Buying and rescuing cichlids from badly maintained tanks

[TooQ]

Hello,

New here, been growing n breeding cichlids for a while now, ive recently aquired a new hobby of buying pale looking cichlids from poorly maintained tanks that dont look great, they may have been bullied and probably been fed cheap food as well. I bought a medium sized JD (6-7 inches) and green terror (4-5 inches) today, both seem to be lacking the neon colored scales somewhat and im wondering if one knows whether theyd be able to be colourful as they should be at this age over time. Ive also got a small green terror (2 inches) which ive been bringing up and its more colourful n healthier looking.

I feed my fish discus food which in the past has worked well for colour and encouragement. No issues with water, put a dose of melafix in, tank mates are fine, minimal stress, smaller green terror can vouch for this...

Any thoughts? Will these dudes get vibrant over time or is it over for them? Files attached.

My gut feeling tells me that they need to be maintained well from a young age in order for colours to develop.

1st pic is the 7 inch jd

2nd is the 2 inch gt

3rd is the 5 inch gt

Thanks.

 

[TooQ]

Title of the thread is wrong should be ' buying and rescueing cichlids from badly maintained tanks.'

 

[BichirKing]

your substrate is to light in color and will keep the fish from looking their best. they try to blend in with their surroundings so they will always be pale. add more darker rocks and maybe a few plants to help them feel secure.

 

[TooQ]

The beat up Green terror is actually lacking colour in a dark way, perhaps pale was the wrong descriptive word to use, I actually meant 'lacking colour'. Lets say the decor n substrate was changed n plants were placed to bring out the best in them, would their colours return over time after living in such bad conditions for such a long time?

 

[BichirKing]

yes they would look better but as far as looking like a show piece that's more genetics. how long have you had them?

 

[TooQ]

8 hours lol

 

[BichirKing]

give them some time to adjust lol

 

[tlindsey]

I agree with B BichirKing about genetics but Tbh the JD and GT don't look that bad to me just feed
good foods and maintain water quality. Give time for them to develop.

 

[MrsE88]

They do need time to settle in. Less then a day is not enough time at all.

And I believe the bigger terror is a female so she will color up some, but not as much as your little male. Males are just more colorful then the females.

Watch that jack. You might have problems if/when the terrors decide to spawn.

 

[TooQ]

I also thought it might be a female, i vented it in the shop to see (shows how bad they are at fish keeping, allowing customers to vent) I could'nt really identify though, not very experienced in venting. If it is shes claimed dominance in the tank now and isnt the best of friends with the jack but its balanced. Gonna add black substrate in a few weeks n post improvements. Fingers crossed.