New Fish, can you ID it?

[MAC]

Tldr: What do think this fish is? 

Today I was at the local big box store to pick up some miscellaneous items and, as usual, I made a lap through the fish section to see what was swimming about. 

This time something caught my eye. 

Amongst the few Cichlid tanks there was a single fish being kept by itself that rushed to the front of the glass as I made my way by. 

Unlike 3/4 of the fish in the store, this fish was alive! Feisty. And absolutely brilliant in color. 

Now, I've been in the market for a sort of 'wet pet' or mascot fish for my fish room/house for awhile and here this little fella was really working to get my attention. So Im thinking I just found the right little monster to dedicate way too much space and water to.  The question then became, well little fish, what are you? 

The label on the tank said Electric Blue Jack Dempsey, but I've had those before, and this didn't look electric blue. So I asked the person designated to catch fish that day if they knew. They did not. So I told them what I thought it was. They said, 'yeah I could be that.' So I asked if they would sell me the fish at the price of the fish I thought it was. They said the would. And in the bag it went. 

So here we are. I'm fairly confident I know what this fish is, but what better place to ask a community of much more experienced and knowledgeable people their opinion. 

Here it is about an hour after getting into it's QT tank. 

What do you think?

 

@Coluwhat do you say?

Edited January 22, 2023 by MAC
Tagged fish ID expert, colu!

[TheSwissAquarist]

Reminds me of a Jack Dempsey cichlid. 

[Colu]

It looks familiar but i can't remember the name but it's not an electric blue jack Dempsey @MAC

Edited January 22, 2023 by Colu

[MAC]

@Coludoes it look like a young flowerhorn? Based on coloration and red eyes that was my guess. 

But considering it came from a big box, who knows. 

[knee]

Looks like a Flowerhorn or Green Texas 

[MAC]

On 1/22/2023 at 10:30 PM, knee said:

Looks like a Flowerhorn or Green Texas 

To be honest I'd never seen a flowerhorn in-person before but when I saw this guy that was my first thought. 

It'll be interesting to see what comes as it grows up. Only about 2.5 inches right now. 

 

 

 

[Odd Duck]

My guess(es) fit with @knee.  With green Texas cichlid slightly more likely.  It most definitively is not a Jack Dempsey juvie.  Electric blues don’t show a completely different body shape, just different blue pattern on top of the normal base color.  I’ve raised far too many juvie Jacks.  Pic below is less than 1/4 of the total I raised (it was around 1600 total from 2 clutches).

 

[Theplatymaster]

My guess is a Trimac cichlid, it looks like a flowerhorn, without the head thingy.

[Odd Duck]

On 1/23/2023 at 5:03 AM, Theplatymaster said:

My guess is a Trimac cichlid, it looks like a flowerhorn, without the head thingy.

Yeah, it’ll have to grow out a good bit before it will reveal itself if it’s a flowerhorn.  It’s much too young to know if it’s even a male or female.  If I had to make a guess at this age, I’d lean towards female, since it doesn’t have any long points on its dorsal or anal fin.  Female flowerhorns don’t develop much, if any, kok.  Sometimes a hint of a lump, I think.  I’m sure someone will come along that’s better with ID’ing cichlids than I am and be certain what it is since they’ve seen them a million times.  I’ve seen far too many Jack fry and juvies, but not other species juvies.

[Colu]

On 1/23/2023 at 4:49 AM, MAC said:

@Coludoes it look like a young flowerhorn? Based on coloration and red eyes that was my guess. 

But considering it came from a big box, who knows. 

That what I was thinking of but couldn't remember the name

[mynameisnobody]

If it is either of the mentioned above, it will decimate everything in the aquarium. I had a flowerhorn fight it’s sponge filter and once I removed the sponge from the aquarium, it decided sand got it really angry. He literally fought sand for a couple of hours. Finally he gave up, but if it’s agro then it’s a sight to behold. Texas and Trimacs basically fall under this same category. Enjoy and you should journal it’s growth and development. There aren’t many big cichlid posts on here. 

[Odd Duck]

On 1/23/2023 at 8:38 AM, Mynameisnobody said:

If it is either of the mentioned above, it will decimate everything in the aquarium. I had a flowerhorn fight it’s sponge filter and once I removed the sponge from the aquarium, it decided sand got it really angry. He literally fought sand for a couple of hours. Finally he gave up, but if it’s agro then it’s a sight to behold. Texas and Trimacs basically fall under this same category. Enjoy and you should journal it’s growth and development. There aren’t many big cichlid posts on here. 

Stupid sand, anyway!  😆 The first tank I had my Jacks in was the very sus 55 gallon they came with.  It had yucky, black coated gravel with the coating coming off badly.  They re-arranged it and the plastic plants I started them with A LOT!  “Stupid plant, in my way!”  “Move over here!”  “No, move over here!”  “No, over here!”  Endless fiddling.  🤣