Could you help me with IDing these Cichilds?

Eee we'd need a better pic to be sure.

The darker orange one does look like a red zebra, aka Maylandia/Metriclima esterae. The yellowish one with the 6 or so vertical stripes looks like a male kenyi, but its hard to tell by the pic and I'm going by the striping pattern. The albino one again I'm not sure but there are a few species you commonly see albino versions of, such as socolofi and zebra.

-Diana
 
I will try and get a better pic on here soon. Thanks
I wanted to show off one of my pride and joys... I'm waiting until my husband can help me get a better pic(s) of the others. I had this lil fellow gave to me. I rescued him from a 10 gallon tank (well the lady who gave him to me did and I took him so he could be in a bigger one then a 20.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/wandat25/100_1138.jpg
 
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New pictures

OK I took one of each of them. the first two are of the one with stripes::
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/wandat25/new2-.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/wandat25/56369a52.jpg

One of the Albino::
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/wandat25/albino.jpg

Two of the Red Zebra (Pretty sure that is what she <?> is)::
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/wandat25/red.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/wandat25/edc0d4e3.jpg

And, one of the other newer fish::
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/wandat25/new1.jpg

They all seam to be getting along just fine together. We was sure all 4 of them where malawian cichlids, so we knew we could keep them together.
 
Well, just beacuse they are malawis doesnt mean they will go together ;). You have some notoriously aggressive species there, you may get some aggression problems, especially if you only have a few fish together. What size is the tank? Depending on the tank size you may want to overstock them to help prevent aggression.
:)
As for ID's:
#1 Kenyi ....aka Maylandia lombardoi
#2 albino Maylandia greshaki
#3 Red zebra (Maylandia estherae) or a female msobo (Maylandia msobo)
#4 Red zebra Maylandia estherae

;)
-Diana
 
they are in a 29 gal right now, with alot of hidding spaces. In a couple months we're moving them into a long 40 so they can have more caves. I did just have the Red Zebra and the Albino, but the Red one wouldn't leave the poor lil Albino alone, so we put her in our 55 (it's a community with mostly Pictus Cats, she seamed ok in it) for a few days and got the other two. I had read that generally Malawian Cichilds can be housed together as long as they have plenty of hidding saces and the best thing to do is to have as many as you can to help prevent hostility, so we got the other two. They all seam to be getting along fine now. For the first hour or so (until we got more caves in there) the Albino and the Kenyi (which after researching I do agree that's what the one with the stripes is) would chase some and "kiss", but now they don't. The Kenyi stays pretty much alone. From what I have read I think I have two males (the Albino and the Kenyi) and two females... Which means it may not hurt if I could come across another one or two females (maybe three), but then even the 40 would be too little in the long run. I'm not too worried as long as they stay acting the way they do now.
I have 6 total tanks. A 55 with a common pleco, 6 Pictus cats, 3 loaches, and about 10-15 Molly and Platies. Then I have another 29 that has mostly Molly and pLaty in it along with some cories and a "shrimpery". A 10 with guppies, snails <for the loaches>, and a few Shrimp for the Catfish. A long 40 with the 6 inch Oscar. And a 5 gal for sink fish (right now had some feeder fry in it). We're fixing to move the ones from the 55 into a 240 (we're going to give most the Mollies and platies to a friend) and move the Oscar into the 55. Then the Cichlids are going into the 40. Then we're putting my 29 gal fish into a 135 and my guppies into the 29 and the 10 is going to be our sink tank and the 5 is going to a little nieghbor girl with 2 male guppies.
Thank you for your help. I'll keep you posted, if you'd like, on how thye're doing; and if I by chance go ahead and try to find another one or two females.
 
Yeah they might be okay for a week, or two, or a month, or two.... but sooner or later you are gonna run into big problems. Trust me, the species you have now wont live in harmony. The yellow male kenyi (probebly the most aggressive) when he matures will see the other two yellow fish as a threat, and remove them from the tank the only way he knows how...

I would not even keep these species in my 90 gallon community malawi mbuna tank. They are just that aggressive.

And its false that any malawi species can be kept together as long as they are overstocked....

PLUS overstocking only works in larger tanks at least 4 feet (75 gallons and up). And by overstocking we mean 20+ fish, not 4.

Please take this adivce or you will loose some fish. They are really tricky to stock. I would remove all your fish and get some yellow labs, acei, or rusty cichlids. Those are less agressive species that fare better in smaller tanks. Even the 40 gallon is going to be too small for any of the fish you have now, unless they are by themselves.

Also, while having several females to one male is advised, its several females and one male of the same species.... just keeping a bunch of females of different species together kinda defeats the purpose... because part of the reason is to prevetn hybridization. And a male will treat each of those females differently if they do not look the same. :(

Try having a look at: http://www.malawimayhem.com. I would suggest this to you, and I know you can do what you want but I will try: Is it possible for you to put your oscar in the 135 gallon (which he'll eventually need) and put the africans in the 55? At least that way the tank is big enough for you to have around 10 fish, which is not overstocking but will help a lot more with aggression. Although, you'd probebly still have to take back the kenyi.

HTH
-Diana
 
Well the information I'd gotten on these fish came from the cichild website. It said genreally they can be housed. They have not cause any problems and if they do when they get older I'll handle it then. I may consider the 135 for the Oscar and the 55for them, but then I'll have to figure out what to do with my shrimpery and other 15 fish, the pleco and my plants. I am going to look at the site you gave me and see if I get any different information. Thanks
 
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