African Id, Please

[MoMa]

We bought these guys (the blue ones) from a tank labeled "misc. malawi". I know, I know, always a terrible idea. Regardless, anybody have a sense of what these are? They're approx. 2". I've spent some time on google, fishbase, and a few others to no avail. I have some ideas, but nothing solid.

thanks in advance.

 

[Ferris]

Pretty sure they are Maylandia Lombardoi (aka Kenyi) - they look like juveniles, if they are female they will remain that colour wheras the males turn yellow.

 

[clareriley]

I agree with Ferris. These have known to be very aggressive fish when they are older, I have had n problems but I just have a pair so I think you might have to get the ratio right when you sex them.

 

[mrssittingduck]

yes they are the kenyi cichlid and seems your lfs and my lfs both must be the same one

never label any of the cichlids they have

katie

 

[clareriley]

yes they are the kenyi cichlid and seems your lfs and my lfs both must be the same one

never label any of the cichlids they have

katie

Just some advice then for if you really need to shop there for your mbuna. Look on the net and find which fish you want, see if they are compatable. Alot of Misc cichlids hold Auratus ect ect and to the beginner they look lovely BUT they turn nasty. (A mistake I made).
Try and take a reference book with you or just ask to borrow one of theres to see if you can ID them before you buy them.

 

[MoMa]

Pretty sure they are Maylandia Lombardoi (aka Kenyi) - they look like juveniles, if they are female they will remain that colour wheras the males turn yellow.

Thanks for the help!!!

Just some advice then for if you really need to shop there for your mbuna. Look on the net and find which fish you want, see if they are compatable. Alot of Misc cichlids hold Auratus ect ect and to the beginner they look lovely BUT they turn nasty. (A mistake I made).
Try and take a reference book with you or just ask to borrow one of theres to see if you can ID them before you buy them.

I completely agree. We had done months of research and had several lists, each one with compatible fish and the proper numbers to keep them in for our tank. We purchased a "bait locker" for long distance transport, and drove 2 hours to the only lfs that we felt we could trust (due to big box retailers, there are very few lfs/lps in our state). When we arrived, they only had one of each fish on each of our lists.
I pretty much lost all of my "common sense" at this point. I started looking at the various lists and came to some delusional rationalization that since fish A can be kept with fish B and fish B can be kept with C and D and Fish C can be kept with fish F that I could keep fish A with fish F. Completely idiotic, I know.
It would probably terrify you if I told you what species we purchased!!!
We will obviously be setting up at least 3 other tanks now. With that in mind, we threw caution to the wind when my other half said, "We need blue". The only fish that met that requirement at the "2 hour drive lfs" were much larger and the females were holding -- not interested. So we went to a local store (only 45 min. drive) and bought the "misc. malawi". So I have to set up another tank. (bad news and good news at the same time).



Thanks for the help, as now I can do the research I had done for the others.

To give you an idea...
3 Astatotilapia Latifasciata (one is starting to show markings of a male)
3 Pseudotropheus Saulosi
5 Labidochromis Caeruleus
1 Bristlenose Pleco
(now 3 Maylandia Lombardoi)
all juveniles
...all in a 100usG with 2 Fluval 405s that has been cycling for almost 6 months.

The 2 Fluvals will be removed to start at least 2 other tanks, probably for the A. Latifasciata and P. Saulosi in one tank and the M. Lombardoi in the other.

 

[Ferris]

Kenyi are great fish - aggressive yes but still compatible with a mixed Mbuna community setup and i don't see a problem with the other fish you have. I would just expect the kenyi to be the dominant fish - particularly any males you may have. The only issue i can see is if you have more than 1 male - that could be a big problem unless they stayed in the 100 gal which gives plenty of room so multiple males would be possible.

 

[MoMa]

ooh! Even better. I'll just watch for males, and possibly separate them.
Would it be any problem if I ended up with only one of the Kenyi's? Male or female? Or would I still need to keep a few others to displace aggression?


by the way, you've all been loads of help!!!

 

[Ferris]

1 Kenyi on it's own will be fine - male or female