# HELP! cichlids turning white???



## marwari31

i have had two electric yellow cichlids for over 8 months and just today they turned almost completely white, loosing their black fin tips and everything...also they seem to have little red dots around their mouths....there is nothing new, no new water changes or fish or anything so i couldnt imagine that they would be stressed in any way...what do i do?!?


**Edit** - also they seem to have gotten much bigger in the past few hours...like they grew at least a 1/4 of an inch in 9 hours.....


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## herefishy

Pictures?


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## willow

test water results,what have you fed them,
what else is in the tank,decorations,tank mates,
what filter.tank temperature.
sorry for all the questions,however they may help people to help you.


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## marwari31

well...i woke up this morning and they were yellow again, but they still havent regained their black stripe on their top fin...


the temp is about 78 ish, its a whisper filter, 10 gallon tank, they are about 2 1/2 inches and 2 inches long, didnt get the water tested yet...going to the pet store tonight, 2 smaller plecos live there too, slate, glass, 2 plastic plants, and regular aquarium gravel are in the tank, they are fed a cichlid flake food twice a day, 

could their issue have anything to do with the light being left off accidentally all day yesterday?? they are in a dark room with not a lot of natural sunlight

here is a couple of pictures i took really quick...they are not very photogenic creatures....








this is the littler one








this is the bigger guy








and this is a pic of the whole tank including the bigger pleco in the corner


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## iamntbatman

My kribensis cichlids have three different color modes, for the most part: regular daytime colors, stressed washed-out colors, and night colors. During the night they completely lose their stripes and gain a checkerboard pattern. Maybe having the lights off all day had a similar effect on your fish. It would still be helpful to know your tank info/water parameters in order to rule out other possibilities, though.


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