ID small blue fish

[Zulaab]

Please assist me with ID'ing this fish.

There was 4 in the tank and this is the best picture I got on my cellphone
This was not the largest of the fish but I est the largest fish was no more than about 2" in length



The body purple (blue).  The fish shows vertical stripes though out the body but does not show this well in this picture
There is a Dark Blue Blaze line in the dorsal fin and it stretches to the almost the tail.
The same for Pectoral Fins there is a dark blue blaze on the front and the Anal Fin the same.
The Males show white (maybe a little yellow in them) egg spots on his Anal fin.
The restaurant store owner identified them as "African Cichlids"  which as you all know (or should) that is a LARGE number of fish it could be...

[CichlidFan]

Re: ID small blue fish

I believe it might be a socoloi ....let me see if i can find the scientific name for you......

CF

[Zulaab]

Re: ID small blue fish

I believe it might be a socoloi ....let me see if i can find the scientific name for you......

CF

I take it you are thinking of the Pseudotropheus socolofi  ...  it looks close to that but I notice in the socolofi that it has a eye spot on the gills which these dont seem to display (at least my recollection is not of that)  and the picture you see up above is zoomed in...  the fish is no more than about 2in in length

Jesper

[Fire_chair]

Re: ID small blue fish

Looks like it could be a Socolofi, but it's hard to tell from that pic. Pseudotropheus socolofi

[CichlidFan]

Re: ID small blue fish

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/powderbluecichlid.php

[Zulaab]

Re: ID small blue fish

For right now I am going to settle on the Pseudotropheus Socolofi as being the best answer..   The only trouble I have with this answer is they looked fully grown and the tank is about a 10g or less and the max size of the male was no more than 2.0-2.2" in length... No where close to the 4 inches that they are supposed to reach.  The fish have been in that tank for at least 6 months (I eat at this restaurant every week basically)

Is there a smaller version of the Pseudotropheus Socolofi ?

[Fire_chair]

Re: ID small blue fish

Could be a hybrid too.

[Tiapan]

Re: ID small blue fish

yeah i am gonna bet on it being a hybrid of sorts, especially with mbuna because it shows characteristics of several types, because just lookin at it and it looks almost like a blue version of a yellow lab, but so many look so similar from malawi

[Fire_chair]

Re: ID small blue fish

Forgot about the Blue Labs, it could be one of those too. Could you get a better pic?

[Zulaab]

Re: ID small blue fish

Next time I go to the restaurant and eat I will remember to bring a camera and take some better pictures.   I was thinking if these guys are fully grown (they have been in that tank for 6 months at least and have not changed much in size and they are no more than 2.0-2.2" in size..   But then again they are in a 10G (maybe) wall tank (yes the tank hangs on the wall, not inserted) and it has a Whisper® In-Tank PF-10i filter installed.
I will see if I can stop by this weekend or something like that to take some pictures.

[High-PH]

Re: ID small blue fish

Friend of mine saw some of those wall tanks online and was asking me if I knew anything about them. I don't.
Does it look like something that you could live with, and keep a few fish reasonably healthy?

PH

[Mzungu]

Re: ID small blue fish

That's what I was gonna say, Z, that they are in a 10g. Might be a little too cramped for them to be healthy enough to grow.

Don't know about the wall tanks, either. I wonder how hard the maintenance would be?

[Zulaab]

Re: ID small blue fish

MB - you are right... I dont think maintenance is that hard but I would personally not keep any fish in a tank like this unless they are super small fish.. I dont think they have much space to grow and these fish are scared living in there because there isnt much space and movement from rock to rock is very limited.
I will see about getting more pictures.. I thought these fish where very nice to look at and at times I am thinking I would like to put something together with my Leleupi's once I move them to a bigger tank.

[Zulaab]

Re: ID small blue fish

The mystery has been resolved... the fish are Pseudotropheus Socolofi but because they are kept in such a small tank they do not grow to pass more than 2in.  I spoke to the owner and he said yes they grow much bigger but these are not growing because of the amount of water they have to swim in.

[CichlidFan]

Re: ID small blue fish

See.....I told you.....neener neener neener