Bolivian Cichlid?

[cell]

i bout this fish which i was told was a Bolivian Cichlid, now it must have another common name becuase ive never found another fish that looks like him. hes about 4-5 inches long including the tail and hes quite blocky in build. VERY calm and sedate fish, dosn't care about anything, shy. Jewel cichlid will try to pick on him but swimming into him and bumping him and he just sits there like "duh, what are you doing..." very cool fish. But he seems depressed since my oscar jumpped out of the tank one morning, they were the same size and were buds

id help please

 

[Black Sabbath]

I can't see the pic

Could it be a Bolivian Ram ? I've kept them are they are quite calm and non-aggressive fish (compared to other cichlids)

 

[cell]

I can't see the pic

Could it be a Bolivian Ram ? I've kept them are they are quite calm and non-aggressive fish (compared to other cichlids)

looks nothing like a ram, too big too

try the bucket link My Webpage

for people who can't see pictures of get to link
like i said around 4-5 inches long with tail, Horizontal black stripe extending from behind gills to base of tail, black spot at base of tail. pectoral? fins are yellowy, rest of body is drab black grey white. Body above horizontal stripe will occasionally daren and lighten. Blunt face, middle feeder mouth, not alot of lips, lips are basically flush with face and don't move much to suck in food or anything like that. Big eyes. chubby.. looks like a potato with fins...umm.. dunno what else to say haha, maybe that helps.

 

[a.d.wood]

Hi there,

I think you have ended up with:

Aequidens portalegrensis

Otherwise known as Port Cichlid, Port Acara, Brown Acara etc. Fits in with your Bolivian 'source'

Andrew

 

[cell]

Yep thats him! thanks! hes deffinetly not "mildly agressive" tho, more like a big dope, maybe hed be agressive with others of his kind. he would intimitate my oscar a bit, but he was afraid of everything...

 

[a.d.wood]

Hi Cell,

Glad you're pleased with the ID. With regards temperament though, given you're fish is probably only half size just now (8" SL when full grown), then temper may develop as he matures.

Andrew

 

[cell]

i was back at the store again and i asked the owner about the fish and he said its is not a acara it is a Cichlasoma Bolivianese, hence Bolivan Cichlid, I am finding hardly anything on this fish! he has a breeding pair, mine is deffinetly a male, female have a more defined slope on the head. Im going to pick up another one, and hopefully they will make friends and he will become less shy. and if its a female maybe they will try and reproduce, their supposed to look spectacular when breeding and Mine is full grown, the same size as the male in the breeding pair, who was in with a HUGE Midas

 

[a.d.wood]

Hi there,

Have to admit I'm not convinced on it being Cichlasoma boliviense (but as you said the information available is limited).

Fish base listing (with image) > Cichlasoma boliviense

I'm still of the mind that it's the Port Acara (or similar), your fish has the rounded head and low slung mouth that I expect from these dwarf(ish!!) 'acaras'. Looking at the fish base image the head is more pointed with a central mouth (not the best of pics though due to the fish yawning). Also against this fish being the bolivian cichlasoma is the body markings, I would expect your fish to show at least a hint of the vertical barring and cheek markings in the fish base image.

Lets have some more images of your fish please, the 'shake and take' method would help get a good image with diagnostic features. Essentially catch the fish, stick it in a bag and take the pictures then release back into the tank. The problem with taking pictures of the fish nice and settled in the tank is that they are not showing stress patterns (horizontal/vertical barring etc) and these marks can be of significance when trying to give a positive ID.

Regards

Andrew

 

[a.d.wood]

Hi there,

Another link > Cichlasoma

Scroll down the list to C. boliviense and click for the page with images.

Still think you have a Port Acara though!!!!

Andrew

 

[cell]

the guy that owns the store was very adamint it was a bolivianese, he broke out his big fish book and showed me a picture, that looked just like mine. and the male of the breeding pair was the same, female was smaller with more head slope. i haven't seen any vertical bars on mine yet but he tends to darken above his horizontal line. like i said he hides so much is hard to see him alot. that picture of the yawning male must be in his breeding colours.