My Salvinis :)

[Carlitouus]

Hey, so I started a thread before, but now I believe I got them right(male and female)

So here are two pics, I will be posting more later today, one is dark( I think the male) and the other one is light, getting yellow(female)

So, my salvinis are not quite yellow(they were grouped in a 15G tank at my local FLS),yet. Now the question of the day is, will they get yellow and beautiful, or are these salvini meant to be dark?

What do you guys think about my pair? I'm very excited as I went into a lot of trouble to get a large enough tank for my bedroom(couldn't go bigger for my bedroom).

Anyway, they look kind of dark, and they both have different colors, so I'm guessing a male and female? They also get along and are not at all aggressive, but they like to hide I hope it's because of the new home. Sorry if I type too much, I'm just excited.

anyway, let's make it short, will my new fish get yellow, or will they stay the same? Question number two: Do they look like a pair of male and female? I more pics needed, I will be more than glad to post them today, or as soon as someone needs it.

 

[HUKIT]

I really can't tell from those pictures, you'll need to reshoot them from a better angle. Here you can see some of my group, there are 6 fish with 2 pairs formed already. The dominant fish are slightly brighter than the rest, picture 2&3 are the dominant pair. Picture #1 is the sub-dom female.

 

[Carlitouus]

Oh my god they really are beautiful! Those are some nice fish, good job! Do you think the ones I have(from the two bad pictures I took)will get that yellow touch?The dark one seems to be a male and the lighter one a female, but I don't see that much yellow in them like yours seem to have. I will repost pics tomorrow as soon as I can. I think I have a pair though, they're alone in their tank and do not seem to fight for any reason, matter of fact they're still scared and a bit stressed out because of their new home and swim to the same place every time I walk in(or they will stay together for a few mins and things like that). So, if they don't fight or get territorial, they should be a pair of each gender, right?

 

[Carlitouus]

Do they like sand better, by the way? I saw that sand on your tank and I have gravel, thinking about making the switch... is it worth it? I'm worried about not knowing how to vacuum that sand though.

 

[HUKIT]

With a darker substrate the fish will naturally blend towards their surroundings, I think the best scenario is light substrate with a black background.

I can't tell from your pictures whether they're male or female, that's the reason for better shots. With most cichlids the aggression peaks when they reach sexual maturity which for salvini is around 6-9 months and the fish should then be around 2.5-3". So just because they get along now doesn't mean that can't change overnight, I've had fish flip out and kill close to 10 other cichlids twice their size by morning. Salvinis are in the excichlasoma genus and are extremely aggressive, they may not be serial killers but that doesn't take away from their potential. They'll hit the 8-10" mark will stand tough with 95% of other large new worlds, which says alot about their personality.

Sand is actually easier to keep clean. Since the detritus just sits on top rather than falling down inbewteen the gravel.