Red Devil or Midas?!?

[H8Parrotfish 13]

I have bought three "Midas cichlids" One is striped, the other is striped but with a bloted red coloration. And the third is a yellow and has the Labiatum characteristics of dark eyes with a gold trim on the right half of the eye. So my question is? The third midas is it really a true Midas?

And is crushed coral a good substrate for these cichlids?

[Rare Cichlids]

The eye coloration is not an effective way to distinguish between species. The third Midas is just as likely to be a true Midas as the others. And its not very likely considering the vast magority of these fish in the US are actually hybrids created by unconcerned fish farmers.

[inxs]

I would agree with Rare Cichlids and add that when young these fish change color and bodyshape a LOT.

[Tightdog1]

yea midas' are notorious for that.

[predatorcichlid]

Unless you obtained them from a good breeder they are a cross of the two species. Regardless of color patten or eye color. It is very,very rare to find a pure bred labiatum any other way.

[NickH]

As far as the substrate is concerned, crushed coral will buffer the tank water and raise it's PH value. Unless you have acidic tap water, I would just use regular (chemically inert) gravel or sand. While high PH water is desirable for most African cichlids, Central American cichlids prefer a neutral PH (7.0).

Most of these cichlids can adapt to different water conditions, but it's not worth it for asethetics alone.

[JimG]

Originally posted by Rare Cichlids
And its not very likely considering the vast magority of these fish in the US are actually hybrids created by unconcerned fish farmers.

Or perhaps purposefully done to create combinations of traits desirable and therefore marketable :D

[Rare Cichlids]

Midas are naturally found in very hard and salty water. A very high pH is preferable.


JimG, Labiatus and Citrinellum are nearly identical in adult size, temperament, preferred water conditions, coloration, and diet. The only noticeable difference that would concern the average aquarist in the least would be the head structure. Labiatus typically with a long slender face and small nuchal hump, and Citrinellum typically with a blunt stocky face and a large nuchal hump. A hybrid of the two often looks remarkably like one or the other parent species. And the vast majority of large cichlid keepers pass up the hybrids for wild or F1 examples of their desired fish.

I seriously doubt the hybridizing is done purposefully, although it is certainly done irresponsibly.

Rare

[predatorcichlid]

parrotfish If you want to see pics of all three variety I have alot of pics on my website. I own both a pure bred midas and a F1 devil. The link is at the bottom.

[H8Parrotfish 13]

Thanks for the responses guys!

The fish a bought at my lfs are the fry of two wild specimens. He got them in a small lake behind his grandparents house.

He lives here in South Phoenix, i bought them in a flea market. (Which also had Pirahna's and Snakeheads which are EXTREMeLY illegal here!) Gotta love the ghetto.

He told me they were caught like seven years ago when he went to visit his family in Costa Rica. He was fishing and when he was netting the Striped Midas, he also pulled up the orange one. He said "It jumped in the net".


We went to his house and in his garage there they were in approx.500 g pond. The temperature in garages out here get so **** hot you won't likely ever have to buy a heater.

The striped male parent has some blue coloration, very beautiful. The female is the orange midas morph. Luis, said he have them for about 7 years.

Then again they still could be hybrids right? I thought the striped midas only mate with striped females. It just seemed that something didn't really smell right and it wasn't the dead eel on the floor.:confused:

Hey predator you gotta awesome setup I basically have a 75 all glass and a Eclipse/Regent 25. One of these days i hope to get a big tank like that. Your fish are awesome two!

Thanks again.(you can still reply i can use all the info i can get.)

[Rare Cichlids]

No if the parents are wild caught there is virtually no chance they are hybrids. There is a good chance they aren't Midas though. There's probably 15-30 different species in this family, and several look very similiar to the Midas.

And yes, the striped and gold morphs are the same species and will breed freely in the wild and in an aquarium. In the wild they do often prefer to mate with a same color fish though.

I think around 75% of his fry should be striped right? That gives you excellent chances of getting a Striped Midas.