# White top haras and socolofi?



## rrcoolj (Apr 8, 2008)

SO I've been looking around for a third species to add to my african cichlid tank and I really like the color of white top haras. But I can't seem to get any info on how the females look or how a non showy male looks. My worry is that the white top haras will look too similar to my socolofi. Anyone know how these guys look on a regular basis and if it would be good to mix the two. For my tank I'm trying to get as much color variety as possible.

First pic is the white top hara male in full breeding dress. Second pic is a socolofi.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The male white top has the same background color as the Socolofi. But you will only have one of those. The female white tops and sub dom males are mid blue, I found them too similar to my Acei and removed the Acei.


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

rrcoolj said:


> For my tank I'm trying to get as much color variety as possible.


If this is the case - I wouldn't be looking to keep two light blue species together.

They are too similar if you ask me, and I think you will have issues with aggression as well. I know my C. sp. hara aren't overly aggressive but they don't readily stand down to anyone either.


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## rrcoolj (Apr 8, 2008)

why_spyder said:


> rrcoolj said:
> 
> 
> > For my tank I'm trying to get as much color variety as possible.
> ...


that's exactly what I was thinking. I'll probably get acei or elongatus instead


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

Or you could replace the Ps. socolofi with _C._ sp. hara.


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (maingano- like the one in my avitar) has similar colors. All the males and females look alike. Rusties or yellow labs would look good with socolofi too, I think. Red zebras would look good too and be on about the same aggression level as the socolofi, from what I can tell.


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## rrcoolj (Apr 8, 2008)

Dewdrop said:


> Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (maingano- like the one in my avitar) has similar colors. All the males and females look alike. Rusties or yellow labs would look good with socolofi too, I think. Red zebras would look good too and be on about the same aggression level as the socolofi, from what I can tell.


well I already have the following...
3 yellow labs
3 socolofi
3 red zebras
1 synodontis decorus
1 bristle nose pleco

So I though about maingano I'm also agian thinking about acei and elongatus. The reason why I didn't really want maingano is cuz of thier size. I guess I'm kinda picky but I wanted all my cichlids to be between 5-6 inches


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

How big is the tank? Some of the elongatus are smaller too. But I'd go with them because the blue barred fish are my favorite. My problem with elongatus is that they are dimorphic...only one colorful fish!


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## rrcoolj (Apr 8, 2008)

DJRansome said:


> How big is the tank? Some of the elongatus are smaller too. But I'd go with them because the blue barred fish are my favorite. My problem with elongatus is that they are dimorphic...only one colorful fish!


no the fish I want is going to be monophoric. I'm real picky for what I want in this tank. I spent a long time researching these fish and I picked them carefully. Besides I'll probably end up getting acei. Oh and the tank is 55 gallons with a 300gph xp2 rena filstar canister filter. Gonna buy an aquaclear 110 in the near future.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If you've got a 55G don't add another species, three is plenty for a 55G especially since you want 5-6 inch fish.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

DJRansome said:


> If you've got a 55G don't add another species, three is plenty for a 55G especially since you want 5-6 inch fish.


I agree, 100%.

You should also be aware of the potential for crossbreeding between the Yellow labs and red zebras. If you plan to distribute fry from this tank, you might choose one of those two species rather than keep both.

Rather than add a 4th species, I would make the groups for the 3 species you already have larger - this may also help decrease your risk for hybridization. :thumb:


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## rrcoolj (Apr 8, 2008)

Interesting...I always thought fish had to be similar in color to hybridize. So How about I just add another red zebra, socolofi, and yellow lab. Will that work?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

cichlidaholic said:


> You should also be aware of the potential for crossbreeding between the Yellow labs and red zebras. If you plan to distribute fry from this tank, you might choose one of those two species rather than keep both.


Just in case you overlooked this earlier... :wink:

Any mouthbrooders will hybridize if you don't keep the breeding groups in the proper male/female ratios. These fish are harem breeders, meaning you need multiple females per male of a species.

For some reason, we are seeing more and more red zebra/ yellow lab hybrids in the hobby. Both are impossible to sex without venting, so a large part of this problem can likely be contributed to them being kept in too small of species groups, but no matter how large the groups and how certain I was of the sexes for each species, I would not house those two species together if I planned to distribute fry.

They look great together, I know!


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## Terrence23 (Oct 2, 2008)

cichlidaholic said:


> For some reason, we are seeing more and more red zebra/ yellow lab hybrids in the hobby. Both are impossible to sex without venting, so a large part of this problem can likely be contributed to them being kept in too small of species groups, but no matter how large the groups and how certain I was of the sexes for each species, I would not house those two species together if I planned to distribute fry.
> 
> They look great together, I know!


Are all these hybrids we see in LFSs and big box pet stores like Petsmart and Petco really the fault of hobbyists distributing hybrid fry? I would think most places selling fish would get their stock from big commercial breeders since hobbyists would seem to be an unreliable source of steady supply. I would hope these commercial breeders had enough sense to segregate their species populations but given all the weird hybrids and badly bred yellow labs I see in tanks at the stores, I guess not!


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## rrcoolj (Apr 8, 2008)

yeah I don't plan to sell any fry producded. Any fry produced will be kept in my tank.


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

Elongatus mpanga would be an excellent choice. Although they are tagged as dimorphic, really the dominant fish of the harem will display best whether male or female. Males and females are really hard to tell apart, venting is the best way to single out a male. 
Even the subdominant mpanga is very attractive showing a deep purple that IMO look nicer then alot of other species even as the dominant one and you don't get the aggression pain that comes with some others.
So no not one colourful fish, many, just one that looks a bit nicer then the rest of it's mates


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

But still, it's a 55G tank with three species already.


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