Part 2 What kind of fish... Pic of female with babies

[vanpudin]

Ok here is female with babies. Now you guys can help me can identify the kind of fish for sure.

[vanpudin]

I also have 2 pics of fish that includes the female. But which one is the father? These pics were sent from my friend were my 3 young fish came from. On one of the pics he circled, not sure if it was the male or female.
These are the fish that all recently died because of water problem i guess. The babies of course taken out before.
All the other babies are in smaller tank at friends house. Must be at least 50 of them.

[vanpudin]

Pretty sure it is a Kenyi cichlid now. Neat pics though.

[Visualeyes2]

the mom is definetly an african cichlid from lake malawi. i'm not sure of the exact breed though. it looks like some of the ones i have that are believed to be mixed breeds (the possible combinations are endless really). the fish that is circled looks like a kenyi-also a malawi cichlid. the babies could have a father of any malawi cichlid in that tank, which from the pic i can see several in there. most likely, it was one of the blue ones though-my guess is your friend was circling who he thinks the dad is, and he is probably right. you will know when the babies get a lot bigger who the daddy was. i have had three generations of babies born in my african tank and each time, the babies have come out the same color as the mom-mine have all been blue too. so expect the babies to be blue....eventually....it will take a long while for their colors to show up.

[vanpudin]

Wow thanks for the info and ur input....

[vanpudin]

At what point, age or size do these fish get terratorial and aggressive with each other and other fish.

[jm1212]

very nice fish.

they become very territorial during breeding (well all cichlids do)

[Visualeyes2]

they are territorial in general though. breeding increases that trait. once they are about an inch long, they will start getting that way.

[N-E CICHLIDS]

You have alot of Mbunas in the tank. They are the most aggressive when it comes to Malawi Cichlids and should be kept with themselevs and not Peacocks or Haplochromines. They do Inbreed quite often. It is not uncommon to get hybrid cichlids from a tank full of Mbunas. They also live in rocks. I would build caves in the tank for them. Your Peacocks and Haplochromines are open water swimmers. Peacocks are not to aggressive and Haplochromis get quite large. It looks like you have a Venustus in there, which is a Hapolchromine and will reach 9-11".

FYI: if you have a male and female front in that tank, the male will end up killing the others during breeding time, since a front grows to 16" and most Mbunas only reach 6" if lucky.

[tarheels910]

It is fine to keep Mbunas with Peacocks and Haps in a big enough tank. As long as there is caves for the Mbuna and open water for the Peacocks and Haps, they will be fine. Besides, how do you think it is in lake Malawi???

[N-E CICHLIDS]

It is fine to keep Mbunas with Peacocks and Haps in a big enough tank. As long as there is caves for the Mbuna and open water for the Peacocks and Haps, they will be fine. Besides, how do you think it is in lake Malawi???

Your comparing Apples and Oranges. You can not compare a Home aquarium that may be 125 or 150 gallons to a lake that has millons of gallons of water and covers a vast amount of land. Haps, Peacocks and Mbunas do not live and coexist in the lake together. if you dive at the rocky areas you will not see tons of peacocks and haps living among Peacocks. They live in their own respective environments.

In that case I can take a grouper and put a pin fish in with him and they will co exist. They will not. The pin fish will be food.

You have to remember just because they are found in the same body of water does not mean they will play well with each other.

[tarheels910]

But what im trying to say is... think about it. African cichlids are not much like they are in their natural habitat. We have taken them and bred them to our standards. For example... they dont need the correct pH and they can live with other fish. Many people have all 3 housed together and do not have problems. I see what you are talking about and am sorry you misunderstood me.