cichlids cichlids cichlids!! but what are they?

[mr funktastic]

ok i took some pictures of all my cichlids but there are 2 that i dont know what they are(actually 4 but that was a different post) the 2 that i am wondering about are the first 2 pictues. i think they are cobalts but i am not sure. i got them from the famous assorted tank that pretty much all stores have. the other 2 i am wondering about but nobody has been able to identify are near the bottom of the last pic that look kind of like kenyi. i actually managed to get all of them ina group photo lol it wasa amazing.

 

[DeFeKt]

has same body structure as mine and judging by the two irridescent stripes on the forehead i'd say a cross bred of or a very poor quality Maingano (cyaneorhabdos)
I do have one throwaway fry at about 3cm who also doesn't have any stripes and looks exactly the same. most probably a female.
hth

Matt.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

#1 is a Maylandia Callainos AKA Cobalt.

Can you get a side pic of the second one?

 

[mr funktastic]

i can try but it looks like a pretty good match to me with the cobalt. what makes u think it might not be?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The second one does appear to be a cobalt but I wanted to look at the sides to ensure they are not striped.

 

[mr funktastic]

ohhh ok they are not stripped. i can clearly see that myself without posting the pic. i opened up my curtains today in my room to see them in direct sunlight so i could see there true colours and they are just the most amazing blue. but from what i saw there were no stripes the only difference between the 2 is that 1 appears to be a litttle darker. i am hoping i got a male and female for the chance of breeding. thanks for your help

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Chances are you have a male and female. When sexing Cobalts, you can't go by the egg spots, they are false. Once they mature you'll be able to tell.

 

[mr funktastic]

i will keep hoping that i got the pair. i want to help my local fish store out by giving them most of the fry once they get big enough because there selection has always sucked big time for cichlid selection. i dont even care if they give me a credit i just want people to be able to choose from a wider range. i hope to breed yellow labs the cobalts and my peacocks. i will unfortunatly be forced to buy another tank (forced lol ya right) so i can grow out the fry a bit before i give them to the lfs.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

If you indeed do have a pair, be ready for fry! Our Cobalts are popping out fry about every 4 weeks. Our first batchn is almost ready for sale to the lfs.

 

[mr funktastic]

do you have pics of the fry? i always love seeing a big group of the tiny fry it looks soo cool. if u have a pic please post it

 

[jrp1588]

i saw one of her fry pics, they actually came out pretty big!hehe

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Here's a link to a pic of our new born Cobalt fry. They were not even a day old at the time. Maybe 2 or 3 hours. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=9358&ppuser=7894

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I need to get some pics of what they look like today. It's a tank full of bright blue fish and even brighter egg spots.

 

[jrp1588]

I can't wait till my preggo Red zebra spits, come thursday it'll be time to put her in the breeder tank to have her babies. I can't imagine she'll have more than a few babies...she's so little herself. She's but 3" long or so...

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You'd be suprised Jase. Our Peacock is about 3 or 4 inches in size and just spit over 30 fry. They have amazing holding capabilities. If it's her first batch though she may not have many survivors. It's weird to watch the fry come pouring out of their mouth. PLUS, today my boss was sitting at her desk on the phone and started freaking out screaming. I ran back there and she said that the fish was acting funny, like she was being electrocuted. LOL Of course I knew what this meant but she had no clue. She didn't know which fish it was that was acting weird, so fingers crossed for Acei or lab fry.

 

[mr funktastic]

lol my mom does the same thing when she watches my fish. she is amazed at all the little things they do. she was absolutly mesmerized when watching my guppy give birth. and i am suprised at how big they are 8O i didnt think that they have so much colour as babies. thanks for putting the pics. i was also wondering what the differences between male and female are?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

It's difficult to sex Cobalts since the egg spotting is actually false eggs and they are not like alot of Cichlids where the male is one color and the female is another. Malawi Mayhem says that males will tend to have a more vibrant blue, a steeper forehead, more eggspots, pointier fins, and generally, become larger in size. This is true with ours.

 

[jrp1588]

I was probably just wrong about her being prego and she has some sort of mouth cancer, that'd be just my luck. lol

 

[mr funktastic]

ok i tried to get a pic of both of them at a side profile. it is slightly difficult and my camera sucks royally and the pictures are not that great lol but maybe people can help identify them. i dont really expect u to be able to sex them but the thought was there. hope u like the pics.

 

[jrp1588]

your camera looks pretty good to me...My pictures suck...at least of the smaller fish. I can get some pretty good ones of my angels. Anyway, got a new picture of my preggers cichlid.

Here's a before shot, when she first started holding.

Here she is tonight.


Poor girl looks so skinny, she really needs to spit those babies!