# The transformation of 'Sal'



## Ramseydog14 (Dec 31, 2013)

Here are a couple of pics of my male Saulosi that I got a few weeks ago, along with 4 females. This is the first time I've kept these and really like them so far...especially this guy. He is starting to color up and it's a really cool process to watch.

A week or so after I got him..

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10 days later..



Anyone else have any good transformation pics of these guys? I will add a picture occasionally of this one for anyone interested in them. So far I highly recommend them


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

He's looking good!

I don't believe I have any photos of them transforming.

Are the females larger than the male? I ask because once the first male colors up quickly, the extra males take much longer to show themselves, IME. I thought I had a ton of girls, but that wasn't the case...

Please continue to update as he grows.


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## Ramseydog14 (Dec 31, 2013)

Thanks Iggy, I will. No, he is definitely the largest of the group of 4. I bought 5 from DRAF and Dave said he would try his best to get me 1m/4fm, so we will see. So far, he is definitely the only one showing signs of being a boy but I don't know a lot about these,..other than the females stay yellow but can have a lot of variation in their coloring from one fm to another. So far, one female is bright (canary) yellow..and the other 3 are yellow but with a peach tint..but none of those four show any black (or dark blue) on their fins so far. The definite male in the pics had traces of black/blue in his fins when they arrived, so maybe I got lucky. I don't know how difficult these guys are to sex. Two of the would be females were tiny..one no bigger than your little fingernail but all are healthy and looking good. This male is about the coolest fish I have right now


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Time will tell with your group on who's who.

And just because a fish shows a little darkening of the finnage, don't write it off as a male. I have some females who have some black in the pelvic and dorsal fins depending on mood. Especially when holding.

I'm close to setting mine up in a species only 40 breeder. Adding some fry I've been growing out to the group as well.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

Nice male you have there!

Here's mine while he was coloring up last year... unfortunatly, a few months ago, he somehow ended up squeezing himself between the glass and a rock and I found him dead. He was stunning and so much fun to watch too. I was pissed.


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## Ramseydog14 (Dec 31, 2013)

Great looking fish! Mine kinda has the dirty 'flavus' look going right now,..can't wait until he really starts the blueing.


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## boomer92 (Apr 17, 2013)

Are you all happy with the coloring of the females? Have never seen saulosi in LFS, only pictures. Curious how the yellow compares to a yellow lab. Sorry for the hijack, seemed convenient with a few of you on one thread with saulosi's.

Thanks


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

Never had yellow labs myself, but from what I've seen, they show a slightly lighter yellow than the saulosi's. Other than that, saulosi's will sometimes show a bit of barring, but usually, females are pure yellow. The fun thing about saulosi's is that both males and females are really nice and different.


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## Ramseydog14 (Dec 31, 2013)

boomer92 said:


> Are you all happy with the coloring of the females? Have never seen saulosi in LFS, only pictures. Curious how the yellow compares to a yellow lab. Sorry for the hijack, seemed convenient with a few of you on one thread with saulosi's.
> 
> Thanks


Don't mind at all,.. good question. In my limited experience with Saulosi (1 month or so) I would say they are both great fish to keep. The differences being quite a few though. To your question,..the Saulosi females can vary in color and look quite a bit,..some being really bright yellow (like a quality yellow-lab), some more of an orangish-peach, some show some light barring,...but all look great..and I like the variation. Also, they are smaller and more active,..Yellow Labs are active too, just not as much so. One big difference is the lack of availability of Salousi (at least for me) compared to Yellow-Labs, which are as common as guppies in the LFSs, thus a lot of low-quality hybrids etc are out there. I ordered my Saulosi group from a site-sponsor vendor,..as well as all my Cichlids lately and that's what I highly recommend. It costs a little more due to the shipping..but well worth it in the long run..and your selection is basically unlimited.

Also, Yellow-Labs can pretty much be kept with any Mbuna without issue (other than Red Zebra)..and add a great color contrast to any mix. Saulosi males color up blue with barring,..so you have to be careful what you keep with them.
For example, my Yellow-Labs do great with my Demasoni colony,..but the Saulosi would not, due to the male looking a lot like the Demasoni. He would be really unpopular!

Hope that helps. You can see what I mean on the color variation in the females if you google image search Saulosi


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## kyboy (Oct 30, 2009)

not great quality pic , but here's one of a transitioning male


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## boomer92 (Apr 17, 2013)

Great info, very helpful, thanks


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

Mine are taking forever to change over, I've got 2 transforming males, and I've had them since October as juveniles. And they still haven't turned blue yet. Maybe it's because my other fish are more aggressive (maingano, socolifi)? Here are some pics of one of them.


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## Ramseydog14 (Dec 31, 2013)

Here's a new pic of him from this morning. He is definitely coloring up quickly,..and my guess is you are right about yours Austinite being slow to color due to the other dominant males.

I will say that this is the hardest fish I have by a long shot, to get a decent picture of. He never stops moving!!


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## sweety (Jan 10, 2010)

Mine has taken about 4 months to go from yellow with a hint of blue to blue & black but i'm sure he hasn't finished the change yet but kept forgetting to take pic's but he spawned for the first time last week :dancing: :dancing: i've got a couple of young males growing in the same tank so will take some pic's of them


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## Ramseydog14 (Dec 31, 2013)

Here is an updated pic I took last night of my Saulosi male. He hadn't added much color recently but after I did a big water change..he really colored up.

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## Ramseydog14 (Dec 31, 2013)

Well I finally lucked in to a good picture of Sal,..and figured out that it helps to take pictures 'after' a feeding (brilliant I know).



I love this guy..almost wish he would stay like this. He's shows a mix right now of black, blue, yellow, white and a brilliant purple!


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## cumbrianewbie (Jul 25, 2013)

That last one is a good pic.

I have a group of Saulosi - 2M and 6F. I've also had them spawn loads, so I have sold a dozen and put another dozen into our 4 foot tank at work. There are also another 20 fry in my growing out tank at the moment.

There is a really good pic of male transformation stages available if you search Google images.


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## eeztropheus (Jan 10, 2010)

I no longer keep saulosi but I like this transition pic of one of my old males..


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## Jhenry (May 2, 2014)

Wow; he looks awesome!! Saulosi are on o my favourite fish, they have such interesting behaviour..


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

They do have interesting behavior....when I'm cleaning the tank/algae off the glass or moving rocks around, they hover around my hand/arm and begin attacking me! They will not be shooed away, and peck at me, which doesn't necessarily hurt, but it's startling! They are very nosey and none of the other fish in my tank worry about hands in the tank except the saulosi.


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## Ramseydog14 (Dec 31, 2013)

Austinite said:


> They do have interesting behavior....when I'm cleaning the tank/algae off the glass or moving rocks around, they hover around my hand/arm and begin attacking me! They will not be shooed away, and peck at me, which doesn't necessarily hurt, but it's startling! They are very nosey and none of the other fish in my tank worry about hands in the tank except the saulosi.


Yep, mine do the same thing..and it surprised me too and the females do it more than the male. I will try to get another picture soon,..just got back from a week long vacation, so I've been cleaning tanks and changing water off and on for the last 2 days! It is amazing how much Cichlids can change and grow in a week when you don't see them at all. You can also really see the need for and importance of water changes, when you miss a week after doing them 2-3 times a week normally. I think it's the most important thing in keeping healthy Cichlids in my limited experience.


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## cumbrianewbie (Jul 25, 2013)

Just found an old photo of one of my males mid transformation:


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## Ramseydog14 (Dec 31, 2013)

Here are a couple of new pics of Sal as he changes. It's amazing just how quickly they change from little yellow fish that look just like the females.


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## Ramseydog14 (Dec 31, 2013)

One last picture of him as he is close to fully colored now..


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Looking good!


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