confirming my id

[lintel]

Hi all, been a while since I've been around. Just got back into my aquarium and I'm looking for some ID help. Did a swap with bolt9x for some Cichlids and they've changed a bit since then.

My 10 saulosi are still looking the same, but a few are getting darker and showing male characteristics, growing well too.

I've got 5 cobalt blue, they've grown well, not much change, but feel free to ID them if you want.

Now, the main ID help I need is with my 11 socolofi. They all started off like this, and I think this one's female as it's holding.

But then there's this one that looked just like the female, it's fine, swims with the rest, not hiding, first out when food's in... but what's going on?!

As you can see, this one's going through some change.

[lintel]

Come on guys, need some expert eyes here, 33 views and not a peep, please help me out.

[lintel]

just had a look at my socolofi and i'm wondering if they might be lombardoi instead, what do you think??

this is a male lombardoi, mine looks like this one too

this is a socolofi, but mine doesn't look like this one now

this is a female lombardoi, and i'm thinking mine might be similar

found out there's also Metriaclima lombardoi and Pseudotropheus lombardoi, so now i'm even more confused

PLEASE HELP ME

[lintel]

ive also found some Kenyi Cichlids, could these be the ones i have?

[bolt9x]

They look nice. No idea what they are Mark, but they look super, I'll give you that. They were sold to me as Socolofi, but I'm not surprised there's been some cross breeding given the mix of species in the tank. The Cobalts have really grown on me now. I'm a bit jealous of the Saulosi, to be honest, I'm tempted to get some again - maybe the Coflake Red variety this time. Sorry I'm not much help, I've lost touch with Malawi's and Mbuna lately.

[lintel]

The cobalt blues are looking great, one's really taken charge and grown well.
The saulosi are growing, still all orange/yellow though, no blue ones yet.
Do you remember where you got the Socolofi from, I might give them a shout and see if they can help with the ID.
I'm thinking of moving the saulosi to their own tank, getting a bit bored with the tropical setup and my plants are looking rubbish at the moment, don't have the time for a planted tank.
Might just stick to Mbuna, they're easier to manage.

[bolt9x]

They were from a private breeder who's moved on to keeping Tangs now, lost touch with the Malawi scene.

[lintel]

so i'm wondering do they all interbreed or is it just a few species that cross over. i dont want a tank full of hybrids lol

[bolt9x]

They can interbreed, yes, closely related ones. They tend to stick with their own kind, more often than not.

[lintel]

When I add more fish, I'm better off adding ones that are clearly different in their markings, right?