# Need help with my types of Africans



## ghartran31 (Jun 16, 2014)

Brand new to the forum. My cichlids (4 total) have outgrown the 26g tank. Looking to find out what kind my "big boss" is. I'm setting up my 75g now and will be adding more fish and want to be sure I get ones that are compatible. 



I don't know the sex either....


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## rennsport2011 (Oct 21, 2013)

Pseudotropheus johanni mix, Maylandia estherae (red zebra mix), Some sort of Central American cichlid.


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

The big fish is a Flowerhorn type, possibly a reject from a Red Texas spawn. They are often very aggressive, but being a hybrid it's always hard to predict behavior. It could get too big for a 75 eventually, though again, hybrid nature makes predictions difficult.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

The big fish may have been sold to you as the African cichlid Tilapia buttikoferi, but flowerhorn, a hybrid of various Central American and even North American cichlids, is likely. The other cichlids are also probable "mutts". They don't look like a pure strain of any particular African cichlid.


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## dmannn g (Jun 16, 2014)

The small blue on is most likely the maingano cichlid from Lake Malawi it maxes out at about 6inch likes high ph 8.2+ and no company very active very hardy and very aggressive the larger one appears to be of flowerhorn strain not sure of specifics I know my lfs has 40+different types the most common being the red dragon and red fader they become very large 12-17inches depending on what specifically has been bred together normally slow powerfull and highly aggressive more aggressive than the maingano and with the size advantage it will probably eat him in the long run but once again all fish are different you might get lucky but keep in mind the extremes in the ph flowerhorn being American prefer soft neutral ph and Africans prefer hard high ph above 8.2 and the tank will need to be much larger along the lines of 70g-125g but good luck you'll need it and as always have fun and enjoy even the little things


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

The large Central American cichlids are largely from limestone areas, so flowerhorns are from hard high pH waters not very different from those of the African rift lakes. It is the South American cichlids like angelfish, discus, Apistogrammas and more, who are predisposed to soft low pH water.


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## dmannn g (Jun 16, 2014)

I did not know that about the flowerhorn I guess you do learn something new everyday anyway good luck to you


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

I have to work to learn something new every day. It's forgetting what I've learned that seems to happen every day. Not all Africans are hard water. West African fish are generally from soft low pH well oxygenated even turbulent rivers and streams. It is the fish from Lakes Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika that like hard alkaline water. Those lakes also had high levels of iodine before the advent of pollution in the lakes. The first two had iodine levels the same as the ocean, and Lake Tanganyika had iodine levels well over the oceanic. A professional aquarist Jim Langhammer suggested that I should dose my Tanganyikans with an iodine supplement at the same rate as for reef tanks and using the same reef intended products. He also suggested using them with livebearing fish from Mexico and Central America.


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## dmannn g (Jun 16, 2014)

Obviously there are different conditions over time and location but breaking it down 90%or better of everything I've seen and have access to is captive breed and has never seen outside of a glass box so would all the extra chems and effort really be beneficial if there the fish this person got from the fish store then more than likely they were kept at a neutral pH with no additives at all so would they benefit? Ghartran31 I hope this conversation enlightens you as much it has myself sorry for running away with your post here but the best of luck to you and it it is flowerhorn you should be expect to see a massive lump develop soon if not who knows what it is it's cool looking no the less have fun


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## Sinister-Kisses (Jul 19, 2013)

Not all flowerhorns develop nuchal koks...or "lumps" as you call it.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Sinister-Kisses said:


> Not all flowerhorns develop nuchal koks...or "lumps" as you call it.


 Females have smaller or nonexistent frontal gibbosities. Because this fish is a hybrid it may inherit genes that exaggerate the gibbosity, or conversely minimize it. There might be strange things happening with the sex determining genes inherited from different cichlid species. Genes might be missing or doubled.


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