Need Help with ID! Beani?

[RexK]

I bought this yesterday at the ACA convention auction. It was sold as "a nice fish", lol. They asked for someone to ID it and the ID they got was Beani. The auctioneer then said "no, not a beani" and sold it for $5. I hadn't looked at the fish before bidding and assumed it was some type of Herichthys, but after getting it into a tank last night, it sure looks like a beani to me. I've been out of the hobby for a few years but back then, Beani were very rare and highly sought after. I know that they've become more common over the past few years, but how common are they? I would assume a 7" Beani is not seen every day and worth more than $5. Please excuse the bad photo.

Rex

 

[cichlidfish]

Looks like a Beani to me.

 

[Zion and Cichlids is all]

Looks like a Beani to me.

I agree
Here in Maryland you don't see them like that as well. 7" and for $5 is a great.... wish I could get deals like that please keep us posted

 

[duanes]

Looks beani to me too, it looks to be the more striped variant.
Here is my female

and her mate, recently passed on

 

[RexK]

I'm glad to see that the consensus is Beani! Are there any obvious distinctions between male and female at this size?

 

[duanes]

Just a heads up, beani usually don't play well with others.
Although differences can be subtle, the females have some black color in the anterior of the dorsal, and the profile is more torpedo shaped, note the bit of a slight hump in the male in my previous post.
When in spawning mode the females become quite dramatically colored, even at a very small size.


The spot on yours, in the posterior just above the lateral line, is also telling of the species, and very noticeable in beani fry.

 

[DREWSMITH]

Tankmates??? Not recommended from what I've heard about them.

Drew

 

[Reaper13]

Yes way more. They grow slow and one of the most difficult cichlids to take care of.

 

[pckts]

If you have any photos from the convention, I would love to see them. Looked like it was a pretty large convention this year.

 

[ehh]

man i would love a beani. none of the major fishsuppliers, like seagrest or ekkwill, ever have them and the main cichlid sellers(rapps, gages) rarely have them.