id help please

[dogfish]

Hello everyone, brought these as malawis from pets at home, i would like if they are all malawi and what they are please.

[Carylnz]

It can be hard to tell as there are a lot of hybrids out there. Why are you buying fish when you don't know what they are, whether they are actually compatible, or will interbreed??
What size is the tank (dimensions) and how many of these fish did you add at once? Was the tank cycled before adding them?
I am assuming the plants are plastic. If not, they won't last. Malawi tanks are usually plant free, mainly because plants are not found in Lake Malawi, they don't like the high pH and the fish destroy them.

For a start...
The bright yellow ones are Lapidochromis caeruleus or electric yellows.
The striped ones are Melanochromis auratus,commonly called golden mbuna and Malawi golden cichlid.
The splotchy dark greeny/grey one is a giraffe hap, Nimbochromis Venustus
The orange one is Maylandia estherae, red zebra, felame and the pale blue is the male of the same species.

[markee]

Good old P@H, they always have a tank that says 'mixed malawi' for sale, sends a shudder down my spine when i think about it

Carylnz has already identified some of them but i'll try for some more:

The orange/blue/spotty one looks like a Peacock (OB) from the Aulonocara family.
The albino is more than likely Pseudotropheus Socolofi (Albino)
The light blue with stripes 'could' be a juvenile Pseudotropheus Socolofi

The problem with trying to identify cichlids (especially juveniles) is the change in colouration, sometimes this can be down to a mood thing, sometimes it's down to changing from a juvenile to an adult, for example a baby Yellow Lab has stripes but as it grows these disappear & it becomes bright yellow.

[dogfish]

Thank you both, i own up i made a big mistake i should have done some reserch .
The tank was set up with bio sand and safe start, the fish were put in over six weeks (18), the tank is 48x18x22 with a 600 in filter and 600 ex filter and 12 inch air stone. I feed twice a day with spirulina and garlic and vegi flakes, i also feed artemia twice a week. The golden malawi could be a problem i have 3 should i get rid off 2, can i keep the peacock and hap, the water is tested every day and i do a 25 percent water change twice a week, thanks again for your help.

[markee]

A lot of people keep Haps & Peacocks with Mbuna, so yours should be ok. The Hap will grow larger than the rest (around 10") but shouldn't present any problems, although the usual rule of thumb will apply, big mouth/small fish, but the mbuna you have will grow to 5-6" so this shouldn't be a problem.

The norm for keeping mbuna is 5-6 of the chosen species, the reason for this is the hope of getting more females than males & also spread out any aggression. Same colours of different species will also cause aggression & possibly hybridisation, which looking at what you have, again, shouldn't be a problem. You will still see some squabbling as mbuna are territorial & will all try to claim some of the rocks you have.

No need to feel we all have to start somewhere, the problem is you were sold fish without being told what they were (apart from mixed malawi), mind you if you asked P@H what they were they probably wouldn't have been able to tell you anyway

At least you've given them a good sized home, your filtration is good, what you're feeding them is correct & your tank maintenance is good.

Keep us updated on how it goes & hopefully once some of them mature a bit we'll be able to confirm their identities

[dogfish]

Nice one thanks, i wil say that the fish from P@H were in good condision and i think were ok for £10 for two, i think they said were bred in the far east.