African Cichlid Identification

Question
I have some African Cichlids that I need help identifying and also I need to know if one of them is pregnant. Can you help? The first one is yellow with black vertical bars and a teal colored oval around its eyes and across the bridge of the nose like goggles and the second one looks like the first one except it is blue with black bars instead of yellow. The yellow one looks "pregnant" because the belly is a little bit big. As I understand African Cichlids are egg-layers so i guess my question is before they have their eggs do they get fat bellies and if so when should I expect the eggs? Will the fish not lay its eggs if there is no place to lay them? Also do African Cichlids grow to the size of their tank or will they outgrow a tank?

Answer
Hi Thomas:  Possibly a Talapia Joka, Zebra, or cobalt??? They sound more south american then african... how long are they?  Many African Cichlids are mouth-brooders which means you wont see eggs as the female will hold them in her mouth until they hatch.  If one of them is getting a heavy stomach on her then I would suspect that she is ready to lay eggs.  They will lay them on the glass of the aquarium if there is no other suitable place... I have seen them lay eggs on the square-grid plate of an undergravel filter.  Most african cichlids do not reach more then 5, 6, or 7 inches in length.  Hope this helps... dave