# An assorted African Cichlid, care of petco



## Etain (Aug 2, 2009)

I'm going to appologize up front. My computer broke and my iPhone refused to take a picture of my cichlid that looks like anything more than a fuzzy blob, so I'll do my best to describe him.

He's only about an inch long and his base color is a light blue that fades into a silver at his belly. He has eight black, verticle stripes between his gills and tail. On the top of his head he has neon blue spots surrounded by black bars. All of his fins are a slightly brighter blue than his body with white spots and the very edges of his fins are white.

Someone tried to tell me he's a kenyai but his body shape isn't right for it. I thought he was a socolofi but then I noticed he's a little purple around the gills so I'm a little lost. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Something I forgot to mention, he doesn't appear to like the cichlid pellets or the frozen brine shrimp I try to feed him, but he'll eat the flake food and the alge tablets I put in for my other fish. I've also seen him nibbling on my plants.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Your description is way over detailed, but at least you tried.

Really there are only a few fish that are like that when small. Light blue with black vertical bars on the body that are permanent? If the bars are dark it should be a Kenyi or a Kenyi hybrid. The 8 bars you describe is too many, but it is seen with poor breeding to have extra bars.

The only small light blue juvenile Mbuna you will see at mass market stores are...
Socolofi (light blue with a black line in the dorsal)
Kenyi (light blue with like 5 thick bars on the body)
Cobalt Zebra (solid light blue)
and maybe Demasoni which are darker with thick bars

these are the only consistantly constantly blue colorful juveniles, for the most part, which is why they are so common... they sell easy. Fish can be poorly bred or hybrids also, and juveniles can look different from adults.


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## Etain (Aug 2, 2009)

I thought he was going to be a socolofi because his stirpes have been fading and the bar on his dorsal fin, but he's been getting more and more purple every day and his fins have been turning the same neon blue as the spots on his head. If he's a hybrid I'd like to know with what.


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