FishProfiles.com Message Forums

i just bought a cichlid. it is supposedly from south america. however none of the ones i have seen from south america look like mine. heres a pic http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v359/southern_babe1/fishes/?action=view&current=cichlid011.jpg Can someone please tell me which one it is. Also, can someone tell me if it is male or female or at least how i can tell?

That fish is definately African. I would say almost definately that it is a a male due to the egg spots on the anal fin. As to the species, I would say maybe a johanni?

from the pictures of the johanni it looks like they have spots of blue on black. My fish is striped bright blue on dark blue. Would that make him a different species or just a common variation?

I used to keep johanni, and the male was very similar to the one in your picture. I may be wrong, but it looks to me to be a johanni. Many of the afrcian cichlids can look very similar, so it may well be another species.

Good luck

thanks. I was just thinking of getting a female or 2. I found two fish that looked very similar to mine. The only problem is that one species has orange/yellow females and the others females just look like faded version of the males. just trying to figure out which color to get!

The female johannis are yellow in colour. Only the males are blue.

Thanks, is there any special treatment that johanni need? like favorite plants or substrate? i've looked at lots of other sites but their recommendations are bordering on the ridiculous. I cant possibly afford that mich stuff for a single fish... ehh. i'll just have add things as i get the money.

I saw this thread and I was wondering if someone would like to help me ID my fish also?
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b281/jawmes/Jeffrey4.jpg

i was thinking male johannii or make chipokae

I've got a fever... and the only prescription... is more cowbell!

Here are some pics of my johannii so you can compare
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/kmlubahn6609/morepics018.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/kmlubahn6609/Morecichlids007.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/kmlubahn6609/TinasCichlids006.jpg

I've got a fever... and the only prescription... is more cowbell!

On that last picture, yours has more than one yellow spot on its bottom fin. Are they all supposed to have more than one or is it an age thing?

Jawmes, it looks like a red devil, either turning colors or suffering from black spot disease. Test your nitrites if they are high.

The first post of this thread and pic of a fish is definitely of the Melanochromis genus. However, its species remains to be seen. There are several species of the male being blue, from light blue to deep blue. And several of them will look very close in color. The only true way to tell, is to find info of properly ID this fish. In other words; fin counts, fin measurements, body part placements, mature size of fish, etc. Find all the info that differs each Melanochromis which has a blue male. Then test your fish against the info. In the end, it may even be a hybrid of two different species of Melanochromis. Especially if it was not sold with a species name.

As for its sex, I would not say. Though probably a male, several of the species have females that will develope some egg spots.

Personally, as to not risk cross breeding, I would not purchase any females to breed with him. As by not knowing the exact species, you could end up with a hybrid. Though it is totally up to you, most hobbyist are against hybrids.

As for the johannii all having orange/yellow females, this is false. There are two color variants from the lake. One with orange/yellow females, while the other has blue females. The species with blue females was actually the first to be discovered and brought into the hobby. The species with the orange female varient is the newer discovered one.

_____________________________________________________________

There is always a bigger fish...