jewel cichlid colors are not so bright

can anyone tell me why that is the color use to be real red and now they are like a grey color they just had fry 2 weeks ago i have had then seperated from the fry like 4 days after and there color isnt as vibrant as it was just wondering what the cause of that is

I read about it and it has to do with the breeding process, they are suppose to turn strong coloring while breeding...im sure somebody else here experienced that before..

That's normal, they dull down when not in spawning mode.
Oh, never separate the pair, I did that once and they both stopped eating and died, I'm guessing from depression.

thanks guys and gals also i didnt seperate the pair just seperated them from the fry

My experience with Jewels has been that when they are spawning great colors, when they are the only fish in the tank they tend to be just normal not so flashy. Had them in a community situation in a 55g as I was waiting for pairs to form then the dominant male always/for the most part sported spawning colors. When I took the fry away or moved the parents to another tank to get them to spawn again after a rest period I would put something as a dither which worked well. The male would start flashing his "I'm the man colors" female would get interested, 2 - 5 days new spawn. As soon as the fry were free swimming I'd remove the dither fish and let them raise the fry.

Yeah I know a dither fish with Jewels, but they were roughnecks that could hold their own. Used Auratus(?) kept a small group of them for a while until I did a major shift in gears

thats a great idea i will try that and as dither i would use something like a tetra or similar to that nature but fast right

a large tiger barb or 2 might work.