why is my jack dempsey's color so dull?

ive only had him maybe a week so maybe its just stress? im not quite sure. i got him from a friend who has had him since he was little and had him in with africans so maybe thats why? im not sure i thought id see what you guys think? he eats great and isnt aggressive at all which is weird to me but i figure since he grew up with small fish it made him more calm.
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Looks more like a jewel than it does a jack. What have you been feeding it? What did they feed it?

see thats what i thought! but hes really big like a dempsey like 6 inches or so. i feed him blood worms and sinking cichlid pellets.

That is a JD, just really washed out. It can be caused from several things. Water params, food, to much light, water temp.

You say sinking pellets, what brand?

Aqueon is the brand. my water levels are all normal and as for my temperature its around 78 degrees.

The light gravel also could be an issue. I have found many fish will lighten up with light substrate and darken with a dark. I had a JD that was almost black in my tank with a dark brown gravel. I gave him to a pet store and saw him again a week later and he was totally pale and washed out on a light gravel.

hmm. ok of course i go and pay a bunch of money for the gravel thats pure crushed coral so my ph will be good and now i have to change it again >.< grrrrr

Just my theory, your results may vary. But you could buy some of the cheap black sand from the place in Renton and see if it makes a difference.

yea i might do that. cuz ive tried just about everything else :/

"pure crushed coral"? In my experience Mr. Dempsy would be better suited in waters close to 7.0 (neutral). With your substrate may I ask what your PH is?

I will concur with the light/dark gravel having an effect. I raised a JD in a tank with dark substrate & the fish color was dark and stunning. A friend of mine is raising 1 in a tank with light substrate & his fish seems washed.
However, I would definitely match the fishes water parameters found in nature and give it some time. Bloodworms and a good protein pellet should keep the fish healthy. I'm concerned with the substrate, never have I heard someone keeping a CA/SA cichlid in so much crushed coral. Your PH must be through the roof?!

The crushed coral thing is a trick used when you tend to have PH drops. These drops are better fixed with more frequent water changes with gravel vacs to remove the waste that can contribute to the PH drop.

my ph kept dropping but i have it at 7.2ish right now thats why i went and bought the coral stuff i was told it would help. and it was better for my cichlids. but i guess ill go get sand or some black rocks. and take those rocks out.

as for water chances i do a 25% every 3 days. my levels are fine.. but maybe i should be doing more??

I use aragonite mixed in with the 30/60 blasting sand from the Renton place for my JD fry and they seem to love it. I mixed about 1/4 aragonite into the substrate and I'm testing at 7.8+ph. You can always just put your crushed coral in a nylon and hang it in your tank for the ph boost.

I would do only weekly changes and give him some more time to settle in though, some fish need more than a week before being happy. Does he have any tank mates? Maybe he is lonely, or is being picked on? Has he claimed any cave/decoration yet?

i have a big clay pot that he is always in and he is in with some peacock cichlids now. he grew up with them so i figured why not. i wanna eventually get him in his own tank or in with my female. but my female was picking on him so i took him out and put him with my peacocks. he eats like a horse and seems to be very happy he just is dull in color.

did he ever have "nice color" ? substrate can make your fishes color pop! but sometimes fish are bred over and over again and loose the nice coloration that you get from wild or F1 parents. I see a lot more bad looking jack dempseys than I see good ones. Just saying

well ive only had him a little over a week and he really hasnt had very nice color. im i dont know.

yea i'm not trying to burst your bubble! along time ago I had one like that it just never colored up.It can happen I just don't want you to waste all kinds of money on a fish that you might not be happy with in the long run. I've seen big batches before with only 1-3 good fish once someone buys those the next guy comes along and thinks he's getting the pick of the litter. If the fish is that big and he's not stressed ,You might have a not so great looking fish! If the water is right, give it another week, If it stays the same he might be not that colorful or female.

I think you have a female on ur hands. Ive ownd plenty of jacks. The spengals on her cheek area make me think is female. Find her a mate and her colors will change. Check out midway sometime I just traded in a pair of jacks and they look amazing when breeding.