ID on Cichlid? Is it Sick?

[janky]

So I just recently picked up this lil guy locally from an ad I ran across on CL saying that he was being bullied and his fins were being bitten by other fish.
Figured he'd be a good addition to my tank and wanted to help the guy out...

(sorry, hard to get a good pic of him and the red spots - he was right in the corner of the tank)

I think its a Nijessi (sp?) and the person who I got him from said the same.

Also, towards his rear fin, there is a red spot much like the red around his gills up front (sorry for the lack of terminology, I suck at fish anatomy lol )

Just looking to identify, figure out sex, and perhaps tell if he's sick?

The person I got him pointed out there are some chunks missing in his fin, but I think he'll be ok now that he's in a more community friendly set up.
Well... he's in QT right now, but WILL be in a more friendly set up

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[janky]

Any ideas?

He seems healthy, swims around with a lot of energy, eating just fine...

I've just never seen the red spots like that around his gills (?) and by his tail fin

 

[garfy]

Perhaps he's been in bad quality water before you got him.Hopefully he will lose the red spots as he gets used to his new home.I don't recognise your fish though.

 

[Gillie]

It is definitely not A. nijsseni, but for a positive ID I need a better shot of the fish.

 

[janky]

It is definitely not A. nijsseni, but for a positive ID I need a better shot of the fish.

Kinda difficult, as all we have to work with is an iPhone cam, but here's another.

He's mostly yellow in this pic, but the red spot towards his rear fin is more visible. I'm kinda concerned about this - want to be sure it's not rot or something that will worsen.

Sometimes he gets some darker grey vertical stripes that span from his top to that horizontal grey strip running down his body. (This is more visible in the first pic)
Sometimes he's just pale yellow.

 

[Gillie]

It looks very much like it is from the sp. pebas group, I was thinking that it may be A. hongsloi but the caudal spot is rectangular instead of triangular. Now sp. galaxy/galaxis unfortunately are multiple species or color forms that are lumped under one name so as to which one it actually is would be very difficult to tell unless it was in full color for a male or brood dress for a female. try putinng it in a tank with a darker substrate and let it get comfortable so that you might start to see a bit more color.

The red that you are seeing under the caudal spot is completely natural and can be seen in many different species so it is nothing to worry about.

 

[janky]

It looks very much like it is from the sp. pebas group, I was thinking that it may be A. hongsloi but the caudal spot is rectangular instead of triangular. Now sp. galaxy/galaxis unfortunately are multiple species or color forms that are lumped under one name so as to which one it actually is would be very difficult to tell unless it was in full color for a male or brood dress for a female. try putinng it in a tank with a darker substrate and let it get comfortable so that you might start to see a bit more color.

The red that you are seeing under the caudal spot is completely natural and can be seen in many different species so it is nothing to worry about.

Thank you very much! I appreciate it.

His coloring is better in the first pic, even though it's split by the tank seam

it's really just pale yellow with that horizontal grey strip running down his body, and on the upper half there are small vertical grey stripes.

but im glad it's nothing to worry about!

 

[stone1269]

Maybe a juv jack dempsey??

 

[janky]

Maybe a juv jack dempsey??

Well, the guy I got him from said he's had him for almost 2 years. If it were JD he'd be a lot bigger right??

 

[stone1269]

Yes def lol

 

[Gillie]

How big is it? I'm kinda wondering if it's a female, but the lack of any pattern makes it tough to say.

 

[janky]

probably about 3.5 - 4 inches.
It's a really pale yellow when it's calm, but if it gets freaked out it gets that black horizontal stripe down the middle with the black/greyish vertical ones along the top.

whatever the mystery fish is, it's really cool... I'm glad I rescued it

 

[janky]

Here's a much better pic we got this morning;

 

[Gillie]

I still have no clue on a species you may want to post in the id forum at apistogramma.com and see if Mike Wise can give a definite id.

 

[Sistill]

Not sure but there is another thread on here with pictures like your fish, he called it a rainbow (herotilapia multispinosa)

 

[Gillie]

There's no doubt that it is an Apisto so it's definitely not multispinosa. Janky, I picked up a pair of sp. Orangeschwanz today and noticed that they are quite similar so it could possibly be from the eunotus group.

 

[janky]

There's no doubt that it is an Apisto so it's definitely not multispinosa. Janky, I picked up a pair of sp. Orangeschwanz today and noticed that they are quite similar so it could possibly be from the eunotus group.

The guys over at the apisto forum said it was most likely eunotus - I did some searching on google and found a couple species that look just like mine, so I'm inclined to believe that is correct

Congrats on the new fish! These guys are really cool... full of personality