# please help me identify



## opie877 (Aug 17, 2008)

not sure if they are the same species or not but the blue and black 1 displays towards the other 
often and doesnt quit moving sand all day long


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Melanochromis chipokae... top one is a male... bottom has female/juvenile colouration. It could be a female, or subdominant male.

The fish will outgrow their current aquariums. :lol: :wink:


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## opie877 (Aug 17, 2008)

Fogelhund said:


> Melanochromis chipokae... top one is a male... bottom has female/juvenile colouration. It could be a female, or subdominant male.
> 
> The fish will outgrow their current aquariums. :lol: :wink:


 thankyou very much for the help and yes they are actually kept in a 29g by them selfs as the male was to aggressive towards the other fish in my 150g mixed tank i just use those little tanks for pic taking purpose the little bugger's are a pain in the rump to photograph given room to move so i eliminated that option.... lol :wink:

thanks again :thumb:


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## etcbrown (Nov 10, 2007)

The male will most likely kill the female in due time unless they are moved to at least a 4 foot tank. Chipokae get pretty big for a melanochromis and can be quite aggressive.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

And, even with moving them to a larger tank, you're going to need more females. These fish are harem breeders, and do not pair. :thumb:


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## wcvanorman (Dec 26, 2005)

I had a male and female pair in a 55 gal for two years, and never had problems. They just bred like rabbits and finally I got tired of it and got rid of the female. The male was the top dog in the tank, but he never killed anything else. I hated to get rid of him when I moved, but I had no choice.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Melanochromis chipokae in a 55g . Rather you than me. :lol:


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## wcvanorman (Dec 26, 2005)

Yeah I had him for about 2.5 years before I had to move. The sad thing was that he was a wal-mart fish. Most of the fish from the LFS kept dying, but the Wally ones lived. Unfortunately I am never near a fish store that labels their Malawis. Just mixed Malawi tanks.


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## becadavies (Apr 2, 2007)

wcvanorman said:


> Unfortunately I am never near a fish store that labels their Malawis. Just mixed Malawi tanks.


Unfortunately?? I'd say Fortunately :lol:


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## wcvanorman (Dec 26, 2005)

The only reaon I say unfortunately is because I bought a Malawi at my LFS to get home and a couple days later get a cichlid book in the mail for my B-day and find out what they called a hybrid is actually an Auratus. Fortunately he is not too agressive. He chases the others now and then and yet he hides from me whenever I feed them.


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