What Kind of Cichlid is this?

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psycosis_03

AC Members
Apr 13, 2006
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Hannibal, MO


I got this Cichlid from a friend whom had it and no longer wanted it. Sorry the pic is kind fuzzy. It is about 3 inches in length and is bright orange with black spots. He feed the fish regular fish flakes. Since I got it ( about 3 weeks ago ) I started feeding it a Cichlid pellet.It seems like there is some blue showing up near the dorsal fin almost like a small stripe right at the top of the back, but they are not a bright blue but more of an ice blue.

If anyone has any ideas on what kinda cichlid is i would love to hear it LOL. Also is this fish full grown or still growing?

THANKS EVERYONE!

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That is an OB (Orange Blotched) Zebra, a Pseudotropheus species color morph - they are from Lake Malawi, and we will get a little larger. If you are looking for something for the 75g tank, this is it, along with about 25 more "mbuna", which are what this species is called. They are hardy, aggressive, primarily vegetarian, although some mbuna are omnivores. They like hard water with higher ph levels. The 10g is definately too small for this guy. There are lots of discussions in the AC forums about mbuna and on the internet as well. Enjoy!
 
I was thinking Port Acara or Black Acara, but it looks a little different.
 
Well the people i got this cichlid from said that she was in a tank with two other cichlids and she killed them both so they stuck her in a 10 gallon tank. She seems confortable in the 10 gallon for now.

How large with she get? she is there a strong possibilty i can introduce more fish into a tank with her with out her killing them ?
 
I say it's a Kenyi (Metriaclima Lombardoi)...Looks EXACTLY like the image in my book and would match the aggression you describe
 
Well, how many cichlids do you all think that I can put in my 75 gallon tank?
 
DeputyChiefJR said:
I say it's a Kenyi (Metriaclima Lombardoi)...Looks EXACTLY like the image in my book and would match the aggression you describe
Click to expand...

:duh: Seems to me you call every cichlid on here a kenyi! ;)

This is DEFINATELY not a kenyi, nor an acara, it is exactly what YoFishboy and nugs have said... an OB "Orange Blotch" Maylandia/Metriclima sp. zebra. Very aggressive fish by most standards, but not nessecarily in terms of malawi mbuna. I'd say he (looks like a 'he' to me, especially if he's developing some blue coloration) will get to be 4" when full grown... may even push 5".

It is most definately not fine in a 10 gallon tank, and I would say a 30 gallon is bare minimum just for this one fish. If you wanted to add more fish to the tank, it will have to be at least a 55 gallon.

The 75 gallon will be great for it, in addition to some more Lake Malawi species. You could get approximately 15 fish in there if you chose your species right.

You'll have to do a lot of research on the requirements of these fish (for example, the mbuna are mostly vegetarian and they'll need a high pH of around 8.2). Visit this site: http://www.malawimayhem.com for more information.

:)
-Diana
 
they're all beginning to look the same to me anyway...haha!
 
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