Aulonocara breed question.

C

Cichlid Freak

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Apr 14, 2004
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I recently bought some fish from lfs that he called "Blue Neon Flavescent" which is an Aulonocara cichlid, which I picked up right away from the coloration, and body style.

I have been looking all over trying to find the scientific name for this fish, so that I can learn the specifics on this particular fish. Finally this week I found (on cichlid-forum.com) pics of two species with similar characteristics but I can't decide. I think that mine might be a cross-breed between the two??

They are as listed

"Blue Dorsal Flavescent" Alonocara Stevini
"Blue Neon" Aulonocara Stuartgrant Chiwindi

I am currently trying to get a good pick of my dominant male, but he is being camera shy. They are only youngins too, so it's hard to remember exactly what his adult males looked like.:shake:
 
The flavescent is Aulonocara stuartgranti Flavescent.

As far as the blue neon goes, there are a couple different types of blue neons.

There are A. stuartgranti blue neon "Undu Reef" <--which I bred for awhile, and "Chiwindi"


Here are a couple pics from Armkes site...

Chiwindi,
http://www.ohiexchange.com/armke/images/aul_stuartgranti_chiwindi.jpg

undu reef
http://www.ohiexchange.com/armke/images/aul_steveni_blue_neon.jpg

and flavescent Usisya
http://www.ohiexchange.com/armke/fishpages/fpage_aul_steveni_usisya.html
 
I just visited my lfs at lunchtime. They had two set-ups of "blues."
One said "Dorsi" and the other said "Unda."

I think the Dorsi is the one that would be qualified as the Chiwindi, which was my first assumption. They are so close in relationship and color it's hard to tell the difference, plus I'm in-experienced in this.

Is the care going to be the same anyway. He (lfs) told me that all Aulonocara are going to have the same care?? I don't know if that makes sense. Different breeds are going to have slightly different feeding habits, right?

Thanks for your help. When I finally get a good picture of them I'll post them here.
 
I've been reading up on aulonocara's myself lately and it seems the differences between breeds can be almost impossible to distinguish, especially if cross-breeding occurrs. Not only this but one species can have several different looks depending on where in lake Malawi they were caught. You can probably get close and narrow it down to a few species but the only way you can really be sure is to take the word of whomever you bought it from. They all seem to need the same care although some get a little larger than others and some seem to be slightly more aggressive than others but for the mostpart they will reach around 4-7", be fairly docile and eat prettymuch anything. I think buying aulonocara from a knowledgable source (preferrably wild caught fish) is about the only way to be sure what you have. Kyle
 
Yup, that's what my lfs said. They have two similar breeds right next to each other and I couldn't really tell the difference until he pointed them out. He is very informative, but you are right, I've narrowed it down to about two species. I think that's close enough considering how many there actually are.
 
maybe aulonocara stuartgranti "usisya" their also know as aulonocara stuartgranti usisya flavacent(sp???) they have a neon blue head with a yellow body.
 
Finally got a picture that I could put into this forum. I didn't realize that I could re-size the picture to fit where I needed it.:rolleyes:

neonblue-alphamale-04.jpg
 
Here is one of the females. About the same age. Can't see her dorsal fin to well, but the rest is pretty good.

neonblue-female-01.jpg
 
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