Help ID'ing these fish?

[Deceev]

I recently bought these cichlids from a local store here under the tag " assorted cichlids ". Can anyone please help id these fish please. The last pic , the salesman said was a Jack Dempsey but all the pics i find of these fish look nothing like them. Thank you.

[Barb Okla]

The first one appears to be a fire mouth. Was it in African or American mixed tank? could be another odd African cichlid.. That redness under his gills say FireMouth, but some other kinds of peacocks have that too.. OR it is the reflecton off the rocks.. a better pic would help..

The secound is a African peacock, seems to be A Aulonocara steveni I think. Yellow around the head region mostly and a blue face.. NOT sure with this pic and he is small.. Search the name to see what comes up..

It could be a JD, it is so small it is hard to tell.. IF IT IS, then it is a female. Look for more perl like in the fins and body as it gets bigger.

U are mixing American with African cichlids and that wont' work.. The African needs different foods and water requirements than the American cichlids do. The African might kill the others later as they are to young to defend them selves.. FYI here..

Weren't U on cichlids com too?? Welcome to CichlidFish and I hope I helped.

[Deceev]

Yes i am on there as well... you are correct in that being the reflection from the rocks... ill try to get better pics... i bought a larger tank today 75 gal that i will set up and seperate the fish accordingly. Thanks for your info, i am fairly new to the cichlid world so any and all info really helps. The tank i purchased them were african mixed... again thank you for your time!

[Barb Okla]

Ah. well then on the reflection, then it is NOT a fire mouth. ha ha on me.. So as it was in the African mix tank then I can't tell U what it is. When U get better pics, not from your phone?? then repost them here or the OTHER site and see if we can id them better.. Looks peacock, but as it is stil so young, it might have to grow more to get a good ID..

Great on the 75gal but U need to cycle it and that takes 30 days and U take a chance losing your fish in that time period.. BAD.. Or use a alot of the other deco/filter from the other tank for a good few weeks. Any thing will work to help it cycle faster, rock/plants, fake is best with these guys as they wil tear them up if they cant' eat them.. 1/2 of the other tank water will help out greatly too!! like a 50% on the main tank.. IF the 75gal has a filter with it, really needs two, clean it good and place it on the main tank and use that filter on the 75gal NOT cleaned.. This wil help seed the tank faster..

IF U have ANY ?? just post back here.. Barb

[Deceev]

I recently sold all my Oscars so now all my cichlids are in the 75 gallon tank. the attitude in the tank changed and inproved 100% since removing the oscars....its really nice seeing all the colors on all the fish as they swim about where ever they please.I added an Emperor Power filter with dual bio wheels and my water has cleared up drastically as well.I also swapped out the factory white bulb for a color enhancing auqueon and my tank looks AWESOME!!!

[Barb Okla]

Thats great that U have them only in the tank.. Glad U like the emperor filters too!! I have 17 of them and would NOT use another type.. On a 75gal U really need 2, one on each side. both of my 75 gal tanks have 2 per tank..

Any pics to share?? OR did U post at cichlids com in the gallery??

[Deceev]

I havent added any pics but i sure will asap! So i need to add a second filtration system on the other side of the tank? ill look into getting another one as well.... thanks for your time, you've been a really great help. I didnt realize how involved this community was.. glad to know that if i need help or advice, you guys will help me out!!! Thanks again and ill post pics soon!

[Barb Okla]

The Emperor filters are on sale for really a LOW price right now Here:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=14448

Post the pics when U can. The cichlids need to settle in and color up some so they can be ID.. Most are hard to ID when young, some are not.

Great that like my advice!! I get on when I can or see the message to come here. STORMS keep me aways sometimes like later tonite and possibley tomorrow.. And caring for my mom to the tanks and a grandchild thrown in sometimes!!!.. lolaughs!..

[Deceev]

Here is a more recent pic of the fish in the third picture.... this fish has been going thru a pretty drastic color change.. and is now almost completly red....maybe this will help i d this fish.

[Deceev]

Finally found out what this fish is.... its a juvenile Red Devil. Thanks Barb Okla for taking the time to help me out!

Now to find a tank to put these guys in.... no wonder they were terrorizing my other cichlids!!!!

[Barb Okla]

Now of all the species it could have been, I would have NEVER thought RD..

And U are right, it is a mean cichlid and needs to be in its own tank..

U did say a mix african tank right?? wierd that this one was placed in that tank..

Glad U have an ID on him/her. . with your pics it is hard to say what the color is as U are taking them with your c-phone?? those dont' do the fish color very well..

[Barb Okla]

Here is a pic of my OB peacock male, his daughter is above him and she is 2 yrs here, SHE has NO egg spots at all on her anal fin under her tail, He has many.. Your young dragon bloods should have some started if not a few, the females should have none..
ANY ?? just ask..
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/Barbokla/African%20cichlids/75galfishDec32010008x10c-1.jpg[/img]

[Deceev]

How can i best estimate my peacocks age? Is there like a general rule of thumb for measureing age /size?

[Barb Okla]

As I have had fry to juvinal size to adult, at 2" they are usually 5 to 6 months old. This is the size most LFS have them at.. some are smaller it just depends on the species and what they feed them. I am counting the tail region here. Most times U do not count the tail in measuring a fish but ppl new to keeping fish always do the tail too.. Normal. I have learned through the years to just count the tail in the "estimated" measurements... (they dont' exactly stand stil for a tape measure do they?? )

Most cichlids at adult, and that can take exactly ONE year and more depending on again, feeding and water quaility and aquarium size, get to be 5" and up. African species here on size.
American cichlids develope faster and grow much more faster than the African cichlids do. Dont' know why, I am sure in the wild they mature faster to survive and a LAKE is much more bigger than an aquarium no matter the sizea and U dont' have to clean it weekly. YES size matters greatly with SOME species on growth in an aquarium..

When Yours have fry and I hope u wil have another tank set up for them, say a 20 gal and up is perfect. I had 2 29gals and they stayed in them most their fry to juvie size of 3". U can add in more fry to the first set of fry withing 2 weeks, then they wil eat any others U place in. Lots of rock helps but keep the count to under 25 or so.. Most African cichlids have 20+ per spawn twice a month. U learn to just let the female spit them out into the main tank as U run out of tanks for all the fry.. LOLuck!! U can get into a tissy trying to save all the fry. NOT worth it later as IF U CAN NOT sell them, U are stuck with a bunch of nice cichlids no one wants. I have been their and done that and the fish suffer for it.. Just a heads up.. Any more ?? just ask...