[offthedeepend]

HI , I sett up my new cichlid 55 gallon tank 3 weeks ago and put in the first fish 2 weeks ago - all doing well- I used some old ceramic media from another tank.
I am confused about some new cichlids I purchased this weekend. The store clerk seemed to be scornful of cichlid tanks ( He has a REEF one ) and I don't think gave me good information.

First - he said these were Kenyi ( didn't tell me they are VERY aggressive). Said the light brown/yellow ones were female and the light blue/ vertical barred one was male. I think its the opposite. What do YOU all think- whom I am thinking know better:

These blue cichlids I have 3 of - I fear all male :

I also have 4 yellow labs = total 10
I am worried I have mostly males with maybe 1 female Kenyi and two female yellow labs. What to do ? Get more females ( Maybe mail order where they know what they are?

Thanks for any ID info you can give

Offthedeepend :thumb:

 

[Cook.MN]

I can tell you about the Kenyi that they will both appear to be female until they start to mature. At that time the males will start to get a nice orangish tone while the females will stay the same blue with bars.

Kenyi are very aggressive and I had some in my tank at one point in time. Many will say that keeping Kenyi in a tank less then 75g is a very bad idea. I took mine back before they matured because I just didn't want to have to deal with mature aggressive Kenyi. I have heard stories of people keeping Kenyi in a 55g with other fish but I have heard other stories that say it doesn't work. Fact is that it's a fish-by-fish case and you kind of take your chances.

 

[offthedeepend]

Hi all - I have only had one reply which actually didn't confirm or deny the light colred fish were Kenyi. I saw another thread in which the fish looked similar and were called Jacobfreidbergi.

The blue/purple one looks similar to another thread either Afra or Pseudotropheus sp Crabo blue.

Do any of these seem reasonable in respect to these fish?
I am attaching another picture which might show them better: fish #1 on top , #2 to the left middle

fish #1 is the question of Kenyi ( or Jacobfreidbergi)
fish #2 is ?? Pseudotropheus sp crabo blue or afra

there are more pictures on the original post

Thanks for any help you can give- would like to know for future additions.

 

[noki]

1# Kenyi. males turn yellowish to orange, females and juveniles are light blue wth the bars. They are not like 10 times more aggressiove, but can be more of a problem than average, especially a large male. You probably have two males and a female, you will want to get rid of one of the males for sure.

2# Pseudotropheus "Elongatus Ornatus", also called "Elongatus Likoma", or just the common "Elongatus". Males get the intense vertical bars.

Yellow Labs can be very hard to tell what sex, easy to get fooled