new cichlids ( like usual ) are starting out good…

[Magnum Man]

these are African ( non rift lake ) cichlids… both are listed as “mello” for cichlids, but both varieties are smaller than the mature African tetras in the tank… so for now, everything is wonderful… but as I know from cichlids, that may not be the case in 6 months… both the butterfly’s, and the jewels are highly colored and interesting, but less than half grown… time will tell…

African Butterfly Cichlid ( Anomalochromis thomasi ) I got 3 and all are only 1 inch long…

African Turkana Jewel Cichlid ( Hemichromis exsul ) I got 2 and both are about 1.5 inches long

 

[Back in the fold]

Hey , aren’t Jewel cichlids kind of rough customers ?

 

[Magnum Man]

most, central and South American Jewels are brawlers, but…

 

[GaryE]

It's an interesting pair of species. I've never kept exsul, and for the photo it looks like you might have received them. I hope so. Previous to exsul, Rubricatochromis lifallili was sold as the mild one in the group, but almost all the fish sold as lifallili weren't it. Dealers would sell R. guttatus, a pretty but rowdy fish, in its place. I was a little worried for you when you ordered them with the outdated name (Hemichromis). A dealer with knowledge wouldn't list them with that.

It looks like whomever it was came through though. So now we use you as a guinea pig to find out how rough they'll be! Sorry about that - you sort of volunteered. An easy going jewel, with the beauty the whole group has, would be a treat.

Anomalochromis are neat little fish - very pleasant to keep. They're looking more and more like a couple to a few species under the one name. All are nice fish.

 

[Magnum Man]

a close up of one of the butterfly… all 1 inch of it

 

[Magnum Man]

and one of the jewels coming out of it’s favorite hollow log…

the other one, on the other side of the aquarium…

 

[gwand]

The A. thomasi are wonderful fish that color up as adults. These guys have been with me for two years.

 

[Magnum Man]

@gwand … how big are yours???

 

[gwand]

3 inches long and 1.5 inches in height, there about.

 

[GaryE]

@gwand

and I should welcome you to the thomasi appreciation club.

 

[Magnum Man]

my thomasi, are only 1 - 1.25 inches long, and about a half inch tall… they’ve got some growing to do…

 

[gwand]

@gwand View attachment 384296 and I should welcome you to the thomasi appreciation club.

You turned me on to these fish and to A. caudalis two years. The wc caudalis continue to do well too. Thank you.

 

[gwand]

my thomasi, are only 1 - 1.25 inches long, and about a half inch tall… they’ve got some growing to do…

My guys were around that size when I got them. I started with six and they spawned successfully several times after reaching adulthood.

 

[GaryE]

@gwand and I may have different fish - the barring on his is wider. If we go on appearance and body shape, there may be different species involved, but no one seems to be working on them to sort that out. They have a good range in Guinea and surrounding countries.

When I first got some, I had to leap through hoops to acquire them. They were common in Europe but extremely rare over here. They were once marketed as African rams. SA rams were sold as butterfly fish, a trade name that got dumped along the way. A. thomasi was the African butterfly, a name that has stuck.

I do believe you have exsul. The lack of the usual blue spotting/spangling speaks loudly.

 

[Magnum Man]

mine both have the blue spot markings, just the dark water, and all the shading from the vines over the tank, and black substrate make the tank darker, and the spots are harder to capture on camera