[Mean Green]

I bought 2 German blues about a 5 days ago.

Beautiful fish that have acclimated to the tank and tankmates wonderfully! But I've noticed the female's black coloration will become pale at times and return to normal at others, sometimes quick enough for me to see the change. she's eating fine (mix of flake in the morning and brine shrimp at night) and doesn't look sickly at all.

The male causing this is my best guess. He'll chase her down so he can display and bugs her often to do so. Other than that they get along fine! None of the other fish ever bother them. They swim all around the tank now instead of just staying in one corner and behind the plants.

The male never hurts her from what I've seen, just chases and displays. They do get along often but mostly he wants to display.

Will this be harmful to the female?

 

[JJBTEXAS]

If you're worried about the male harassing her too much you could get another female so he divides his time between the two.

 

[NickAu]

Are they a bonded pair or did you just get a male and a female?

 

[elusive77]

Mine are the exact same way. I can watch her go from full color to dull in just a few seconds when he starts chasing her. In my case they are not bonded. The female was previously bonded with a male that died. Their behavior as a bonded pair was very different. I added another male hoping that they would bond, but they haven't. They've been like this for a couple months and she is still fine, but her color is not as bright as if she were bonded.

The problem with adding a second female is that if the male bonds with one of them, the pair will usually harass the other female incessantly, sometimes to death. I had a discussion with @Coralbandit the other day about this. And he recommended against adding another female unless you have a place to move the 2nd female to, in case they do bond.

 

[doughnut]

Just was wondering what size tank they're in? Ages ago, I had a pair in a 55g. The male definatly liked to be possessive of the female but there was room enough she could get away if needed.

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[Coralbandit]

How a bout a pic just in case?
Dwarf cichlids can be very picky when it comes to choosing a mate , and even worse if they were already bonded.

 

[JEFF9922]

Mine did the same thing , then the male started to ram her (head butt) and I found her dead a few days later.

 

[ustabefast]

Sounds like normal behavior, especially given that they are still feeling each other out.
GBR's will interact and sometimes squabble.

 

[zackariah]

I disagree with the comment about a 1 male and two females. I have done this many times. The male will bond with both. This has happened 100% of the time I have tried this.
Also I just did an experiment by taking previously bonded pairs, separated them, put them with new rams of the opposite sex. Every single fish has bonded and spawned. Now this is my experience. Others may have other experiences. But keep on mind there are so many variables. I feed mostly live foods that could be encouraging my fish to be more frisky.

To your comment about the male chasing the female that was what I observed with my fish for the first week or so. Then they began there typical mating behavior. Maybe the females know how to keep a man. Gotta play hard to get! Good luck and feel free to check out my thread about the re bonding rams.

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[Mean Green]

Thanks everyone for the help and comments, sorry I haven't been keeping up with this thread as much as I should have. :|

To answer a few questions...
The tank is a 37 gallon, well planted. Tankmates (not that they seem to notice them) are: 1 Bristlenose pleco, 3 zebra danios (3 died off because they're 3 years old at least) and 1 remaining glass cat (same as the danios). And no idea if they were bonded but they were swimming side by side at the fish store (there were a lot of them).

Everything seems fine now. They once again swim together peacefully (the female is a lot more active though, swimming up to the top of the tank when I lift the lid whereas the male doesn't even notice). The male has relaxed and doesn't seem as excited around her as he did, he's a lot more like when i brought him in: Calm, ignoring just about anything, and hanging back in the far left corner of the tank by a pirate skull decoration and some plants.

He never hurt her, but I had read up on these fish so i was afraid it might escalate, but everything seems perfectly fine! The female stopped changing color so drastically too! :grin2: