Very Odd Looking Convict... Any Thoughts?

[ghostcichlid]

I have what I think (thats what petsmart had it labeled as anyway) is a male "Black Convict"..... When he was small he looked very much like a small male black convict..... The only problem is that now he has almost no black on him at all aside from 2 small spots behind each gill cover. His whole body is a brownish-yellow color and his fins and tail are turning more and more red every day. At first I though mabey a yellow convict but at the size he is now I dont think that is possible, I have always heard yellow convicts stay very small and he is now 4 - 5 inches and starting to get a very large nuchal hump ( larger than the other 2 males in the other tank that are much much older than he is). He has made several attempts to breed with "his" female but the eggs ALWAYS turn white and die. I breed the other 2 pairs on a regular basis and from day 1 have had no problems with eggs ever turning white. I will get pics as soon as I get a new camera. Sadly I was trying to take pics of my friends caiman and droped it (from about 8 feet above) into its cage and the camera met a fate worse than deth . So anyway does anyone have any ideas on what this fish might be without any pics?

 

[TrikkyMakk]

I think we are just going to have to wait for that new camera.

 

[smpage]

could be some form of hybrid but a picture really helps. Even a cell phone pic.

 

[ghostcichlid]

I guess I shold mention that my friends caiman is a dwarf caiman. Just so no one is like holy *%&# how does he keep that thing. It is in his basement in a 10' long x 10' wide x 6 1/2' high cage.

 

[ghostcichlid]

The more I look on google the more I keep thinking this is a yellow convict, but I swear I thought yellow convicts could not grow to 5"

 

[junglej]

Well, if its a hybrid, that may explain why your eggs dont hatch. your male could be infertile. NEED PICS. There would probably be tons of people who could id him if they saw him.

 

[GTbEaSt]

pics dude we need pics....

 

[mbunafishkeeper]

could be a sajica

 

[ghostcichlid]

Well i was able to find a few pics on my comp. but these were taken like a week after i got him ( i have had him for about 9 - 10 months now) and in these pics he is not really showing much of the brownish - yellow aside from the small spot you see behind his mouth ( his whole body is now that color) or red in his fins and the third black spot you see on his side has now vanished. In the pics you can also see his female and my poor old plec that i rescued from a turtle tank and when I got him he had a very bad ammonia burn on his left eye that I am not sure will ever fully heal.....poor guy.

 

[ghostcichlid]

In the last pic you can really see the brown behind his mouth that i am talking about and in the second pic you can somewhat see the red in his fins and tail. I am going to really try and get a new camera soon so I can post new pics of him.