What are the stripes on baby flowerhorn

[Aniket]

When i brought flowerhorn baby for my friend he has red eyes. And after transportation he shows vertical blackish stripes on body. He is banded gourami's size with no bump on head. He also changed eye colour from red to white and after that i introduced him to my tank for 24 hrs and his eyes became red again and no stripes. And then i gave him to my friend now he is fading his colour and looking like pearl gourami only shows spots. But eyes are still red. I read that stripes due to stress most of the time but what is the reason he is fading colour?

 

[Demeter32]

All sounds like signs of stress. Depending on the species they can fade/darken in color and their stripes can be more or less apparent.

 

[NickAu]

Stress