Help Me Identify These Fish Please

[- kT]

Alright, i dont know if this goes here, so if it doesnt, let me know and move it
=)

lets get down to business
i recently recieved a whole buttload of fishes from a friend who wanted to get out of aquariumnizing
problem is, i dont have a flying CLUE what the fishes are

i can get a photo sometime tomorrow, but for now ill just describe em
their shape is right inbetween that of a discus and a guppy, not too round, but on slender either
ALL of them are a light greyish brownish color with either DARK DARK grey or black stripes
they dont really move around too much, they kinda stay suspended in one spot

i have HEARD that they were caught from a river, but they're doing damn well eating staple food and bloodworms, so im not too sure
they're active in the day, and right now are living around 75degree waters

buddies in the tank include neon tetras, 3 bushy nose plecos, 3 bronze cory's, one pepper cory, and 4 red tail black sharks

as i said, ill get a photo asap, but for now, anybody have ANY idea what these little guys are?

 

[max11180]

some form of cichlid by the sounds of it.. maybe chocolate cichlid, approx size might help up us a bit. What size tank are they all in?

4 redtail shark in one tank is a very bad idea - they are completely intolerant of their own species.

 

[- kT]

yeah, i was testing that out for a while
they havnt had a problem, they've been in there 2 years and not a scrap
the tank is 30 gallons

i was thinking along the lines of cichlids too
there about...smallest one is probably two cm long, biggest one is 5cm long
smallest one is about..1 cm long, biggest abt...4 cm long

 

[- kT]

oh, and if this helps, i havnt seen any of them fighting or chasing each other around

 

[- kT]

alright, so i managed to get some photos
sorry, they're really blurry
real bad camera

 

[furryrabbit]

looks like some sort of dwarf cichlid - maybe a bolivian ram?

 

[- kT]

arent bolivians colorful?
=|

cause um..the ones I have are pretty much black and white

 

[max11180]

look more like juvenile Convicts to me. These will pose an issue later on, if that is indeed what they are. Especially if two of them pair up..

 

[- kT]

juvenile convicts?
whats the issue?

sorry, im a newbie

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah I was gonna say convicts, they can be very agressive, especially if they pair off then they're gonna defend they're egg's and territory like mad, you might come down one day to a bloodbath

 

[demonmagus]

yeah I was gonna say convicts, they can be very agressive, especially if they pair off then they're gonna defend they're egg's and territory like mad, you might come down one day to a bloodbath

I think they look like convicts as wel. better get em out of there.

If you are in America they may have been fished out of a lake because people just throw em in when they don't want then

 

[max11180]

As miss wiggle says, they will merrily beat the living daylight out of each other, just for the a rock, lol. If two do pair up, they will claim a terittory, and basically anything that 'invades' will be battered to more or less death.
Or at least, that's the reputation they carry.. someone who has actually kept cons might paint a more merry picture, but i seriously doubt it TBH.

 

[- kT]

yeah, ive just been studying up on em
one pair has already breeded, and the fry have already hatched, but none of em have been fighting, or dying, yet
when the two were hatching, the occupied one of my caves, and everytime another convict got near it, the male would come and chase him away
but, no bloodbath

also, when any other of my fishes (the cory's, the sharks) got near, the mail wouldnt even chase em
=|

 

[max11180]

what site did they spawn on? was it in a pit that the fish had dug, a flat rock in the open, in a cave, or someplace else?, can you guess how many fry? Can you notice any difference in the male\female? and can you give an approx size of the 2 that have spawned?

 

[- kT]

okay

they spawned in a cave
around...20 fry?
no difference in either (difference meaning color, behavior)
the male is around 3-4 cm long, female around 4-5 cm long