sammy boy

hide all day? i have two not sure of the sex. but they go under the cave ornaments and lay there. the blueish purple one came out while i was typing this and hes going to the otheer one and like poking it i guess? not agressively or nothing. so the other one comes out and chases him a lil then goes back. is all that normal. and also idk what they eat either could anybody please help?

steveangela1

Do you have any pictures of your cichilds? They do like to hide in caves, its depending on how long they have been in that tank.

What are your water parameters? ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph?
are they lake malawi?

sammy boy

they look just like this one but gold, and light blue/ purple. no stripes.

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steveangela1

were they sold to you as african cichlids? that would make a difference in what they eat (I am def leaning towards malawi cichlids from that picture, I just want to be sure). They do chase each other and are aggressive.
African lake malawi cichlids need a low protien diet of mostly veggies with the occasional every 2 day treat of bloodworms or a meaty food. I put fresh veggies in my tank also such as peas, zuchinni, lettuce, etc.. they love veggies.

Allie

No offense but you shouldn't buy cichlids until you know what they are.
If there is only two in the tank, that is why they are hiding. You need a species only tank for Malawi and Tanganyika cichlids. Slight over crowding is needed.
Take a look thru this list of african species
http://cichlidforum.com/articles/afr...us_gallery.php

sammy boy

M. estherae thats exaclty the way one of them look like. i bought a tank on craigs list and it came with 8 of them. but six died on the journey

Allie

If it's blue/purple than it is a male, the females are a deep orange.

sammy boy

L. fulleborni and this looks exactly like the other one.

Allie