[vinnyxgunz]

has a very dark blue, almost black chin and belly

 

[24Tropheus]

I guess you know what I am about to ask to give a fighting chance of guessing right?
What size is it?
Have you vented/sexed it? If not then please do so.
Did it always look like this? What was the colouration when younger?

All the best James

 

[vinnyxgunz]

2" and it's a male and I just got it...

 

[24Tropheus]

2" and it's a male and I just got it...

Well that's no help at all.
Dunno. Guess you will just have to wait and see if he becomes ever more like a 5" pain in the &*^ johannii male or a more manageable 4" cyaneorhabdos.

For sure I can not tell males of these two apart at 2". Suspect there may be hybrids of the two about also. Erm any yellow females in the tank when you bought him? I am kind of leaning towards cyaneorhabdos as not all johannii males would be fully coloured up at two inches esp if in with other agressive and larger Mbuna. I am guessing though.

I may be missing something but know no way of separating em unless by scale counts or something obscure.

Dunno maybe someone else can help?

All the best James

 

[vinnyxgunz]

the tank was supposed to be all johannis. 10 blue males and 10 yellow females. you can tell some males were "in-between" the two colors. he was the darkest and most dominate fish out of the 20 in the tank with the cleanest bars. i have 28 mbuna all 2-5" and he is fitting in great and really hasn't lost too much color.

the thing is, he was the darkest, so maybe he is a maingano - he was this color when all the other fish were a blue/very light blue.

i've heard something about being dark on the chin/belly meaning something, but i don't remember which meant which.

 

[jia82]

Hi!
I am posting my fish-picture undert this topic too since I am about to ask the same question

So if any of you have any idea what species this big black/blue fish might be in the picture of my next post, I would be very grateful. I am quite positive that it is a male, because of his aggressive behavior. He is about 9 cm (3,5 inches) long.

(OT, and also if someone knows the species of those other fish in the picture, that would be nice too)

Thank you!


p.s. I hope I am able to post the picture...

 

[jia82]

And here hopefully is the picture

http://jiian.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Malawi/P1050428.JPG/full

 

[vinnyxgunz]

jia - he's a hybrid... an interruptus mixed with a johanni if i had to guess... the yellow fish is definitely a female msobo... the bottom fish looks like some type of elongatus and i can't see the 2 fish on the right

 

[noki]

That would be pretty normal to have one male in full color in a species tank at 2". Since all the other fish in the tank seemed to be Johanni, and this guy fit in with the crowd, I would assume that he is Johanni for now.

 

[AC]

And here hopefully is the picture

http://jiian.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Malawi/P1050428.JPG/full

I have one that looks just like that fish.

She just spit a mouthful of fry....

That means hybrid, interruptus and maingano, possibly johanni.

 

[24Tropheus]

the tank was supposed to be all johannis. 10 blue males and 10 yellow females. you can tell some males were "in-between" the two colors. he was the darkest and most dominate fish out of the 20 in the tank with the cleanest bars. i have 28 mbuna all 2-5" and he is fitting in great and really hasn't lost too much color.

the thing is, he was the darkest, so maybe he is a maingano - he was this color when all the other fish were a blue/very light blue.

i've heard something about being dark on the chin/belly meaning something, but i don't remember which meant which.

I dunno but I see nothing to conclude it is for sure not what it was bought as.
If the other 19 looked very different (or too much variation) then yep I would conclude hybrid but one has to be the most dom so that one would colour up male first/most.
For sure can not say it is for sure not a male cyaneorhabdos or hybrid but darker colour and best stripes is no evidence that he is one?
Kind of do you trust this shop?
Sounds like you do not.
For sure it seems to be a bit of a guessing game to avoid hybrids these days, even in labelled fish. So the ID is kind of just my best guess.

Time and eventual size will I guess give you a better answer.

All the best James

 

[jia82]

Thank you all for your answers.

So maybe my fish is a hybrid, sadly Could you describe why you think he is a hybrid?

I have another fish, a little smaller but exactly the same colour than that johannii-look-alike in my pic, but sometimes he is turning into light blue without any stribes when the other one (the boss, it seems) is chasing him! And that happens in a second! Could that be normal to a real johannii?

 

[AC]

I have two...

Both females, but one does not display the vertical striping at all.

They have gone back and forth for quite a while with having more dominant coloring.

Lately one has emerged as the most dominate.

The other has faded a bit and doesn't show as much 'flashiness'.

 

[jia82]

Hmm, could my fishes be just as well females? That's an interesting idea, since I have thought that only male fish are aggressive. My fish, at least the other one, is quite wicked.

 

[AC]

It could be, or you could have a split set or two males.

The only way to determine that immediately would be to vent them.

I thought I had a split set, but then a few weeks ago both were holding at the same time knocking that right outta the water....