Pale African Kenyi Cichlid?

Question

I have two cichlids and my blue african kenyi isn't blue anymore! the stripes are a greyish-blue color and the rest of him is a silvery white color. He doesn't look sick though, he never sits at the bottom and he gets the same amount of food as the other cichlid. He does occasionally get chased around because he is the smaller one, but he is a lot faster and doesn't have to try hard to out swim him.

I thought he was healthy because he has a beautiful shimmery blue stripe on his forehead and around his gills and he didn't have them when i first bought him. He's pretty calm until i get near the tank and he'll start to dart all over the place thinking he'll get fed. He's so adorable and i'd be very sad if i lost him after having him for a month.

I usually check the ammonia, nitrate, pH, and temperature levels daily and clean the filter weekly. Everything is in the right range. I read that cichlids can become pale after being stressed out. What could stress him out like that?

Answer 1

Getting chased would definitely stress him, and would definitely cause him to fade in color.  Being the one that gets constantly bullied is not healthy for the fish, so try very hard to give it places to hide from the other fish, or at least room to escape.  I hope your tank is 55+ gallons, because the fish you probably have with the Kenyi are going to need a LOT of room to establish territory.

Answer 2

to the answer above me here

kenyi's don't eat livefoods

as to the asker

it's also possible that you have a male and it's changing into it's adult color

which will be kinda yellowish

here are a few pics on when mine did that

http://fishlesscycling.com/forum/index.p...

Answer 3

when you said you fed him and he eats as much as the other cichlid, I have to ask, does he eat live food, my african cichlid does get stressed if we give her goldfish too small for her because she has to put up a big chase, try switching to freeze dried blood worms or krill.