# help please



## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

No idea what it is, saw it incorrectly (im 99.9% sure) labled as a bumblebee cichlid a few weeks ago and decided to buy it to find out what it is.


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## MikeyMike22 (Dec 29, 2011)

DISCLAIMER; I'm a novice at ID'ing these guys, but as it's 4:00 AM where I am, I thought I'd take a guess.

Looks like juvenile Kenyi (Metriaclima lombardoi) to me, except for the one bar that is detatched from the rest.
The picture of the Young Female on the profile page looks very similar:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=798

That's my 2 second guess...curious to see what the more seasoned people on here have to say.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Agree Metriaclima lombardoi http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=798

the 9 or so broken bars (Rather than 5 or six rounded partial bars) just indicate it is a poorly bred/not ideal one.

All the best James


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

2 questions...
It looks most like the male transforming picture on the profile link, which im assuming means it changes colors but mine, since *** had it (about 3-4 weeks) has stayed the same color, why is that?

And the profile of the fish says it is highly agressive, however this fish shows absolutely no aggression. It is in my tank with a male and female metriclima estherae, and a jewel cichlid(yes it has more than the 1 black spot) but doesnt show any agression even though it is just as big as the jewel which are both about a half inch to 3/4 inch larger than the estherae. The estherae were both in the tank for about 3 weeks before the jewel and lombardoi entered at the same time so idk why it isnt agressive to anything it actually is at the bottom of the pecking order where even the female estherae chases it around every once in a while. You said its poorly bred so could this fish just be the runt of the litter and because of that not be aggressive? Thanks for helping me identify it though!


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## MikeyMike22 (Dec 29, 2011)

All the juveniles will start off a much brighter blue than what's showing in your picture. Yours could be one turning male. How big is s/he...looks about 2-2.5"?
I've had kenyi in the past start putting on their male colors as soon as 1.75" and as late as 3.5"...my kenyi I have now are hybrids with yellow labs and not a good example of the breed as the females are all yellow like the males.

As to their aggression, all fish get a general label/rank of aggression and Kenyi typically rank high. You may luck out and get some that are more docile but depending on their size and number and who else is int he tank, you can make almost any aggressive fish calm down. I have a female kenyi in my tank (4") that is one of the most peaceful in there right now. All of my hybrid kenyi are calm too with the exception of a male that is currently breeding. I've seen other tanks where aggression varies in kenyi as well. It's kind of a hit or miss thing, but typically when they get a little size on them they'll usually try to step up their dominance. Honestly, one of the most vicious fish I've kept before was a pair of red jewels that were mating. I had a 90 gallon tank with about 30 mixed Africans and when these two jewels were mating they wouldn't let any of the other 28 fish on the entire left half of the tank...also, they breed like mice. I had so many fry and juvies that I started giving them away and using some as feeders! (when you have 80 fry survive and they breed every 3 weeks, you gotta do something)...Now, I've traded all my female jewels for my friend's males because they were out-breeding his tank too.

Keep an eye on yours, if she goes yellow and loses/hides the bars, you have a HE, if not, probably a female kenyi.


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

ya its about 2.5". its in a tank and is the second largest just behind the jewel that is maybe 3" which is the only one who wont go after the kenyi, even the female estherae chases the kenyi and it might be 1.75" at most. The kenyi i think may be a male because every couple days the black stripes start to get less and less pronounced almost hidden at points. Im getting a 75 gallon which would probably suit the fish better but right now they are in a 36 gallon bow. I make sure water quality is perfect as i can, temperature is 79-80 at all times. Just surprised how little aggression i have in the tank.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

it looks almost like my big female Kenyi(metriaclima lombardoi) when she was young... For agression, just wait till she gets big, if it turns out to be a male, watch out!! especilly for the red zebra you cant keep a male kenyi with other yellow/orange fishn Their stripes will come and go, there is one of my female that her stripes are all faded you can barely see those stripes....
this is a picture of a male turning yellow and trying to get a female








here is a picture of a young female that has the same stripe as yours








and two females mouthwrestling(some says females kenyi are not that bad, more laid back) I dont believe so








I think your kenyi looks like mine!


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

But what *** read is they start out blue and males switch colors, sorry if im wrong. Mine hasnt ever been any shade of blue since *** had it. But ya it looks alot like the one in your pictures, except mine doesnt have the best stripes from bad breeding. Also about food for him/her, *** read that they need alot of vegetable matter, i do give them fresh spinach and romaine lettuce from time to time, but he/she also love when i put in freeze dried tubifex worms and aggressively goes for chunks of thme and i also use NLS. Is that good enough or am i doing it wrong for this fish?


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

I would for sure drop the freeze dried tubifex worms for Mbuna.
Sure they love it but it is not good for them, far too ritch. This Mbuna is grazing fish feeding primarily on algae and small animals they scrape from the rocks using modified jaws and teeth. They find ritch insect food imposible to resist (naturaly in very short supply so grab it when they can) and over eat. The rest sounds fine. Tank is way too small long term and a mix with a Jewel ciclid hard to pull off long term even in a 5 foot tank.


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

Ya im getting a 75 sometime next week and will be moving them there then. So far I havnt had problems though surprisingly with any of the fish, no signs of disease. And one last question lol, the jewel is dominant in the tank however when I feed the fish the nls he is always last to eat because he doesnt come to the top and hides from me when I get near the tank. I dont want to feed more and risk bloat, but I dont want him to go a day or so without any food. Any ideas besides a seperate tank atleast for now?


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

The better question to be asking is "why isn't he eating?" African cichlids are gluttons and will eat as much as you will feed them, and one that won't/isn't eating is often showing signs of being sick or really stressed. Keep a very close eye on that fish and see if it is eating at all - it may just be shy and won't come to the top but still eats. If it is showing no interest in food at all, then you most likely have a problem to deal with. Cichlids can go days without eating and show no ill effects - most people actually fast their fish for 1 or 2 days a week just to let their digestive tracks clear out and to maintain healthy weight. But, if you are feeding and the fish isn't eating, that is not normal.

As far as Kenyi, Jewels and aggression go, they will probably get along fine when they are small like yours. The hyper-aggression starts when they start to mature and breeding instincts and hormones drive them to become super dominant. That may be the reason your other fish isn't eating. If your Kenyi is male (and it appears to be) he will need 6 or 7 females to spread his affection around, or else there is a GOOD chance he will start killing tankmates because he is trying to breed. They don't have the reputation of being one of the nastiest cichlids out there by accident.

Best of luck to you!


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

the jewel eats but only when i back away from the tank or spike the pellets into the aquarium so they sink fast enough that the kenyi and estherae dont eat them, unless its the tubifex worms i stick to the glass in which case he comes out aggressively to eat. Other than that he shows no signs of stress or illness, he just doesnt come right out and greet me like the other fish do, especially the kenyi which comes up to my fingers when i wiggle them in the water, might be my favorite of my cichlids


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

That's good - it sounds like it's just shy then. If you ever notice any of them not eating, though, it is a good warning sign that something is going on.


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

ya i know that, happened to my estherae i had a couple years ago before i knew about water parameters. they just laid on the bottom and died, wish i knew what i know now back then coulda saved a lot of fish, and money. thanks for the help everybody


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

yes they start from blue to yellow! they can eat peas squeeze the peas of their shells, my cichlids love it. If you absolutely have to feed frozen food, go with mysis shrimp it is softer for their digestive track. They will also be able to use and lose the fat since mysis shrimp is a marine organism... mbunas are not able to digest or use(it is hard to explain sorry Im not sure of the term here, my english is far from perfect) fat from terrestrial organism, they will just stay stuck with that fat.
just for you here is my dominant male turning yellow


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

thanks for the pictures, and maybe the fat your talking about is omega-3? my best guess lol. and ya mine is between pictures 2 and 3. Just wondering, did yours, when eating, sometimes have its black stripes get darker for a few minutes during and after eating? because sometimes his stripes are really dark, but recently (last week or so) they sometimes become extremely faint. Right now for example i can barely tell he has the stripes, and im less than 10 feet away lol


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

on my dominant male you can barely see his stripes. He is just Yellow with faint stripes that you can only see from certain angles. The stripes faint as they grow older it is the same for all my kenyi, my younger kenyis have dark solid stripes, that comes and go, older one, fainted stripes.


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

Thanks alot sparrk. By any chance what size aquarium would be good for a colony of these guys? And what cichlids would do well with them?


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

Unfortunately... I believe it has malawai bloat. It didnt show a loss of appetite, but it looks like it has a hemmroid? Its trying to poop and its coming out but looks too late to help. Im going to try treating it and hope it works.


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

hope he gets better


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

That doesn't look like bloat. If it has still been eating/swimming around normally, it probably isn't. Loss of appetite and white or clear stringy feces along with hiding near the top corners are usually the first symtoms of bloat, a swollen belly one of the last. It looks from the picture like it either has a prolapsed anus or an extended egg tube (ovipositor). A prolapsed anus will usually be red and inflamed, while an ovipositor will look white and almost like a flap of loose skin. I have had to deal with a prolapsed anus recently - read about the treatment here:http://www.cichlid-forum.com:80/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1693321#1693321

Honestly, your picture looks more like an egg tube than prolapsed anus. I also recently had a female with it's egg tube down, and the shape of it is a lot like what yours has. I know it is showing male coloration, but female Kenyi have been know to take on male coloration when there are no dominant males around. Anyway, I hope this helps and I hope your fish is alright.


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

Yesterday when I woke up I checked on the cichlids and the prolapsed anus/egg tube was almost gone, about 1/10th thr size it was. Fed him peas and he ate 1 almost 2 and ill check again tomorrow


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

mine are in a 75gal I would go for 1m/6-7f. Also mmcichlid is right, I already had one female that used to turn to almost male coloration, but only when breeding though. You will see soon enough if it is a male, it will turn more and more yellow everyday. Peas are also good for preventing bloat. What I usually do when I get a bloat scare is, in a small container, press the peas in water from the tank and dissolve a pinch of epsom salt in that water, let it stand for half an hour and then feed. I leave them one fasting day after that meal.


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

For that should I pour the whole container with the peas and epsom salt in the tank, or just pull out the peas


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

Bpawl92 said:


> Yesterday when I woke up I checked on the cichlids and the prolapsed anus/egg tube was almost gone, about 1/10th thr size it was. Fed him peas and he ate 1 almost 2 and ill check again tomorrow


If it retracted that quickly, I can almost guarantee it was an extended egg tube. Prolapsed anus will almost always take some time and treatment to heal. It would appear that your "he" is a she! You may see her holding a mouthful of eggs in the next few days.


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

Then if it has a mouthful of eggs, theyll be hybrids since its the only kenyi it would either be a metriaclima estherae kenyi mix or kenyi jewel mix. However the female estherae is pregnant, babies soon!


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## r-fishies (Jan 2, 2012)

On getting food to one hiding, we recently moved our adult fish into a new very large tank & a few have all of a sudden gotten shy. Wanting to get food to all w/o overfeeding (so easy to do) I used a piece of clear tubing & drop the pellets into it. I can then direct it anywhere I need it to go, like right in the cave I want it to. Delivery service lol. I am anticipating having to do this with food for the fry, it would never make it to the bottom of this tank to hiding fry. Socolofi holding as of today, yay. Normally we catch her & move to the 10 gal, we'll see. Catching anyone in this one will be a challenge.


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

I hate it with this fish for feeding time,its the dominant one yet it hides until the last pellet is eaten, then comes up like wheres my food? *** decided that since it knows where the food comes from, it will go without until it feels the need to eat, kinda harsh but itll learn... I hope. And the kenyi is showing a bluer color today not so much yellow so maybe a female I think.


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

It is truly amazing how some of these fish can change their color and markings from day to day, or even minute to minute, depending on their mood. That is one of the many reasons they are so interesting.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

yeah the kenyi are good with that, changing colors, for your question Bpawl I usually use a little shooter glass and pour everything in the tank. And as mncichlid says, it was probably an egg tube so it is a female, if you are scared of hybrid, cause she is the only female and will probably breed with the red zebra, let her spit in the main tank, adult fish will take care of them, the jewel will probably go crazy for fry. When I want the babies, I let the mother spit in a nursery tank I set up just for that. It is just they breed so often I cant keep them all lol!


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## Bpawl92 (Dec 24, 2011)

Ya id love them to breed, but only want maybe 2 fry per offspring, so ill let nature take its course, fittest survive.helps	keep the genes good too I suppose


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