# Aye mates, do these cichlids live well together?



## Kev_Azn (Dec 26, 2008)

I have some fish but some are complicated to identify so if i can please ask help.


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## Kev_Azn (Dec 26, 2008)

Again, some more, even the name is good enough.


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

hmmm
offhand - first 4 pics are various mbuna, 5th pic looks like one of the many hybrid frankenfish marketed as "flowerhorn" (but I could be wrong), 6th looks like an OB zebra but could be an OB peacock (which has OB zebra genes) - I'm leaning towards zebra but the angle makes me unsure. 7th fish looks like a hap, I'd guess moori. 8th fish looks like an aulonocara species (but I could be wrong).

Basically - 1-4 and 6 are rock dwelling fishes from lake malawi who's diet should be about 80% veggie based with limited fish or shrimp protein intake. 7-8 are open water fishes, also from Malawi and should have more shrimp, bloodworms etc. All of these fish from Lake Malawi like hard water with a pH of about 8 - 8.4.

Number 5, depending on where it was bred and under what water conditions, as well as what it was bred from (ie what kind of genes it has) could require varied water conditions. Its hard to go wrong with a pH of about 7.0 for these fish (ammonia is less toxic at that pH than at higher pH ranges) and moderate hardness (not soft water but not Malawi hard). These fish are usually much more agressive, will eat pretty much anything (shrimp, krill, clam, squid, pellets, flake, small domestic cats, children who tap on their tanks, and Santa's 10th reindeer). Leaning more towards foods with high betacaroteen and/or Astaxanthene (shrimp, krill, color enhancing pellets, etc) will bring out more orange and red colors in the fish.

I wouldn't mix the "flowerhorn" with the Lake Malawi fishes. Personally I also try not to mix mbuna and open water fishes like the hap or Aulonocara - their diets and aggression levels are too varied for my taste.

hope that helps


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## Kev_Azn (Dec 26, 2008)

Thx for the info.

Some fish are gone, such as the flower horn which i gave to my cousin. The critter was a bit too aggressive. Although the one you classified as a zebra, are they asexual species or can they breed with some of the other fish. She/he has about 15 babies and still counting (not really, just estimate because theres a lot), and of different sizes depending on which "batch" they were born in. Some of the early zebra had some unique traits such golden trimmed fins, pale "skin", and even one of them is blue.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

At lot of Mbuna can crossbreed, but #2 could be the same species as #6. For anything in the same genus assume that they will and others can. "OB zebras" vary in appearance from only a few spot to totally speckled. The daddy would be the one she was going around in circles with about 4 weeks before you saw babies.


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## Kev_Azn (Dec 26, 2008)

emc7 said:


> At lot of Mbuna can crossbreed, but #2 could be the same species as #6. For anything in the same genus assume that they will and others can. "OB zebras" vary in appearance from only a few spot to totally speckled. The daddy would be the one she was going around in circles with about 4 weeks before you saw babies.


For the OB zebra, normally i can tell when she has more batches. Normally she wouldn't eat or open their mouth for a max of about a week. Normally i can spot these newly hatched fish in shells and under rocks for protection. Just a question but is it possible for these zebras to interbreed with one another?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Yes

Look at the profiles on ciclid-forum.com. The fish that were once called P. Zebra are now several species in the genus Metriaclima (aka Maylandia) and each species has several color morphs. All the fish in that genus will breed with each other and even Mbuna outside the genus. Lake Malawi has an incredible diversity of color morphs and species and its a tragedy that the hobby is getting full of hybrids that, although fertile, will in a few generations be ugly compared to their pure-bred cousins.


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## Kev_Azn (Dec 26, 2008)

Ahhh, i see


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