Mbuna Quality Questions

[mosesrocks]

Hi all,

I have an 80g 5ft tank stocked with various numbers of Lake Malawi cichlids, all getting along swimmingly. Some fish of the same type are from different suppliers, and vary slightly in appearance. My question relates to two of the types I have;

Firstly, I have a number of Cobalt Blue (Metraclima Callainos) and a couple that I got from a certain stockist have VERY faint black vertical bars. Aside from not being as attractive as the pure solid blue ones that I have, I wanted to know if this is possibly a result of poor bloodlines and not selectively culling in the breeding process? I have checked other Mbuna profiles online to make sure they weren't a different type sent to me accidentally, and they show no other signs of being anything other than Cobalts. The fish in question are between 3-5inches.

Secondly, I have a number of Red Zebra (Metraclima Estherea) from two different stockists. 3 of the fish have a beautifully uniform orange colour, however the other 2 (from the same stockist as the black barred Cobalts) have light white barring that starts thickest at the belly of the fish and tapers off towards the top of the back. These fish are around 3-4inches.

I'm looking to thin out the numbers of fish in this tank and was going to give the ones that I consider 'less desirable' away on gumtree, however if these are undesirable traits in these fish then I don't want them out there in the hobby to make more!

Any help is greatly appreciated, I'm having a bit of difficulty finding info on this stuff online! Cheers,

Moses

[Buccal]

Likely some members here are going to ask for pics as this discussion will be based on appearance.

But I can tell you now,,, the cobalts shouldn't have any baring what so ever,,,, hybridization amongst zebras are most common in occurrences of Malawi hybrids,,, though all crazy combinations also run a muck.

There are a few variances of red zebra in oz with colors ranging from pale yellow to medium yellow/orange to deep vivid orange.

The older style being the more pale less desirable one can have a whitish belly and have very faint bars of white or same as body color of a lighter shade,,,, I have only seen these bars in juveniles up to just shy of semi adult.

As they get older and color deepens the pale bars disappear.

Your tank surroundings color and fishes mood will also have some effect on barring of these lesser quality juvenile fish.

Though sometimes these fish can growup and color up fairly satisfactory.

[mosesrocks]

Cheers for the reply.

I understand the difficulty in giving advice without pictures. I've included a few below. Unfortunately the only camera I have is the phone and it isn't the best, but I guess it's better than nothing.

As you can see, the lines on the Cobalt are very faint. They are slightly darker than the pics show.

I believe what you described about the Red Zebra may be what I have in the two fish I described. I've included a picture of one of them.

Is there a common belief in the community as to how we treat these kinds of fish? Keep vs cull?

Thanks again.

Images 1 and 2 are of the same fish (the one that's in focus). The third is the smaller of the two Red Zebras showing white bars.

[Buccal]

All we can get here are stabs in the dark.

Your cobalt is Definetely hybrid as the baring shouldn't be at all present even further giving away the notion of being a hybrid is the striping appearing on the forehead between the eyes.

As for your red zebra, it could very likely be pure,, but for some reason when I glance hard at it I get the feel of Lombardi crossed into there as there's something about its shape,,, but it's hard to say.

Usually with subtle hybrids they become more apparent as they get older.

As for culling,,, it's entirely up to you if it's display purposes.

But breeding to distribute takes a little thinking.

Most malawis have so many locations that it's important to keep your bloodlines together even though this sparks the inbreeding debates.

There are species that are more widely accepted as changing of bloodlines to breed like electric yellows, elec blues, dimi comps, cobalt blues,,, so there are a few where outside bloodline crossing is ok.

Different alounocara varients and Pseudotropheus subtle varients are examples of keeping the bloodlines as one,,, as the locations of these fish are a direct classification.

If you don't want to kill your unwanted fish,,, then selling hybrids is no problem what so ever to the hobby as you simply just sell them as hybrids.

[CichlidProfessional]

I agree with Buccal...That red zebra looks like its got Lombardi in it, I can see faint barring on it...cobalts probably crossed with red top black bars, somewhere down the line and then breed back

[mosesrocks]

Thanks for the replies, you've been very helpful! Time to go and sort out the stock.