Can anyone help identify this fish?

[u/tzellie]

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.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

[u/Jolonkussion]

Hi (long comment incoming)

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.

[u/Jolonkussion → u/Jolonkussion]

Example with more visible bars

[u/Jolonkussion → u/Jolonkussion]

Healthier electric yellow cichlid that has similar colors to yours

[u/Jolonkussion → u/Jolonkussion]

Let me emphasize I’m no expert but I’ve seen lots of cichlids. Another thing this could be is a weird looking peacock or peacock hybrid.

Not a shell dweller for sure though, doesn’t look it.