# afra Cobue color & saulosi compatibility?



## scifisarah (Jan 4, 2013)

I just purchased 5 fish labeled Cynotilapia afra cobue at an auction. They are all about 2 or 2 1/2 inches. The one that colors up a lot has blue stripes and just the very top of the fin looks yellow when he is displaying. My question is, when he gets bigger, is he going to get more yellow covering the top of his body or might he just stay this color? Right now they are in a 20 gallon tank with eight 3-4" Mainganos I am planning on selling today, so their colors are quite pale because they feel threatened by the bigger fish. _I am not keeping them in the 20 gallon, just until I decide what I should do with them._ I would like to put them in my 65 gallon with my saulosi but it seems like the male's current color is VERY similar to how my saulosi males will look when they get larger (only 1" right now). What do you think?


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

It's an interesting question - I'd guess that the black stripes/barring of the males would be the bigger trigger for aggression with a barred male. However, to a saulosi, barring signals female. I'm not sure how the yellow would play into it but I'd bet not a lot. I wonder if your saulosi male would try to court your afta cobue? Conversely, the afra cobue male may see the saulosi females as competitors despite the blue body. Someone who has kept these fish together will need to weigh in on this but I'd love to know since it would indicate something about how the fish sees the world.


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## scifisarah (Jan 4, 2013)

Yael said:


> It's an interesting question - I'd guess that the black stripes/barring of the males would be the bigger trigger for aggression with a barred male. However, to a saulosi, barring signals female. I'm not sure how the yellow would play into it but I'd bet not a lot. I wonder if your saulosi male would try to court your afta cobue? Conversely, the afra cobue male may see the saulosi females as competitors despite the blue body. Someone who has kept these fish together will need to weigh in on this but I'd love to know since it would indicate something about how the fish sees the world.


Really confused now - why would barring mean female to the saulosi when their females are solid yellow? I know I have seen posts of people keeping the two breeds together successfully, but my question is more along the lines of wondering if my cobue will develop more yellow with age instead of the dark blue and medium blue stripes he currently sports.

Like if he looks like this now: 









Will he look like this when he gets bigger/older?:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I would not be surprised if ANY blue barred fish cause coloring (and possibly hybridization) problems with any other blue barred fish.

I have demasoni (dark) and cynotilapia sp. hara (light) working in my tank, but that is about as opposite as you can get.

Note that Yael prefaces his comments with "I'd guess". He is putting forth a theory of his own to see if anyone can support to refute the idea.


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

No, it was me confused - I was switching the colors of male and female saulosi - so ignore the male female part. The point being that it's the barring that is the likely trigger for aggression between two different species of barred male fish - not their background colors.

Sorry for the confusion.


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## jas1313 (Dec 3, 2012)

i would guess that he will get the brighter yellow/orange in time both with maturing and in more comfortable tank settings. i believe tank settings are more key to his color imo. i do not have that fish but i did read and looked at many pics of the cobue and jalo. i was trying to get one of those. i have a m. pulpican that looks very similar. he has 3 noticably different looks. his hanging around look is muted, his mad is brighter, and chasing the female is crazy bright. but after i added several females he mantains a constant good color. small too about 2" so im sure he'll get better looking as i think yours will as well.


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## jas1313 (Dec 3, 2012)

Sorry when I say tank conditions Im more referring to the sock list, larger fish. Especially if larger ones are noticeably the dominant. Again referring to mine as his color brightened as he realized he wasn't the weakest.


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## scifisarah (Jan 4, 2013)

Thanks, I will put him in my tank then and see how things turn out. I think I have a while before the saulosi turn blue since they are so small yet.


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## jas1313 (Dec 3, 2012)

I know little about mixing 2 different barred fish but I know what they say. And djransome usually has good input on that matter. Good luck .


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Fogelhund has kept the two together. Not certain what size aquarium.

I don't think it would be an issue. Both have relatively passive dispositions. The males are similar but far from a match and the females look nothing alike.

Keeping multiple blue barred species is most certainly possible if you are careful with m/f ratios, the species involved and obviously the size of the aquarium.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

cantrell00 said:


> Fogelhund has kept the two together. Not certain what size aquarium.
> 
> I don't think it would be an issue. Both have relatively passive dispositions. The males are similar but far from a match and the females look nothing alike.
> 
> Keeping multiple blue barred species is most certainly possible if you are careful with m/f ratios, the species involved and obviously the size of the aquarium.


I kept them in a 6ft 125 gallon together, and I'm not certain they even saw each other in that tank. LOL


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Heh... Good point.. Everything is relative after all.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Yael said:


> Really confused now - why would barring mean female to the saulosi when their females are solid yellow? I know I have seen posts of people keeping the two breeds together successfully, but my question is more along the lines of wondering if my cobue will develop more yellow with age instead of the dark blue and medium blue stripes he currently sports.
> 
> Like if he looks like this now:
> 
> ...


This has certainly been the case with mine... And those yellow highlights only show at their best when there is another male or male(s) to compete with IME.


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## scifisarah (Jan 4, 2013)

They are in a 65 gallon 48" long bowfront which is 18" at the middle. So far only one of the five cobues is showing any type of striping and the top of his fin is actually white, no sign of yellow like the example photos I attached. The other four are a very dark charcoal grey they became once they changed to a tank with black sand to blend in better.


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## Ryan82 (Aug 3, 2011)

I had a male cobue that took forever to color up. He didn't start showing yellow until he was almost 3 inches, and he grew very slow. He was about a year old. The yellow on the head and back is the last thing to come in. First, he will show stripes for a while, then the color on his head will start to show, and then his back. They'll color up eventually, and if they don't, try changing the rock formations in your tank, or remove any challengers that may be keeping him from displaying.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Ryan82 said:


> I had a male cobue that took forever to color up. He didn't start showing yellow until he was almost 3 inches, and he grew very slow. He was about a year old. The yellow on the head and back is the last thing to come in. First, he will show stripes for a while, then the color on his head will start to show, and then his back. They'll color up eventually, and if they don't, try changing the rock formations in your tank, or remove any challengers that may be keeping him from displaying.


This was the progression for my male also..


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## scifisarah (Jan 4, 2013)

Okay, I will try to be patient for his yellow color to come through. Right now it looks like each of my seven saulosi's might be boys, grrrr. I am switching everybody into a 75 gallon tank tonight, so that will mix things up a bit. Right now Mr. Cobue is being a little jerk, so I'd say he thinks he is boss already.


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