Fish Id Pls

[ripil]

i bought six of these fish under the name white malawi. all six were white but now 3 have got alot bigger are now navy blue with a hint of red on there fins. their quite peaceful towards the six peacocks although these fish are boss at feeding times. be nice to know what they are and if they are malawi at all. thanks ppl Richard

 

[Wills]

hard to tell from pics but possibly Mozambique Mouthbrooders

 

[ripil]

i have to chop the pics to be able to upload them, their quite fast and my Nokia lumia 800 won't let me upload pics so i gotta use my old 2 meg camera which as ya can tell ain't very good at all. thanks for the reply.
that pic might be better but i doubt it lol

 

[Wills]

I think Im right with it have a google and see what you think

 

[thereverendturtle]

Tilapia mozambiquesus, probably spelled wrong. Wills has the common name dead on tho.

 

[ripil]

yep spot on. didn't think to google it duh lol
so are these malawi fish then? from what i've read just now nobody likes them and they come from all over. they get alot bigger then i thought and the bloke who sold them me lied as ge said he had them for a few years but they would be bigger than they are given the size their going to get too. are they ok with the peacocks? i got a spare tank i could put them in but its got normal stones instead of coral sand. one last question how much are they usually sold for? spot on with them pics is a guru.

 

[creeker]

I agree this is a Mozambique Mouthbrooder. They are sold around the world as a food fish now and are farmed pretty extensively under the generic name of Tilapia. I can't imagine they'd cost much anywhere. I can catch them hook and line in at least one fairly local lake here. Some lakes here stock them for fishing purposes. I have seen some exceeding two pounds in weight. They are pretty indestructible.

 

[thereverendturtle]

They'll live in just about any water condition. Get to about a foot long and can be pretty aggressive. Naturally they are not from lake Malawi.

 

[some thing fishy]

I agree with Creeker,we cannot keep them in Australia now as the government is worried about them getting into the wild,i used to keep them some years ago before the bans came in to force,we can buy them in the local fish shop for food ,they breed them & grow them up in indonesia ,as a food fish,then export them to Australia.

 

[ripil]

so its not a good ideal to keep them with peacocks then. i bought six of them for 15 quid. looks like three males and three females. so they don't need coral sand then? as there going to get quite big im going to put them in the 3 and a half foot tank but its got gravel, bog wood and slate in it. thanks again for all your replies i really appreciate the help and advice.

 

[Wills]

I actually quite like them. Would love to do a Tilapia tank one day.

As said they are a food fish with some reports of 40cm fish in the wild. They thrive in all waters, ph seems irrelivant and they can live in fresh, brackish and light marine waters...

They are not overly aggressive though. A 3 and a half foot tank will not last a group of 6 for long though they are big fish so you want to be thinking a 5 foot tank as a minimum.

Wills

 

[ripil]

looks like im going to have to sell them on then as my cash flow is low at the moment. yeah i quite like them. their in a 3 foot 3 inch tank now so going to move them to the 3 foot 6 inch as they'll be on there own and the tank is also got 3 inches more height and width. such a shame as i would of loved to be able to keep them. my mother in law likes them and has a 60x18x29 inch tank but she has an oscar n two tinfoils in there. would three be ok to go in with them at all? thanks again again.

 

[Wills]

29 tall or wide? I have seen them mixed with oscars before so could work but as ever with cichlids make sure you have an emergency back up.

 

[ripil]

29 inches tall mate. makes cleaning it out a right git lol i'll let them grow then sell her two for a few hundred quid each i have been looking about for a larger tank but the prices n my wallet don't agree with the amount.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Ebay is a fantastic place for bargains if you are a patient person (even freecycle!).

I got myself a 3 foot tank from ebay for £20, including all I needed to set up (just needed a light bulb!)... it included a fluval U3 filter