My First 3 Malawis

[The-Wolf]

hi all
here are my first 3 malawis 8)
click thumbnails

do I have a male female pair here? approx 3"
labidochromis caeruleus Electric yellow lab



any idea on sex of this one; female? approx 4"
melanochromis auratus golden cichlid
(only photo I could get, taken at work before bringing home)

 

[brewyn]

hi wolf, I would say from your photos that you have female carelius, or the male hasn't yet shown his dominant black streak. with regards to the chipokei, I bought 2 myself yesterday, Its hard to tell but I assumed the ones with the eggspot to be male, and the ones without, female. of course when older the male becomes black with purple stripe. there not a fish I know to much about so If I am wrong,someone will tell you,but its a good start

 

[mamafish68]

brewyn, thats an auratus not a chipokae. BOTH are mean as snakes though thats for sure. wolf, I dont recomend auratus with labs. labs are too docile and mild mannered, auratus means of attack are to go for the belly and kill. you dont want that i'm sure.

look into perhaps some ACEI to pair with the labs.

 

[The-Wolf]

hmmm,
I'll keep my eye on it, any unwanted aggression
s/he'll have to go

 

[mamafish68]

I'm telling you, auratus are some if not the most aggressive smaller mbuna out there. take my word for it.

as for the labs, theo ne pictured on the far left is a hybrid, theres something messy in his gene pool with the black lower jaw. If it were mine. well I wouldnt have picked it but it would be taken back to the store, your only going to get more messy fry from that one.

 

[brewyn]

http/www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquar...a_chipokae.html


whats the difference??? they both look the same to me.

 

[dthoffsett]

as for the labs, theo ne pictured on the far left is a hybrid, theres something messy in his gene pool with the black lower jaw.

I'd agree that the first lab is a hybrid. Although I can't say for sure, I'm pretty sure the second lab pic is a male, looks an awful lot like my dom male.

 

[mamafish68]

you're right about them being much the same brewyn, although the auratus's tail is usualy a half and half, more defined then the chip

both fish are PITA though. ...

 

[rixy]

i've kept lots of malawis together wolf that really shouldnt have worked i have had a kenyi that was a real scardey cat.he was the wuss of the tank.i've kept a eyebiter that was very placid.most malawis have a reputation,but they are not all as nasty as everyone makes out.it really depends on the individial fish.try to get your all your fish at a similar time/size if possible so they grow up together.you always get aggression when a new malawi is added to a mature tank.these are only my thoughts/experiences wolf.

 

[brewyn]

I have to agree with rixy, reason why I dont answer posts with regards to what goes with what, is cause I also have various malawis that get along ok,aggressive and none aggressive. the size is important as I have just introduced 4 niced sized obliquadens to one of my tanks, and have lost 2 already, thought it was the venustus until we caught the much, much smaller livingstoni with a fin sticking out of its mouth. I think to have a well balanced tank you need lots of rocks and territories for mbuna.

 

[trace1]

i've also got 3 of the melanochromis auratus & have not had any problem with them as yet, if i do i have got a spare tank they can go in now it could just be that they are not big enough yet to pick on the others as they are the smallest in the tank so i will just see how it goes.

 

[rixy]

those livingstoni love their grub brewyn.they will eat anything lol.my 2 would eat the whole tanks portion of food.

 

[brewyn]

just got 4 more rixy, put that blasted livingstoni on his own till the others catch up in size.

 

[rixy]

those livingstoni are lovely though.mine used to get on with all the fish except for feeding time.at feeding time,the WHOLE TANK/ALL THE FOOD was the livingstoni's.

 

[brewyn]

well the venustus is coming out tonight, not taking any more losses.


not a word mamafish!!!!!!!