Will this fish color up? Named obliquiden cichlid at Petsmart.

[vanpudin]

Hi i bought the last fish in a tank named Obliquiden cichlid on the tank. It was dicounted at $3.00, (priced to clear). I believe this a victorian cichlid. I had remembered this tank had similar fish in it weeks before that had red on belly and vertical stripes, which is the reason i bought this one.
Will this fish color up, or is this one different somehow than the others previously in tank? To me it's just a plain lookin fish with almost no color. I thought about taking it back if they hav'nt put a new or diff. spiecies of cichlid in their tank yet, but at 3$ it might not be worth the gas money.
The fish is near 3'' long at the most. I have a Acei, 2 young yellow labs, and 2 young ice blue zebras with the obliquiden in a 55g tank.
I also know obliquidens may be incorectly named from a similar fish but thats a diff. story. Thanks for any help or opinions.
Oh, and here are a few pics

[Lupin]

Give it a few more days to settle.:)

[vanpudin]

Thank u for the reply. Hopefully it will get some color.

[toddnbecka]

Look up Astatotilapia Latifasciata or Zebra Obliquens for more info.

[mdwalt1]

In THAT tank, almost ANY fish will be "just a plain lookin fish with almost no color." <kidding>

I don't think it's Zebra Obliquens, but it's hard to say at this point. In any case, yes it will "color up" with maturity unless its female.

[TheFanatic]

It is not Astatotilapia Latifasciata or Zebra Obliquidens. No vertical stripes. I have a male breeding with two fems and even the quarter inch long fry have vertical stripes. I would guess that something from another tank found it's way into the Obliquidens tank.

And usually the Zebra Obliquidens refers to Astatotilapia Latifasciata despite the fact that the Latifasciata is not a ZO. The real ZO is pretty much extinct. The Astatotilapia Latifasciata is not far behind.

Most fish that are referred to just as Obliquidens are known as Thick Skins which don't have as bright color as the ZO and have less pronounced striping.

I still don't think that is a Thick Skin, but I may be wrong once it settles in.

[vanpudin]

thanks for the replies

[vanpudin]

sometimes if i look close at the fish i see very faint vertical banding. I dont know if it is stress related or not

[vanpudin]

Went back to petsmart for another reason, but went by fish dept. The tank marked obiquiden cichlid eas occupied by another type of fish. But i happened to look in the tank that had larger assorted cichlids and it had 1 obilquiden with the stiped colors thats missing off the fish i had. I know this fish once was in the obilquiden tank. I thought i had the last one. I wonder if i talk to a manager if they would exchange that fish with mine, for the price of an obiliquiden (3.00) clearance price instead of (12.99) large assorted cichlid price. i have my receipt.