Help ID my fish

[Aster]

So i bought these guys as assorted africans , i think they are lake malawi cichlid's but im not sure i would like to have only cichlids that will breed together . My hope is that i can get help Iding these guys then rehome the incompatible ones and get a few more of the same type . i am wanting to breed them as feeders for my snapper and also because ive heard that watching the cichlids care for there fry is very fun to watch .

So here are some pics of them they arnt the greatest pics but hopefully we can get them IDed with these .

First one big blue the largest guy of the africans and most dominate amongst them the only fish he avoids are the blood parrot and the large pleco .

http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3008.jpg

Next up is goldie the most interesting of my cichlid's he loves to dig through the sand and puts it in his mouth and spits it out to make little caves under rocks .
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3012.jpg
its kind of fuzzy he would not stay still =(
this next one is i think the same variety as goldie its jut slightly more yellow instead of orange
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3009.jpg

the next few pics are the other 3 guys im not sure about them . one kind of looks like big blue but he has a yellow top fin and has not grown as fast , then there is one with spots on him and another with stripes that sems to have a more round head then the others .

the yellow fin one
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3013.jpg
Spotted one
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3010.jpg
And lastly the striped one
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3011.jpg
i know its a terrible pic of him =/

here are some other pics of them some show them better then the individual pics
big blue again
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3008.jpg

Goldie and spot
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3009.jpg

the yellow fin guy again
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3014.jpg

spot and the striped guy
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3015-1.jpg

And lastly spot again
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3019.jpg

thanks for any help Iding these guys i have a spare 55 gal tank that i could setup and cycle with some filter material from my current tank if i only have 2 varieties but if its several im going to try to rehome them and just go for 1 type .

 

[JustOneMore20]

I love ID threads! Welcome to AA by the way!!

The first one looks like an Electric Blue Hap. (click for info) The 2nd one could possibly be a Red Zebra. The 3rd, yellow one, could be a Yellow Lab (does it have a black stripe on its top fin?) or a female Pseudotropheus saulosi. Or there is a chance its a mixture of a couple fish. The blue with yellow fins looks like an Acei. The spotted one is probably some type of OB Zebra most likely....just a guess though. A clearer picture might help, if you can get it to be still. I think the striped one is probably an Auratus (scroll down to see a female/juvie).

Those are my best guesses!

The Auratus and Hap are going to be the most aggressive IMO. The rest will still be pretty aggressive, but not as bad and would be fine together. As you can see none of these are the same species....so if you are wanting a species tank, you'll have to pick one and find others of the same species. I wouldn't buy them from an assorted tank though.

 

[Aster]

you don't think the gold one and the yellowish one are the same species ? they look so similar in the tank hehe look like twins they have stripes down the side of there body's if that helps. the stripes are the same color as they are with paler areas between them .

Thanks again for the help with ID ill try to get better pis of one with the black stripes and the yellow fin guy .

Can these species remain housed together and still have fry if i give enough places or do i really need to cut down to 1 species also how many can i put in this 55 gallon tank and still allow them room to grow in . Currently there are 6 Africans 1 blood parrot and the 1 pleco . The pleco will eventually be going into a 150 gallon indoor pond im building in the garage as he will outgrow this 55 gallon .

 

[JustOneMore20]

The gold one looks more red to me...atleast in the pic. See if you can get a clearer shot of it and the yellow one. I know they can look different colors in pics.

They can definitely all be housed together, but they shouldn't breed with each other, since they aren't the same species. It is possible for them to breed with each other, but I don't think that will happen. Down the road, you might consider trading the big blue guy (Electric Blue Hap)...he will get pretty big for a 55g and might show more aggression as he grows and ages. Otherwise, with enough rock work the others should be fine together. You could rehome the Electric Blue Hap and then get 2-3 more of each of the others if you wanted.

 

[HUKIT]

The 2nd is a Red Zebra, the 3rd looks like a male Kenyi or Yellow Lab and the last is a Orange Blotch Zebra.

The first ahli looks great but I can't tell the last blue one by that picture maybe a Acei?

Zebra's and Labs will cross breed...And the Aurutus will rule the tank.

 

[sliderfish]

#1 Electric Blue
#2 blurry but looks like a red zebra
#3 could be a zebra lab hybrid, cant call it a lab for sure from that pic
#4 yellow fin is probably yellow fin acei
#5 spotted on is most likely an OB Zebra
#6 Melanochromis Auratus most likely

All are very common mbuna species except the electric blue...It would be best to relocate the blue and pick a species to get a male to female ratio of roughly 1-3. keeping the same species will get more breeding even though species such as labs and zebras will crossbreed. The Auratus will most likely not breed readily with cichlids like these do to different body builds...I hope you have a 55 gal or bigger tank to keep them happy...didn't notice. *sorry just saw the 55 part

 

[Aster]

Thanks for all the reply's guys =) . I know that Goldie the fish in the 2nd pic looks red in that pic but i promise its the lighting he is very orange and the yellower one looks just like him except it has a opaque colored dot on its bottom fin ( isnt ick or anything its a marking ive seen it in a few o the pis posted above of other fish also) . they look just like the pics of the Pseudotropheus saulosi you posted above in the original response specifically the pics male transforming show exactly the marking on the bottom tail im talking about , also the pic show female looks just like goldie except he/she has more pronounced stripes on the side . I kind of hate to call the stripes cause it makes it sound like there very noticeable witch they are to some extent but its just 2 hues of the same color .Also the pic male in disguise looks similar to the way there striping is but just in the 1 color hue.

The problem is they also look very much like the pic of the red zebra now that i look through them and some of them also have those small opaque spots on there bottom fin =/.

So there probably close enough species to breed given the correct proportions of males to females ext ya ?

The one with the black stripes i think you are correct in saying is a Melanochromis auratus it looks almost identical to the pics in the link Subadult female and holding female to in the body and head shape and the pic of the 2 " female except she is more cream colored and that one is more yellow .

The guy with the yellow top fin does look very similar also to the Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" (Msuli) ( thank god for copy and paste btw) in the pictures female 3 and female 2 .

Also big blue looks a lot like the Sciaenochromis fryeri (Taiwan Reef) in the pic titled photo 3 , Actually my guy just started showing the red markings on his bottom tail. Or i just noticed it a nasty infection just killed my dojo loach from my other community tank and he had inflamed red fins is why i noticed this i was scared my chichlid tank that has had almost no health problems was about to get attacked , however after taking a look at this pic and comming back downstairs it actually looks like the pic and not like inflammation .

Ok i tried to get some better pics of a few of these guys they dont like to pose except for big blue but pretty sure he is the Electric blue harp .ahttp://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3030.jpgnd here is 1 more photo of him

Ok the fish e call goldie or number 2 in the original post
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3041.jpg
And her/his head
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3040.jpg

The yellow one or number 3 in my original post
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3035.jpg
and here from a bit further back you can see the striping i was talking about both these fish have this kind of striping
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3034.jpg

The one we call spot or # 4 in original post a pretty good shot of this one actually
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3029.jpg

The striped one # 6 in the original post
http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/Asteroidea/Fish/100_3032.jpg

So let me know what ya think given the new pics , i myself have no idea since i was sure it was one type that you posted till i looked through the various pics of the others and saw they really look a lot like several varieties lol .

 

[HUKIT]

Still the same...
1 is a Red Zebra
2 is a Yellow Lab
3 is a OB Zebra ( orange blotch)
4 is a Aurutus

Any mouthbrooding cichlid will spawn together.

 

[mfdrookie516]

the specks on the anal fin are called egg spots just for future reference.

fish #2 is certainly a red zebra
fish #3 is a yellow lab, though it does look like it has some other fish possibly bred with it down the line somewhere
fish #6 is an auratus.

You do have some incompatability in the tank though. The blood parrot needs to go. The hap will get too big for a 55g. The best thing to do in a 55g is have 1m3fm of 3 different fish. That will stock the tank right, keep the aggression to a minimum, and should get you lots of fry

 

[JustOneMore20]

I agree with Jonathan/mfdrookie.

#3 Looks to me like a Yellow Lab hybrid (crossed with something else). You will see these alot in mixed African tanks at the lfs. And #2 still looks like a Red Zebra...there are light colored ones and darker orange/red ones.