# ID the new guy



## rafini (Mar 20, 2014)

Just picked up 5 really bright yellow high quality lab. Caeruleus for a real good price and decided to grab a random little guy that caught my eye, I just assumed it was a peacock with some potential but now I`m not too sure.

I'm thinking its too long and thin to be a peacock, S. Ahli, O. Lithobates or a hybrid?
to me it looks kinda like an Ahli but its a powdery light blue, and the snouts kinda short. Never seen any lithobates that werent 1" so can`t really compare.

What do you guys think ?

































(you can see the stripes)


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

I think that Sc. fryeri, or some type of fryeri hybrid is possible. It's too elongated to be a pure Aulonocara (peacock), but it could have some in it. Juvie fryeri will show some vertical barring, though, so that doesn't rule fryeri out. It really needs a little more time to develop to be certain, but I suspect it will look more and more like a fryeri as it gets older.


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## rafini (Mar 20, 2014)

SO you think its an Electric blue then?
Dosn`t look a lot like the ones I`ve had in the past but you could very well be right, only time will tell, I just thought maybe someone could nail it 100% because I`ve seen some interesting results here in this subforum!
Great little fish only paid a few dollars for him and I`ll be happy however he turns out


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

I Don't Think It's A Pure Electric Blue Ahli (Sc. Fryeri) - I Think It's Probably A Fryeri Hybrid Of Some Sort. Maybe Mixed With A Peacock, But Who Knows. The Head, Mouth And Body Shape Are All Really Similar To Fryeri, Though.


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## rafini (Mar 20, 2014)

Yeah my initial thought was hybrid, it seems like the fish has some reminiscence of orange around its shoulder. maybe it will be quite the looker.


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## Hapguy63 (Feb 8, 2014)

I agree more than likely a Fryeri/peacock Hybrid. These are becoming quit common. In fact many big box stores that sell "Electric Blues" are these hybrid mixes. O. Lithobates fry will have the distinctive 3 pronounced dots along the side of their body so I would say no to that.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

It's probably a fryeri or fryeri hybrid. Unfortunately it has also been hormoned. They shouldn't be showing any color at all at that size. The color will fade in the next few months and it will remain gray for a period of time (or permamently). If it's a male it will color up again as it matures but it may be sterile.


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## rafini (Mar 20, 2014)

No offense but I have never seen a hormoned fish let alone at the store I got him from. 
hes 2" and I have seen 2" fryeri males coloring up nicely, including one I had years ago that turned out to be stunning. Its not uncommon for 2'' male peacocks to show some color.
the fish is mostly grey with a blueish iridescance. the flash on my camera just makes it look a lot nicer than it really is haha

Fryeri can be hard to ID when young, my old pair I had were originally bought as female peacocks when very small. the male colored up at around 2.5''


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## rafini (Mar 20, 2014)

You know what words only say so much, so now the guys settled in I took a few pictures with and without flash so you guys can see for yourself


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Not sure what you want. It's a Fryeri or a Fryeri hybrid. Very common. It mostly looks like a young Fryeri, but the mouth/head look kinda short like you have mentioned.


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## rafini (Mar 20, 2014)

I just wanted to be sure thats all. my suspicions were correct. i felt like I had to defend the fact that the fish clearly isn`t hormoned.
Thanks for all the input, keep up the good ID`s guys, I`ll take some more pictures when thefish colors up


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

I don't see anything that makes me suspect it was hormoned - I've got a couple young male fryeri around that size growing out right now that are showing much more color. Even if it had been, it doesn't reflect poorly on you or need to be defended - it's a common practice, usually at the breeder/wholesaler level and a lot of LFS don't have anything to do with it. Just enjoy your fish and watch how it develops.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

No offense but I have never seen a hormoned fish let alone at the store I got him from

Well now you have. That fish was clearly hormoned. It's starting to wear off now but a fryeri that size (about 1.5" SL) should be just gray without any sign of blue. I am using the tetra in the background as a size reference. You are assuming the fish is a male. It could just as likely be a female. If you can take the fish out and get a clear shot of the anal pore we could tell for sure.

As nmcichlid said, it's not anything to do with your LFS. This is done at the farm/distributor level. You have probably seen hormoned fish many times as it's a very common practice and just didn't realize it.

Andy


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## Hapguy63 (Feb 8, 2014)

Narwhal72 said:


> As nmcichlid said, it's not anything to do with your LFS. This is done at the farm/distributor level. You have probably seen hormoned fish many times as it's a very common practice and just didn't realize it.


To this point unless your LFS is breeding their own stock or getting them from a local breeder then chances are the fish is hormoned. Most tropical fish in the US come from big fish farms in Florida. A big portion of the Florida stock comes from Asia and other places that are known to hormone fish. These farms are also known to feed hormoned food. So if your fish came from one of these big Florida farms its more than likely juiced. This is not done at the LFS level its a supplier problem.

Also these fish farms have mass tanks of "assorted" African Cichlids of various size. Each tank is separated by size. In these tanks there is no attempt to sex or identify species. Nor do they care of the purity of the parents. When a LFS orders from these farms they can order assorted Africans based off of size. A few years back I got to take a tour of one of the larger fish farms and witnessed the assorted tanks and how they are ordered first hand.


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