I went to the fish store yesterday looking to get 2 more cichlids for my cichlid tank and I’m new to keeping cichlids. Until yesterday I had only 1 black convict cichlid in a 40 Gallon tank I bought and set up about a month and a half ago as my cichlid tank. So I told the guy there, after looking around, I wanted 1 Green Texas Cichlid and 1 Firemouth Cichlid! The Green Texas looks as such, however I’m 100% positive that the “Firemouth Cichlid” is actually a Black Convict Cichlid!!! Looks exactly like the first black convict I bought, only 3/4 inch longer! No red belly what so ever!!! Anyhow, the 2 convicts are together in the same tank and get along very well... I had to put the green Texas in one of my other tanks(29 gallon) and he gets along fine with all the other fish in there. The convicts were trying to beat him up and he wouldn’t even defend himself! So I took him out immediately... anyway, could my experience be a case of fish misidentification??? Will try to get photos of both fish and post if anyone wants me to...
Do fish stores sometimes misidentify fish????
- Thread starter DHill33
- Start date
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SaraB
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes sometimes big brand fish stores get identifications or information on fish wrong.
Fishlegend
Aquarium Advice Freak
Yep here's proof
They told me my cichlid was a salvini cichlid no mispell! And he looks black with dark gray irridsent stripes!
They told me my cichlid was a salvini cichlid no mispell! And he looks black with dark gray irridsent stripes!
That is sounds most likely to also be a Convict Cichlid. I have 2 convicts and that is a good description of them, especially when new to the tank or stressed. With time the your fish may become brighter with colors Being more pronounced... and now that I’ve looked online since this incident I believe the fish they told me was a green Texas Cichlid looks more like a Jack Dempsey Cichlid, but I’m not 100% like I am with the convict. Plus, the “green Texas Cichlid” does really well in my community tank with all the other species, he’s really mild mannored, which I’m glad he is because if he had to stay in the tank with my convicts he would already be dead!
Also, salvin cichlids are known for their bright red, yellow, blue, grey, black, bright orange color combinations! They’re beautiful! But cichlids do take time to color up properly with a proper diet and healthy living conditions so maybe that could play a role in the fish not looking right!
emeraldking
Aquarium Advice Freak
This happens a lot that stores misidentify fish...
