Cynotilapia White Top Hara?

the darker one looks more like a "Red Top Zebra" of some sort

The seller I bought it from also breeds the following:

Metriaclima zebra sp. "Red Top"
Cynotialpia Mbamba
Ps. Demasoni
Maingano
Melanochromis Auratus

Do you think it is one of the above fish, or could it still be a Cyno White Top? It does kind of look like a zebra red top. :-(

Will this cause a problem in my tank, aggression wise? Also, I don't want hybrids. I'm not very familiar with the zebra red tops. Do you think the above fish is a female, or a male? It seems to be the most aggressive fish in the tank.

not white top hara

That's what I thought. Any ideas what he really is? (I say "he" because with the way he guards his territory, I'm assuming the fish is male).

most very likely Metriaclima zebra sp. "Red Top"

Cynotilapia Mbamba... Cynotilapia of some sort is possible but it doesn't look like a Mbamba to me

... and if you think it has any REMOTE chance of being one of these 3 species below you are not trying very hard!
Ps. Demasoni
Maingano
Melanochromis Auratus

if it a male it will color up, if female it will never be very colorful

:lol: I didn't think it was, but I thought I'd post a complete list of all the species the seller has offered for sale in the past...

I contacted the seller and he said the only fish that could've possibly made it's way into the shipment would be a Cyno. Mbamba

In the last few pics the fish is darker, does it look like it is getting a light blaze on the forehead? Thsat would be the sign of a male Mbamba.

The fish gets very dark when he is mad, and yellow barring shows up on his forehead. He also start to look like his back has been dipped in gold. That's why it seems to me as if the fish is male.. :-(

I guess I'll have to get a new tank for him and pick up some females. Any ideas on other species to keep? Or what size tank I should get?

Definitely Cynotilapia Mbamba as I have some that look exactly the same.

There are several different locales for the Cynotilapia Mbamba. I would hope the seller would be a bit more specific! :wink:

It's a young fish, right?

I had both the Chitende Island variant and the Nkhata Bay variant for quite some time.

This one looks much like the Chitende Island females did as mature fish. Young Nkhata Bay juveniles looked alot like that, but as they matured, they darkened considerably.

It's going to be impossible to say for sure what it is unless your breeder only has one variant and you can get the females from them.

Kim