Show off your cichlid Pics! - Page 9

stephanie · 02-24-2008, 03:31 AM

I have these in a 29h. 6 total.

jack0528 · 03-14-2008, 09:40 PM

Here are my one week old cichlids. This is my first aquarium (I've always wanted one). I could use a little help with identification because when I bought them they were labeled Misc. African Cichlids. (although I know the yellow is a yellow lab, common name)

cichlidgirl · 03-14-2008, 11:10 PM

I know the one in the top photo is a kenyi. If it stays that color as it grows to adult size it will be a female. If it morphs into a yellow color then that is the male.

I have one of the blue ones myself. I believe it is a metriaclima callainos, but could also be a red zebra ( metriaclima estherea (blue) . I have never been able to be 100 percent sure which ones are which, i believe i have both since the two blues i have have slightly different shades of blue. There are several blue ones that closely resemble each other. It is important to note that the common red zebra can produce males that are blue, not orange. Most people dont realize that. They hear red zebra and think red.

Tommy Gun · 03-15-2008, 02:00 AM

I could be wrong but I think the fish in the third photo might be a juvenile Cyathopharynx foai Sibwesa. I just saw some of them in an LFS last week and they look very very similar.

FilteredFun · 03-15-2008, 09:53 AM

Re: First Post of Thread by gm333

Can someone please identify the name of the first fish [top] in that post. The triangular shaped, white fish with some black and yellow spots.

Thank You,
Matt

jack0528 · 03-15-2008, 10:04 AM

I am thinking that the kenyi in the first photo is male because of the aggression it shows. Of course I have read that female Cichlids can show a lot of aggression also. I am thinking of getting two more kenyis in the hopes of getting a breeding pair. Here is a pic of the whole tank. any suggestions??? I also have a Bristlenose in here. You just cannot see him because he stays hidden all day and cleans at night. Shame because he is a neat looking fish.

cichlidgirl · 03-15-2008, 01:21 PM

Jack,
If you want to watch for male color development, look around the belly area. That was the first area to get a yellow sheen when they were small. the rest of the fish was still purple/blue with black baring, but the sides of the belly the fish developed a nice yellow sheen. You will want more than one female for that male. If you got just a pair, he will likely kill her. If your tank is big enough go for 1 male and 4 females. Be aware also that i find the kenyi to be very aggressive mbuna. Have a really large tank and limit your other species to very hardy aggressive species (keep an eye on the yellow labs), have many females for the single male. IMO If you have more than one male in the tank, the dominant one will kill it. Mine did. They are a beautiful fish just aggressive.

jack0528 · 03-15-2008, 06:58 PM

Thanks for the info. I have a 42 bow. It is a lot of space, but not a lot of space if you know what I mean. I will take your suggestions into account and see what I can do. The only problem is when I go to the LFS to buy these fish, they are always so juvenile that it is basically impossible to tell the males from the females. Mine is just a week old from the LFS and there are no signs of coloring. I'll just have to play guessing games and hope for the best.

cichlidgirl · 03-15-2008, 07:10 PM

Ask the lfs to do a deal with you, you will purchase multiable fish today if you can return only male fish later on as they go through the color change. Explain that you need females for the male and that he will kill all other males in the tank. See if they will do it for store credit (pick up some fish food or something) mom and pop stores will usually do this since they get to sell the fish twice , its just the big chains that dont like to do that.

FilteredFun · 03-15-2008, 09:24 PM

Can someone please identify the exact name of this fish ... and where, on line, I could read about it in more depth.

Thanks,
Matt

Name.jpg