Please Help Identify Malawi Cichlids

[MrWhipster]

Hello experts,

I'm trying to work cure a tank problem (see post http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=137370)

Here is a Linkto my pictures of the Cichlids that I've taken. Is there anyone who can help me identify the fish and help with advice regarding suitability in the tank.

Thanks

Ian

 

[mamafish68]

some one else pitch in here, ALL I see is a huge amount of hybrids, barring where there shouldnt be any, muddy coloration where there should be bright clear coloring,

also

get those catfish & plecos out of there!!!

they wont last with all those mbuna maturing!!!

 

[jayjay]

it's guna be virtually impossible for us to identify hybirds...... unless some really super person can do it lol.

the only way to find out what the hybrid is, is to find out what its parents are......

just if you get any fry from them don't give them to people or lfs's without them knowing they are HYBRIDS or it could ruin the strain.

 

[brewyn]

hellooooo mammafish. synodontis are an ideal catfish to keep with malawis, they wont come to any harm at all.

It looks to me like you have an elongatus mpanga.

a metriclima zebra

synadontis multipunctatas

so far these are ok together.

also an albino lombardoi

 

[mamafish68]

brewyn, by the looks of it he's only got the one multi, they thrive best with 4 or more, he's got some dead catfish waiting to happen.

any bog wood for the royal??

 

[brewyn]

I can see a couple of different synos in there, it looks like theres also a brichardi, cant comment on the plecks as i dont like them, so therefor, have never kept them, but i have *heard* that they too, can be kept with malawis

 

[brewyn]

Ian, the main thing with malawis is to have as much rock as possible to help with territorial fish and to give the shy fish a hiding place. if you only have a few cichlids then the aggression will magnify itself 10 fold, with more fish it is less likely, that one particular fish will be targeted. what size tank do you have? and how many fish do you have in there so far?

 

[kanzaris]

Hi There

I have two plecos in my Malawi Tank and they are fine. But I only got Peacocks, Electras and Moriis no Mabunas. Picture 15 looks a bit like its been breed with a Marmalade. See attached pictures.

Sabby

 

[brewyn]

love those dolphins, are they yours? I have eleven of them and they are only 1 inch in size at the moment, very cute.

 

[kanzaris]

love those dolphins, are they yours? I have eleven of them and they are only 1 inch in size at the moment, very cute.

Hi Brewyn

Yes that my tank. Got six dolphins in that Tank its 100 gallon. The two older ones are about 7 inch long the other four I only had for about six month. Can't get them to breed. Everything else is breeding in my tank but not the dolphins. He is the boss though.

Sabby

 

[brewyn]

fantastic, love them. maybe you have two of the same sex. you probably know this already but the male has a much larger hump than the female.

 

[kanzaris]

fantastic, love them. maybe you have two of the same sex. you probably know this already but the male has a much larger hump than the female. nice tank also. picture of my 150 gallon tank, hope you like.

Love your fish and lovley tank. I saw that picture before when you posted this a few days ago.

Had Malawis for about ten years on and off can't beat these fish.

PS I know about the hump can't realy tell unless they are two males but they get on well don't fight. The smaller ones are more aggressive.

Sabby

 

[brewyn]

have to post that picture as it shows off the colours of the malawis.

 

[MrWhipster]

Thanks for the help.

Could the fact that some of the fish are very young and have not matured properly account for hybrid look? Perhaps I need to wait a few months to a year to get a better idea of what they are. The young fish were in a tank altogether, not labelled with names or except for 'Assorted Malawi Cichlids'. It seems I might have been done by the fish shop.

I've added a few more pictures to my gallery, numbered them, and put names where I've been advised as to what they are.

I bought the tank as a secondhand setup. It came with all the fish, which included 7 catfish (Synodontis decorus , Royal Panaque, Synodontis multipunctatus and a couple of others I've not named yet) and 10 Malawi Cichlids (Livingstoni, Blue Dolphon, and whatever the others are).

I've thinned out of the cats since then. Although it seems that I need to lose some more. How exactly do I go about doing this? I've tried ringing around local fish shops to get rid of the Dolphin and the Livingstoni. The fish shops don't want to know. They were attacking the other fish as they are much bigger than the rest. I moved them to my sons tank, which is too small really but it's only for a few weeks, until I can pass them on. I then added the 8 younger fish to my tank. I expected to lose some, but they are all quite happy and have grown a little since I got them.

I've added my own decorations since buying the setup 3 months ago e.g. ocean rock and resin mock wood ornaments. There's plenty of hiding spaces for cats and cichlids, although I'm going to add some more ocean rock and some bog wood for the Royal Pleco at the weekend.

The tank is 36" x 15" by 15" which according to the calculator I used is a 29 UK gallon tank (35 US gallon). I have 2 filters (a Eheim Pro II external and a Fluval 304 internal). There are 5 catfish and 15 Cichlids.

Thanks

 

[brewyn]

shame you dont live close by, I would have taken them off your hands. I live in southport?