Deformed Freddies?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
R

rrcoolj

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2008
2,044
27
38
DMV
This has been puzzling me since I got these fish so I though I would post and see what you guys have to say. I got some freddies a week or so ago and they are doing great. But one does not look like the others. One of the males just looks distinctively different from the other fish. I can't really say what he might or might not be but he looks "off" to me. Maybe it is just me I have never kept freddies before but he does not look like the other fish. Any opinions?

Here are my two normal looking male freddies. Notice the coloration as well as the horizontal lines going across the side of the fish.
100_1475.JPG100_1492.JPG

Now here is the fish in question.
IMG_0090.JPGIMG_0091.JPGIMG_0092.JPG100_1477.JPG

Any thoughts?

100_1475.JPG

100_1492.JPG

IMG_0090.JPG

IMG_0091.JPG

IMG_0092.JPG

100_1477.JPG
 
Yeah looks good to me, perhaps the striped one is a definite male. I actually started questioning the 1st one, but looks ok I guess.

Where did you get them from? I thought about getting some from Wetspot in Oregon.
 
They are from gage at cichlidconnection. I don't really doubt he is a freddies but he doesn't look like the others. He is a confirmed male. If he is just a normal freddie than I will not be keeping him. He is nowhere near as colorful as the other two males and I don't want him pairing off with any of my females.
 
trace said:
Looks to me like he is stressed. Is he the subdominant fish in the tank?


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Click to expand...

He is the least dominant of the three males but regularly chases the smaller females in the tank so no he is not the lest dominant in the tank. Actually there is a female fred who is the least dominant(hides all the time and shows no color) who I have to remove so she will be ok but even she displays those horizontal bars as well as showing a hint of the typical yellow coloration. I will probably separate him too he is pretty nasty to the other females in the tank.
 
Whenever a male cichlid is in the subordinate position in the hierarchy, it attempts to blend into the woodwork. Body shape, color, anything to be inconspicuous. Compair my alpha male beani to another male, same age, but on the low end of the hierarchy. You probably wouldn't think they were the same species.
009-7.jpg

043-2.jpg
 
I just find it odd that he shows this stress coloration all the time. I have a couple of freds that hide because they get picked on and they don't even show this coloration. And this male does get chased a bit but does quite a bit of chasing himself and is always out in the open and never hides. I have kept many CA cichlids and usually when a fish is stressed to the point they change color they usually hide away or cower but for the most part this fish does not.

But I guess it's just me. I will keep in the tank for fear of messing up the social hierarchy. Hopefully these guys pair off soon so I don't have to deal with the extras.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom