What are they?

[Soft1]

Ok, so perhaps we shouldn't have bought them without knowing more than that they're "mildy aggressive" and "Lake Malawi" but they were so darn cute!  We got two small (approx 1 in) fish - black & white horizontal stripes, with a yellow belly.

We were told they are fairly 'peaceful', for cichlids...lol

Any ideas?  (and yes, I'll try and post a pic if I can get them to stay still long enough to focus!)

Thanks

[sniggir]

maybe a afra of some kind?

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1735

is this what it looks like?

[Soft1]

Nope, that's not it... the stripes are horizontal not vertical - 3 black bars and 2 white.

[sniggir]

how about this http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=765

[matt]

Could be an Melanochromis Auratus.
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_auratus.php

[Soft1]

Could be an Melanochromis Auratus.

Hmmmmm....looks about right!  Although considereing some of the comments on the link you gave kinda worries me...lol "This is the "bad boy" of the Mbuna.", "They are very agressive ...", and "Considering that Auratus might pound for pound be the toughest African on the block, un-knowing beginners will suddenly find their community tank decimated by their new aquarium member that is often not much larger than a jumbo neon when purchased."

We were told they displayed 'mild aggression' only....lol...guess we'll find out the hard way!

[PoisonJello]

they are a nice fish..my male bites me every time i put my hand in the tank...they can be aggresive 

[darkdep]

Melanochromis Auratus are not, in any way, "mildly aggressive".  They killed a fish in my 75 that was, literally, 10 times their size.

It's a shame they're sold so often in pet stores.  They're extremely hard to keep due to their aggression.  A very worthy challenge for an experienced keeper tho.

[Soft1]

A very worthy challenge for an experienced keeper tho.

Gulp...then I guess we're in for one heck of a challenge!  We're, what I would call, "newbies" - especially where cichlids are concerned!

So far, thankfully, they seem to be behaving themselves.  We're watching carefully and no one's got nips or nicks or bites taken out of their fins...  Although, I did notice the two of them getting 'touchy' with each other.

[darkdep]

Well, I don't like to be a doomsayer, but you will need a lot of luck here.  If you're lucky you have either 1M1F or 2F; if you have two males one of them WILL be killed.  Keep a close eye.  You'll know if you have males because as they grow to about the 3" mark, males go through a large colour change and turn more of a black/brown mix where the females remain yellow.

Good luck!

[damarech]

There are other auratus (not melanocromis) that have similar striping but not the attitude .
Here is hoping that maybe you got the less evil one.
Or maybe Julidochromis ornatus

[Soft1]

So far still good... one (the smallest one) did try and challenge our blue dolphin but surprisingly it stood its ground.  Was kinda funny actually since the lil one's about a 1/3 of the size of the dolphin.  Our dolphin's taken to diving through the bubbles around his 'cave' - he goes up to the top of the tank then dives down through the bubbles and out his cave door.  The smal tried to do the same and I suspect the dolphin didn't like his space invaded.

Anyhow, aside from that one 10 sec incident they're all behaving.  Two of them chase each other around the tank from time to time but never actually make contact or face off.   They're cute but not so cute that we're willing to sacrifice the other tank dwellers.  So, we'll watch and see ...if they start becoming more aggressive...well...there's always the choice of a separate tank or a new home!