What kind of cichlid is this??

[elizaklatt]

All of the details are in this video:



But please feel free to ask more questions!
Thank You
~ Eliza

[~firefly~]

Looks like a Malawi variety to me. You say you caught this wild?

[escamosa]

I think it's either a White Lab or a Socolifi. The faint blue colour that you're describing is pushing me closer to it being a Socolifi. Could be wrong though.

[elizaklatt]

@firefly- yes he was found in the wild. He looked almost exactly the same as he does now when he was a juvenile.

@escamosa- Yeah he does look very very similar to both. I think he looks more like the Socolifi because of the shape of his head, all though he is pure white, but I think when he feels threatened he turns blue and his stripes go darker.

Thank you for your replies :)
~ Eliza

[elizaklatt]

@firefly- And he does look very very similar to some of the Malawi cichlids.

[~firefly~]

Do you live in the rift valley in Africa? Where did you catch it? I'm intrigued.

[elizaklatt]

I don't think my comment went through. If it didn't:

We live in Australia, NSW.

We were at a local pond in an estate trying to catch mosquito guppies for my friend's Oscars. The pond is known for holding a giant fantail goldfish, a white dwarf koi, eels, several mullet and red swordtails.
(It is a coldwater pond)
We sat near some rocks, and noticed a colony of yellow cichlids. At first we thought they might have been electric yellows, but their bodies were too different.
We spent ages trying to catch them for a better look, and eventually we gave up. As we were packing up, our friend said he caught one of them, but it was tiny and white.
It must have hatched only about 2 weeks before we caught it, as it was only a few mm long.
We put him in the Oscar tank with the guppies, and he wasn't eaten because he was hiding.
We ended up taking him out of the Oscar tank and put him in my tank with a killifish, and he grew rapidly.
He is now with a Bumblebee, Mbamba Bay and a Frontosa (and bristlenose) In my tank.
(they will all be separated when they get bigger)

We think he resembles this fish the most, but of course he is pure white and his stripes aren't as dark.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericthe...7262/lightbox/

[Northerly]

That is so interesting! Did someone just dump their fish into the pond or something???

[AllenIsbell]

I read somewhere that there are wild Cichlids in Australia.

I have no idea what it is, but it is beautiful to say the least. I want a Cichlid tank so bad...

[Northerly]

My mind is blown haha, that's too interesting... looks like I've got some reading too.