[CichlidBeast019]

I went to my local fish store and picked out the darkest and coolest looking green terror at the store, when I came home it seems as though the color is more bland.. All my other fish are bright and vivid but this one remains bland.. Any tips as to how to enhance my Green Terrors color? What is the best pH for Green Terrors?

 

[Alpha7]

Keep PH between 6.5 and 7.5, I stick to the higher side.
I find that their color is better in harder water. A dGH of 12 or 13.
The fish will also change color when stressed or aggressive.

 

[DeadFishFloating]

Thier colour is better at the higher PH levels, becuase gold saums aren't found in the Amazon river basin, but rather in streams and rivers on the Pacific side of the Andes mountain range where the PH levels are usually between 7.8 and 8.2.

As for your new gold saum. What are the current tank mates and thier sizes? What size is your new gold saum? Is it a boy or a girl? How is the tank set up and what is the substrate (and colour)? What do you currently feed your fish? What size tank? etc etc.

The more information you provide us, the easier it is for us to answer your questions.

 

[CichlidBeast019]

My tank is a 55 gallon set up with a river bed gravel, two filters one 300 gph and one that is around 100 gph the size of my green terror is around 3 inches and it has 5 convicts all smaller sized than my green terror, I do not know if it is a boy or girl, and I feed them a flake spirula food in the morning and Cichlid Pellets in the evening with the main ingredient being whole fish meal, the pH is 7.0 Ammonia near 0

 

[GTWilly]

It may take time for him to settle and relax. Feed blood worms 2-3 times a week and change water at least twice a month. If you have a florecent light for your tank, try not to leave it on all the time, i find it starts to "bleach" my terrors. (I usually leave the light on when female is protecting her fry. Saves more babies.) For live food, stick with guppies, goldfish will kill fish color, not to mention they are usually riddled with parasites. Do you know if it's male or female?

 

[CichlidBeast019]

I have no idea how to tell if it is male or female and I have had him for about a month now so Idk why he/she hasnt colored up yet..

 

[Alpha7]

What color is your substrate/background?

When my terror was in a tank with black substrate and dark background colors, she showed rich dark colors within seconds of putting her in that tank. When I moved her over to a tank with light colored substrate and a light background, she would change to a much lighter color.

I have another cichlid that does the exact same thing. Within seconds of putting her in the dark colored tank her colors went very dark, to the point that her striping was hard to see. I think it allows them to blend in with their environment, making it easier to both hunt and hide.

As long as it's not a juvenile terror, you can usually tell by the dorsal fin... males tend to have a longer 'tassle' at the tip of the fin, where on females it tends to be rounded.