Help Me Identify This Guy

[trojannemo]

hey guys. when i got my 75 gallon tank, the previous owner had big cichlids and told me his yellow lab had had babies. i dont know exactly what the parents were, but apparently one of them is either a yellow lab or similar to a yellow lab based on what i was told in passing. anyways when I got home with essentially a drained tank, i found 3 babies. 2 survived and are now in the same tank but with my rainbows and angels until they grow enough to be rehomed.

this is the bigger of the two. both look the same. i dont know what he is. over a year ago i had a yellow lab and this guy has too many colors and markings to be one, in my opinion.
maybe 'cause his younger? anyways, here's the pic:

if you happen to know which fish it is, at what age/size will they become aggressive enough to be a nuissance? i.e. when should I think of finding them a cichlid-only home?

thanks.

 

[smadd]

Oh my gosh, I had a 26 gallon tank and raised Cichlids when they were small. I don't know the name of the species, but I remember him well because he was highly aggressive. I really enjoyed my Cichlids when I had them because they were hearty, colorful fish, but that specific type was mean. I had mine for about a year when it got to be about 5" in length. Everytime I stuck my hand in the aquarium to clean the tank or move a rock it would attack my hand. It actually left marks on it. In the end, I had to give them away to my local fish store. They were too difficult to care for and I was tired of the hand abuse.

 

[trojannemo]

Hi, the guy in question is now about 1" and very active. he's got a nice hideout and spends the entire day either finding something to eat or hiding.
this is what he looks like now:

the blue from his fins has almost entirely gone away, so he now looks 95% yellow.
is it any easier to identify him now? is he going to be an electric yellow? if not, what?

thanks

 

[dthoffsett]

It's definitely not an electric yellow (labidochromis caeruleus), it's so familiar looking but I just can't remember which speices. Hopefully someone else will be more help.

 

[kirbrot]

It's definitely not an electric yellow (labidochromis caeruleus), it's so familiar looking but I just can't remember which speices. Hopefully someone else will be more help.

It looks very much like the fry that have been produced by my red zebras, some have blue fins, some yellow & some black. Their bodies have also changed colours but they have more prominent stripes (3-4 months old) than the second picture you have.

 

[dthoffsett]

I don't think it's Metriaclima estherae (red zebra), the head is wrong for it, they tend to have slightly humped foreheads and thicker lips.
And, pure M.estherae should never have black, blue is possible as males in the wild are usually blue but are rarely seen in the aquarium trade.

 

[kribensis12]

He is definatley not a yellow lab. My lab fry are a month old, and they definatley look like labs. Bright yellow with black fins, your's does not have that. I have seen that fish many times before, but I can't remeber the name! Grrrr.