ryanjury

They're awesome fish aye really cool always swimming around doing random stuff and good breeders too..

Very nice congrats on breeding them

Here is a very good article dispelling a heap of myths.. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/a ... weight.php

Sweet well will be in touch lol hopefully you have some good ones left To be honest I don't care if they're flown or shipped I have sent fish from Bulls at 4.30 and had them delivered in Chch at 8am so thats good going, when ive rung them they have told me they are flown but maybe on a truck that drives though the night? Anyway good luck hope all the shipping goes well it can be alot of work and hassle sometimes..

Ditto on Peter if you're willing to travel..

Anytime mate they were awesome and im stocked with them Hopefully I still have them all alive when I get back otherwise I might be back in touch to get some more Win said he definately saw the males hopefully females are hiding.. (if you have some left).. They are flown to Chch, as you said make sure you clearly label the boxes live tropical fish otherwise they think they're frozen and freeze them.. Also make sure you tell all the people its at their cost and risk if the couriers make a stuff up.

Hey Mred good to see you around I hope all is well here is a thread asking about couriers that was posted recently.. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/courie ... 34067.html I take mine into the nzpost shop and have also done the same in Levin with no major problems..

Yep Transcriptus Here are some photo's of my pair of Marlieri which I liked better than the transcriptus but they are often confused I think the Marlieri have nicer colour.. But the easiest way to to tell is the Transcriptus barring stops around the middle of the body the marlieri barring goes alot lower..

I saw this when it was first listed and have watched this all develop.. That person should have just got a second opinion on her fish id's and stopped being so difficult.. Id say GBA with a normal bristle or just a straight out scam.. Trademe don't care about dodgy auctions or people stealing photo's I have had them stolen off my auctions and used on others.. People were saying they were the fish for sale when you could clearly see where they had done a sceen capture and cut it out from my auction.. I contacted trademe and said it was a breach of their terms and also illegal and also contacted the seller via an auction (got blacklisted) and trademe removed my question let the auction run with my photos on it.. Never heard anything back from trademe regarding it and the listing was never withdrawn..

Keep posting on here and keep your eyes out prices will be dropping when all the colonies start producing... I have also seen larger groups of older fish selling for reasonable prices on here..

They are in the shop's up there aren't they? Otherwise one of the main breeders up there might contact you after he reads this.. I hope you're aware that a 4ft would only really be suitable for a small grow out tank and a colony should eventually reside it a large 5ft preferably a 6ft tank minimum..

There are some tanks here.. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/tanks/ But very hard to get inspiration if you don't know what is around.. Have a good browse through here and look at tank/fish pics there are a few around like mine that may give you some idea of what you might want..

Meth blue would probably only be avaliable from a petshop.. Is the tail gone and stopped rotting now (no white edge to it) or is it still there partially? Congrats on the yellow's breeding, the peacocks should be well and truly into it by now as well maybe you just haven't noticed them? re the cobalts they should be ok in your tank do remember they get big and bossy (typical zebra's) my male cobalt i probably one of the top fish in my big mixed tank.

That tank is mainly malawi's sorry there are a few mbuna in there (zebra's demasoni etc..). Sorry forgot about the tropheus, they school and you could probably get 12-15 Dub's for around $4-500 from Johannes? They have posted some pictures and videos of their tanks on here recently.. Tangs v malawis really depends what you want to achieve and what you like.. Have a look around and look at tank pics and fish pics and see what you like, you have a good sized tank to start with.. Plenty of info here http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/i ... n_list.php and here http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/i ... n_list.php

Hey Dianne I noticed your auction I was the one commenting.. The stripy blue fish in the photo on you're auction could be kenyi (depends what you brought them as and who you brought them from as they could be dodgy). I can see some giraffes, and maybe some baby peacocks (again who knows what these are depends who bred them if they were bred in species tank etc). Some better photo's of the fish or parents would make it easier to tell.. Where did you get the fish from? Buying/selling african cichlids can be very hard to do best bet is to buy from descent breeders who know what they're doing and only breed in species tanks.. View or get photo's of parents and do research to ensure they are correct, and also know what your supposed to be getting colour of babies etc. Be very wary of someone who wont post photo's of the actual fish or parents of the fish on trademe as you don't know what your getting see here for an illistration of how easily things get confused.. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/proble ... 34284.html It doesn't take much before you have peacock soup..

Heres my tank and an example with photos of what is around.. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/1-vt31 ... sc&start=0 Electric blues (fryeri) can get a bit big and grumpy for a 4ft tank, however I breed mine in a 2.5ft section of a 4ft and they seem fine they do have a bit of a bad rep though maybe I have laid back ones? Red empresses are peaceful as but can prefer a bit of swimming space when they get bigger (they get pretty big but that takes time). Bumblebee's get huge I had a 20cm male he was laid back but I had no girls with him I would say they get too big for a 4ft but you would get away with it while smaller. I would stay away from auratus they are down right nasty typical melo's and would probably be a nightmare in a tank that small. Have a look through the link I posted it might give you some good ideas.. All the above is just my opinions other people will have different ones..

Personally if you wanted to setup a massive mixed tank I would go mbuna.. Or a mix.. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/1-vt31 ... sc&start=0 Or go for a colony of fronts and some extra's.. About the only fish apart from the fronts that go well in groups are probably the pulcher's or brichardi. The neotrets are quite staunch and form pairs as do the jullies and the lelu's.. Of course you could do more of them in a big enough tank..

heres some links that might help Its not too hard just depends on what finish you want on it.. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_canopy2.php http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_canopy.php

I have only heard of the lelupi in NZ however there might be the others floating around if they are they are being kept pretty secret or I don't recognise the names.. You can get J transcriptus and J marlieri easily also Neolamp brichardi and pulcher. Also 5 and 6 bar lamps were around.. I don't know if too many of them are schooling, Pulchers and brichardi will all spawn together in the same tank.. Its a real shame we miss out on alot of cool tangs in nz

I would suggest going african but thats because thats what im into and I think they are easy to keep and also easy to stock a good looking very colourful tank.. Have you seen any fish you like?

What type of fish were you thinking of adding? It is quite random having the zebra's and fire eel together, what sort of ph are you running in your tank? And how are they getting along I don't know much about the fire eels so might be ok.. As for stocking it depends what way you want to go? Do you want to go into an african tank or do you want to make a random tank with all sorts of cichlids?

ARe they only young fish? Best bet is to just leave them be have some patience and stop trying to play god If you have males and females, they are mature and happy they will breed for you.

Well as long as the barring goes around to the bottom of the body then they're most likely marlieri.. I guess it also depends where they got them from and what they were labelled as.. Actual photo's on the auction always help, who knows without seeing the fish or a descent photo. The only concern is passing them on with the wrong name using internet photo's and the new owner breeding them and passing them on with incorrect names just like the firebirds.. Peacock Rubescenes/Firebird if they are actually Rubescenes are just line bred A maleri's anyway there are a few nice strains of maleri reds around in NZ I have a few babies growing out from 2 of them to keep the redder ones.. Technically these could also be called Rubins reds because they are just red maleri's.

Awesome good work

Personally I still think its dicey and going to be alot of work and probably not going to be better than a glass one.. But you're determined to give it a go It would be a good project if you have the time/skills/tools and money to do it. lol not to mention your own house to fill it up in so your parents/landlords don't flip when it explodes.. However to help you out ive found some articles http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/d ... uarium.php http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/d ... arium3.php http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/d ... arium2.php Obviously they're american sites and some of the advice re materials and costings etc will be wrong but design ideas should be a good place to start..