# My new Lake Malawi cichlid tank !!



## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Sadly a very poor mobile phone photo but you get the idea 

My new Lake Malawi cichlid tank ..









Sadly being dyslexic ( why choose such a difficult word to spell !) I'm very poor at spellings but ..
There are some Yellow Labs ( not the doggie type ) , SnowFlake Labs , Red Zebras , Striped Auratius ? , Blue Pseudatrophius ??

I've put loads of rocks and realistically flowing , silk plants in to provide endless hiding places and passages for security . I tried so hard to get this in a healthy state and looking great , there's three Fluval internal filters and three heater / thermostats in case of failure ....frequent water changes due to the number of fish in there ( they need to be kept in numbers to avoid bullying ) .... and an air pump providing some air bubbles at the back ...

Anyways they seemed kinda anxious and were darting around too much and it was puzzling me but I'd made a careless mistake and didn't check on the water temps !!

It was just under 90F !!! 

Thankfully I realised and dropped it to 78F and they're lovely and settled now !!


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## **louise** (Nov 10, 2010)

Can you not get some real plants in there Zinc?


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

I just don't have any luck with real plants in aquariums ( or the house for that matter ) - our garden is a thing of beauty though 

These look real and even flow like real ones ...

The Malawis are predominantly veggies as well as I recall so I don't even know what they'd do to real plants come to think of it . They have a veggie based frozen chunks diet supplemented with TetraMin crispies .. 


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

]Any idea what my two little 'blue ones' could be - 4cm 

[/IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170728/41c21017dfe000abe709925525940356.png[/IMG]


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## Diplo (Mar 15, 2017)

Psuedotropheus sp. Bottom one looks like P.Damasoni .top one possibly also Damasoni, pic is a bit dark to be sure.then again the blue ones could be P.saulosi, the yellow ones could be female or subadult saulosi. Not much help really.

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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Diplo said:


> Psuedotropheus sp. Bottom one looks like P.Damasoni .top one possibly also Damasoni, pic is a bit dark to be sure.then again the blue ones could be P.saulosi, the yellow ones could be female or subadult saulosi. Not much help really.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk




The yellows are Yellow Labs apparently ... ( not the dogs )


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## Diplo (Mar 15, 2017)

Yellow labs,Labidochromis caeruleus have black edge dorsal, pelvic and anal fins, the tail fin is not edged. I can't see any black edging to the fins on your yellow fish which is why i thought they might be female p.saulosi. its only an educated guess .regardless they are all nice looking fish and your tank looks great.

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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Diplo said:


> Yellow labs,Labidochromis caeruleus have black edge dorsal, pelvic and anal fins, the tail fin is not edged. I can't see any black edging to the fins on your yellow fish which is why i thought they might be female p.saulosi. its only an educated guess .regardless they are all nice looking fish and your tank looks great.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk




Thanks .... I'm wondering if the black comes later as they develop - as two of the dominant ones of the 5 Yellow labs have the black on the dorsal ..although the biggest of all - has ZERO black edgings which disproves my theory , I guess 


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> I just don't have any luck with real plants in aquariums ( or the house for that matter ) - our garden is a thing of beauty though
> 
> These look real and even flow like real ones ...
> 
> ...


They would eat them all.



Zincubus said:


> ]Any idea what my two little 'blue ones' could be - 4cm
> 
> ]image[/URL]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170728/41c21017dfe000abe709925525940356.png]image[/URL]image
> 
> image


They look like Pseudotropheus socolofi to me. Don't forget to keep both sexes of all your Malawi mbuna cichlids to distract the males from fighting all the time.


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## Diplo (Mar 15, 2017)

That's different then! Definitely sounds like a male lab. Female labs don't have the black edge to the fins , so could be mistaken for female p.saulosi. looks like you have 1 male lab and the rest are female or subadult male yet to develope colour. 

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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zinc, one species I'd recommend if you can get any, is a pair or trio of Labeotropheus tewavasae. Not too nasty, & sexable. Another is Ps. 'minutus', but the name has changed several times & I don't know what they're called these days- they look like an elongated BB (Black Bars) variant of Metriacima zebra, ie ice blue with black bars & black face with ice blue bars on the forehead. Again, not very nasty to other fish.
Btw, watch the Auratus- they can get very snotty indeed.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

wilkinss77 said:


> Zinc, one species I'd recommend if you can get any, is a pair or trio of Labeotropheus tewavasae. Not too nasty, & sexable. Another is Ps. 'minutus', but the name has changed several times & I don't know what they're called these days- they look like an elongated BB (Black Bars) variant of Metriacima zebra, ie ice blue with black bars & black face with ice blue bars on the forehead. Again, not very nasty to other fish.
> Btw, watch the Auratus- they can get very snotty indeed.




Yeah.... I'll see how the Auratus go on as they grow .... I've just added some more rocks , making the wall even higher and giving loads more hiding places , crevices and passages ... 

I'll have a look at those you suggested .... 

I only need another 4 or 5 so I'll choose wisely .

Tried to cover all the colours 

I've got the yellows sorted , couple of orangey Red Zebras , some Albino White SnowFlakes and a couple of little blue ones that appear to be a little tetchy , keeping my eyes on them as well . Something real nice Blue would be great .

I tried some Blue Demanthius ( spelling ) years ago but they were pure evil !

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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Sooooo 

The only nice type I've been able to source locally are a some Pseudotropheus sp. Polit hail (Lion's Cove ) .

Looks like they will the jewels in the crown at £15 each !!











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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Sooooo
> 
> The only nice type I've been able to source locally are a some Pseudotropheus sp. Polit hail (Lion's Cove ) .
> 
> ...


Looks like that might be a locale morph of Ps.'minutus'- imagine the same fish with a row of jet black bands down the sides as per M.zebra 'BB', plus a black flash in the dorsal like yellow Labs, & you've got Ps.'minutus'.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Could I get away with just buying the one male as there is only one that's coloured up so probably can't guarantee wether the second would be a female or another male ( to fight ?) ?


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Could I get away with just buying the one male as there is only one that's coloured up so probably can't guarantee wether the second would be a female or another male ( to fight ?) ?


Personally I wouldn't for the reasons i explained in my pm, but you could.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

wilkinss77 said:


> Personally I wouldn't for the reasons i explained in my pm, but you could.



Is it just he may not colour up well due to females or could he go pyscho ??


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Is it just he may not colour up well due to females or could he go pyscho ??


He won't go psycho- looks like one of the smaller, more placid mbunas to me, & probably either a colour locale of 'minutus', or part of the 'minutus' complex to which I believe Ps. saulosi & Ps demasoni also belong. But he might not colour up properly & might behave shyer than he should.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Thanks. Can't really afford / justify spending £15 on one fish that may not bring anything to the party - so to speak .


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

.....


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

I've added another couple of layers of boulders to provide even more hiding places , crevices and through-ways to the back of the tank 











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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Upgraded the LED lighting slightly ...

This is just the LEDs and without the GroLux ( colour enhancement ) on ..










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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Sooo ... and this may have a few raising their eyebrows BUT today I added possibly one of the final jigsaw pieces .

A lovely little Golden Albino Compressips !! 

I've had these many years ago and they're one of my all time favourites . Never had or even seen an Albino version though !

When adding new 'lake' fish to a tank I always change all the rock-work around so they have to work out new territories . He's a great display fish as he's always on show at the front of the tank while the rest are in and out of all the nooks and crevices


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

So a few pix of the new Golden Albino Compressiceps

Here he is ....











New setup with LEDs 











Pic under GroLux light ..










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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> So a few pix of the new Golden Albino Compressiceps
> 
> Here he is ....
> 
> ...


Watch the mbuna's around that Compressiceps- mind they don't turn on him/her. Compressiceps & other 'utaka' haplochromids are not as territorial as mbuna & might get bullied. Btw, 'utaka' is the name for sand/open water dwelling Haplochromine Malawis, whereas the rock/lake reef dwelling Psuedotrophines are 'mbuna'.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Thank bud !

So far so good , they're all about the same size / age and are youngsters although he is the biggest by about 5mm.

As you alluded to - the other 15 are all territorial ( terror-torrial lol ) and have already marked out their own little areas ... The Compressiceps is quite happy to hover/ drift about here and there just looking menacingly gorgeous 

He's a one-man dither-fish shoal 

It means that they're all happier to spend more time out on display though as he's generally out and about .


I had Compressiceps in the past but in twos and they kept well away from each other , one took one side of the tank and the other took the other half . There was sadly only one on sale yesterday or I'd have had one or two more .

He's the poster-boy of the tank for sure and I'm so pleased to have found him , being an Albino is a bonus as I didn't even know they existed . Can't believe he was only a tenner as I'd have happily paid £30 for him 

PS

I was tempted to buy an albino Bristlenose Plec yesterday - about 4cm long and £9 BUT when I thought about it I'm striving to provide the Malawis a largely vegetarian diet with veggie flakes , frozen Malawi cubes and sliced cucumber / courgettes and the Bristlenose would simply be eating away at all the food .. they all like munching on algae as well. 


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Thank bud !
> 
> So far so good , they're all about the same size / age and are youngsters although he is the biggest by about 5mm.
> 
> ...


Bristlenose won't hurt, and it will keep the glass clean, which the mbunas will not. I've always kept at least one plec of some kind in every freshwater tropical tank I've ever set up.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

wilkinss77 said:


> Bristlenose won't hurt, and it will keep the glass clean, which the mbunas will not. I've always kept at least one plec of some kind in every freshwater tropical tank I've ever set up.



Yeah , I was tempted but given their liking for the green food it just seemed counterproductive .

I have no trouble keeping the front panel clean ..


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Update .











So rearranged the rock work again ...to add a single baby Trophius Duboisi and a young pair of Julidochromis Marlieri - easy for you to say 









Shockingly poor photo but they're so twitchy !


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Update .
> 
> image
> 
> ...


I'd add 2-3 more Duboisi if I were you- Tropheus can get hyperdominant when kept singly.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Typical , the guy said to only have ONE per tank ..


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Typical , the guy said to only have ONE per tank ..
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


All my fish books including an Interpet one on African cichlids, & shop owners I've talked to who specialise in African rift lake cichlids, tell me that Tropheus live in large groups that interact among each other, & if isolated from such groups, turn snotty & take their aggression out on other fish. They're a bit like damselfish in that respect- keep one & it'll turn into the tank's tyrant, but if you have room for a group, they fight & play among themselves & largely ignore other fish.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

wilkinss77 said:


> All my fish books including an Interpet one on African cichlids, & shop owners I've talked to who specialise in African rift lake cichlids, tell me that Tropheus live in large groups that interact among each other, & if isolated from such groups, turn snotty & take their aggression out on other fish. They're a bit like damselfish in that respect- keep one & it'll turn into the tank's tyrant, but if you have room for a group, they fight & play among themselves & largely ignore other fish.




There's another pretty fish called a Demansi !? 

Which seem to be tyrants and they sell them as individuals ( One Per tank ) 


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> There's another pretty fish called a Demansi !?
> 
> Which seem to be tyrants and they sell them as individuals ( One Per tank )
> 
> ...


Do you mean Demasoni? Nope, not particularly nasty unless you keep only one- then it will become a tyrant. The more the better with that one.
A better choice would be Minutus which looks like Demasoni but is easier to sex, more mellow tempered and can be kept as a pair.
Or Saulosi which is similar but with orange females & again can be kept as a pair.
All of the mbuna are best kept as more than one- it is singles that tend to turn nasty, unless you have single females, but they aren't as impressive in most species.
Avoid Elongatus at all costs- they're the nastiest of all mbuna, with females as bad as the males. Beware of Elongatus sold as Minutus- they're similar but the latter have banded heads, Elongatus have solid black heads (& usually mullered fins from fighting). Or vice versa, but you'll know if they're actually Minutus.
Always keep only one male per group/pair of any mbuna- if in doubt where sexing is concerned, avoid unless you're in a position to catch & separate them.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Wilks ( or anyone obviously) ...

Any ideas on this trio ?
Info forget what they're called - seem to recall the common tag was Striped Haps ... got a male and two females .

In their shop tank he was the dominant male with marvellous colours but he's gone drab in my tank wheras the girls are looking better than they did ?!

Presumed hed be on form with two girlies !

Male 










Female










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## Diplo (Mar 15, 2017)

I'm no cichlid expert , i mainly keep rainbow fish , but the Bottom one looks like astatotilapia sp from lake victoria .


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Wilks ( or anyone obviously) ...
> 
> Any ideas on this trio ?
> Info forget what they're called - seem to recall the common tag was Striped Haps ... got a male and two females .
> ...


Might be because the male is being outdominated by the mbuna- those haps are from Lake Victoria, not Malawi or Tanganyika.



Diplo said:


> I'm no cichlid expert , i mainly keep rainbow fish , but the Bottom one looks like astatotilapia sp from lake victoria .


That's what they are- male & female Lake Victoria astato's.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Thanks guys , yeah looks like that's what they are on checking Google ... So are they known as Striped Haps or Zebra Haps or something similar ??

Sure that's what the tank label said anyways ..


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Thanks guys , yeah looks like that's what they are on checking Google ... So are they known as Striped Haps or Zebra Haps or something similar ??
> 
> Sure that's what the tank label said anyways ..
> 
> ...


Yes, they are called that. They're also extinct or nearly so in the lake, after some moron thought it would be a bright idea to put Nile Perch in the lake for the locals to catch & eat. But Nile Perch grow to 6' & eat anything they can fit in their huge mouths- they're a freshwater equivalent to groupers! They also breed like rabbits & within a frighteningly short time started to thin out the native cichlid population to the point where many of them are now endangered or extinct in the lake, & many now only exist in captivity. London zoo has saved many of them by breeding them. 
AS for the male's colour, try putting a mirror in front of the male- he might display to it. I used to have a pair of Ctenopoma ansorgii (ornate climbing perch/bush fish), & on sight of his reflection in a mirror, the male used to turn from brick red with dark brown bands & orange fins, to pale turquoise with intense blue-black bands & red fins.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Can anyone identify these two new little Malawis ?











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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

:notworthy::notworthy:


Zincubus said:


> Can anyone identify these two new little Malawis ?
> 
> imageimage
> 
> ...


They look like male Psuedotropheus minutus. The females have a grey oreally orange background.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Sorry - one maybe !?

Look completely different in the flesh and were bought from two different shops 


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Sorry - one maybe !?
> 
> Look completely different in the flesh and were bought from two different shops
> 
> ...


Need clearer pics, tbh. The 2nd one looks like a minutus. But the other one looks like a minutus in fright/stress colours.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

wilkinss77 said:


> Need clearer pics, tbh. The 2nd one looks like a minutus. But the other one looks like a minutus in fright/stress colours.




Sorry ... They never stop exploring and darting about ..


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Anyone have an idea what this guy is ?

I found it in a mixed Malawi tank but it looked kinda like a few Geophagus I've seen in the past as it's mouth seems to be pointing down somewhat and in the store or was mainly sucking up the fine gravel but it's just swimming mid tank with all the rest now !?'










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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Anyone have an idea what this guy is ?
> 
> I found it in a mixed Malawi tank but it looked kinda like a few Geophagus I've seen in the past as it's mouth seems to be pointing down somewhat and in the store or was mainly sucking up the fine gravel but it's just swimming mid tank with all the rest now !?'
> image
> ...


Almost impossible to nail down to species- but that's a Haplochromid of the genera Protomelas, Cyrtocara, Nyassochromis, etc. It's an utaka (sand cichlid) rather than an mbuna (rock cichlid). Or it might be a female Aulonocara sp. (peacock cichlid). If it's one of the utakas, then it's anyone's guess what sex it is, as they all look similar until they mature, then they can be indentified to species by the colour of the males. Either way, mind none of the mbuna start picking on it, as neither utaka types nor any of the peacocks are up to defending themselves all that much.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

wilkinss77 said:


> Almost impossible to nail down to species- but that's a Haplochromid of the genera Protomelas, Cyrtocara, Nyassochromis, etc. It's an utaka (sand cichlid) rather than an mbuna (rock cichlid). Or it might be a female Aulonocara sp. (peacock cichlid). If it's one of the utakas, then it's anyone's guess what sex it is, as they all look similar until they mature, then they can be indentified to species by the colour of the males. Either way, mind none of the mbuna start picking on it, as neither utaka types nor any of the peacocks are up to defending themselves all that much.




It actually seems rather confident , always right at the front and middle of tank , has whitish flecks on the pectoral fins ( again a bit like Geophagus ) ... could be some kind of Malawi hybrid I guess . 

Pity it looks quite drab , I was hoping it would be an interesting little earth shifter ...looks like he conned me with his behaviour in the pet store tank 

Maybe he'll transform into a colurful stunner ..





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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> It actually seems rather confident , always right at the front and middle of tank , has whitish flecks on the pectoral fins ( again a bit like Geophagus ) ... could be some kind of Malawi hybrid I guess .
> 
> Pity it looks quite drab , I was hoping it would be an interesting little earth shifter ...looks like he conned me with his behaviour in the pet store tank
> 
> ...


Not necessarily a hybrid, neither were you necessarily conned. Longnosed utaka do indeed sand sift like Geophagus. If it's male, it will gradually change colour.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Thanks bud ... incidentally I meant conned by the fish not the fish bloke 


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Just found these images of a Geophagus steindachneri
- looks kinda like mine ??



















This is another shot of mine again 











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..










Thoughts ??

Any keen eyed types around 

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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Mine seems to have faded stripes whereas the Geophagus don't .. plus it hasn't been within six inches of the bottom of my tank since I got it .










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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Just found these images of a Geophagus steindachneri
> - looks kinda like mine ??
> 
> image
> ...





Zincubus said:


> Mine seems to have faded stripes whereas the Geophagus don't .. plus it hasn't been within six inches of the bottom of my tank since I got it .
> image
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


nope, that's not it- no self respecting aquatic dealer worth his salt would sell a geo as a Malawi cichlid. Trust me, it's a Haplochromine utaka or a female Aulonocara sp. peacock cichlid. If it's the latter, they don't go near the bottom all that much, but live near the rocks like mbuna.


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Actually Zinc, I'm leaning more toward it being a female peacock. If that's what it is, all the female Aulonocara look practically the same, & will cross breed. Therefore, if you find a male of any Aulonocara, chances are they will pair up & mate. As long as you don't try to sell any surviving fry (they won't be genetically pure as you won't have been able to match them to actual species), that will be fine. But peacocks do better with both sexes present, & they aren't particularly nasty among themselves.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Thanks .,,, as I said it looks a bit drab sadly .. About 5 cm / 2 " long it's got a kinda ' gold tinge 'going on ....


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Thanks .,,, as I said it looks a bit drab sadly .. About 5 cm / 2 " long it's got a kinda ' gold tinge 'going on ....
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


Yeah, all female peacocks are like that if that's what it is (& the size is further evidence- males change colour by that size). But the males- now they're a different kettle of fish entirely (no pun intended!). Depending on the species they are metallic royal blue, blue with a red shoulder patch, blue shot with yellow horizontal streaks, luminous metallic yellow with a blue head, or lilac & gold. Google Aulonocara cichlid or Malawi peacock cichlid & you should get links to pics of both sexes of many species.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

If it's a female Peacock are these likely to be her colours for life ?


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> If it's a female Peacock are these likely to be her colours for life ?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Unfortunately so. That's why I recommend getting a male, to offset her drabness- a bit like female guppies. Plus she'll interact better with a male in the tank.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

wilkinss77 said:


> Unfortunately so. That's why I recommend getting a male, to offset her drabness- a bit like female guppies. Plus she'll interact better with a male in the tank.



Ahh .. well she's active and interesting to watch so I'll give her a free pass ... looking at the group of fish I have I may actually have a male Peacock as well but they don't interact with each other at all .. it's not your typical Peacock ... if I'm correct . Its an Albino , bright orange with deep orange eyes - I'll try and get a decent shot of it ...


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Voila ... hopefully a male Peacock ?!?
I bought it in a cheap batch of SALE fish - mixed Malawis .. just loved it's vibrant colours and didn't realise it was a Peacock - it's a bit bigger than the female at about 4" / 10cm 
Can't say I've ever seen an Albino Orange peacock either ..










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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Voila ... hopefully a male Peacock ?!?
> I bought it in a cheap batch of SALE fish - mixed Malawis .. just loved it's vibrant colours and didn't realise it was a Peacock - it's a bit bigger than the female at about 4" / 10cm
> Can't say I've ever seen an Albino Orange peacock either ..image
> 
> ...


Yep, that's male alright. Give them time.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

wilkinss77 said:


> Yep, that's male alright. Give them time.




Excellentento 


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Two more to ID 

First one was bought as a Red Zebra but it's changed colours .










Plus these two










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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Wilks ... she seems to be getting frisky ... but not with the Albino Red stud above .. .. she's kinda following this nice looking blue one ( not a Peacock I don't think )










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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Two more to ID
> 
> First one was bought as a Red Zebra but it's changed colours .
> image
> ...


All red zebras. The one with blue scales is male. In the lake, pure red zeb females are tangerine, and the males are powder blue. 



Zincubus said:


> Wilks ... she seems to be getting frisky ... but not with the Albino Red stud above .. .. she's kinda following this nice looking blue one ( not a Peacock I don't think ) image
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Totally unrelated species- that's Melanochromis joanjohnsonae, known as Exasperatus (its old species name).


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

A couple more ..Wilks 

This is the boss of the gaff ...











Think it's the same as the other Blue one you ID earlier ( who's being followed by the female Peacock ) .

This one terrifies the others when he ventures out of HIS corner caves ..

He also hates this one and his friend - both identical and oddly enough both were a nice Bluey colour in the fish store a few days ago - they're very robust looking but both have taken to wearing these drab brown colours ..










Looks to be similar species to the two blue ones I was just talking about ..


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> A couple more ..Wilks
> 
> This is the boss of the gaff ...
> 
> ...


Totally unrelated to Exasperatus- different genus & chunker build. Those 3 are Zebra cichlids, BB (black bar) morph. Morphs in African lake cichlids aren't man made, but natural morphs found in the lake like locales are in reptiles. BB is the standard morph of the Zebra. They've gone drab because both are males & scared of the other, dominant one. A male in full colour should be ice blue with intense, jet black bands & a black head with 2 blue bands across the forehead.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

So this chunky dominant one is what again










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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Also what's this Blue one again ..










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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

And finally 

What's this chunky one again .. please ..











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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Also what's this Blue one again ..image
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Melanochromis joanjohnsonae, Exasperatus cichlid.



Zincubus said:


> And finally
> 
> What's this chunky one again .. please ..
> 
> ...


Female red Zebra.


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> So this chunky dominant one is what again image
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Male Black Bar Zebra.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

wilkinss77 said:


> Totally unrelated to Exasperatus- different genus & chunker build. Those 3 are Zebra cichlids, BB (black bar) morph. Morphs in African lake cichlids aren't man made, but natural morphs found in the lake like locales are in reptiles. BB is the standard morph of the Zebra. They've gone drab because both are males & scared of the other, dominant one. A male in full colour should be ice blue with intense, jet black bands & a black head with 2 blue bands across the forehead.




Well I've removed the boss for a few weeks to let the others get to know each other ... maybe the vacuum will create a new 'monster' 

When they've all settled in and grown a bit I will reintroduce him ..


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Well I've removed the boss for a few weeks to let the others get to know each other ... maybe the vacuum will create a new 'monster'
> 
> When they've all settled in and grown a bit I will reintroduce him ..
> 
> ...


Try to get some sexed females- they are blue-grey with less clear bands, more of a a sloping, shallower head, blunter dorsal & anal fins, & fewer egg spots in the anal fin or none. Ask your shop to get some if you can. I had a sexed pair of BBs, & a pair of red top zebs- the males were like marine fish when they coloured up, the red tops even moreso. Red tops are just like BBs, but with a tangerine red/orange dorsal fin.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

wilkinss77 said:


> Try to get some sexed females- they are blue-grey with less clear bands, more of a a sloping, shallower head, blunter dorsal & anal fins, & fewer egg spots in the anal fin or none. Ask your shop to get some if you can. I had a sexed pair of BBs, & a pair of red top zebs- the males were like marine fish when they coloured up, the red tops even moreso. Red tops are just like BBs, but with a tangerine red/orange dorsal fin.




So what shall I ask them to get exactly ... two or three sexed what .... and these are to placate the bully I've just removed , yes ?



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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

As expected one of the two dull coloured ones has brightened up considerably and is kinda picking on the slightly weaker one .... and a few others .

He's nowhere near as aggressive as the one I took out ..... thus far anyways .


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> So what shall I ask them to get exactly ... two or three sexed what .... and these are to placate the bully I've just removed , yes ?
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


Just ask for 3 or 4 female normal black bar female zebras.



Zincubus said:


> As expected one of the two dull coloured ones has brightened up considerably and is kinda picking on the slightly weaker one .... and a few others .
> 
> He's nowhere near as aggressive as the one I took out ..... thus far anyways .
> 
> ...


That's exactly what I'd expect to happen- you see, they have a hierarchy/pecking order. The ones with the longer fins/more egg spots will always be top dogs- that applies to all mbuna, & utaka too- it's just that some species are more extreme in that respect than others. 
The presence of females will to a degree, break up the hierarchy as they compete for females rather than for dominance over each other. That is why you should always keep them as sexed pairs or groups with multiple females, & never just males- single males of most mbuna/utaka can turn dominant over other species & become bullies & tyrants. This phenomenon is known as 'hyperdominance', & is caused by a lack of cichlids of the same species to interact with. Ideally, you should really have only one male & two or more females of each species or at least of each colour locale/morph.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Things are 'occurring' !
The vacuum created by removing the 'bully' simply created THREE new bullies !

I put the original 'tyrant' back and they've all settled into their own areas - all quiet on the Western Front thus far . 

The 'female' Peacock we talked about has now latched onto this pretty boy 
I'm now wondering if she's a female Aulonocana Stuartgranti !?

They are identical shapes but then again it's the same shape as the Peacock as well 











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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> Things are 'occurring' !
> The vacuum created by removing the 'bully' simply created THREE new bullies !
> 
> I put the original 'tyrant' back and they've all settled into their own areas - all quiet on the Western Front thus far .
> ...


Looks like you now have a pair of peacocks. As to whether she's a stuartgranti is hard to say, as all female peacocks look identical regardless of species & will interbreed.

Where the Zebras are concerned, I would keep the boss, try to get some females & remove the other 2 subdominant males.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

wilkinss77 said:


> Looks like you now have a pair of peacocks. As to whether she's a stuartgranti is hard to say, as all female peacocks look identical regardless of species & will interbreed.
> 
> Where the Zebras are concerned, I would keep the boss, try to get some females & remove the other 2 subdominant males.


Well the blue one in the last photo with the white edging on the dorsal was bought/sold as a male stuartgranti ( is that a Peacock ?? I've so much to learn ....) 

Oddly enough , the BOSS and the other two slightly smaller males are all staying in the background now and only appear for moments here and there and at FEEDING FRENZY time 

All quiet on the western front ...











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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

I'm wondering if I should have got the other male stuartgranti as well 

Would they both colour up to impress the female or would it just be asking for more trouble ( males fighting?)


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> I'm wondering if I should have got the other male stuartgranti as well
> 
> Would they both colour up to impress the female or would it just be asking for more trouble ( males fighting?)
> 
> ...


Never keep more males than females, no matter what species! They will indeed fight, albeit not as savagely as other species.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

I did manage to pluck this little 1" guy out of a tank of mixed Malawi ..£3.95 











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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> I did manage to pluck this little 1" guy out of a tank of mixed Malawi ..£3.95
> 
> imageimage
> 
> ...


That's a male OB (Orange Blotch) peacock cichlid.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

What about these three little guys ?

To young to ID ? 











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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Zincubus said:


> What about these three little guys ?
> 
> To young to ID ?
> 
> ...


1.Male Ahl's cichlid, Sciaenochromis fryeri- get a female ASAP, they get very hyperdominant without females present. Also watch him with smaller fish when he grows- they're predators of smaller fish.
2. Not sure, but that's a pair of the same species. From the look of them, probably a Labidochromis species, therefore not particularly nasty.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

That middle one reminded me of a few Apistogramis I've had over the years ..


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

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