Funny that you mentioned the color thing, I've watched my hippo at the early stages when he wakes up, usually he is a pale whitish color, slowly in the light his colors deepen. I feed mine mostly Spectrum pellets, & I clip on some of Sprung's nori sea weed, he nibbles at it but not much. He likes the mush I make, blood worms & Pacifica plankton I may need to try if I can get it. I find that the Pellets he likes the best, I don't feed him much, he does a lot of pruning on the rock work etc..I love my fish, he went down the Stockman 4 or 5 times when he was little, one weekend I found him such in the drain pipe, he was a little bigger then, I reached deep inside, finger deep into the pipe, barely I was able to gently reach under him & slide him out, that was the last time, now I think he is safe from that danger. I love to see where he sleeps at night, that is one thing also, these guys like to find a snug fit, & usually in bed before everyone else.
