# Another assorted tank breed! Help



## Goddogo1 (Feb 4, 2012)

Hey, I posted a thread on here a few months back, asking for help with the identification of a fish baught at a local ps. Well needless to say, thoes fish died and I was only able to save one of the cichlids. Its a albino cichlid but never got the name of it. Im on here to ask for the help of all of you to find out what this guy is. He looks like a lab but he is orange. He is starting to move rocks into piles out of his home. Very friendly until now when he moves his rocks. Other fish in his tank are small guppies, danio, small eel and two leaf fish. I need to identify this fish that way I can better take care of it. Thank you for your help!


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## Goddogo1 (Feb 4, 2012)

adult upload image


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## Goddogo1 (Feb 4, 2012)

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## Goddogo1 (Feb 4, 2012)

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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

Looks like an albino yellow lab to me, Labidochromis caeruleus. Cool looking fish.


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## cichlidboy123 (May 8, 2012)

Looks like a red zebra/yellow lab hybrid. Look them up on google images


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

It is a hybrid albino, probably has some Lab in it.


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## Goddogo1 (Feb 4, 2012)

Thanks guys, I have acouple more questions about it. How do I tell male or female, and what other cichlids will it mate with?


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## cichlidboy123 (May 8, 2012)

Some say you can look at the eggspots on the anal fin, but its not 100% . Some females have them too. When i am choosing a fish from the store, i look at the pelvic fins and males will have longer pointed ones and females will have smaller rounded ones. Males are also more agressive. The only sure way is by venting them. All mbunas can cross breed with each other. You'll be surprised at which fish will breed.


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## Goddogo1 (Feb 4, 2012)

With the pics I have given, can sex be determined? If so can any one tell me what sex it is?


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Goddogo1 said:


> With the pics I have given, can sex be determined? If so can any one tell me what sex it is?


Thing is you seem to want to breed it despite knowing its a hybrid. Bad very bad IMO.
I do not want to help this, so I will not tell you its sex.


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## Chromedome52 (Jul 25, 2009)

The blue streak on the chin is very unusual on Mbuna or Peacocks, as are horizontal rows of blue metallic spots like this fish has (look near the caudal peduncle in the first and last shots). Yellow Labs have neither of those characteristics, and I see nothing about it that suggests any relationship to that species. The orange color practically insists on the involvement of one of the fancy Peacock strains, but the body shape says something else is involved.

Very interesting fish, a flash shot that shows the blue metallic patterns better might be more illuminating.


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## Goddogo1 (Feb 4, 2012)

Thanks, chromedome52. I will post a picture of the spots as soon as I get them, he/she is so active that its hard to get good photo. Also I seen a cichlid on the sponsor page of this forum. The pic is on "The fish place" ad close to the bottom middle of the page. My cichlid looks just like that one but with albino eyes.


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## Chromedome52 (Jul 25, 2009)

Never mind. I'm an idiot when it comes to Malawian Mbuna, and should have kept my mouth shut.

Just looked at the online bulletin for the Ohio Cichlid Association, only available to members. Right in the middle of the bulletin was a photo from Don Danko of a pure albino Yellow Lab - and it was almost a perfect match for your fish. Because it's albino the black markings are absent/clear, but what shocked me was the presence of the blue spangling. Since I know that Don would not show a hybrid without labeling it as such, I must assume that pure Yellow Lab does occur in an albino form, and that is what you have. Why it is more orange than yellow, I do not know.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

Quote "Just looked at the online bulletin for the Ohio Cichlid Association, only available to members. Right in the middle of the bulletin was a photo from Don Danko of a pure albino Yellow Lab - and it was almost a perfect match for your fish. Because it's albino the black markings are absent/clear, but what shocked me was the presence of the blue spangling. Since I know that Don would not show a hybrid without labeling it as such, I must assume that pure Yellow Lab does occur in an albino form, and that is what you have. Why it is more orange than yellow, I do not know."

==I have a couple of theories on the orange but not yellow. 
First, yellow pigmentation may not show up in an albino fish, or may show as orange. I see a lot of albino peacocks that have orange, but I don't recall any with yellow (there could be, I just haven't seen any).
And my second theory is a little hard to swallow for most cichlid keepers. Pure yellow labs aren't as common as we would like to think...when they were first introduced into the hobby, the commercial breeders didn't do a good job of culling inferior fish. Over a couple of generations, the yellow labs started getting washed out looking. The breeders intentionally hybridized them with red zebras to bring back some of the vibrant color. The hybrids were then bred back to pure labs. These labs are now what is for sale. I base this second theory on two things. One is that when I personally used to breed yellow labs, it was easy to pick out males and females...even at a glance, with accuracy. Nowdays, it's much more difficult. And also, I have looked at one online vendor that openly state that they have mixed the labs with red zebras due to the color issue. I have to assume that more than a few have done this...and honestly, I have to commend the vendor that I'm referring to for their honesty. They could just market them as yellow labs.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

Oh, and to the original post....regardless of what exactly it is, it's a great looking fish.


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## Goddogo1 (Feb 4, 2012)

Thanks oldcatfish, thats what I said when I seen him at the market. He was soo tiny I just could not walk away from him, lol. I seen some pictures of *albino* Aulonocara that look just like him on the internet. Whats so strange is they all look alike soo hard to tell apart. But oh well, thanks for all the great answers. Aslo still trying to get better pics of em. its like he/she knows in trying to photo it. Lol


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## Goddogo1 (Feb 4, 2012)

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The bottom one is a albino peacock, and the first one I dont know but my fish looks like these guys soo much it sick lol


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

The colouration might be similar, but the body shape is quite different, as is the finnage.


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## Goddogo1 (Feb 4, 2012)

could he/she be a red zebra/ * Orange Peacock
("Aulonocara sp. 'Maleri'") hybrid?


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

I think you're fish in the original post has been accurately ID'd as an albino yellow lab, or at least an albino hybrid there of. Try to really carefully compare the shape of the fish's face/head, body and fins, and not just the colors or markings, when looking at pics of similar fish. There are so many different species that have similar colors and patterns, but it's these other traits that help us tell them apart.


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## Goddogo1 (Feb 4, 2012)

Saying its a albino hybrid is like saying a fish is a fish. Plus a albino yellow lab is not orange, cant find any pics there of


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