i went with red zebras

AquariumNoob13

I AM NOT A N00B!
Aug 27, 2007
1,281
0
0
Bonita, Ca
i'm pretty dang sure that they are red zebras even though i got them from the "assorted african cichlid" tank at petco. they are orange and look just like my blue zebras. plus they are really mean. lol. they are just little babies compared to my other cichlids and they are already the bosses of my tank. i realize that my tank is overstocked, but i'm almost done scraping off the silicone of my 75 and then i'll resilicone it then fill it up with water. and if anything should hapen to my red zebras i've got a 10g standing by. =D
 
so um any advice on keeping them? are they any diff than socolofi, blue zebras, and labs?
 
Care and requirements practically identical as the other mbuna species you have.

The only difference is red zebras, especially the males, tend to have a predisposition to be dominant fish.

How many did you get?
 
i got 4. i'm not very good at sexing, but i only got one that has 1 egg spot. that is a way to tell right? less egg spots less chance of being female? plus they are all pretty mellow except for the one who tends to chase around my blue zebras and labs.
 
I really think you should get the 75 up and running as a priority before adding more fish. As already stated care for zebras is as per other mbuna generally. They can be extremely aggressive.
 
Males will also develop blue sheens in their dorsal fins. Eggspots aren't a clear indicator (I had a mouthbrooding female red zebra with 8 eggspots).
 
Heres what one of my males looked like for reference...you can see the hump and all the blue in the fins esp the dorsal.

HPIM1132-1.jpg
 
well only one has any sort of yellow at all, but they are all so tiny i can't tell if i should trust it or not. . .
 
AquariaCentral.com