# LFS closed - lucky dip - 50 babies...



## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

Yes I know I'm crazy. I panicked when I found out my LFS was closing and tried to buy all the fish. I thought I would just keep my favorites, but now they are all my favorites. I am getting a larger tank and will have to rehome some fish as they get older and I pick favorite groups.

They are only around 1-2 inches so it's tricky. I may just have to wait and see what they turn into. I know what some of the mbuna are - but would love to know what the ones with the ??? are.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1007630659 ... LittleFish

Would love to hear about your previous experiences with the unfamiliar species.


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## busterny (Feb 12, 2014)

The link did not work.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Link doesn't work, follow the link in my signature for Posting Pics.


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

Hmm - may take me a while to figure out how to embed from Picasa - the cut and paste doesn't seem to work. They offer link and embed - but no options as to what type of embed code you want like BBcode.

- it's a 33 photo album with comments on a lot of the photos.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Z ... directlink


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

figured out the photo thing - had a couple of extra boxes to click in Picasa. Apologies for the poor photos - they move fast!

The Little Fish Tank with the 50 babies purchased the day after my LFS closed









Made an attempt at a Fish Census - many of my species names are guesses so if you have another idea let me know! Current plan is to keep a 120 gallon and a 55 gallon so I can have 1 more aggressive and 1 less aggressive tank. Fish who don't fit in will have to be rehomed. I'll be able to tell more after they grow a few more months, but if you have a guess let me know and I can post more photos as they get bigger and show more color.

#1 - 3 x 2" albino zebra - they have some orange edging on fins









#2 - 3 x 1" - yellow labs - black stripe dorsal present but didn't come out in photos









#3 - 1 x 2+" - female johanni









#4 - 4 x 1-2" - cherry zebras - I have some grown ups from the same store that have great color and are breeding in my other tank. If a cherry plain breeds with a cherry OB - are the fry considered hybrid? I'm pretty sure my Cherry OB is daddy









#5 - 1 x 2" - OB zebra - have a couple of grown ups like him in my other tank. I love OB!


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

#6 - 3 x 1" - cobalt blue zebra?









#7 - ?? - 6 x 1-1.5" - Definitely male this guy loves to show his color and throw his weight around, though he doesn't harm anyone. The others of the same species are paler and smaller - hopefully some ladies for him in there.

















#8 - 2 x 1.5" - Acei - Have 3 slightly larger ones in my Big Fish tank. The color is darker than Acei I have seen in the past is that a different species? Body looks black with a blue sheen under lights.









#9 - 6 x 1" - maingano - Love these guys but with a single male auratus in my Big fish tank, 1 female johanni and these 6 little guys not sure how that will work out.









#10 - #10 - 1 x 1.5" - pseudotropheus elongatus chailosi? - This guy already thinks he is the boss. He has staked out and defends his rock at the end of the tank. His pattern is similar to a couple of chailosi in my other but colors are different.


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

#11 - 2 x 1" - ? peacock? - Initially thought these would keep my albino zebras company but now realizing they must be haps and they do not have pink eyes like my albinos. Orange edging on dorsal fin.









#12 - 1 x 1" - ?taiwan reef?









#13 - 1 x 2" - ?hap - lethrinops?









#14 - 10? x 1-2" - OB peacock - This is the most colorful one - perhaps it's the male? In the species profiles I notice a lot of the peacock females are OB - is it likely that this big group are mixed species females?

















#15 - #15 - 3 x 1-2" - ?spotted grey hap? ??Otopharynx lithobates??- Yellow edging on dorsal fin. This is the largest - could be the male? Sure does have big eyes - does that mean he will grow huge?


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

#16 - 2 x 1" - ?grey stripe hap?
#17 - 1 x 1" - ?black stripe hap? - The 2 are more dull, perhaps females? Did not get a good photo of the black one - it is much darker but has similar stripes.









#18 - 1 x 1" - multi - May have to find him a home with other shellies since he came all alone - checked the lfs the next day and they did not have any more. Or I could order him some friends. I have a 10 gallon I could set up as a shelly tank.









#19 - 3 x 1" - bullet shape stripey fish with yellow edging dorsal fin - No idea what these are! ??Placidochromis johnstoni??

















Just for fun.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

4. there is a natural pure OB Red Zebra, so mixing them would not be considered a hybrid... you just have to be sure that the OB is pure, which is difficult

5. not sure that is a pure OB Zebra. There are OB Labeotropheus too, with a snout and longer body. Sometimes they are hybrids also.

6. yes, looks like Cobalt Zebra, Metriaclima callainos

7. looks like a "Cynotilapia afra" type, unknown. Females/subdominants greyish to dull blue, males get really cool bars that really intensify with mood. They show attitude but rarely get violent, Afra are great fish. Most common types of males get color in the dorsal area.

10. could be, or something similar. Looks like a nice young male.

11. one of the so called "Peacock" hybrids, trade names vary

12. nope, that is a nice Labidochromis "Perlmutt"

13. Scienochromis fryeri, or mostly one

14. OB Peacocks vary a lot as they are hybrids, males are more likely to be darker, have colors

15. Otopharynx lithobates is right, not sure which one

16. Aulonocara species, could be many types

19. have no idea whatsoever, looks vaguely Mbuna-ish.


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

Thanks for your reply noki

4. - Still a little confused about this so a OB fish shows spots correct? I have a dominant fully grown male who is red zebra ob in my other tank and I have 2 cherry red zebras with no spots holding. I was thinking that OB is a particular gene like blue eyes rather than a species, so if both fish are cherry zebras - 1 with spots and 1 without spots - are they still the same species? Or does the OB trait actually mark a separate species?

5. He doesn't have the labeotropheus nose though I love those! The photo is a bit poor - need to work on those skills.

7. That sounds exactly like him and his friends! What does the afra stand for?

12. Oh wow - I've never seen those before - I really like the contrast between the males and females! When he grows large enough to tell sex I'll have to order in some friends for him.

Thanks for your input! I'll post some more photos after they grow for a few months.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Ruthiebaby88 said:


> Thanks for your reply noki
> 
> 4. - Still a little confused about this so a OB fish shows spots correct? I have a dominant fully grown male who is red zebra ob in my other tank and I have 2 cherry red zebras with no spots holding. I was thinking that OB is a particular gene like blue eyes rather than a species, so if both fish are cherry zebras - 1 with spots and 1 without spots - are they still the same species? Or does the OB trait actually mark a separate species?


The species is Metriaclima estherae, the Red Zebra, (well, they are orange but males can have red spots)

There are 3 natural morphs

the normal grey to blue which is males only at Minos Reef
the deep orange solid form which is mostly females, but a few males which get a blue tint
the deep orange blotch form which is mostly females but a few males which get a blue tint

in captivity, the orange males have been bred to make all orange both sexes. they did the same with the OB form, to make an all OB form in captivity

other Zebra species have OB forms


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

Hmm interesting. The cherry zebras and the OB zebras that I got from the pet store are all orange. Some are darker than others. The male cherry zebra had a blue sheen until he was murdered by the OB zebra who also has a lovely blue sheen over his orange coloration. I'm guessing the cherry zebras will be from the same breeder since they are from the same store.

I'm not sure that the OB zebra that I got recently is the same as the others because it is more white than orange with the black spots.


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

I think #7 may be a pseudotropheus elongatus "chewere"

#8 - do acei turn more blue with age? Mine are quite dark - they look black most of the time with a deep blue glint under the lights - though I note they can turn their blue on according to their mood. That made me wonder if their bodies will lighten if they have more room or feel more dominant in their tank? I like how they swim in a little flock.


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## Aaron S (Apr 4, 2015)

Acei are one of the most "color-changing" cichlids I have owned so far. If I changed the water then they would be a very light blue color and black when feeling aggressive; but most of the time a very dark blue. I am actually not the biggest fan of the color patterns associated with acei, but I do find it funny to have a swimming mood ring.


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

I think #1 may be an albino metriacima greshakei

Another one fished out of the same tank (which was mixed since the LFS was closing down and these were some of the last remaining fish from all of the original tanks), is brown with orange dorsal and tail fins like a regular greshakei female.

That made me wonder how they breed albino fish since the albino gene is a variant. Could this greshakei female be included in the school with the albinos?


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

My fish have grown - want to guess what they are now? I've put what I think they are - some I'm pretty sure - others I have no idea!

#1 - Albino zebra?









#11 - white peacock??









#14 - OB peacock?









#5 - OB zebra??









#19 - mystery mbuna









female?









#12 - labidochromis perlmutt









#2 - yellow lab - holding









#3 - female johanni









#4 - Cherry red zebra -this guy is the tank boss


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

numbers correspond to their photos from last years post - I want to figure out what they are the best I can so I can add to their families...

#6 - cobalt zebra?









This might be a cobalt zebra - or something else. It is smaller and has a skinnier body than my other zebras. It also has some faint black marks like fin margins or barring - so it kind of looks dirty like you can barely see them.










same fish in different light...









#7 - cynotilapia zebroides lupinga? These fish are distinctly smaller than my others - they can look quite bright with bars or quite dull solid greyish blue if they choose to




































#15 - female otopharynx lithobates??









#10 - pseudotropheus elongatus chewere?









#9 - maingano









#20 - not posted last year - labeotropheus trewavasae zimbawe?









Just for fun...


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## RayMontana (Oct 5, 2016)

That OB is awesome, as are others. Not sure what it is. But like the coloration. I can hardly find mottled fish up here. they are my favorite for some reason.


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## ha77 (Dec 8, 2016)

#7- Afra of some sort
#10- Elongatus Mpanga
#12- Perlmutt


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

Thanks! It's been fun watching them grow. Heard of another fish store closing this weekend - but too far to drive and I have to work.

Does anyone have any idea what #19 is? That one has got me completely stumped. I haven't seen photos of anything that looks like them. I have 3 of them.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

#19 - mystery mbuna









This Mbuna doesn't really look like anything identifable... either a hybrid or a fish with aberrant barring.


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## ha77 (Dec 8, 2016)

noki said:


> #19 - mystery mbuna
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Has it always been this color or has it morphed since it matured?


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## Ruthiebaby88 (Jul 29, 2010)

I think that the blue sheen is a sign of dominance. It flashes in the light so you see it pops in the flash photo but would usually be more of a flicker when he is in the light.

I have 3 of these and this photo is of the dominant one. The photo of one that appears perhaps female is posted below him above - she does not have any of the blue sheen. The other one may be a less dominant male? It's black bars are more prominent that in the female, but no blue sheen and he doesn't swagger as much. They are predominantly silver and black.

I would be really surprised to get a hybrid from that store since they were very knowledgable, specialized in mbuna and bred some of their own fish at home, but I suppose it's not impossible.


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