Hey there everyone, I have just registered to this forum and am not entirely new to cichlids but I would still say that I am a novice to cichlid care. I have been keeping other freshwater fish of varied kinds for years though.
Anyway, I just recently acquired an empty 55 gallon tank. It has long since been cycled and I have had just a few boring minnows and small fish in it but once I saw this guy at a local fish store I had to get him. The thing is, the employee at the time didn't know what kind of cichlid it was. It was a very cheap and beautiful cichlid and I knew he would love cruising around the 55 instead of the 15(?) gallon he was trapped in, as a matter of fact he already seems to be so much happier a day later. I am sure he is an American because of his size and shape but I could still be mistaken as some Africans can look similar, it also seems he has egg spots which I do not have enough experience with cichlids to tell me if American cichlids also get these. I apologize for my inexperience but we all start at some point. I think he may be an American but very might as well be African so excuse the post placement. This guy is also pretty big. (About as big as a mature Jack Dempsey).
So here are a few pictures of the mentioned cichlid. He is still a little shy but I believe these pictures will show enough for identification and higher resolution can be offered.
P.S. I know, I need to clean the tank walls.
I have been told by a few others he may be a zebra cichlid but he is abnormally big so here are a few pictures for size. He's still somewhat shy and the flash wasn't helping but I hope you can tell how big he is from these. If not I may just have to wait a few days for him to get better used to me and the new environment. I tried to get the ruler as close as I could without spooking him so perception is dodgy. I took a picture of the entire tank to help. At least he is eating readily.
Also, I'm not really looking to add any tankmates with him currently. I only have experiences with American cichlids and know that it is okay to have a single cichlid in an aquarium, but I'm not sure how Africans fare with being alone, fi this is an African. Though because of limited space I'm sure there will be issues. I do have a 4" bullhead cat that has been in there for a while as well to basically vacuum the bottom of the tank. At first he terrorized the bullhead and there are scars to show.. but now I think he realizes those sharp fins won't go down so easy so they are reluctantly peaceful together.. unless I find him missing one day.
Though, I can take him out if aggression gets worse or any other factors.
Here is another picture of him. I was looking up pictures of his supposed species and he does look like them but he has very long fins. I suppose this may come with age though?
Anyway, I just recently acquired an empty 55 gallon tank. It has long since been cycled and I have had just a few boring minnows and small fish in it but once I saw this guy at a local fish store I had to get him. The thing is, the employee at the time didn't know what kind of cichlid it was. It was a very cheap and beautiful cichlid and I knew he would love cruising around the 55 instead of the 15(?) gallon he was trapped in, as a matter of fact he already seems to be so much happier a day later. I am sure he is an American because of his size and shape but I could still be mistaken as some Africans can look similar, it also seems he has egg spots which I do not have enough experience with cichlids to tell me if American cichlids also get these. I apologize for my inexperience but we all start at some point. I think he may be an American but very might as well be African so excuse the post placement. This guy is also pretty big. (About as big as a mature Jack Dempsey).
So here are a few pictures of the mentioned cichlid. He is still a little shy but I believe these pictures will show enough for identification and higher resolution can be offered.
P.S. I know, I need to clean the tank walls.
I have been told by a few others he may be a zebra cichlid but he is abnormally big so here are a few pictures for size. He's still somewhat shy and the flash wasn't helping but I hope you can tell how big he is from these. If not I may just have to wait a few days for him to get better used to me and the new environment. I tried to get the ruler as close as I could without spooking him so perception is dodgy. I took a picture of the entire tank to help. At least he is eating readily.
Also, I'm not really looking to add any tankmates with him currently. I only have experiences with American cichlids and know that it is okay to have a single cichlid in an aquarium, but I'm not sure how Africans fare with being alone, fi this is an African. Though because of limited space I'm sure there will be issues. I do have a 4" bullhead cat that has been in there for a while as well to basically vacuum the bottom of the tank. At first he terrorized the bullhead and there are scars to show.. but now I think he realizes those sharp fins won't go down so easy so they are reluctantly peaceful together.. unless I find him missing one day.
Here is another picture of him. I was looking up pictures of his supposed species and he does look like them but he has very long fins. I suppose this may come with age though?
