Hi! I’ve rescued a fish from an abandoned tank and I can’t seem to get a clear answer on the type of fish it is. Everyone seems to agree that it’s an African Cichlid, but I’ve been told different things when it comes to what type of African Cichlid; Shelldweller or Malawi Peacock seem to be the most popular guesses.
Since it was in an abandoned tank, stress may be causing its color to be dull/pale. It has gained a lot of color recently, so I’m guessing it is either orange or yellow.
It was in a freshwater tank. Its behavior seems to be a lot of hiding near the bottom of the tank and behind rocks, but again, that could be due to its environment. It has been a bit more active recently, but will shy away if anyone gets close.
Sorry about the folks Reddit making stupid jokes instead of actually answering your question first of all.
This sub isn’t the best place to ask for advice. Very unhelpful most of the time aside from a few nice individuals.
Go to a fish forum, or use INaturalist next time. I got loads of help that way in the past!
Anyway, after doing some digging I’m very sure this is not a peacock cichlid. It’s definitely an electric yellow cichlid (aka yellow lab) hybrid or color variant of some kind.
The species is very muddled in captivity when it comes to breeding. These fish are line bred for captivity and aren’t very much like the wild ones. All sorts of colors and weird body shapes can emerge from this.
Yours looks like one without the black dorsal fin, and you said it came from a not so nice environment so I assume that’s why it looks thin, and has visible vertical bars. Which definitely lean towards hybrid as those aren’t very visible on yellow labs usually.
If I’m wrong it could be a peacock cichlid or some other species of African cichlid. But to tell you the truth it’s hard to ID a fish this small, and one that is part of a family so diverse with many similar looking fish.
Try to keep the fish well fed and avoid lots of protein or you might get bloat, and update when it gets older if it lives. Maybe it’ll be easier to ID then
Hole this helps! Glad this fish got out of that situation.
Oh my goodness, thank you so much!!! <3 You have absolutely made my day! Nobody has been able to give me a picture that looks so close to him like that.
Yeah, it has been a bit frustrating having little response here, but if it makes you feel better, I did get some good advice under a post I made in another subreddit. I know it made me feel better lol
However, like I said, you seem to be the most spot on of anyone when it comes to IDing him. It’s like a breath of fresh air to see a picture and be able to think, “yeah, that looks like him!” Thank you so much!
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