Re: Fish Identification

[Jim Brown]

GrlIntrpted > wrote in message
t...
>
> "Pokey" > wrote in message
> et...
> >What is the best way to ID these guys
> > and what do you think my chances are for long term success with this
> random
> > mixture of fish?
>
>
> Not too sure about the ID at a fry stage. But I'm no expert. I have a
> 55Gal tank with the following in it:
>
> 2 Fire mouths
> 2 Red Devils
> 3 Green Terrors
> 1 Very mean Maniguen (sp)
> 2 regular striped convicts
> 2 pink convicts
> 2 Sick in the head Pacu's that make everyone neverous
> 2 (something purple queen, they keep telling me in the store what they
are,
> and I keep forgetting)
> 2 Jewel fish
> 2 Algae eaters
> 3 Very angry looking Jack Dempsies
> 2 Angel fish (typical long tail community type)
> 2 Kissing Gouramis
> 2 Plecos
> 2 Parrot fish
>
>
> A mix for sure. The community fish are surviving well with the aggressive
> cichlids, perhaps because they were here first.
> I'm hoping that the convicts will eventually spawn, but I'm being told
that
> if there are other aggresive fish in the tank it wont happen.
>
> My tank is one of those corner units, it's a deep tank, and out of
ignorance
> during the blackout of August 14 and 15th, I lost about 12 Cichlids.
Didn't
> know that there are generators, and oxygen pills that I could have used to
> control the temp and air. I have lots of hiding places as well as
plants.
> And I'm having a hard time with reducing the acidity in the water. I
would
> like to make it more alkaline but I'm failing miserably. Currently the pH
> is anywhere from 6.4 - 6.6 which is way too low for the fish in my tank.
I
> would like to bring it to at least 7.00, and tried things like Bulseye,
> Warldley and Alkalizer, but it wont budge!
>
> Help & advice would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Mariana
> New York City
>
>

Your aquarium is seriously overcrowded, and the mix of fish means you are
going to have a lot of battles down the road.
I would recommend that some research be done on the remaining fish. Pay
particular attention to their adult size, their level of aggression, and
their water preferences.
I would consider the excessive fish load will be putting a strain on your
water quality, and may well be the cause of the low pH.

Jim

[GrlIntrpted]

Thank you all for your kind responses. Jim, you do have a point. I'm going
to get a smaller tank and move the community boys into it for now, together
with the parrots. I think that at least temporarily it will help at least
with the space.

Again thank you all,
Mariana

"Jim Brown" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> GrlIntrpted > wrote in message
> t...
> >
> > "Pokey" > wrote in message
> > et...
> > >What is the best way to ID these guys
> > > and what do you think my chances are for long term success with this
> > random
> > > mixture of fish?
> >
> >
> > Not too sure about the ID at a fry stage. But I'm no expert. I have a
> > 55Gal tank with the following in it:
> >
> > 2 Fire mouths
> > 2 Red Devils
> > 3 Green Terrors
> > 1 Very mean Maniguen (sp)
> > 2 regular striped convicts
> > 2 pink convicts
> > 2 Sick in the head Pacu's that make everyone neverous
> > 2 (something purple queen, they keep telling me in the store what they
> are,
> > and I keep forgetting)
> > 2 Jewel fish
> > 2 Algae eaters
> > 3 Very angry looking Jack Dempsies
> > 2 Angel fish (typical long tail community type)
> > 2 Kissing Gouramis
> > 2 Plecos
> > 2 Parrot fish
> >
> >
> > A mix for sure. The community fish are surviving well with the
aggressive
> > cichlids, perhaps because they were here first.
> > I'm hoping that the convicts will eventually spawn, but I'm being told
> that
> > if there are other aggresive fish in the tank it wont happen.
> >
> > My tank is one of those corner units, it's a deep tank, and out of
> ignorance
> > during the blackout of August 14 and 15th, I lost about 12 Cichlids.
> Didn't
> > know that there are generators, and oxygen pills that I could have used
to
> > control the temp and air. I have lots of hiding places as well as
> plants.
> > And I'm having a hard time with reducing the acidity in the water. I
> would
> > like to make it more alkaline but I'm failing miserably. Currently the
pH
> > is anywhere from 6.4 - 6.6 which is way too low for the fish in my tank.
> I
> > would like to bring it to at least 7.00, and tried things like Bulseye,
> > Warldley and Alkalizer, but it wont budge!
> >
> > Help & advice would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Mariana
> > New York City
> >
> >
>
> Your aquarium is seriously overcrowded, and the mix of fish means you are
> going to have a lot of battles down the road.
> I would recommend that some research be done on the remaining fish. Pay
> particular attention to their adult size, their level of aggression, and
> their water preferences.
> I would consider the excessive fish load will be putting a strain on your
> water quality, and may well be the cause of the low pH.
>
> Jim
>
>

[NetMax]

"Pokey" > wrote in message
et...
> Okay, I went and did it. I recently set up a 300 liter tank with the
> intention of keeping mbuna. Since I didn't have a place to put my two
angel
> fish, pleco and four neons I added them to the tank until I could make
a
> decision on where to move them.
> Tonight I went to my LFS and impulse got the best of me. I purchased
ten
> colorful cichlids that are fry size. Now that I have them I would
really
> like to identify what species they actually are. The only one I can
> positively identify is a yellow lab. What is the best way to ID these
guys
> and what do you think my chances are for long term success with this
random
> mixture of fish?
> The particulars of my setup are: (1) 300 liters (2) one 404 Fluval (3)
> cichlid mix sand as substrate (4) about 80 lbs of lava rock. Ph appears
to
> be about 8.0, ammonia is zero.

Positive identification of fry from a mixed mbuna tank might be
impossible even as they get older. There is a lot of hybrids created in
these mixed flavours, so they are sold for a lower price to people who
might not necessarily care. Some of the LFS might mix they together for
a lack of space, so sometimes they can tell you what they originally
ordered. If they ordered them as mixed, then it's more random again.
Some fish will appear to be easy to ID. There are a couple of labs in
circulation, which they call black back and sunshine in Singapore. I'm
not sure if they are both Labidochromis Caerelous or the 2nd is a
different species. It's tough enough when they are sold with a name,
rather than you having to guess with picture books.

I'd say your chances of long term success with that mix are somewhere
between zero and none ;~) My money is on the Neons disappearing, the
Angels having heart attacks and the pl*co starting daytime retirement
into the closest fitting cave he can find. Then depending on who is in
your African mix, a few others could get voted out too, but in an 80g,
you have some time.

NetMax