# Fish ID



## RayMontana (Oct 5, 2016)

Hi guys. I have had my mixed Psedeotropheus tank for about a month now. all juveniles. Biggest maybe 1.5 inches at best. hard to say what varieties they are .My most aggressive ones at the moment are typically brown but sometimes like tonight they get black barred and are pushy. Other fish are yellow and orange and bluish. Maybe I should figure out how to post a pic.
Wasnt looking to get demasoni in my mix because they charge more for them but think I did. There are four of those and one is bigger than everyone and the others are the same size. so far nobody had been beat up

I suppose my question is does that mean they are going to start killing everthing or is it a water issue or?I know color changes on fish mean different things. I just dont remember at the moment which way it goes for acs


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## Aaron S (Apr 4, 2015)

how to post pictures are at the top of each forum (as a permanent post). Getting more information will help to answer your question better. What size tank do you have - gallons and length? How many of each unknown fish do you have? Once you get the picture uploaded then we can correlate the unknown fish numbers to the actual names and see how the odds are that your fish will get along.

In general, it sounds like your fish are starting to get to the point where they are maturing from juveniles and thus are getting more aggressive as they fight for the right to breed with the females. It has been my experience that if stripes appear more brightly then the fish is being dominant. You should be aware that mbuna are always "pushy" with eachother - even the peaceful ones. There are certain signs you need to watch out for: 1. If a fish is lurking behind your heater/filter intake then that fish should be removed within 24hrs 2. If a fish has visually tattered fins then that fish should be removed immediately (just one little bit of tattered may be OK) 3. If your fish have marks above their mouth from lip locking then I try to remove the most aggressive one of the two.

These are all just generalities, but with more info we can help to reduce that behavior by changing the tank stocking (if you want).


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Demasoni are never brown and they are smaller fish (unless they happen to be adults while the rest are juveniles). Pics in the Unidentified section will help.

Your description makes me think of crabro, but to be determined.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Aggression doesn't really get serious until the fish are adults, like 3" and above except for Demasoni which are always nasty and paranoid. 4-6" mbuna can be monsters in certain situations. Aggression has reasons, it is about pecking order and territory. You usually end up with an alpha "boss", and the beta 2nd place waiting for the boss to leave or weaken, then on down to the lowest fish. Males will also chase females when adults, sometimes they can end up killing females out of frustration which it is good to have many females to spread the attention around.

The easiest way to deal with aggression is keep them in a larger group and avoid smaller tanks, a four foot long tank is a must for most Mbuna except a few.


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## RayMontana (Oct 5, 2016)

__
https://flic.kr/p/30614055991

I know i didnt do this right. It links to all the pictures of the fish


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## RayMontana (Oct 5, 2016)

Do the pics show up for you?


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## RayMontana (Oct 5, 2016)

also... water out of the tap is about 8.0 ph and 30 (drops) kh...they seem to be doing fine. Anything I need to address?


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## Heatherbee (Oct 19, 2016)

They do show up. Hopefully somebody will help you soon! You've got one that looks like one I asked about lol but I hadn't got a definite answer.


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## RayMontana (Oct 5, 2016)

They are still small so probably hard to tell what they are going to end up being as adults. Some change colors and patterns so fast its like you have four different fish in one.Most have almost doubled in size since a month or so.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

RayMontana said:


> They are still small so probably hard to tell what they are going to end up being as adults. Some change colors and patterns so fast its like you have four different fish in one.Most have almost doubled in size since a month or so.


Not really sure what you are asking. The color changes have little to do with the water.


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## RayMontana (Oct 5, 2016)

I am assuming they are posturing for their position in the tank. I suppose if the water wasnt right they would show distress too. Do you know what fish the ones with blue on the face with red fin and the brown with bars are? The albino is getting aggressive too.
They are the largest and most aggressive. Nobody is hurt yet. I may have to separate them at some point

I really just want to know what I have . I bought them as mixed Mbuna.


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## RayMontana (Oct 5, 2016)

This post was moved from another part of the forum so the title makes no sense now. sorry I cant see how to change it. But my question about their attitude was to determine if I need to get the smaller fish out before they get killed. The bigger ones are being rough on the yellow ones especially and the smaller orange ones. all the rest are keeping their own. I dont mind aggression ...thats why I got these fish.

If I remove the smaller ones then I would like to put others in that are compatible with the temperament of them. Knowing what they are would help with that. Thanks for any help.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If you stock compatible fish, the large ones will usually ignore the small ones.

If you have an unknown hybrid that is terrorizing the others, remove the aggressive fish.

This is one of the problems with buying mixed mbuna...you have absolutely no idea what you have or what behavior to expect.


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## RayMontana (Oct 5, 2016)

Thanks for the help. I need to set up another tank to separate the crew before things get really bad. fortunately for now there are enough plants and hidey holes for the others to go to. 
I was hoping some of the more experienced guys could give me any insight on what i might have based on the pics I posted. I realize mixed mbuna is a mixed bag. Id rather know I need another tank for some than have dead fish. That wouldnt be their fault. It would be mine for not knowing,


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