# What kind of Cichlid is this?



## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

Yellow fins, blue body.


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2007)

sound like some kind of african. we need alot more information than what you gave us though. yellow fins, blue body could mean anything. we need the body size, body shape, what it looks like, etc.


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## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

Ok. She is an african cichlid. She has a blue body and yellow fins on the top. She will grow to 4.5 inches (is what the lfs label said). Very pale darker stripes on her body. And she is acting REALLY depressed since I got her last night...is she missing her buddies?


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2007)

what size tank is she in and does she have any tank mates?


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## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

The signature says it all.


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2007)

she will probably want some other africian cichlids to "play" with. your cories also might end up getting killed. as for her species, i'm not sure. sound like it might be some kind of pea**************** but i could be wrong. you could try cichlidforums.com unless you get a definate answer here. if you had a photo it would make identification alot easier.


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2007)

Metriaclima greshakei maybe?

Or does it look more like this?

Malawi cichlids are usually kept in groups. If its a Malawi of some kind I really wouldn't keep it in a community tank.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Better question would be why buy a fish you know nothing about?


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

might be looking "lonely" -- ie unwell -- if your pH and hardness are not high enough for a rift lake cichlid.


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## gemjunkie (Jan 20, 2005)

Actually, pH and hardness don't matter as much as consistency and clean water. My water is neutral to soft and I have spawned a good dozen different kinds of Africans.

If you have an african with a blue body and yellow fins you PROBABLY shouldn't be calling it a SHE as it's most likely a HE. Most LPSs cary nothing BUT HEs since they are more colorful unless you are talking some of the mbuna species.

Still NOT enough information......
JMHO


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2007)

Either way, that tank set up is far from ideal for an african cichlid. My suggesstion would be to take it back.


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## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

I have taken the cichlid back. Hahaha, I think she was an Ahlei cichlid...if that rings a bell. Not an Ahli..but ugh, I'm not sure. She was pretty though...but seemed very unhappy. Well, I decided on a Paradise Gourami instead and he is a WONDERFUL addition! Very very active and curious as well as logical. He has decided that the catfish are very oblivious of him and do not require any aggression, actually, even better, he returns the favor with ignoring them. Ha. The only thing that bothers me a bit is that he nips at my mystery snails and I have a tank for them to clean! They always do such a good job, but now that he is making them very afraid, they stay in their cave  Big meanie. But yeah, everyone is doing very well now. Very well indeed.


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## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

Oh, and I guess the cichlids scientific name was Metriaclima Greshakei, like justonemore20 said. That is what she looked like!


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## girth vader (Apr 24, 2006)

they are beautiful fish however I don't think you're gourami would like him as much as you would have


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2007)

I'm glad you took it back. Africans, especially Mbuna (which it sounds like you had) don't really play nice with community fish...and there are the differences in food also. Its good you did the right thing. 



> Hahaha, I think she was an Ahlei cichlid


Maybe you mean Acei? They have a purplish blue body with yellow fins. They are different from Greshakei, but both are Malawi Mbuna. Both will get about 6 inches, not the 4.5in that the lfs said. 

And if it looked like the picture in the link I posted, it was a "he".  Males are much more colorful than females in alot of the Mbuna cichlids.


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## tankfan (May 30, 2006)

does it look like this?


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

Glad you brought it back. It was ill advised to even buy it.


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