honduran red point cichlid..is this what i have?

[seattleite_]

went to my LFS and saw these guys. the lady says one is male, one is female. they look identical to me..anyways, my main question is..whats up with these guys? i am worried about the coloring. I've had them in my tank for about 48 hours, and i am displeased with the coloring. the lady said that they looked much better in the tank, and they are just adjusting. i dont remeber what they looked like at the LFS, so i dont know if shes right or wrong. there is another pair there, similar size, except they look almost exactly like this:


and every google image i see, these fish have more stripes, and deep vivid coloring. i would chaulk it up to being juvenile, but the other two fish at my LFS were the same size, but looked like the above link.




will mine mature in color/bars as they get older? here are the two i have acquired:




i almost want to return them and get the much better colored pair..but then im scared that they are actually convicts because their barring is so much stronger.

 

[cichlidfish]

Yes they are HRP. The best way to tell sex difference is females get an orange belly (like convicts), are smaller and typically have blue fins. Males are stockier and have red/orange fins.




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[Rivers2k]

my favorite fish I have 4 and lots of babies. They will get better color as they mature especially in the fins. They also get better shape as the mature remind me of little bulldogs they get a tough guy squatty look to them if that makes sense. Bars are hard to tell some have no bars at all some have solid bars but they do get an awesome metallic sheen that is hardly ever captured in photos. They are allot less aggressive than cons and don't get as big but they will breed with cons.

The pics below show the difference the one on the right had almost no bars but the fins were like flames. The striped one got much darker stripes and more red in the tail sorry no recent pics of them. The white one is my platinum male I think your will get darker bars.

 

[seattleite_]

Probably can't tell if mine are male or female, huh? One of them is definitely smaller.

So you guys think I should keep them? The colors will develop?

 

[Rivers2k]

Yes keep them colors will get better with age. The colors will never be bright like africans but if you are just comparing to other HRP you see online then yes they will look like those with 6 months. Yes to young to tell for sure but if I had to guess you have male in female.

Dark color substrate made mine pop more. I know you didnt ask but if you are thinking of tank mates. Fire mouths are my second favorite fish and they do very well together. Very similar temperament, size, requirements, and aggression. I had a pair of each breeding at the same time in a 75. They flared at each other but that is it.

 

[jaws7777]

This is what my little one looks like...the darker substrate definitly makes the colors pop.


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[seattleite_]

Yes keep them colors will get better with age. The colors will never be bright like africans but if you are just comparing to other HRP you see online then yes they will look like those with 6 months. Yes to young to tell for sure but if I had to guess you have male in female.

Dark color substrate made mine pop more. I know you didnt ask but if you are thinking of tank mates. Fire mouths are my second favorite fish and they do very well together. Very similar temperament, size, requirements, and aggression. I had a pair of each breeding at the same time in a 75. They flared at each other but that is it.

thanks for the help, i know you know a lot about hrp's