[vahid]

Please identify this cichlid for me. The owner lists it as a labeotropheus but I think it doesn't have their mouth.

 

[ridley25]

You're right, that's no Labeotropheus.

I don't know from peacocks but it looks like the very popular hybrid OB peacock to me.

kevin

 

[RRasco]

Umm, not really sure you can classify an OB as anything other than, an OB. They are all hybrids.

 

[ridley25]

Umm, not really sure you can classify an OB as anything other than, an OB. They are all hybrids.

You mean among peacocks, right? There are plenty of OB mbuna found in the lake.

kevin

 

[vahid]

He keeps it in a tank full of large mbunas and They ignore it. Is it possible for me to add a fish like it to my existing tank?

 

[ridley25]

Check out the article I linked in my first response.

One issue with hybrids is that question of what they mix with will always be answered with "who knows?"

It's hard enough to predict how known species will interact - that becomes next to impossible when dealing with hybrids - it may react well to your friend's mbunas and not yours.

kevin

 

[vahid]

Ok after reading that article I'm still at sea, this fish's fins look like peacocks and its behaviour is like mbuna, so if I consider keeping it I will not know the percentage of success, is it worthwhile? So beside some abstract and ethical questions keeping hybrid africans creates behavioural problems in the tank. In the case of central american cichlids the situation is to some extent different and flowerhorns and parrots are ruteenly present in the hobbey and exceptfor grumblings from purists they are tollarated. But it seems that despite their popularity know one is shure about OB peacocks.

 

[ridley25]

I realize I'm sounding doom and gloom. What I should really say is that I am unable to know or even offer advice.

Hopefully some others will chime in.

kevin

 

[Number6]

ridley25
I think you described the predicament quite well... hybrid animals can be quite unpredicatable but tend towards the aggressive side. Hard to predict how one will respond to the addition of a second.

vahid
With many of the CA and SA hybrids, they came from parental species that were pretty aggressive to begin with... I'd suggest that the difference you are seeing is in the owners, not the fish. :lol:

 

[RRasco]

You mean among peacocks, right? There are plenty of OB mbuna found in the lake.

I wasn't actually aware there were OB mbuna, so that is news to me as is. In turn, yes I was referring to OB peacocks. Guess what I Googled today?

 

[vahid]

In the forums dedecated to CA cichlids there is always a person who as soon as he you speak about flowerhorns or parrots becomes very angry and tells you that you should leave fishkeeping and you should destroy these hybrid mounsters. and this is despite the omnipresense of these fish.
But here the responses are very different and every body tell me you can keep hybrids but you should be careful and don't pass the fish to others.
So as I understand it, I can keep OB peacocks with mbunas as long as I am ready for immergencies and understand that this is risky and interducing this fish to a stablished tank may destroy the harmony.
So at the end the main question is that is it worthwhile?

 

[DJRansome]

It depends on what you want from the tank. I want a slice of the lake, so I avoid hybrids. Although I have dipped into a line-bred peacock or two. I do like the turkis! And I take liberties like putting Tang cats in Malawi tanks. BN plecos. Nerite snails. The wrong rocks/plants.

I also have limited tank space and prefer not to cull fish (even for resale). So it is worth it to me to stock the tank in such a way that hybrids are unlikely and add synodontis multipunctatus for fry control.

If you want a conversation piece, choose a rare fish or an oddball fish. If you want whimsy, choose a goofy looking fish. If you want a testament to man's ability to create something unique, choose a man-made hybrid fish. If that is your goal, it could very well be worth it to you. :thumb:

 

[vahid]

The most beautiful fish that I have encountered till now was an unforgetable red texas, but here and in the case of malawian cichlids the hybrids are not very different from the pure breeds and in many cases there are virtually undistinguishable for me.in the case of peacocks after reviewing many pictures I think that the german red peacocks are the exception and beautiful enough to keep them and I'm not sure that they are hybrids at all.
The OB peacock (if it is an OB peacock) is tempting because although I have many different colors in my mbuna tank but the body shapes of my fishes are nearly the same and keeping something different beside them is tempting.