Identify these two fish?

[fatphatboy88]

I recently went and bought two "assorted african cichlids" from my LFS. Now I would like to know what exact species/ name they are.
Here are two pics :

From what pictures I have found on the internet ( which is what these pics are, they are random pics I found that look exactly like my fish) is that the bottom pic is a Malawi? and the top is a Melanochromis auratus(thats what it said in the link to the image)

So tell me what yall guys think they are. BTW mine are very small, maybe 1.5" at the most for both of them. I have them in a tank with a 2.5" oscar. I hope that it alright, they stay at the bottom and he stays at the top and never bother each other. Are there any special concerns I should look out for or any helpful advice I should know?

 

[Red Devil]

I recently went and bought two "assorted african cichlids" from my LFS. Now I would like to know what exact species/ name they are.
Here are two pics :

From what pictures I have found on the internet ( which is what these pics are, they are random pics I found that look exactly like my fish) is that the bottom pic is a Malawi? and the top is a Melanochromis auratus(thats what it said in the link to the image)

So tell me what yall guys think they are. BTW mine are very small, maybe 1.5" at the most for both of them. I have them in a tank with a 2.5" oscar. I hope that it alright, they stay at the bottom and he stays at the top and never bother each other. Are there any special concerns I should look out for or any helpful advice I should know?

That top picture is definitly a Melanochromis Auratus.. and later on he could turn very dark which they say indicates a male.. the bottom Mr. Blue is a beauty.. I do not think you will be able to keep an Oscar in with these guys.. he will go after them and he grows fast..

 

[OscarHook]

yea dont keep them with that Oscar, different water perimeter needs and the O will grow 5x faster. either that or your africans will beat the crap out of him. What size tank are they in by the way?

 

[straitjacketstar]

The top fish is indeed M. auratus.
The bottom fish is a Labidochromis sp. and one that is not quite so common. The fish's color and pattern can be seen in other species, which are not Labidochromis and quite more common, so unless that is a picture of the fish you actually bought it does little to positively identify the fish in that picture.

 

[fatphatboy88]

well neither of those are pics of my fish , but the coloration and shape of the bodies are exactly the same, my lfs (PetSmart) gets a shipment of these once in a while but not often, normally they only have the bright yellow ones. They were only 3.29 a fish(a lot more for the bigger ones though) so I figured it was a deal. I had been wanting the blue one mainly cause it is georgous and they always get sold out quick.

And about the oscar, the oscar is the same size as these lil fellas. He stays up near the top back underneath my Bio-Wheel 350 filter and the cichlids stay near the bottom front so they dont ever really get close at all.

 

[straitjacketstar]

I've not seen any vague species of Labidochromis at ay petsmart I've visited. They carry the basic yellow L. caeruleus, sometimes L. sp. Hongi or maybe even the odd sp. perlmutt. I don't believe they have any other kind of labs on their order list. I have however seen many hybrids at the store (since employees can apparently save batches of hybrid fry if they wish and distribute them when they're old enough) and several other, similar looking species to the one pictured. Perhaps what you have is a male M. joanjohnsonae?
http://photogallery.pets2u.com.my/data/536/561Melanochromis_joanjohnsonae.jpg
http://hernando.free.fr/malawi/cichlides/melanochromis/me_joanjohnsonae/photo01.jpg
http://www.rawburt.com/likoma1.jpg
http://www.mbuna.be/fish/m_joanjohnsonaem.jpg
Looks similar to the fish you picture not only in color but shape, the mouths are similarly pointed and M. joanjohnsonae is often confused or taken for a similar Labidochromis species.

 

[gomezladdams]

The M. auratus is one of the most foul tempered cichlids its likely to kill your oscar.Petstores sell them cause theyre one of the few mbuna that are eye catching at a young age.
There are alot of miscellanous blue zebra type cichlids that turn up at petsmart if it is indeed a lab nice pickup.

 

[Weasel F.]

I went to petsmart last week and got some of there mis.Africans and the ladie there told me that there was a hugh mix up in the shipment to over 200 stores and that there ws all kinds of Africans that got sent and mixed in with the mis. She told me that they where frist told to pull them til the mix up could be streightened out but then they were to late and to go a head and sell them. So I bought 9 and got some just like those in the post. A buddie of mine told me they were labs also. here's mine.

So I guess these could be labs as well???

 

[straitjacketstar]

Nope.
Those blue fish are all Pseudotropheus socolofi. The only lab is the yellow one.
Coincidentally I see a Laetacara sp. (the dwarf acara) in the last picture. I hope you don't intend on keeping him with the Africans you've purchased cause he'll eventually lose out to them and get beaten to a pulp. They're a more peaceful species, spunky with their own kind but not any match for adult mbuna.

 

[davidhusker]

Nope.
Those blue fish are all Pseudotropheus socolofi. The only lab is the yellow one.
Coincidentally I see a Laetacara sp. (the dwarf acara) in the last picture. I hope you don't intend on keeping him with the Africans you've purchased cause he'll eventually lose out to them and get beaten to a pulp. They're a more peaceful species, spunky with their own kind but not any match for adult mbuna.

yup.