Haps, Mbuna's and Peacocks

[Desi]

Guys; I've found some great resources on the web; cichlid-forum.com is great.. but I'm still CONFUSED AS HELL

After looking at the database at cihclid-forum, I'm thinking I may have a mix of peacocks and mbuna's.. MAAAYBE

Also; is it just me or is the Pseudotropheus Demasoni the SAME FISH as Cynotilapia Afra??? How do you Malawi experts tell them apart GAADDAMNIT!! All the LFS clerks are soo DAMN DUMB!!! (sorry guys, just lettling lose some pent-up aggression)

What is the difference between these three types of Malawis?

 

[Desi]

okay well a half day of research has wielded these findings:


I have 3 livingstoni haps (scien. name: nimbocrhomis livingstoni)

I have 1 Albino M. Auratus (scien. name. melanochromis auratus)

2 electric blue johanni (one of them is beige/brown; female perhaps?)

3 Pseudotropheus Demasoni (I'm still not sure if they are cynotilapia afra; help please?!?)

2 Bumble Bee ciclids;

4 Yellow Labs (gawd I hope they are labs) (scien name: labidochromis caeruleus)

4 Acei (scien name: gephyrochromis acci) but they might be rusty cichlids for all I know.



So guys; I've only identified these; I'm not sure if the demasoni's are truly demasoni's. I'm also not sure if the acci's are rusted or truly acci's.

I also have a pair of fish that resemble a form of peacock; very silvery; too small to tell now; but if anyone has a good page with peacock pics.. hehe

Also I still have 1 last fish that I can't seem to identify; looks like a zebra; power blue on baby blue.

Wow guys; you hvae no idea how much relief I am feeling as to having identified these fish. AS soon as I have FULL confirmation I will change my sig; any thoughts anyone on my situation? This brings the total number of cichlids in the 65 up to 21 with two clown loaches and two polka loaches.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Well...

First let me say that Cynotilapia Afra have a much lighter blue than Demasoni. Demasoni also have more black. Its pretty much opposite. Demasoni are black with blue stipes. Cynotilapia Afra are blue with black stripes.

As for the different types, one basic characteristic of each is where they live in the wild in the lake. Haps and peacocks usually tend to stay near the open water, sandy beaches while the Mbuna dwell near the rocky areas. Haps usually prey on smaller fish in the lake while the Mbuna tend to scrape algae from rocks or eat plant matter. Mbunas, in contrast to Haps and Peacocks are usually colorful no matter the sex. The Haps and Peacocks usually have only the male being colorful. Haps are usually not seen in groups like Mbuna, pairs or breeding groups but not large masses. Same goes with peacocks. Haps get much larger than Mbuna and Peacocks, peacocks usually getting a tad bigger than Mbuna. For me the only real way to tell these apart is just to keep studying and remember what they look like. You can pretty much see Mbuna are the more rounded, slender fish. Really it just takes knowing what they look like IMO.

Both Haps and peacocks will be silvery in the Juvi stage. Got any pics? Got any pics of your fish, hard to confirm without them

I'm very pleased to see you are really taking the time to explore this and acctually see what you have. I can already see this is the begining of a huge cichlid addiction

Well hope i helped, even just a little.

 

[Desi]

!!!!! THANKS MATT

yeah; doing a lot of reading; I use to have this beautiful canon digicam; got stolen.. sigh...

So I've counted a total of 21 cichlids in this tank; all stable but also keep in mind they are all in juvi stage. Maybe the livingstoni haps weren't such a good idea? What do you think Cichlid-MAn?

Well I';ve pretty much confirmed that they are pseudotropheus demasoni's. I'm also reading that the pseudotropheus crabro (bumble bee cichlid) will be very aggressive when fully matured; I've read that many buy them because they are pretty when juvi (same reason why I got them). Perhaps they should be put out? What would you exchange them for that has a similar marble texture?

I'm not too worried about my johanni and the yellow labs i have in the tank; I will try to get my hands on a good digicam soon; and post some pics; please let me know what ya'll think and any suggestions you would make?

 

[Cichlid-Man]

I'd say at this point the stocking is fine. I'd wait until you really see aggression problems....or size problems if it gets to that to move some fish and such.

I'm not sure about a substitute for the pseudotropheus crabro. Some kind of pseudotropheus, there are many out there .