Is this a convict cichlid?

[aramea]

Hey, this is my first post on MFK. Forum has been invaluable so far!

This fish was sold to me in a trio of convict cichlids from Petsmart. The other two immediately paired up and ignored/chased off this one and delivered ~50 fry in the tank. Cute little buggers. We got the parents out and 15 or so of the fry and left this one. It is looking for a friend with either the Oscar or Pacu. No aggression, but not much interest. I would like to get some same sex mates from the fry, but it has only faint stripes and I am unsure of sex and type. We always thought female convict, but want to be sure to avoid so many convicts in the tank, LOL. The babies are hard to catch . Any help would be appreciated!

 

[dmyersWv]

Doesn't look like a convict. Maybe a firemouth?

 

[duanes]

Doesn't look like a convict. Maybe a firemouth?

Agree
It is not a con. and yes, probably from the genus Thorichthys.

Above is a convict variant, Amatitlania "Honduran Red Point"
The name Convict came out of the bands, that are reminiscent of the striped clothes human convicts wore at the time it first became popular in the aquarium hobby

 

[tlindsey]

Hey, this is my first post on MFK. Forum has been invaluable so far!

This fish was sold to me in a trio of convict cichlids from Petsmart. The other two immediately paired up and ignored/chased off this one and delivered ~50 fry in the tank. Cute little buggers. We got the parents out and 15 or so of the fry and left this one. It is looking for a friend with either the Oscar or Pacu. No aggression, but not much interest. I would like to get some same sex mates from the fry, but it has only faint stripes and I am unsure of sex and type. We always thought female convict, but want to be sure to avoid so many convicts in the tank, LOL. The babies are hard to catch . Any help would be appreciated!

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Welcome aboard
Agree with others definitely not a convict cichlid.

 

[aramea]

Thanks for the replies! Going to look up the Firemouth. I don't remember Petsmart carrying them, but anything is possible. At least it is not African and seems to be doing great with the water in the tank.

 

[Hybridfish7]

If it's from PetSmart, it's a firemouth. They used to sell them when I was younger. Sometimes they get random things that are mislabeled. I bought a pure male fryeri once, labelled as a miscellaneous peacock.

 

[Joshuakahan]

If it's from PetSmart, it's a firemouth. They used to sell them when I was younger. Sometimes they get random things that are mislabeled. I bought a pure male fryeri once, labelled as a miscellaneous peacock.

I actually saw a decent quality FH at PetSmart the other day

 

[Jexnell]

I agree looks like a Thorichthys of some sort, probably a meeki or common name of Firemouth as it's cousins like pasionis and aureus are more rare and don't think a big box store would get them in.
Here are some meeki I had as a reference.

 

[Jexnell]

Thorichthys like to be in groups, more the merrier. I had 9 in a 125gal 6ft tank. The males 3 all had their own claimed area. The females would swim in a group from male to male checking out his turf and him.

 

[Hybridfish7]

I agree looks like a Thorichthys of some sort, probably a meeki or common name of Firemouth as it's cousins like pasionis and aureus are more rare and don't think a big box store would get them in.
Here are some meeki I had as a reference.
View attachment 1510047View attachment 1510048View attachment 1510049View attachment 1510050View attachment 1510051

All thorichthys are indistinguishable around an inch, however the meeki species complex gains a very distinct elongated look, especially when young, so they're easy to tell apart from the helleri complex (and it is subsequently easy to eliminate those possibilities). Within the group, being meeki, affinis, and pasionis, meeki is the grey/red one, and pasionis is the pale/yellow one. Affinis is a little trickier since they look closer to meeki, just less blue and more of an orange, but they also seem to have more of a "roman nose" that rounds out at the top (as seen below)

compared to meeki. There is also the obvious fact that since it's from a petsmart, it is probably not affinis, especially since I myself can't find affinis for sale. Then again I have seen nanolutea in the convict tank at my local petsmart.