# HELP Cichlid Fry! WHAT ARE THEY!



## CichliBAE (Jan 27, 2018)

AGAIN! I found 2 Pure Red Zebra Fry a couple weeks ago and they have grown so much and gotten a ton more orange to amount that they certainly are purebred Red Zebra cichlids. Anyhow, I was cleaning my poop filter, and AGAIN, I find 2 more little cichlid babies! This time they are a bit white and gray and I think they're Kenyi, but feel a bit long for Kenyi, then I think they're Crabro cichlids but they seem too dull to be crabro/bumbles. Anyways, I don't know how old they are, but they're around 5mm. I have attached pictures here.









































Thank you so much. If they're hybrids...I'd hate to have to kill them off, or you know just take care of them since I'm not selling fish anyways!


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## CichliBAE (Jan 27, 2018)

my stock:
Kenyi - 1M:2F
Crabro/Bumblebee - 1M:3F (perhaps another is a subservient male?)
Acei - 2 Unknown genders
Red Zebra - 1M: 2 unknown
Demasoni - 1 male? (Eggspots)
Electric yellow - unknown
Venustus - unknown


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Without genetic testing there is little way to know whether your fry are pure. In a tank stocked like yours, I would not save fry since there is a high risk of hybrids.


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## CichliBAE (Jan 27, 2018)

How would one go about genetic testing a cichlid


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

The fry are too small to show much as far as color and markings, so wait and see if they color up and at least look like Kenyi or Crabro at 1 inch, they are both very unique juveniles. If the fry look vague or dull, or have too many or not enough bars... then they are prob hybrids.

Determine who might actually be parents. Who are the dominant males? Which females are mature enough? A Demasoni male seems unlikely to usurp a mature male Kenyi or Crabro, but any combo is theoretically possible among those fish.


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## Old Newbie (Feb 18, 2017)

I have Kenyi and mine are always blue with 5 vertical black bars as soon as they are spit by the females; you should watch your fish closely at feeding time and see which fish if any are not eating for weeks at a time. Those will be your holding females and fry won't be a surprise when they come along.


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## CichliBAE (Jan 27, 2018)

SUCCESS! They both have 5 stipes and they are getting slightly larger. I have am getting a stronger feeling that these are Kenyi fry!

*EDIT: It seems like the Fry have a 6th smaller strip between where the tailfin and the main body.


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## Old Newbie (Feb 18, 2017)

CichliBAE said:


> SUCCESS! They both have 5 stipes and they are getting slightly larger. I have am getting a stronger feeling that these are Kenyi fry!
> 
> *EDIT: It seems like the Fry have a 6th smaller strip between where the tailfin and the main body.


Mine have those too; it's more of a spot than a stripe.


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## Old Newbie (Feb 18, 2017)

Here's what my fry look like the day of being spit out by one of my females.


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## CichliBAE (Jan 27, 2018)

Yikes. Mine have actually turned clear, almost a gray/beige color now (but mostly clear)! They have lost their colors a bit, but their strips are still present and almost silvery.


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