Fish I.d

[dbanner]

Ok so here's the story.... A family member of mine (cousin to be precise) bought a tank 2nd hand earlier today. It's a 75gallon, unsure of the measurements but that's irrelevant to this post. The problem is the tank came with a fish that I believe to be a dovii/wolf cichlid, iv owned a dovii for a short while but this one looks different. Now we have asked the previous owner and she is unsure too... Anyway, I give my cousin some advice on dovii's, male and female and its obvious to say either would need a lot more than 75 gallons. His 1st reaction without a glimmer of thought was "I'll flush it down the toilet, I don't want it"...

To my anger and frustration to this I took it off his hands... This is a pic of it.

Now I'm pretty sure is a dovii but like I said, I don't know if its a male or a female. Maybe someone could confirm which it is. Either way he/she will be sold on or taken to my LFS within the next couple of weeks (have no time at the moment but will be gone asap) which has to be better than it getting flushed right?? I quickly measured it out of the water (in a net) and its bang on 5 inches from the head to the tip of its tail.

What iv done is taken my Flowerhorn out of the 125gal and put him in to the 40. So the dovii (if it is a dovii) is in the 125 for a week or 2 before selling him/her on as it clearly needs more space than my 3-4 inch FH.

I would keep it if it is a dovii but I'm still unsure of when I'll be getting my 210gal so best to rehome this one asap.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this long and somewhat confusing thread. All replies appreciated

 

[theking]

it is indeed a dovii,
check this website out it will help http/worldcichlids.com/fishprofiles/dovii.html

 

[thereverendturtle]

I would say yes, its a dovii and would look to be female. But at only a quarter grown, hard to be exact. Flushing fish is the worst thing you can do. First the fish dies a slow horrible death. Second, it may release diseases into the native ecosystem. Not to mention a fish that size is likely to clog the toilet.
You did the right thing.

 

[dbanner]

I would say yes, its a dovii and would look to be female. But at only a quarter grown, hard to be exact. Flushing fish is the worst thing you can do. First the fish dies a slow horrible death. Second, it may release diseases into the native ecosystem. Not to mention a fish that size is likely to clog the toilet.
You did the right thing.

I agree, flushing any kind of fish is just not right. I didn't even used to like it when my parents did it to our goldfish when I was younger... And the goldfish were already dead and i didnt uderstand the dangers involved at the time. I had to take the dovii off him, I can guarentee this fish would of been killed one way or another within a day if I didn't (it's 2.10am here at the moment). We picked the tank up at 7.30pm after he finished work, set the tank up at his place by 9pm. He wanted to flush the fish by 11pm. Terrible.

If it is a female iv read that they can be kept in much smaller tanks than males because they don't grow as big... Is that right? Iv seen loads of info online about males getting to around 28" in the wild and usually around 20-22" in home aquariums with them needing 240+gallon tanks but iv not found much info on female dovii's. I did see on 1 or 2 sites that a female will get anywhere from 12-15" and that they can be kept in tanks ranging anywhere from 100gallons+.. Is that about right?

If it was then I wouldn't mind keeping this 1. If its not true and they need bigger than 125gal or if its a male then obviously i will have to stick my original idea and rehome in a week or so.

 

[thereverendturtle]

Ok, if it is a female. 15-16" seems to be the largest captive size. Also they are slow growers, so it might be possible to divide the 125 and put the fh and dovii in the same tank.

 

[dbanner]

Thanks for the reply... Hmm this did pop into my head but wasn't sure if it would be possible. I was thinking because of the potential size then the dovii would need the whole tank and it would only seem fair to give the correct requirements.

A 40 for my FH would be fine for a long time before I needed to put him in a 55 or there abouts. A FH will only usually get to around 12 inches but their growth starts to slow right down after around the 6-7 mark (from what iv heard from breeders).

I mean if I was to divide the tank then I'm only giving them around 60gal each. I don't think anything less than the 125 would be good for a large open swimmer like the dovii?

 

[dbanner]

Ok so just a quick update on the dovii... He/she is doing very well in the 125. Very nice colour coming through now, very active and eating well. Got just over a week to decide whether to keep or rehome.

Will get some more pics up soon, the one I posted is a bit dark so hopefully with the brighter lighting the next pics will make it easier for anyone here to tell me if its male or female.

Male = rehome
Female = may keep for a while

 

[minnnt]

Keep it regardless of sex dbanner, that is an absolute beauty!! Jealous much. Parachromis and the like are probably one of my favourite complex of Cichlids.

All credit to you for saving this from a terrible fate.

If it does turn out to be male then would you be able to squeeze a 6x2x2?

There was a pair at my LFS for £130 not so long ago.

 

[dbanner]

Thank you for the comment. much appreciated.

i too love parachromis like the dovii, jags and friedrichstalli. The problem I have is that I know my Rio 400 won't be big enough for a male and maybe just big enough for a female. Iv heard and read males need around 200 gallons. I'm getting an 8x2x2 (and keeping my Rio) in the coming months. I was hoping to have it by now but iv had to spend my money on other things lately. With Christmas closely approaching us and an 8yr old daughter to rob me blind I think the tank will have to wait til jan or feb.

There are a couple of juveniles in my LFS yesterday (maidenhead aquatics) at around 3-4 inches. They were going for £15 each. Not sure if this is good or not as its the only ones iv seen in any store. I did have one for a short while before that was £7. I had it mail ordered so was £20 with delivery, that was from Trimar in Cornwall. The dovii I had was a little smaller than the one i have now and seemed a lot different in colour. It was a bright gold/yellow

This was my old dovii...

 

[minnnt]

If the new tank is a definate within 6-8 and you like Dovii then I say keep it.

The one is the pic looks a lot different I agree and would say it isn't a Dovii... but don't quote me on it. Lol.

Freddies and yellow jackets are stonking fish. I would be content with a pair of Salvini's tbh.

 

[dbanner]

If the new tank is a definate within 6-8 and you like Dovii then I say keep it.

The one is the pic looks a lot different I agree and would say it isn't a Dovii... but don't quote me on it. Lol.

Freddies and yellow jackets are stonking fish. I would be content with a pair of Salvini's tbh.

It does look so much different. All I know is it was sold to me as a dovii so I just went along with it lol at 1st i did think it was a jag but from the jags iv seen around this size they too look different.

Maidenheads in Cardiff have some freddy's in stock. £10 each or 3 for £27... Now I'm not sure but being a parachromis I don't think I'd want 3 random freddy's in a tank together lol unless the tank was very big.

Iv heard salvini's are a mean fish but iv never actually seen one up front. Only ever on pics

 

[balajake]

It's a freddy imo

 

[Dovii-terror]

That fish is 100% dovii and in fact it's a male. The 2nd photo is not a dovii it's a pretty nice manguenese or jaguar cichlid I believe big ALS were selling those fish as dovii, and if u willing to sell that dovii I'm willing to buy for a good price my email is [email protected] email if interested!

 

[dbanner]

Thanks for the info, it's good to know what sex it is It's a very hard decision to make but dovii's are not all that easy to come by in my area and "minnnt's" kind words saying its an "absolute beauty"... As he put it has made me what to keep it. At least for a while. If I can get my 8ft tank by jan or feb then hopefully I can keep him for a long time before I got to go over my options further.

I'll keep in mind your over which I appreciate. Thanks again

 

[minnnt]

Freddies are brilliant fish. Really nice. The ones you mentioned are a very good price. As you said though... 3 would be a little craaaazy in one tank.

Very pleased that you're keeping it for a while.

My LFS has some Nandopsis haitiensis for sale...