Name this cichlid.....please!

[Orion]

Here is a picture of a pair of South African ciichlid that I got from my LFS. ( At least they were selling them as SA cichlid's) Anybody have an idea of what spiecies they are? I have looked on several web sites and can not come to a deffinate conclusion. Needless to say, these are the first african cichlids I have owned and know next to nothing about them.

 

[SoulFish]

they dont look like SA, some type of albino mbuna, shouldnt be in that tank need hardwater and high pH, generally dont do well with plants and will begin eating them, should be fed a diet of mainly spirulina flakes with occasional brine shrimp treats, be sure not to over feed and only as much as they can eat in 1/2-1 minute, they are also very agressive and the otehr fish in the tnak might be harmed

id say return them unless you ahve a different tank for them

 

[lizwinz]

looks like a mbuna to me too...ive seen them at my lfs

--liz

 

[Orion]

thanks so much! One more question, about how big are they when they are full grown and about how fast do they grow?

 

[SoulFish]

5-6" when full grown for most, i wouldnt keep them in that tank, my guess would be that tank has soft water and low pH the opposite of what africans need, also do you have any other tankmates yet?

 

[wayne]

FYI SA usually stands for South American rather than Africa, but these are from Lake Malawi. As they're anonymous albinos they'll be almost impossible to identify 100%, and there's an unfortunate chance they're hybridised

 

[Orion]

The tank does have soft water and the ph is 7.0. When we saw them at the LFS, we asked about them and they said the fish would do fine in a comunity tank with plants. I have had them for right at two months and are keeping them with a juvinile angel, 2 dwarf gouramis, 2 SAE, and a couple of dwarf frogs. When first introduced, the picked on the frogs a little, but that stoped after about a week or two. Most of the time, the cichlids stay in the bottom of the tank, and the angel and gouramis stay mid to top. The frogs usualy only come into the compleate open during feeding, but even then there is no nipping or aggresiveness to any of the critters.
So I already know the best plan of action, sell them back to the LFS.

 

[Orion]

heres a link to a post that has a full view pic of the tank that they are in.

http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5110&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

 

[SoulFish]

get them out of there, the tank is very bad for them, its way too small (need a minimal of a 55 for most mbunas larger for some, they will out grow that that tank and become very agressive in no time, all your other fish will be killed and they will never do good inthe water because it is opposite of what they need, not only that the angels will probably be a problem in the future after you get rid of the africans, angels will outgrow a 10 in no time and 2 angels with no place for the subdominant to go is asking for trouble, id take a trip to the LFS and bring your mbunas back, preferrebly not the incompetent one that sold them to you


o btw didnt even see you thought they were south africans, SA stands for south american and these are rift lake cichlids

 

[Orion]

hehe, I read you lound and clear. My wife loves those little fish. I feel a fight comeing on when she gets home! LOL

 

[Paul]

Good excuse to get a bigger tank.

 

[Orion]

LOL, hey what ever works!!
And thank you soulfish for correcting my mistake. As I said I really dont know that much about these cichlids.

 

[SoulFish]

np, if you try and convince your wife to get a larger tank try and get a 55gal+ youll be able to get a nice groiup of mbunas in there

 

[Orion]

ahhhhh, just the thoughts of a new tank make me as giddy as a school girl. LOL BTW, I knew we were going to fight over the mbunas,Oh well, at least she didnt draw blood this time!

hehe, its not anything a few days of Melafix wont cure.

 

[Nativefish Boy]

HEY!! I have those at work right now. They are Albino Snow Flake Socoify ( sp*) And they are really cool.

 

[Orion]

Might you have any info on them? Or know where I can find some? I tried a search for that name but came up with nothing!

 

[SoulFish]

its socolofi

 

[Orion]

I checked it out at it would appear that they are them, or them are they, or something like that! Thank you all for all your help. I didnt even know where to begin to look.

 

[AnThRaXiD]

they look like albino melanochromis auratus/johani...

 

[lghtbolt]

Look like african albino zebras to me (mbuna common to Lake Malawi). Inasmuch as there are many hybrids, hard to determine. High PH required - warm tank. I never heard of the snow flake thingy...