Please ID this fish.

[jayo]

Hello everyone,

I was sold a group of Shellie’s some time ago and got 2 of these in the bag. Now that they have grown out some there clearly different from the Shellies. Any help ID’ing these will be greatly appreciated.

 

[jayo]

Not the Bichard, the yellow and black fish.

 

[Sinister-Kisses]

OB M. estherae (red zebra). Lake Malawi mbuna, not even a Tang never mind a shellie lol.

 

[jayo]

OB M. estherae (red zebra). Lake Malawi mbuna, not even a Tang never mind a shellie lol.

WoW Really!

I’ve never seen anything like it, are they common? I have a Mbuna tank, should I move them?

 

[DJRansome]

They should come out of the Tang tank, but whether they should go in the mbuna tank depends on what else you have in their, and dimensions of the tank.

 

[Sinister-Kisses]

What DJ said - not a good fit in a Tang tank and probably best to move into the mbuna tank if you have one - BUT depending on size/dimensions of the tank and what's already in there.

As for common, depends on who you ask I guess. Not common at all in my area, I've never even seen one in person myself - but I live in a small city and our fish selection is very limited lol. I'm fairly certain they've become relatively common in some areas over the last few years.

 

[jayo]

Thank you both so much! I was stumped on these.

I have a mixed Mbuna 75 and a 36 Bow Front with yellow labs only, what tank would be the best for them? Also, how big do these guys get?

 

[jayo]

I have larger tanks with South American Cichlids but these would be lunch for those. So I can always move them once they get larger but for now what tank do you think?

 

[newworld]

Not Estherae, if inferior mouth looks like fuelleborni

 

[DJRansome]

None of the mbuna should be in the 36" bowfront. What mbuna are in the 75G? Are the "new" estherae males and is your 75G an all male mbuna tank?

OB estherae are not uncommon, but most people want the bright red ones so the stores don't stock them as much.