most colorful cichlids ?

[melbfish20]

what are some of the most colorful cichlids that you can get and the best to look at?

do you believe that African cichlids can really revile saltwater fish in terms of appearance ?

[smcurry83]

Just from the fish that I've seen in person (either at the lfs or my tank) I'd say that electric yellows, female kenyi's, female auratus' are some pretty colorful cichlids. I don't think anyone could really confuse an african cichlid with a sw fish. IMO sw fish always have that almost neon glow to their colors.

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[Fishguy2727]

Someone not familiar with fish could easily confuse a nice Lake Malawi tank for a marine tank. That happens all the time at my work.

I think the most colorful cichlids are the peacocks. They come in a huge variety of colors and patterns. Most of the mbunas come in a couple colors on a single fish, peacocks can have a number of colors on the one fish. Check out my PhotoBucket page for some of the really nice ones I had. The peacocks are also much easier to deal with than mbunas. You don't have the aggressin problem with them the way you do with mbunas. Under the right lighting and proper care, they are a good challenge to a marine tank to someone who is not familiar with fish, and much easier and cheaper to care for.

[kaybee]

Yeah, to the uninitiated a colorful mbuna tank could be mistaken for a marine tank. Some time ago I had some plumbing work done and after the plumber completed his job he spent a moment or two after the job looking at a tank of mine. "So are saltwater fish hard to keep?" he asked. "It depends," I told him. "But that's a freshwater tank right there; african cichlids." He couldn't believe it.

What the most colorful cichlids are will greatly hinge on personal preference.

Of the african cichlids from Lake Malawi, I would say as a group perhaps mbuna's are the most colorful, only because in many instances both genders are very appealing to the eye, even among the many of the dimorphic species. But as previously stated, mbunas are typically more aggressive.

Among the malawi peacocks, and 'haps', you've got brightly colored males and typically brown-grayish or silverish females. One could go with all-male tanks, but males tend to show their best colors when among females.