Cichlid ID please.
- Thread starter janger
- Start date
Oh man, I'm in trouble. Just looked up that pearl cichlid and they do look the same. Pretty fish so it's a shame he'll have to go - I only have a 3' tank 
Several months ago I wanted to get a pair of peaceful cichlids. The LFS had a tank full of little "blue rams" but not knowing a lot about cichlids I couldn't really ID them (LFS guy doesn't know much about them either). Anyway they grew but the other one has stayed smaller - he's about 8cm long. His coloring is closer to the one shown here - with the line through the eye and more black markings along the sides. I tried getting a pic showing its markings but very hard when having to use flash:
He's not very colorful today. You'll notice he's missing a vital part of himself. It's taken a while and a few meds but finally he's growing back what the big bully took!
Anyway what goes on here? Are these different species? Male/female? Or is the little one just a runt? The larger one is almost twice the length of the smaller one and much more aggressive, though mainly towards the other cichlid. But when I purchased them they were pretty much the same size and had similar markings to the above pic. The main difference was the shape of the dorsal, which I took to be male/female.
Several months ago I wanted to get a pair of peaceful cichlids. The LFS had a tank full of little "blue rams" but not knowing a lot about cichlids I couldn't really ID them (LFS guy doesn't know much about them either). Anyway they grew but the other one has stayed smaller - he's about 8cm long. His coloring is closer to the one shown here - with the line through the eye and more black markings along the sides. I tried getting a pic showing its markings but very hard when having to use flash:
He's not very colorful today. You'll notice he's missing a vital part of himself. It's taken a while and a few meds but finally he's growing back what the big bully took!
Anyway what goes on here? Are these different species? Male/female? Or is the little one just a runt? The larger one is almost twice the length of the smaller one and much more aggressive, though mainly towards the other cichlid. But when I purchased them they were pretty much the same size and had similar markings to the above pic. The main difference was the shape of the dorsal, which I took to be male/female.
Yeah this one is hard to say due to the photo placement of the fish and i do see its caudal fin is missing a little.
But i don't understand why there not the same size so its hard to say if it is a slower grower than the other and or if aggression played a role.
More than likely you have two males with the bigger one being more dominant and wreaking havoc on the little guy, what size is the tank.
But i don't understand why there not the same size so its hard to say if it is a slower grower than the other and or if aggression played a role.
More than likely you have two males with the bigger one being more dominant and wreaking havoc on the little guy, what size is the tank.
LOL, until a few weeks ago there was no tail fin at all - his rear ended in a pile of bones sticking out of mush.
I'll try and get a photo with the two fish side by side if I can. But that requires waiting till lights out since the big one is less aggressive then and the smaller one doesn't cower as much. But you can see in those photos the dorsal fin of the larger one is a lot pointier at the back.
Yeah I thought about the aggression thing causing the size difference. The little one eats fairly well but has always had to wait till the big one took more than his fair share.
The tank is only a 39gal that's why they have to go if your ID is correct. Do all these related cichlids look similar when juveniles? Because when they first began looking/growing different I thought maybe the LFS or supplier had mistakenly mixed up a batch. Unfortunately I don't think there are any left at the shop to compare them.
Yep they should look alike when younger but i can see how the LFS would get juvies mixed up from time to time.
I used to keep and breed brasiliensis a few years ago they were prolific in their breeding rights and they do fetch a nice size so to say.
A 39gal would house just 2 of them but a 55gal would be better..
I would say that the one that is larger with a pointed dorsal fin is quite possibly the male and the one you added of the missing caudal is a female, do you know who did the ripping of the caudal..
I used to keep and breed brasiliensis a few years ago they were prolific in their breeding rights and they do fetch a nice size so to say.
A 39gal would house just 2 of them but a 55gal would be better..
I would say that the one that is larger with a pointed dorsal fin is quite possibly the male and the one you added of the missing caudal is a female, do you know who did the ripping of the caudal..
I thought the larger one with the pointed dorsal was male and the smaller one female as well, which is why I chose them. But then again I thought they were blue rams 
The tank is a community setup with a few corys and bristlenose. Big Boppa (that's his name now) is very peaceful with them. Even have a couple of small Australian native gudgeons in there and he only chases them about every so often.
As for the missing tail, I never saw it happen but it was either Big Boppa or he got caught among some wood I put in the tank. But it happened when the bully first started getting really territorial/aggressive.
BTW Pittbull, did you like keeping them? They're a very interesting fish. I just don't have room to put a bigger tank.
The tank is a community setup with a few corys and bristlenose. Big Boppa (that's his name now
) is very peaceful with them. Even have a couple of small Australian native gudgeons in there and he only chases them about every so often.As for the missing tail, I never saw it happen but it was either Big Boppa or he got caught among some wood I put in the tank. But it happened when the bully first started getting really territorial/aggressive.
BTW Pittbull, did you like keeping them? They're a very interesting fish. I just don't have room to put a bigger tank.
janger wrote:
They were fun fish to have back in the day and real easy to breed, i sorta miss having them, and i understand what your saying about having a larger setup.
good luck with them my friend..
They were fun fish to have back in the day and real easy to breed, i sorta miss having them, and i understand what your saying about having a larger setup.
good luck with them my friend..
I would say Brasiliensis as well, with the larger of the two being male. How large is he?
My guess would be that the smaller is a female. She shows more common coloration for females or juvenile males. The bars through the eyes and the spot on the side fades in males, replaced by the " pearls " on the fishes' sides. It's a shame they don't get along, I've found them to be pretty gentle toward one another.
My guess would be that the smaller is a female. She shows more common coloration for females or juvenile males. The bars through the eyes and the spot on the side fades in males, replaced by the " pearls " on the fishes' sides. It's a shame they don't get along, I've found them to be pretty gentle toward one another.