# Bandit cichlids have bred



## ntans12 (Aug 29, 2009)

Hi everyone i am new to this forum, i have a 100 litre tank and two of my 4 bandit cichlids have paired up and two day ago fry appeared. since the fry appeared the parents have been really dominant and have forced the smaller fish to the other side of the tank. should i separate the fry into a smaller 60l tank or is it better to keep with the parents.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

do you have a picture of the fish?

Welcome to the C-F


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## M0oN (Dec 8, 2003)

Definitely want to keep only the pair in a tank that size, the other two fish are going to get beat to death. 

Assuming these are convict cichlids - if they're Guinacara geayi then it's a different story and this belongs in the SA forum.


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## Briguy (Aug 10, 2009)

What's a Bandit Cichlid?


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

A quick, very quick google search resulted in this:

http://www.sydneycichlid.com/bandit-cichlid.htm


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## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

Cool. A Keyhole on steroids.

...Bill


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

MonteSS said:


> Cool. A Keyhole on steroids.
> 
> ...Bill


 :lol: :lol: :lol:

Too bad your in England , I'd like to have some of those fry :drooling:


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## M0oN (Dec 8, 2003)

They're not necessarily geayi, though - those fish are very rare. I've only come across them once out here in the U.S. and I had to dig HARD to find them.

It's possible some one labeled a convict as a bandit.


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Really , I just saw some for sale the other day. I see them from time to time, not really rare, but very common either. guess it's one of those "rare depends on where you live" things.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Guianacara are often refered to as Bandit cichlids. I guess we would all like to see photo's.

A 100 litre tank is not very big at all, around 25 US gallons, especially for four Guianacara. I would look to move the two non breeding Guianacara to your 60 litre tank asap, trying not to disturb the parents and fry too much. If you have the funds I'd look at buying a US75 gallon tank if you wish to keep these cichlids long term.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

*Joels fish* - Real, true geayi are very rare. Much like _Geophagus surinamensis_, the real ones aren't in the hobby on this side of the pond ... they have an even more restricted range than _G. surinamensis_. Of course, some crazy germans did go to down there and illegally collect and bring some back.

And much like the _G. surinamensis_, almost everything in the _Guianacara_ genus is labeled as 'geayi.'


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Hmmn... lots of speculation.. until the op responds with a picture they could be redtail catfish :lol:


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

dwarfpike said:


> *Joels fish* - Real, true geayi are very rare. Much like _Geophagus surinamensis_, the real ones aren't in the hobby on this side of the pond ... they have an even more restricted range than _G. surinamensis_. Of course, some crazy germans did go to down there and illegally collect and bring some back.
> 
> *And much like the G. surinamensis, almost everything in the Guianacara genus is labeled as 'geayi.'*




True enough , but the fish I saw for sale were dead ringers for them. Doesn't mean they were them, but very close in appearance. I guess we get what we can. BTW anyone up for some clandestine fish collecting :wink: ?


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

Yeah, the differances are based on three things including spot and band size, usually with very subtle differances. They can be a pain to ID.


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## M0oN (Dec 8, 2003)

Just like geophagus - Guinacara species all share very very very common characteristics. With how new the entire complex is, even digging up information for identification can take quite a bit of work.

I've only very recently (maybe over the last 2 years or so) seen them becoming common place in the U.S. - and by common place I mean you don't have to spend 6 months digging around to find one anymore, but by no means have they been around long enough or in large enough numbers for me to comfortably point at one and say "That's a geayi" like I can with mature geophagus species.

Dwarf is right, the geayi are super rare - but since almost all of the Guinacara look identical to an untrained eye - and since the fish are so new that even those of us who are experienced in the hobby still have untrained eyes - it's very unlikely that these are true bandits.

For sure they are one of the fish that will be more commonplace on the east coast than out here on the west coast. That seems to be the case with all newly collected SA species, since they mostly come in through Florida and get distributed starting from there over...by the time the stock lists hit California everything is gone.


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Actually someone over at THF forum sent me a link to a seller that has some Guianacara in stock at the moment among other things. Here's the link http://www.cichlidstation.com. May not geayi , but they are Guianacara. These guys have some oddball stuff and sometimes real rarities.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

:lol: We still don't know what the OP has in his tank.......


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## M0oN (Dec 8, 2003)

Joels fish said:


> Actually someone over at THF forum sent me a link to a seller that has some Guianacara in stock at the moment among other things. Here's the link http://www.cichlidstation.com. May not geayi , but they are Guianacara. These guys have some oddball stuff and sometimes real rarities.


those are stergiosi or Sphenozona :thumb:


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Still cool fish though . Speaking of the OP, where's that person been in all of this?


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Joels fish said:


> Still cool fish though . Speaking of the OP, where's that person been in all of this?


EXACTLY....................


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