# Cichlid ID?



## Rowzy (Jan 13, 2012)

I recently bought a 10 gallon tank that came with the fish they had in it. To my surprise the fish are a 5+" cichlid and a 3" danio. The lady (I believe owner) at the LFS told me to list them as free to anybody with a 55 gallon tank or larger (she didn't have any tank space). I was recommended here that it might be easier to give them away if I could ID what kind of cichlid he is (I don't actually know if its male or female, but I call it a he).

He is greyish, but his color changes from a very light grey to an almost black with blue undertones. He has darker stripes on his sides as well. His fins are black with red along the edges and his tail is solid red. He spends a lot of time near the bottom of the tank, and so far has spent most of today rooting around in the gravel, sometimes picking it up and spitting it out elsewhere.

Here are some pictures. I can provide more if needed.



















Any ideas what he might be? And, how would you tell if "he" is male or female?

Also does he need any special care? The lady at the LFS told me to do 25% daily water changes because the tank is way too small for these fish. I was going to get some sort of sinking food, because I've noticed that he will only eat food that falls to the bottom of the tank (all he has been getting are just regular flakes). Do I need to do anything else? I am a fairly beginner fish keeper, and I want to take the best care of this fish as possible until I can find him a new home.


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

Looks like a green terror to me. Sexing is fairly easy if you get a shot of it's fin's all together. Look up Green terror's and sexing and you should be able to find all you need without posting up more pictures and taking them and so on. 

From what I can see it looks to be female, but I could be wrong with it being young. Generally speaking GT's dorsal's are a give-a-away. Males dorsals nearly touch the tail, and female's have a gap between.

Best of luck.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

looks kinda like one of the tilapia related species from africa....maybe an "sp. 44" or whatever the heck they call it...


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

black with red fins could be one of the "victorian haps". nubila have black males though the shape looks more like a S. american


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

Please disregard my post. The second picture didn't show up when I first posted and read the thread.


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## Rowzy (Jan 13, 2012)

My dad who has seen the pictures (but not the fish) thinks he might be a texas cichlid (he kept cichlids for years, but hasn't had fish for awhile). He also said that it probably wasn't an african cichlid of some sort because the lady I got him from knew nothing about fish, so he doubts that an african cichlid would still be alive at this point (if that makes any sense). But I don't think he looks like the pictures of texas cichlids I found on google.

Would more pictures help?


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

He said that because a single African cichlid by itself in that small of a tank would likely bang its head on the wall, or do something to try to escape. African cichlids really need to be in groups (even with other species) to be happy, and it would need a much larger tank. I have seen African cichlids do this in other peoples tanks when they purchased the fish without knowing how to take care of it. A local pet shop that just closed would only sell you mbuna cichlids in groups of 3, and only to someone who says they have a large enough tank.


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## Rowzy (Jan 13, 2012)

Thank you for the extra information.

On a side note I contacted the local Bellingham aquarium society and the greater seattle aquarium society plus listed the fish on craigslist but so far no serious inquiries (one person with too small of a tank, one person without a tank at all).


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Groups of 3 is totally stupid. You want either 1 or 6.


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

emc7 said:


> Groups of 3 is totally stupid. You want either 1 or 6.


you tell 'em emc7


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Africans do just fine in groups of 1. The last head-banger I heard of that had to go because the owner couldn't sleep was South American.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Look at the Oreochromis mossambicus in this thread http://www.hawaiibassfishing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7054&sid=6206e17b209c3023b02ff8af973c3d09

Its a tilapia-live mouthbrooder


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

like i said...one of the tilapia related species.....africans do quite well by themselves...that is how they are kept for showing...one of the top cichlid show winners around keeps all of his show fish alone in a bare tank..just a heater and a sponge filter...a single male peacock in a 29 gallon tank...


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