Need to know what types of Cichlids do I have

[newcichlidluver]

Hi,

I have four Cichlids and am looking for a kind soul to help tell me what species they are. Also, if you can PLEASE help me sex them...I'll greatly appreciate it.

Here are their pictures.

The blue one is about 3 inches. The biggest one in the tank.

Blue Cichlid 3 inches

Blue 3 inches again


The Yellow one is 2 inches.

Yellow 2 inches


Yellow 2 inches again

The Orange one is 2 inches.

Orange 2 inches

Orange 2 inches again


Finally, the little one, which got mixed in by accident but I LOVE IT...is only about 1 inch...but definitely an agile swimmer and eater too!

Little blue fish


Here they are together....

Group Picture

 

[Exiled]

Welcome to the forum NCL. These are my thoughts on your fish.....I'm no expert or anything, But I am pretty good at IDing fish.....

Pic 1 and 2 (Blue cichlids 3 inches) is Maylandia callainos--also known as Pseudotropheus zebra cobalt. Most likely a Male in the first pic (females have eggspots too), cannot tell sex in second pic.

Pics 3 and 4 (Yellow 2 inches)--also looking at it in your group pic--
Simply because of its yellow color, it had me thinking it was a pseudotropheus saulosi BUT the shape of the skull and rest of the body doesnt look right to me for a saulosi as well as the latent banding on it is too numerous and too thin for a saulosi...my bets are on a female Labidochromis caeruleus (but because of the missing black stripe on dorsal fin, it's either too young to have one or genetically weak). But the pointy head and banding is consistant with the Labidochromis caeruleus. Or you could just have a hybrid on your hands. If you bought these out of the "assorted cichlids tank" that's a distinct possibility.

Pics 5 Does not come up it says "forbidden" by the Apache server

and pic 6 (Orange 2 inches) is a Maylandia Estherae also known as Pseudotropheus red zebra. Also pretty clear that it's a red zebra in your group pic. Too young to sex visually.

Pics 7 (Little blue guy) could be anything but my money is on a Cynotilapia afra. I can't sex that, not enough visual information. Just watch how it behaves.

But I'm positive of ONE thing:
They are all Mbuna!

 

[newcichlidluver]

Oh...Thank you so much for your detailed reply.

I feel better having a better idea of what they are now.



Another question...do I need more fish in my tank to curb the aggression in the future? They are fine rightnow...the big blue one likes to chase...but not overly aggressively the yellow and the orange ones...but it leaves the little one alone pretty much all the time.

I really love them and wanna breed them if at all possible...but it seems like they are all different species...what should I do?

THANKS so much!

 

[Exiled]

Yeah you have the potential to end up with just one fish as they get older and more aggressive. Luckily you don't have any super-aggressive species of fish, so it might not come to that if you have plenty of hiding spots for them. For breeding, ideally you want a harem of females for each male, and since juviniles are so difficult to sex, you usually have to get more fish than you plan to have as adults and as males become appearent you'de remove them from the main tank (put in a secondary tank or sell) But that might not be feasible for your tank size.... How many more you can get entirely depends on what size tank you have and how effective your filtration is. Let me know your tank size and dimentions and some water parameters. Can you post a pic of the entire tank as well?

--Lee

 

[newcichlidluver]

I have a 20g long with one bio wheel filteration system (Penguin I believe). I have 4 cichlids, one very "poopy" pleco and one rescued clown loach...who's not very happy because he's alone....


I really like the number of fish I have in there rightnow and definitely don't wanna overstock the tank.

I will post pictures of the whole tank tonight.

Thanks!!!

 

[Exiled]

In a 20 gallon tank those 4 fish will outgrow it.---Cobalts grow faster it seems. (in my tank too)
At their size and age right now, they should be OK in a 20g long but plan on getting at least a 55 gallon in the near future for your them and the pleco. Are you going to add some clown loaches?
Biowheel filtration is great. Which penguin is it? What are your water parameters right now?

 

[Adrinal]

Oh... nm Exiled is on this one..
..
..
..
Dude, You had better answer this Lady fast.
She has a gun, and a licence to fish!

 

[newcichlidluver]

Hummm...no plan on getting a bigger Aquarium at this point. I hope I can just keep them all in my current 20 gallon if I keep the water quality up. I ran out of tests and need to get some soon.

With regards to clown loach...I hate getting them from stores because they ALWAYS come with ick!! Never failed. I rescued 3 and 2 died from some sort of ick or other infection. They weren't covered w/ ich when they died...but anyways...I just don't wanna introduce unwanted parasite to my happy tank rightnow...but I feel SO BAD for my shy and timid clown loach.