hello everyone,
The title says it all. As I am unsure about the identity of some fish that i rescued from a LFS that was going to convert it's operations over to just salt water, the manager of the store is a salt water keeper and knew very little about fresh water. All he could tell me was that these fish were new world cichlids. So I acquired these fish back at the beginning of October and upon my own research I am thinking these fish are Jack Dempsey's(Rocio octofasciata) or Texas Cichlids(Herichthys cynoguttatus). I am about 75% sure these are Jack Dempsey's due to the location of the spot just behind the gill plate doesn't match any pictures i have found of Texas Cichlids. however i do have my doubts. The reason why i have my doubts is after many hours of watching these guys i have noticed the really aren't as aggressive as everyone makes them out to be, now this could be due to the fact that i have them in a small school and so the aggression is displaced. The 5 of them get along well with a few minor squabbles from time to time. But everyone does seem to be happy with no issue occurring in my tank that has a rock structure that i have built for them with tons of caves and cracks for them to swim around in.
Most of the fish look like the lighter colored fish in the picture Fish 1, then there is the darker colored fish in the picture of Fish 2. Is Fish 2 just showing dominance or might he be another type of fish other than a Jack Dempsey or Texas Cichlid? Fish 2's color remains dark and hasn't changed at least that i have noticed. And is the dominate fish in the tank.
I have attached two pictures of the different coloration of these fish, hopefully . I have four fish that look like the fish in fish 1. so i figured it was better to give just one picture instead of trying to get good pictures of all the fish, as they are like children and wont be still if you tell them to be still.
The title says it all. As I am unsure about the identity of some fish that i rescued from a LFS that was going to convert it's operations over to just salt water, the manager of the store is a salt water keeper and knew very little about fresh water. All he could tell me was that these fish were new world cichlids. So I acquired these fish back at the beginning of October and upon my own research I am thinking these fish are Jack Dempsey's(Rocio octofasciata) or Texas Cichlids(Herichthys cynoguttatus). I am about 75% sure these are Jack Dempsey's due to the location of the spot just behind the gill plate doesn't match any pictures i have found of Texas Cichlids. however i do have my doubts. The reason why i have my doubts is after many hours of watching these guys i have noticed the really aren't as aggressive as everyone makes them out to be, now this could be due to the fact that i have them in a small school and so the aggression is displaced. The 5 of them get along well with a few minor squabbles from time to time. But everyone does seem to be happy with no issue occurring in my tank that has a rock structure that i have built for them with tons of caves and cracks for them to swim around in.
Most of the fish look like the lighter colored fish in the picture Fish 1, then there is the darker colored fish in the picture of Fish 2. Is Fish 2 just showing dominance or might he be another type of fish other than a Jack Dempsey or Texas Cichlid? Fish 2's color remains dark and hasn't changed at least that i have noticed. And is the dominate fish in the tank.
I have attached two pictures of the different coloration of these fish, hopefully . I have four fish that look like the fish in fish 1. so i figured it was better to give just one picture instead of trying to get good pictures of all the fish, as they are like children and wont be still if you tell them to be still.
