Aulonocara ID

[Cypherman]

Ok this is my male aulonocara that I originally bought as an ahi. However it is most decidedly not an electric blue as you can see. As its gotten older its developed more and more yellow and I learned that electric blues are different in shape...I dunno what species it is but take a look and tell me hopefully! He is about 2-2.5 inches long, or so and the most dominant among my juvie peacocks.

In this pic the colors are a bit dark but it is the sharpest pic of his general body shape my crappy camera could deliver...

http://www.cichlidtank.com/uploads/photos/3472.jpg

We have the exact opposite problem in this photo; the colors are too washed out, but you can see the yellow highlights that are developing (especially around the shoulder region, which are hard to get a pic of)

http://www.cichlidtank.com/uploads/photos/3473.jpg

His true color is somewhere in between these two, with blue being the predominant body color over the yellow. So, what do you guys think? I'm guessing stuartgranti of some kind based on the color but I'm a newbie to peacocks so plz assist! :wink:

Edit: As long as I have my camera out...Here's a shot of my entire setup!

http://www.cichlidtank.com/uploads/photos/3477.jpg

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

from that i can sort of see some blue on his gill cover so im saying a A.Stuargranti, as most of that species have blue heads.
but it still needs to do some more colouring up so i susgest if you dont have females get a few so then he colours up more that way making it alot easier to tell.

and when you are buying Aulounocara(peacocks) you should only buy them i they have their location this helps keep the bred as pure as posiable and helps any future buyers.

[valerie]

Can't really positively ID it as its only starting to color up. I wouldn't buy any females untill you know what species your male is. All the females look alike and yo dont' want them crossing.

What was this fish called when you bought it? I"m asking becuase there are alot of hybrid peacocks out there and if this fish wasn't clearly labeled then you might have a mix.

[Cypherman]

I bought it as an Electric blue hap (Sciaenochromis ahi), not as an Aulonocara :rolleyes: I could tell early on it wasn't an ahi, but I was curious so instead of taking him back I kept him...Regardless of what he is I am going to keep him, he looks like he will be stunning to me.

[valerie]

Doesn't look like a electric blue hap to me. Lots of places sell electric blue/peacock hybrids as electric blues.

I think he will probably be a nice looking peacock.I just wouldnt' let him breed as you can't be sure of his species/location.

let us know what he looks like down the road.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

i susgested the females so he would bred and colour as the fry could be easly striped and fed as feeders.

[Cypherman]

Not to bump an old topic up, but according to Fogelhound over at cichlid-forum.com, the bar over my fish's eye is common to many Malawi haps, but LACKING in all aulonocara species, which means my guy is a hybrid :( Too bad...But on the plus side that means he could turn out to be anything! Over the past few days his color has developed even more...The yellow and blue mingles all over his side and he's gotten a black stripe below each of the white fin margins...His temper has gotten worse too...So much for my peaceful Malawi hap community :(

[valerie]

Yeah Fogelhund sure does know his stuff. Thats why i always recommend asking him jsut to make sure. Even if it is a hybrid lots turn out ot be beautiful. I just wouldnt' recomend ever breeding him.


I wouldlike to see pics of him as he gets his color.