My viejas part 2

[Astoria]

I have 4 but 1 is always hiding and is almost impossible to find. When I do find him/her they look completely fine. The other 3 stick together. There are 2 of the 3 that appear to have made a breeding pair which i expected. What is the scar/mark on the top of one of my Viejas? It looks like a cracked which i thought might be caused from stress or disease? I've had them for 2 days now.

I'm hoping with these new photos an ID will be a little easier? They're very young so I know it's not going to be easy. You can see a bright blueish speck on the tail of one of these guys. I've done 2 water changes today (50%+) because I have issues with sap turning my water brown

 

[Gourami Swami]

The "crack" on top of the one fish looks like some damage likely from other fish attacking. If your other two have formed a pair, your single other fish will likely turn into a punching bag. Having "extras" around can help the pair bond and not turn on each other, but is very rough on the extras. It's better to have more like 3 extras so all the abuse doesn't come down to the one other fish. Tank size permitting of course, in anything 125 or under you likely won't have room for more than a pair of vieja once the fish grow.
Will be hard to accurately ID those fish at this point. Once their adult coloration comes in, more like 5-6", it will be possible. Though if I had to take a wild guess it would be melanurum due to the colors I see starting to come in. Though, they could be another species, I can't be certain yet.

 

[Astoria]

Thanks!

 

[duanes]

The "crack" on top of the one fish looks like some damage likely from other fish attacking. If your other two have formed a pair, your single other fish will likely turn into a punching bag. Having "extras" around can help the pair bond and not turn on each other, but is very rough on the extras. It's better to have more like 3 extras so all the abuse doesn't come down to the one other fish. Tank size permitting of course, in anything 125 or under you likely won't have room for more than a pair of vieja once the fish grow.
Will be hard to accurately ID those fish at this point. Once their adult coloration comes in, more like 5-6", it will be possible. Though if I had to take a wild guess it would be melanurum due to the colors I see starting to come in. Though, they could be another species, I can't be certain yet.

Agree with all the above.
Here is melanurum to compare (middle cichlid).

below young bifasciata

 

[Astoria]

I was really hoping for some bifasciatus but I'm afraid I got melanurum. Not a deal breaker and ill probably fall in love either way. Maybe ill use this as an excuse to get more aquariums

 

[smitty03281964]

It could be from being attacked especially since the fish has a couple of split fins.