Need help identifying this cichlid please (pic)

[Winterymix]

Hey guys,

Picked this guy up this morning at a place I normally *never* buy fish. But this is the first time I've seen them have such a good looking specimen. He was the only one of his kind, and had some minor damage to one of his fins already and I knew if I didn't buy him he'd be dead in a day. I've been trying to ID him, but to my novice eye, he resembles 3 or 4 different Malawi species. He's currently in my new 55g setup with 2 juvenile yellow labs & they are all getting on quite well so far.

Here's the pic. The color is a little washed out from my flash, so the blues are actually a bit darker than the image shows.

 

[blue2fyre]

Looks like a young Pseudotropheus lombardoi, or Kenyi. They are pretty common. Males are yellow females are blue with black stripes. They all start blue then the males turn yellow as they get older. I will warn you that Kenyi are very aggressive so he/she might end up beating up on your labs.

 

[Winterymix]

Argh. Just did some research on this species. You are definitely right, a Kenyi is what I have. In all the profiles on them, the picture looks exactly like my little one. I hate that they are so aggressive, I'd love to keep a couple. I went over to Petsmart & they have a very yellow male that is probably a quarter inch bigger than mine which I suspect is female since she's about 2" and still a nice deep blue (and she was the only Kenyi in the tank I bought her from). I'd like to get the male & maybe two more females (total of 4 fish) but I really want to keep my labs & another species (maybe red zebras). Has anyone had any luck making a peaceful tank for a group like this? I have a standard 55g that will have extensive rock work (already has a fair amount).

 

[blue2fyre]

I know they are beautiful, I just wish they were not so mean. If you keep one male with several females it may even out their aggression a bit. Provide plenty of rockwork/hiding places.