Alot of Cichlids Questions (NOOB) Plus ID this Cichlids????? PICS!!!

[Mantis_22]

Hello, yesterday I bought 2 cichlids from a LFS. These fish have to be the most beautiful species i have seen of all fish. Back to what I was saying they were labeled African Cichlids so I got them. Thing is when I got home I looked them up in my species book of tropical fish and they looked totally different? They look more like Kenyi Cichlids? I know they change colors like from blue to yellow and so on. Are these Kenyis for the low down? I have pics included of both of the fish.

Also I have been reading about their habitats. I went to walmart today and bought a clay pot (6") or so and thought how can i make this look like one of the clay boughts many people I have seen online in there cichlid tanks (holes on both large and small side) for a good hideout and for breeding. I thought about it and then said to myself the whole clay pot will shatter if I try to cut a hole out. Also I dont have diamond bits to make a perfect cut safely. I also included pics about that.

How can you tell the difference between males and females? One of the cichlids have lighter dark blue stripes than the other, is that how to indicate?

Anyways and will it be safe to just scrub that clay pot then rinse it, dry it then put it in my tank and it should be safe for the aquarium? What do these guys like to eat mainly, I feed them tetra carnivore/ominivore tablets and i think they kinda like them other than the fact that they fall to the bottom. What should I feed them to be the best and easy to eat meal?

And how can I tell when they are about to breed. Whats their specified PH range and so on? Thanks for answering my questions to whoever can...

Mantis_22

Sorry this is so long

(pics included, sorry they suck )

 

[scholar]

They are African. But not Kenyi's. The focus is not good . A ssuch it is hard to say what they are. The kenyii's are purple female) and yellow( amles) with vertical bars.

 

[Mantis_22]

Are you sure?????

Kenyis taht I have seen online look exactly like these guys? And yes they have Verticle Stripes like you said??? There eyes have a gold halo ring around them. Another thing is that Kenyis change color from yellow to dark purple blue, you know that right? They are not always yellow as seen in pictures . And these fish are nothing close to agressive as said in the African Cichlid Profiles in my tropical fish book. ( Thats about all I know ) Can someone else help me out more peas

 

[inxs]

I don't know that much about africans but yours doesn't look like a kenyi. A kenyi has a light face and light dorsal . The blue is the female and the male is yellow.

I think you may have a zebra (there are many colorvarieties) or a peacock of some sort (based on the facecolor). However it is hard to tell from the photo.

Here is a male and female kenyi

Male

Female

One way to tell a lot of african cichlids apart(male vs female) is the eggspots on the males.

 

[drewdog]

Mantis_22

All the young kenyi I have seen look kinda like the one in your pics.
But , I've never seen them get that bright blue B-4.

I know when they get older the males turn orange.

I have also seen a very young Frontosa(Frontosa Cichlid /
Cyphotilapia frontosa) that looks pretty close to what you have , & if thats the case, You will need a bigger tank (real big)

I've never kept kenyi's but have heard the older & larger they get , the more damage they are capable of.

About the flower pot, Before I put anything new (decorations) in my tank I boil some water & let it soak for 10 - 15 minutes then rinse it good. don't use an old dish sponge to scrub it & never use soap.an algae srubbing pad works good. Make sure the rough edges are in the substrate.

Hope this helps,

DREW
I could be wrong though

 

[superstein61]

Hard to tell since your pics aren't real clear. Could they be Kennyi - yes.

Then again, they could be Sciaenochromis fryeri - Electric Blue (although I don't think so - but its hard to tell since your pics are not clear - thus just wanted to throw this out there for you to look at)

or you could check out Labidochromis lividus

Another one to research would be color morph of a Pseudotropheus macrophthalmus

Also, a Iodotropheus sprengerae (Rusty cichlid)

My best guess would be the Rusty cichlid - but these are all just guesses for you to research further and rule out unless you can get better pics

 

[Mantis_22]

Its neither of any of those you said, Maybe they both are females since they are blue. I think personally they ARE kenyis because they have that gold/desert sand color egg dot on the tip of there rear fins. I will try to get clearer pictures tonight and post them. They gotta be kenyis..

BTW they look EXACTLY like the pictures INXS posted. So maybe they are both female? I guess we wont know till i get better pics..

 

[inxs]

Mantis_22, if they have eggspots they wouldn't be females as the males are the ones who have the eggspots. And if they are males they would be yellow and not blue unless they were very young(in which case the eppspot would not be very prominent).

 

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

the first pictures look abit like lombardies but the rest of the pictures dont

 

[scholar]

They are definately not Kenyii's. Kenyii's bars are triangular. These are dimond shape. Also females are purple not blue.