identifying a mysterious fish species

[submash]

Hey everyone, I inherited an African cichlid tank from an old roommate and it came with these two fish. They're pretty cool, but I'm not sure what they are. I picked up some nice flametale/fluxeon blood peacocks at the store to add to the tank and the guy there told me those two are some kind of hybrid, often used as dither fish. That's a shame, since one of them had a small fry that survived - I'm guessing it's at least three generations of hybrid now. Does anyone know what the mother could be? I don't want to get rid of them, but I don't want them to dominate the tank as my other peacocks grow. By the way, I've got a separate inverted fish tank I found on gumtree a few years ago - here's a pic. Has anyone else got one of these?

[kingrise]

That tank in picture #2 is awesome, right? Did your friend actually build it or was it something you found, pretty unique setup.

[submash]

The tank was a gumtree find, sadly the guy who built it has passed away. One of the best buys I ever made, got me hooked on the hobby. Water changes are a real challenge, can't let the level drop too low or I've got to suck out the air, so it's a process of emptying and refilling multiple times just to get 50% done.

[ladster]

Looks like it could be a cobalt blue zebra mix, African cichlids can be tough to ID for me. I'm pretty sure it's male, got those egg spots on the anal fin.

[coltin]

I'd say you're looking at an OB zebra or a blue zebra cichlid. Those yellow egg spots on the anal fin are a dead giveaway it's a male. Both of these species can get pretty aggressive, personally I'd swap them out for something more chill like peacocks or sunnygolds.

[submash]

I'd say you're looking at an OB zebra or a blue zebra cichlid. Those yellow egg spots on the anal fin are a dead giveaway it's a male. Both of these species can get pretty aggressive, personally I'd swap them out for something more chill like peacocks or sunnygolds.

I'm thinking the male is probably a hybrid, ladster mentioned a cobalt blue zebra mix and coltin said OB or blue zebra cichlid. I traded them in already, told the guy the blue one was worthless, just sticking with my peacocks now.

[florant]

Hey everyone, I inherited an African cichlid tank from an old roommate and it came with these two fish. They're pretty cool, but I'm not sure what they are. I picked up some nice flametale/fluxeon blood peacocks at the store to add to the tank and the guy there told me those two are some kind of hybrid, often used as dither fish. That's a shame, since one of them had a small fry that survived - I'm guessing it's at least three generations of hybrid now. Does anyone know what the mother could be? I don't want to get rid of them, but I don't want them to dominate the tank as my other peacocks grow. By the way, I've got a separate inverted fish tank I found on gumtree a few years ago - here's a pic. Has anyone else got one of these?

The cobalt blue zebra's a mbuna fish. I've got one in my all-mbuna tank and he's the boss, very aggressive. Like coltin said, they might not mix well with peacocks. I've got experience with them, they're not the most peaceful.