Yellow African Cichlids

[Stephan]

So I love yellow and was thinking of cichlids for my tank. Walmart near my house had a clearance going on for $2 each for these guys so I got 4. Actually 3 yellow and one orange.

It says they grow to either 3 or 4 inches and those are all the details I know. What size tank should I give these guys? Do I have to put anything else in there? Frankly I'm not a big fan of a lot of cichlids out there. But if I do have to put something else what should it be?

 

[elisew]

There are a number of different yellow and orange african cichlids, can you post a pic so we know which ones you have?

 

[Stephan]

Here are some not so good pics.

I hope someone can tell something from these.

 

[Stephan]

Does anyone recognize these?

 

[rifty]

could be esters red zebra or red coral saulosi
hard to tell frmm pics

 

[elisew]

could be esters red zebra or red coral saulosi
hard to tell frmm pics

+1 for red zebras, but as rifty says it`s a bit difficult to tell from the pics to be honest

 

[Stephan]

So red zebras can be yellow? I will try for some better pics here.

 

[rifty]

the fish in your photos are not yellow mate orange is a better id of colour
http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Zebra_(mbuna)
but they could also be these
http/shop.sweetknowleaquatics.co.uk/Sauloss-Mbuna-Coral-Red

 

[Stephan]

So red zebras can be yellow? I will try for some better pics here.

One of them is orange but the other 2 are yellow as a yellow crayon. Must have been the pic.

 

[rifty]

not to my knowledge red zebras are not yellow hence my second theory coral soulosi are a line bred fish and popular in pet stores the colour spectrum can be yellow to orange as they are not a natural occuring fish. if they are all the same shape fish id say saulosi linebreds

 

[Stephan]

Ok thanks. If they are salousi is a 20 gallon tank good for them? And can I just keep the 3 fish or will I need some other fish?

They also had the same thing with red eyes but I avoided those BC I don't like red eyes.

If I can or do need something else I'd like to consider something blue.

 

[Stephan]

Sweet. I just googles them and it says the males are blue. So I guess that means I have all females. But it makes me happy to think that I can add 1 male and get that blue I was thinking about. I hope these are what I have. So at 3 inches 3-5 of these in a 20 should be fine with only 1 male right? And did I read correctly that these are vegetarian basically? So can I feed the peas?

 

[rifty]

hold on for a positive id. i would be very dubious about any fish from a supermarket being 100% true try and find a breeder

 

[james41683]

the pictures look like red zebras, alot of males are also orange instead of blue. another possibility, considering where these were bought, could be zebra/lab crosses, which gives them a solid yellow color. a 20 gallon would be much too small because of temperment, one fish could easily want the whole tank to himself and kill everyone else.

 

[Stephan]

So what I read about it being necessary to overcrowd African cichlids doesn't play put here?

Upon a closer check, I might have to admit there is a tinge of orange to the yellow ones especially at certain angles but with this comparison I think there is a clear difference between the orange and yellow ones.

And hopefully these other pics are better than the first. Both yellow ones definitely have some kind of faintish vertical striping I hope we can see in the pic.

Sorry here is color comparison pic