What breed of Cichlid is this?

[Magikalgirl79]

Just recently bough some new cichlids, I have some in a different tank so I already know how to care for them, but the new ones I got were labelled "various small Cichlids" so I'm looking for the specific name and my little guys thanks

 

[joel618]

Melanochromis Auratus

 

[garfy]

Auratus.A highly aggressive Malawi cichlid.

 

[didysis]

Auratus.A highly aggressive Malawi cichlid.

+1 to that.

 

[Magikalgirl79]

Ok thanks!!! Good thing I put them in a tank by themselves then! Lol

 

[garfy]

How many did you get?

 

[Magikalgirl79]

I got 3 and they ate very very small right now. I was only going to get 2 buy my son insisted we needed 3!! I've had the tank cycling for about a month and finally put something in it.

 

[Magikalgirl79]

Are very small^ iPhone auto correct grr

 

[garfy]

In my experience the females are ok.Its the males that are absolute tyrants.A male auratus will fight with a fish twice his size and win.He would fight to the death just to prove a point.The females are the gold colour like in your picture and the males are black and white horizontal striped but the males start out the same colour as the females and change as the get older.

 

[Shay]

If you luck out and get 1m/2f you should be fine in a species only tank JME

Even though they are lil terrorists I have a soft spot for them, they were my first mouth brooder species that I spawned

 

[joel618]

In my experience the females are ok.Its the males that are absolute tyrants.A male auratus will fight with a fish twice his size and win.He would fight to the death just to prove a point.The females are the gold colour like in your picture and the males are black and white horizontal striped but the males start out the same colour as the females and change as the get older.

Wont the females turn into a make if there is no male present?

 

[garfy]

No they don't change sex.Sometimes females colour up similar to males but they will allwayd be female.

 

[garfy]

Wont the females turn into a make if there is no male present?

My mistake yes in certain circumstances they can change sex if the breeding balance is not right for them.

 

[garfy]

Here is my adult male auratus

 

[Coursair]

What size tank are these Cichlids in now ?

 

[Fready]

I had a auratus once and he destroyed the tail of a yellow and killed 1 of his females.

Dont call me a bad fishkeeper or bad person without a heart for fish now but i was so mad that i flushed him.

I know the fish cant help it and they dont know any better but i couldnt help it 2.
Man buy's fish, fish eats fish, man flushes fish lol
Lfs didnt want him.

 

[garfy]

I had a auratus once and he destroyed the tail of a yellow and killed 1 of his females.

Dont call me a bad fishkeeper or bad person without a heart for fish now but i was so mad that i flushed him.

I know the fish cant help and dont know any better it but i couldnt help it 2.
Man buy's fish, fish eats fish, man flushes fish lol
Lfs didnt want him.

That's the problem all my lfs's won't take them either.
I started out with what I thought was 1 male and 3 females.2 of the females turned out to be males and he killed both of them and the female in 1 day whilst I was at work!!!

 

[Magikalgirl79]

Here is my adult male auratus

Very cool! Mine are about 1/2 inch in size right now, just babies. Now I'm totally psyched to watch them grow!

They are in a 10 g by themselves right now. Yes I'm aware I may have 1 too many, but I just couldn't say no to my son for the 3rd one. But in my experience I usually lose at least one fish every time I buy from this one pet store. But on Prince Edward Island, Canada there's only 2 stores to choose from, another one coming soon though, and the other store is too small and their selection sucks.

 

[Coursair]

Very cool! Mine are about 1/2 inch in size right now, just babies. Now I'm totally psyched to watch them grow!

They are in a 10 g by themselves right now. Yes I'm aware I may have 1 too many, but I just couldn't say no to my son for the 3rd one. But in my experience I usually lose at least one fish every time I buy from this one pet store. But on Prince Edward Island, Canada there's only 2 stores to choose from, another one coming soon though, and the other store is too small and their selection sucks.

You have 3 too many for a 10g.
With Cichlids the inch per gallon rule doesn't work !!!! They need a bigger tank or you will probably lose all 3 in my experience. Not something that your child will appreciate. Too aggressive , territorial, need room to swim.

Please do some research on this species.
Min tank size maybe 30-50g ??

There are many more suitable fish for a 10g. Look at Nano fish like Ember Tetras, Celestial Pearl Danios, etc....

Or consider some easy live plants like Ferns or Mosses and try Cherry Shrimp. They will breed and you can keep many without overloading a maintained tank. PWCs weekly.

 

[garfy]

Very cool! Mine are about 1/2 inch in size right now, just babies. Now I'm totally psyched to watch them grow!

They are in a 10 g by themselves right now. Yes I'm aware I may have 1 too many, but I just couldn't say no to my son for the 3rd one. But in my experience I usually lose at least one fish every time I buy from this one pet store. But on Prince Edward Island, Canada there's only 2 stores to choose from, another one coming soon though, and the other store is too small and their selection sucks.

You realise of course they will need a much bigger tank than that.