What kind of cichlids do I have

[Cards]

I was wanting to know which kinds of ciclids I have. I know the colored ones is a m. Pyrsonotos right? How do you tell males from females. I have some colored ones and some brownish ones with strips are they a different kind or do they get colors at a certain age?

[Cards]

Here are a couple pictures if anyone can help.
Thanks

[SergeS]

A "coloured fish" can be just about anything, especially in the case of Malawi cichlids , so it would help if you posted some pictures. A first guess would be that the coloured ones are males and the brownish ones are supressed males and/or females Assuming it's the same species of course!

[Cards]

A "coloured fish" can be just about anything, especially in the case of Malawi cichlids , so it would help if you posted some pictures. A first guess would be that the coloured ones are males and the brownish ones are supressed males and/or females Assuming it's the same species of course!

I redone my post with some pictures but it hasnt showed up yet hope you could help when it does show up i couldnt figure out how to attach photos after this was on here so i made a new post and put 3 pics with it but it hasnt showed up. If the brown colored ones are both male a female how do you tell the difference. thanks

[UriB]

Hi Cards, at first glance I'd have to agree with Serge S, without some sort of visual reference it will be hard to judge what fish you have (even for the experts ) BUT then again in reference to colour IF you presume your fish are M.pyrsonotos the female s have very similar colour paterns not brownish as you describe UNLESS they are still juvies!? I'm looking forwards to seeing some photos.

Regards,
UriB

[riftlaker]

You need to post pictures so someone can help identify them.

[Philippe Burnel]

It's ABSOLUTLY impossible to give a name to your fishes with such bad quality pictures.
Even with nice pictures it's not always easy..

[Cards]

You need to post pictures so someone can help identify them.

I postsed some pics if you want to see thanks

[Cards]

Hi Cards, at first glance I'd have to agree with Serge S, without some sort of visual reference it will be hard to judge what fish you have (even for the experts ) BUT then again in reference to colour IF you presume your fish are M.pyrsonotos the female s have very similar colour paterns not brownish as you describe UNLESS they are still juvies!? I'm looking forwards to seeing some photos.

Regards,
UriB

I posted some pics if you could help thanks

[UriB]

Thx Cards, from the photos that you have posted, is it at all possible that the coloured-up one is perhaps the most dominant of the group hence the intense colours?? What other cichlids do you have in that tank, it might help some of us in identifying them properly, again, thx mate.

[Cards]

Thx Cards, from the photos that you have posted, is it at all possible that the coloured-up one is perhaps the most dominant of the group hence the intense colours?? What other cichlids do you have in that tank, it might help some of us in identifying them properly, again, thx mate.

When I bought them I bought tank and all the fish the lady said they were all one kind she just told me they were African cichlids. Yes the colored ones seem to be the dominant ones. Does that help. We are almost over crowded but I don't want to get rid of all males or females we want them to still mate. So far we have had three babies survive. We just wanted to figure out which kind we had and how to tell males from females. Thanks alot for all the help you can give.

[SergeS]

Difficult to tell, the quality is not great. It looks like a Metriaclima (Maylandia) species indeed. And M. pyrsonotos would be a pretty good guess. But as Philippe already said, it's not easy without clear pictures. Even very experienced Malawi keepers will not be able to identify all species visually.

Regardless of the species, the brightly coloured fish (the white one with dark bars and the bright orange fins) is for sure a male, the bluish purple ones are probably surpressed males, but they can also be dominant females (very hard to tell the difference, untill they breed!), and the brown ones are likely females. Again, that is assuming it's all the same species

Reading back, I don't think this helps much, but Malawi cichlids, especially Mbuna, are very cunning when hiding their gender. It is possible to determine it by 'venting' them, but you'll need an experienced cichlid keeper for that.

[Cards]

Difficult to tell, the quality is not great. It looks like a Metriaclima (Maylandia) species indeed. And M. pyrsonotos would be a pretty good guess. But as Philippe already said, it's not easy without clear pictures. Even very experienced Malawi keepers will not be able to identify all species visually.

Regardless of the species, the brightly coloured fish (the white one with dark bars and the bright orange fins) is for sure a male, the bluish purple ones are probably surpressed males, but they can also be dominant females (very hard to tell the difference, untill they breed!), and the brown ones are likely females. Again, that is assuming it's all the same species

Reading back, I don't think this helps much, but Malawi cichlids, especially Mbuna, are very cunning when hiding their gender. It is possible to determine it by 'venting' them, but you'll need an experienced cichlid keeper for that.

Thank you very much. They will even change colors during the day

[SergeS]

Yes, they do, depending on their mood. Some species change colours in a matter of seconds. You look and see brightly coloured fish, and you look again, and you see a grey/brown fish

[afraone]

as the others have said hard to say with the quality of the photos the one that is in colour with the yellow/orange dorsal could possibably be cynotilapia afra jalo reef