General African Cichlid Discussion • greetings

[bluecollarfishkeeper]

Hello from NE Indiana, I am new to the forum, and to African Cichlids. My wife and I have been keeping fish Fresh, salt and reef off and on for about 14 years now. Currently we have a 20 gallon tank with 2 goldfish and 2 frogs for our 2 year old daughter, a 2.5 gallon saltwater that I am letting build bacteria and coraline algae for right now, and a 55 gallon freshwater with 10 Afican Cichlids and a Pleco. I would love some help IDing my africans and feedback on my current setup. Thanks in advance and glad to have found a forum to talk and learn about freshwater fish keeping.

[ironspider]

Off the top of my head, the first is a yellow tail acai and below that is a cobalt blue. I'd have to look up the rest.

[DJRansome]

Welcome to Cichlid-forum!

#3 is Metriaclima estherae. Scientific name of #2 is Metriaclima callainos. Last pic is Melanochromis auratus...a very aggressive fish.

Love the arrangement of the driftwood. Since you seem to have mbuna, they might like 2X as much hiding places.

The other fish, maybe try to take pics a little closer. Third from the bottom we need to see the snout.

Are they all male? All male mbuna is a difficult tank.

What were the scientific names provided when they were sold to you? If they came from an assorted tank they may be hybrid fish even if they look similar to the names we are providing.

[bluecollarfishkeeper]

First off: Thanks guys for the help so far. I truly enjoy keeping fish, and the last few years without a tank setup was depressing.
Second: LFS had them in a tank labeled African Cichlids, so they may be hybrids. I will try to get better pictures of them, they all seem to be very camera shy. we intend on adding more driftwood and plants to the tank as well trying to give as many hiding spots as possible. The next plant I am adding will be some anubias wanting them to root to the driftwood and allow more line of sight blockage. Currently the yellow tail seems to be tank boss. I believe they are all male currently wouldn't mind adding a few females eventually but with what I just read about the auratus, I don't know if it would be wise or not. LFS told me they thought they were all males. They were also running a buy one get one free special because they have an over stocked tank of donated Africans they are wanting to get rid of so they can justify ordering more variety of Africans. Wish I could just take the whole donated tank but that would require another at least 55 if not larger which we dont have currently, nor do we have the extra money to buy that many lol.

[DJRansome]

With the assortment you have you don't want females. Your tank is overstocked for all-male already.

Since they were not sold from a named tank assume they are all hybrids...we can only tell you what they look like.

The 3 fish with the vertical bars...are 2 the same species? Maybe a hap? Avoid look-alike fish to manage aggression.

And the drab barred one maybe a peacock female?

[DJRansome]

Check out this one...note this fish matures to 11" and would need a 72" tank. Look at the juvenile pictures.
https://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/ ... hp?id=1217

[bluecollarfishkeeper]

that is exactly what both of them look like, holy #%$&, looks like a tank upgrade may be in our future. That or a new fish room hmmmm, gonna have to sweet talk the wife lol. As of now that two possible happs have been really chill in the tank. Not bugging anyone else just going with the flow.

[DJRansome]

I would rehome them and maybe don't listen to that LFS? They would likely kill each other even if they leave the others alone. Expect to see issues in 6-12 months...right now they are settling in and maturing. Mature=able to spawn as opposed to grown to max size. Mbuna can spawn as small as 1.5 inches.

[bluecollarfishkeeper]

Update: the auratis died, we found him gasping on morning looking like a float bladder injury had happened, tried to get him out and save him but he died, but we did find the fish that has been hiding in one of the driftwood, any idea what kind he is?

I also have a new phone which doesn't have a cracked lenses on the camera.

[bluecollarfishkeeper]

Update, no more deaths in the tank. Hornwort is filling in nicely.