MarkLB Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 Hi all. I have a Melanochromis takeaguess in my African community that has been the tank boss for several years now. After the Feburary 'quake I had to dismantle the tank and set it up in another room. The fish had to claim new territories and he lost his position as top fish. His colour has changed so dramatically I thought I'd post before and after pics to show the difference. This has happened before and he colours back up again when the usurper is removed. Once the M. takeaguess is dominant again the usurper will then be returned to the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 What a difference! No wonder people have trouble identifying these fish :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 I found the same happened when my johannii got overthrown by my giraffes as they matured, it was almost like my male johannii disappeared overnight and I gained another random looking fish around the same size lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 What a difference! No wonder people have trouble identifying these fish :roll: And this is my female of the same species. She can be quite blue or very yellow depending on her mood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 Very interesting post about fish behaviour, because something similar has happened in my tank as well! I've got two M/F pairs of convicts in my tank and both had their own caves, but one male was obviously dominant since they were wee little things. The dominant male, of course, got the more attractive of the females, which had a bigger body and better colouration - the other female was the runt of the pack, very small/ no colouration. Recently, the submissive male went through a growth spurt and outgrew the dominant male, proudly displaying his newly-developed head bump. I came home one day to find that the submissive male had become the dominant AND stolen his girl as well! Now the disgraced dominant male has paler colours and has paired up with the smaller female. ..much more exciting to watch than Shorty St! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted April 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2011 It is a bit like a soap There's a definite hierarchy in my African tank with 1&2 IC being very obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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