I know you said you would be adding fish, but I think the only reason the fish are acting so strange is because of the lack of extra females. So I wouldn't worry about what is happening until you add more females. But the red zebras seems to have some strange spawning behavior.

 

Thats what I'm hoping. It just seemed like really strange behavior so i wanted to get some opinions on it. I'm going to upload pictures in a few minutes.

I'm also worried the abused female socolofi may be a hybrid. I will post a picture of her when she was in a different tank and one of her with my male.

 

this is the abused female socolofi. fist picture will be in another tank and second will be in with the male.





these are pictures of the rest of the fish. the other female socolofi it the one that looks almost white in the pictures. she kindof fades between a light blue and almost white but the pictures make her look like a ghost. and the male zebra it the more faded out orange. any ill throw in one of my acei for fun. theyre in a different tank but i swear theyre not as blue as they should be. the water quality in my tanks is great. 8.2 ph, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <20 nitrites. the breeder told me that its because theyre females. but even the male is pretty dull.

male socolofi chasing female zebra


everyone except the abused female socolofi


the female abused socolofi is at the bottom in this one. she always comes out when i go near the tank


showing wayyy to much barring in my opinion. this is why i think she is a hybrid. but she has beautiful color with 0 barring when away from the male so i dont know


my acei being very drab..


as im sitting here typing this me male socolofi is hovering right by the filter output circling the abused female and shivering. no abuse at all just staying close to her and shaking. but if she leaves that spot he will chase her around. horny pig haha. hopefully she gives in and makes me some bebies. and the male sebra is following the female with his mouth open. but then he does shut it when he turns away so i know its not dislocated. strange things going on. *** learned a lot the past few days.

 

I have never owned a socolofi, but the barring could just be from a lot of stress. I used to own saulosis and one of the females would get as much barring as your socolofi and I am positive it was not a hybrid.

 

It sounds like fighting and will not likely change until you add females old enough to spawn.

 

It sounds like fighting and will not likely change until you add females old enough to spawn.

This ^ ^ ^

Can you get extra females from the breeder? Are you keeping this a 2 species tank? If so, get 4-5 more females of both the zebras and socolofi.

I think your acei look quite normal. Depending on lighting and mood, they can appear quite blue. Mine get a very deep purple when stressed out if I'm in the tank or changing water sometimes. Under a high output bulb they look more 'blue' especially when interacting with one another.

 

Socolofi can get those many small bars sometimes. ALways wondered if they were related to Elongatus Likoma, sort of the "cobalt" form like a Callainos is to a Zebra.

The main problem here is not enough fish, and adult Mbuna in general tend to be a pain. There is no perfect fix.

If the female red Zebra was in the tank before the male, she can act dominant until the new male gets settled and less stressed.

 

Thanks for the input. I'm having trouble finding more females close to my size. It will probably have one more species but I'm not positive what yet. I found a different breeder selling "yellow zebras" any idea what that's about? They look like female yellow labs (no barring) but I've never heard of yellow zebras before and when I looked it up on google, all yellow labs came up. He also had some yellow labs with barring. could I put them in a tank with my acei without having to worry about cross breeding?

 

I wouldn't buy anything from someone when describing their fish with an oddball trade name or without scientific names. Female yellow labs look very, very similar to males.

Try looking into these clubs in PA: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/clubs/?State=PA&USstate=GO

 

Thanks for the input. I'm having trouble finding more females close to my size. It will probably have one more species but I'm not positive what yet. I found a different breeder selling "yellow zebras" any idea what that's about? They look like female yellow labs (no barring) but I've never heard of yellow zebras before and when I looked it up on google, all yellow labs came up. He also had some yellow labs with barring. could I put them in a tank with my acei without having to worry about cross breeding?

The "Yellow Zebras" may be Red Zebra X Yellow Lab hybrids. Stores like Petsmart have sold them.

There actually are some natural mustard yellow Zebras with brown barring, but they are rather rare in the hobby

you can buy more juvenile Socolofi, that is easier.

 

to anyone who thought my socolofi were fighting they just made babies for the first time. now to decide how to go on from here... im probably going to strip the eggs