anyone help ID these cichlids?
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Hard to see well but the first makes me think, "buffalohead"?? That's a quick guess at a fish I know little about. Fish ID by picture alone is pretty shaky!!!
The second is young and I would think African cichlid from Lake Malawai. Beyond that "maybe" a quite young " red empress" or another of the Protomelas group.
Cichlid-forum profiles is my go to for looking for ID's.
Cichlid Profiles
Please note that I only have about a 4% confidence in these ID's!
The second is young and I would think African cichlid from Lake Malawai. Beyond that "maybe" a quite young " red empress" or another of the Protomelas group.
Cichlid-forum profiles is my go to for looking for ID's.
Cichlid Profiles
Please note that I only have about a 4% confidence in these ID's!
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12,428 Posts
I often hesitate to start naming fish from looking at pictures. There are so many things that running the picture through the digital world will change. digital pictures are great but then they do have lots of changes. One is the colors and those can get skewed a bunch.
My thoughts on the second fish jumped to Protomelas but there are dozens of those who have young fish with almost the same shape and colors.
This is a young fish that may be near the same age.
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I know this one as a protomelas and likely from this group:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1360
I raise these and I know how much they change so a guess is as close as I'm willing to go. Sometimes the ID gets down to how the spots in the lateral line are arranged different while other times the color is important. Taking a look at the three digital pictures on this profile might make a person wonder if the three fish are all the same?
I named "red empress" as they are one of the Protomelas group that I see more often.
But for the OP, I would definitely recommend keeping this fish if there is space. If the Id is correct, they can grow up to be great , somewhat peaceful cichlids and make a great display fish. Best of show type when fully colored males.
They take space but they also make the yellow labs look less than super.
![]()
My thoughts on the second fish jumped to Protomelas but there are dozens of those who have young fish with almost the same shape and colors.
This is a young fish that may be near the same age.
I know this one as a protomelas and likely from this group:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1360
I raise these and I know how much they change so a guess is as close as I'm willing to go. Sometimes the ID gets down to how the spots in the lateral line are arranged different while other times the color is important. Taking a look at the three digital pictures on this profile might make a person wonder if the three fish are all the same?
I named "red empress" as they are one of the Protomelas group that I see more often.
But for the OP, I would definitely recommend keeping this fish if there is space. If the Id is correct, they can grow up to be great , somewhat peaceful cichlids and make a great display fish. Best of show type when fully colored males.
They take space but they also make the yellow labs look less than super.
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945 Posts
I agree with a lot of what plantrich has said but I don't know about Protomelas or not. It seems to be very blue and the ones I have at that age are more silver. I guessing the size around 3" and most of the Haplochromine don't color up till there closer to 4" or larger.
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Got to agree with Clearwater as well. The size makes it really difficult to tell as the colors have not developed yet. What can add to confusion is that the process of putting things into digital and then into our computer can change the colors. Each of us is likely to even have different color settings on our monitors.
But since the fish is also likely to be in the process of changing colors, we can miss by a long way.
For those needing to determine the sex of some of the African fish, there can be a way to an answer a bit sooner. I've discovered on my fish I can get the coloring that has not developed fully to show better/sooner.
I use a bright LED flashlight in a somewhat dark tank. As I shine the light on the sides of the fish, my males will show much more blue than the females. Shining the light at an angle makes a blue hue show when you can't normally see it yet.
The female Protomelas and sub-adults are this mousey grey/yellow color. The females stay that color and are not as desirable to buyers.
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Getting an early ID on sex of the fish can help when sorting for buyers who want to get one male with several females. Or if you are wanting to stock a tank with young fish and going with the all males setup.
So if the OP wants to net or trap the grey fish near the wall of the tank, it might be possible to see some blue.
But then that may also depend on it being a Protomelas at all!! :crying:
But since the fish is also likely to be in the process of changing colors, we can miss by a long way.
For those needing to determine the sex of some of the African fish, there can be a way to an answer a bit sooner. I've discovered on my fish I can get the coloring that has not developed fully to show better/sooner.
I use a bright LED flashlight in a somewhat dark tank. As I shine the light on the sides of the fish, my males will show much more blue than the females. Shining the light at an angle makes a blue hue show when you can't normally see it yet.
The female Protomelas and sub-adults are this mousey grey/yellow color. The females stay that color and are not as desirable to buyers.
Getting an early ID on sex of the fish can help when sorting for buyers who want to get one male with several females. Or if you are wanting to stock a tank with young fish and going with the all males setup.
So if the OP wants to net or trap the grey fish near the wall of the tank, it might be possible to see some blue.
But then that may also depend on it being a Protomelas at all!! :crying:
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