Any Idea What Kind of Cichlids these are?

wtfxtayy · Dec 17, 2009

I just recently rescued two African Cichlid fry, they're young - only 3 inches or so. I currently have them housed in a 10 gallon, just for this week until I go out and buy a much, much larger aquarium. I only had a 10 gallon available to put them in. When I got them [Sunday], they were both very pale with dark gray bars. The dominant fish in the tank stayed very pale, almost albino like. The other fish [poor guy cowering in the corner], has turned a very bright yellow and the stripes have gotten darker. I found this odd considering, isn't the dominant fish usually brighter? It just seemed strange to me. Anyways, I was wondering if anybody knew what type they are? I'm fairly new to the Cichlid World, I've only had a pair of Kribensis Cichlids, and several other community fish - so I am not familiar with 'breeds'.

Here are some pictures: [Sorry about the crappy quality, I Had to use my phone.]

Pale DOMINANT fish;
http://i47.tinypic.com/oirxp0.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/vebt09.jpg

Bright Yellow fish;
http://i45.tinypic.com/wv5mva.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/mn2b6u.jpg

Any ideas?

wtfxtayy · Dec 17, 2009

It would just be nice to know considering I'm going out to buy a larger tank this weekend, and I don't want to buy a 60 gallon tank - if I only need a 30 or 40 depending on the type of Cichlid. Oh boy, I need to stop rescuing fish. My mother is starting to get really irritated with me bringing in fish and buying tanks all the time. Lmao.

Blue2Fyre · Dec 17, 2009

Both are mbuna and look to be Kenyis. The yellow one is a male. The other one looks like it may be in the process of changing into male colors. It's a little hard to tell from the pictures. They are going to need at least a 4' tank. Kenyi can be very aggressive and are capable of killing tankmates. I would get a few more and would try to get females. The females are blue with stripes.