Can anyone identify this cichlid please?

976 Views 14 Replies 6 Participants Last post by caprona, Mar 12, 2011

caprona

Discussion Starter · Mar 12, 2011

Hi all

First post, so hello to everyone on here!

6 months ago i ordered a green terror from an online aquatic store. The fish that subsequently arrived a few days later was barely larger than fry. It was about half an inch, and i didnt even think to question what species it was, I just assumed (having never seen a GT this small), that it would change as it grew. So six months have passed and it has grown into this. Beautiful fish, but obviously not a green terror but what the heck is it? It's currently about 5 inches (it grew FAST!). What you cant see on my poor photos is that it has a line of small visible teeth on its bottom jaw, that i thought was quite unusual?

Anyway, apologies for the poor photos but here he/she(?) is:

Thanks in advance

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Adrian101

· #2 · Mar 12, 2011

maybe a jd? Thats what it looks like to me. Not an expert thou.

caprona

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 12, 2011

Hi, Nope, definitely not a JD. I have a female JD in the same tank as it and while they get on well, they look very different. I'll try and get a photo of the 2 of them for comparison if I can get them both together in shot at the same time!

caprona

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 12, 2011

Ok, not the best photo, and I couldnt get them in shot together, but heres a pic of my female JD in the same tank, under the same lighting conditions just for comparison.

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simo1973

· #5 · Mar 12, 2011

i would say the 1st pic is a male jd,and yep you also do have a female jd like i do.

remi

· #6 · Mar 12, 2011

Definately both JD's. First one looks probable male, and second one is definately female.

SinisterKisses

· #7 · Mar 12, 2011

They're both jack dempseys. I'm not sure how they look "very different"? They look the same - they both look like jacks. The only difference of course is that one is a female and one is a male, so one has lots of colour in the gill plate and the other doesn't.

caprona

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 12, 2011

lol. Ok so i'ts a JD then

I feel like a bit of a plank now :dancing: I think i'd somehow just wrongly convinced myself.

Thanks everyone

remi

· #9 · Mar 12, 2011

caprona said:
lol. Ok so i'ts a JD then I feel like a bit of a plank now :dancing: I think i'd somehow just wrongly convinced myself.

Thanks everyone

:lol: No problem. Ya going to try to breed them?

caprona

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 12, 2011

I'm not too bothered about breeding them really. If it happens, it happens. One thing that's always put me off breeding is what to do with the offspring. I could probably sell some to local shops but not in any quantity. I had a breeding pair of oscars a few years ago and I ended up having to just give them all away because I couldn't find anywhere that would buy that sort of quantity. Ended up selling the pair in the end because of the hassle.

I

Flippercon

· #11 · Mar 12, 2011

Yes the first picture is a male jd for sure. Nice size and good coloring. Nice fish

Flippercon

· #12 · Mar 12, 2011

Fish keeping is a very rewarding hobby. If those jd's do spawn dont look to make money. This is a hobby after all. If you go into this hobby just to make money you might not get any enjoyment out of it. Try what I do . If you have some fry that actually make it to a size where you can get rid of them ,give them away and see what they grow out to be. If you have a good pair you can post pics of the offspring and parents. If they have desired traits you can make some money. Remember this is a hobby more than a business. Good luck with your pair.

caprona

Discussion Starter · #13 · Mar 12, 2011

Lol. I've been keeping fish since I was about 12. I'm now 31

. Just didn't have any prior experience with JDs. My main pet was a silver arowana that I had for many years until he sadly died. I've kept a wide variety of stuff like tiger shovelnoses, pacus, oscars, clown knives, lots of stuff, but always singly, not really in pairs. I've never ever looked for profit, just the enjoyment of keeping specimen fish. My comment about selling the offspring wasn't profit-motivated, but other than stores, i have no way of actually rehoming them, as none of my family or friends are fishkeepers. You wouldnt breed dogs if you had no way of rehoming the puppies, would you?

Flippercon

· #14 · Mar 12, 2011

Yes this is very true about rehoming pets. Well if they do spawn I'm sure there are plenty of people on forums that would pay to get them shipped if they have good traits . Good luck with the pair.

caprona

Discussion Starter · #15 · Mar 12, 2011

Thanks

. They're actually showing a bit of pairing behaviour already. Digging holes and quivering at each other. They dont really have any suitable flat ricks for spawning tho at present. They've been in the same tank for a couple of weeks. The male was on his own for 6 months while he grew before I put him in with the others. Never know, in a couple of months I might be posting for people to adopt

. I may move them to one of my other tanks with a chunk of slate and see what happens.....

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