Topic: Identification problems, again!

[Phill]

Hi all,
Yes it’s me again all confused as to what type of Cichlid I have.
As suggested by Madasa, I bought a couple of small flower pots and the Convicts love them, instantly claiming one for themselves. The following day my wife came home with two more Cichlids and I am a little puzzled as to their exact name. I’m fairly confident that they are of the Pseudotropheus family (I’m 99.999% certain they are not convicts this time) and wondered if anybody was able to throw more light on this.
Picture attached.
Phill.

Just thought I would mention that 1 picture was with flash and 1 without.

[kaybee]

Those are not zebras or even african cichlids.

They look more like new world/american cichlids (not sure of the exact species though). How big are they?

[Adam]

my very first instinct when I saw the pics was that they're red devil.  I could very well be wrong though

[Phill]

Oh!
I’m not very good at this! Perhaps I should just stick to electronics. I bought an African Cichlid book yesterday and now it looks like I am going to have to pop out and find a New world/American Cichlid book! One is about 7cm and the other is around 6cm.

[Cory]

Oh!
I’m not very good at this! Perhaps I should just stick to electronics. I bought an African Cichlid book yesterday and now it looks like I am going to have to pop out and find a New world/American Cichlid book! One is about 7cm and the other is around 6cm.

Don't worry about that, as the sickness takes a hold of you, you will start to get a better feel for the different specis of fish and where generally they came from, and you'll remember to get in writing from the store clerk what you bought (helped me immensely, until I put my foot down and knew what I was going to buy before I bought it and didn't change my mind in th e between time).  You'll also buy more and more fish, tanks, books, filters, etc.

On the fish RD immediately jumps to my mind as well with that second pic, the first one makes me think hybrid/inbred, but I'll have to pass to the more knowledgable on that as I've only seen RD's in pictures

[drdsanders]

I'm leaning towards a possible red devil or red devil hybrid. Ive never seen a juvi midas cichlid but it would be cool if ya had one.

[Maddy mad man]

RD was my initial impression as well.  Which get a good size are aggressive and will kill the tankmates once big enough.  If we are right and those are new worlds then you now have fish of differing regions (african and new world) with differing water requirements.

Glad the pots worked out well    Was it you who gave me a point?

[Phill]

Once again, thank you for all the comments and advice as to the new arrivals in my tank. However, I have a query, it would seem that the possible Red Devil has teamed up with one of the Convicts to the extent that they are inseparable, they swim together and I have even witnessed them sitting in the plant pot together, which I might add is a bit of a squeeze. Having read as much information I could find on Red Devils I find this all very odd. Any thoughts what’s going on here? Is it at all possible that the aforementioned Red Devil is in fact a very, very pale Convict type cross thing?
If the goings on get any more intense, I’ll do my best to catch it on film.
A very confused Phill.

[stilllearnin]

Hate to be the odd man out here - but I see no reddevil 

I see 3 pink convicts -  1 male in the first pic and a pair in the second.

[Ezekial]

Not the odd man out anymore.  I also don't see RD.  They are more obvious as juveniles though the pale coloring is about right. 

I would think pink convict as well but they seem too long in the body for that.  My first thought on seeing them is they didn't strike me as anything i recognize so assumed they must be some sort of african

I'll have to look closer when i get time.

[Ezekial]

Upon closer inspection their shape reminds me more of a Thorichthys species, so more like a Firemouth than a con.  I still guess some sort of african cichlid but it's just a guess.

[Phill]

Well I must confess I’m feeling a little better about myself, even though I felt I had gone from knowing nothing about Cichlids to knowing less over the past week, this forum has educated me with the knowledge that this hobby is not always black and white. Normally, this kind of situation would infuriate me, but strangely I’m finding that it makes it more compelling. I guess the sickness is taking it’s hold!
My wife and I went back to the tropical fish market and asked the gentleman that sold us the pair if he could shed any light on them, unfortunately he was a little confused himself as he had not been responsible for breeding them and had only taken possession of them earlier that week from a customer that wanted to part exchange them for something more colourful. He did however say that he felt they were ‘pink ladies’, well that was the literal translation from Chinese!
Well for the time being, they have a home and they don’t seem too aggressive, and as I’m not in the business of breeding thoroughbreds, I’m happy to wait and see.
Phill.

[stilllearnin]

He did however say that he felt they were ‘pink ladies’,

Two fish (usually when shipped in from asia) use that name pink convicts and  one of the Epalzeorhyncus  species (like siamese algae eaters),Those definately aren't algae eaters.


If the fish in the bottom left isn't a female convict,the sky is green 
And the one on the right is male. A little elongated for a cons but still a con.

some of my old pink/white males - compare,eye color ,color , coloring in the fins and the blushing look on the gill plates 


at the size you listed red devils look like this - all have dark spots (somewhere) and orange eyes 

[cichlid89]

I just got home from my petsmart, and they had a tank with "Midas" cichlids, at least thats what they said they were, but they looked EXACTLY like the top picture, exactly. so yeah, I dont know, just throwin that out there, maybe its a jeuvenile midas? the ones at petsmart were only like 2 inches long... or maybe petsmart is selling pink cons as midas, but they looked exactly the same...

[drdsanders]

the midas and red devil are often sold as the same fish. If its a midas...it should turn out to be a beautiful fish. Perhaps not the best tankmate with your other fishes but worth keeping.