters. Always best to eliminate that first.

 

[Quartz92]

Surpisingly he is back to normal! I feed them so it could be that he turns a bit grey around the face during feeding. You can still see a grey tinge in his face but its not very noticable anymore before it was all over his face!
The water conditions are 0 - 0.6 Ammonia, and 0.1 Nrite

 

[fisch]

Are you using liquid test kit or strips?
0.6 ammonia is too high. You should do a water change to get that down.
With new fish added you'll likely get a mini cycle so watch the parameters close until you get consistent readings of 0 ammonia and nitrite.

 

[Quartz92]

Its liquid so I am comparing it to a chart of colors. I said between 0 - 0.6 because it has a yellowing tinge but its closer to 0 than 0.6.

 

[fisch]

Sometimes the coloring on the liquids can be frustrating.
I still recommend a water change because its not zero and you have nitrites.
The coloring might not be related to the water parameters, but a water change never hurts.

 

[Quartz92]

Alright I'll do a water change. Thanks for the help. Ill keep an eye on him and see if it has something to do with feeding time!

 

[DizzCat]

You can still see a grey tinge in his face but its not very noticable anymore before it was all over his face!

This is called bearding and nothing to worry about. In males that are not the purest it can show up. It is just a color change due to his mood. Usually when they are being dominant. Mine get very dark bearding, as you can see here:

 

[Quartz92]

Thats exactly what he looked like! Thanks for the info!

 

[DizzCat]

Your welcome Its just a dominant male trait. You wont see it on sub dominant males unless they are out of view of the top fish.