ryanjury

Yeah id say its pretty certain she's holding, a nice looking yellow too congrats! Other signs I use when im unsure are if you watch her she looks like shes swirling stuff around in her mouth. Also she will swim around with her mouth fully closed the other fish will open their's as they breath.. Also when looking from behind the fish their gill plates stick out more Now you have to decide what you want to do with the babies

I would be inclined to dose the tank anyway but thats just be, some people say don't does it unless your 100% sure its internal parasites but id say unless your sure you haven't been feeding them enough.. In my opinion it cant hurt they may have brought something in from the wholesalers. As for where to get it from prazi's easy someone posted on here in disease section with a trade name for it thats available over the counter from farm shops. And metro im sure someone on here can spare some or go and talk to your friendly vet..

lol that sounds like a nicer tank unsure how much I would pay for a 3ft tank though

You can get hold of some metro or prazi if it is internal parasites? How long have you had the fish?

I sold a tank that was 120cm x 120cm x 45cm for $200 including a budget stand that I made out of 4 x 2 and lids.. That was in 15mm glass no matter how much you think a tank is worth they're bloody hard to sell

Yeah its looking wicked man.. Congrats thats one cool tank! The cloudy water will just be because no matter how much you wash the sand it always seems to make the water cloudy it will clear

not baenshi, I did think of those peacock males that you had that time Glenn when I first saw them, I think theres someone selling them on trademe at the moment?

I dont have it sorry I think its out of date isn't it? I dont know at all because I dont have it! It could almost be a maleri red of some sort? But it has alot of blue in its tail.. Either way its cool And awesome pics too!

Nice looking fish man, I have no idea what they are really.. I dont think Aulonocara Nyassae is used anymore? It is my understanding that all peacocks used to be listed under this (which is why our import list only lists this as an allowed import)... This is the cichlid-forum link to nyassae http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1386 Doesn't really tell you much!

Yeah everything is against us for getting descent fish in NZ thats for sure Its just lucky that some have slipped through and hopefully some more will in the future!

lol yeah I dont go on anything I see on overseas sites it does not reflect the strain/quality were going to get in NZ... They look pretty much the same as a dragon's blood to me from that site. Guess thats the problem with line bred hybrids and common names.

Demasoni can get agro but generally only with their own type it is recommended to have at least 10 to 12 of these.. First time I started out with 6 ended up with 2, and this time (even in a 540litre tank) I started out with 14 now im down to 11-12. Also wasn't impressed by the demasoni I saw that came off the list recently. Ice blues are sweet, but can get big and agro, I breed and sell quite a few of these and know of a few people that had them in mixed tanks but when they grew up they sold them off because they were too agro for the rest of the fish. This generally only occurs when they start bashing peoples peacocks, I have them in my mixed tanks at the moment but am keeping an open mind on their future in there might setup a mbuna only tank eventually..

Yeah like I said in my post they're a hybrid no actual scientific name.. And yeah colours can vary heaps also due to the fact they're hybrids. The zebra's are probably a bit of a mixed bag as to what you actually get alot of them will most likely be hybrids so ps or metriaclima doesn't really matter, theres alot of zebra's that come from the lake "pure" and all look the same with different names anyway so if you try and go from what they were imported and sold as and match them up it gets confusing.. And also importers/stores are probably the worst at naming fish as long as they sell and they make money off them they dont care Peanut do you know what the tangerine peacocks look like?

Ps. Zebra - Orange (is this Metriaclima estherae?) - probably red zeb as you've said. Ps. Zebra - Marble, albino, & ice blue. Ob zebra maybe estherae, albino zeb and ice blue ice blue http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=794 Ps. Demansoni & tropheous. demasoni - http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=849 Unsure what Ps tropheous is. Peacock Marble - ob peacock - hybrid, these are cool fish I have a male I got off the list a few months ago that looks wicked, no guarantee's on any sort of colartion it can vary heaps http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1372 Peacock Tangerine - unsure possibly hybrid similar to dragons blood I haven't seen these. maybe these? http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1315 tropheus Moorii Firefox (new) tropheus Moorii double star (new) Unsure where links are to both of those I have seen the fish when they've come in perviously but the names dont seem to match upto the names on the net.. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/r ... ?genus=212 Also should add I would want to view the fish before buying any have seen some pretty crapy sick looking africans come in from the wholesalers recently that I wouldn't touch.

Ive always been reluctant to use anything sharp just in case I hurt the fish but yeah have seen alot of things recommended

Yeah I agree it does get easier... And you feel less mean each time too! I use a thin bread and butter knife and use that to hold the fishes mouth open and then stick it on an angle head down and dip it in and out of the water to wash the babies out.. Usually into a guppy trap or similair so I can stick an airstone in to keep them moving if ive striped them early.. Try it a few times and then stick them back into some water for a break, they also seem to hide a couple of babies I usually leave them for a few mins to bring them to the front and get them out When I stick the fish back in the tank I stick it back in head up and open its mouth with the knife again to let the air out of it otherwise they swim tail up for a while lol. Good luck remember to post and let us know how you get on.

Sounds like she's holding congrats As for what to do, keep an eye on her if shes getting bullied excessively you may have to remove her (I haven't had to remove many so its not very likely). Then you have a few options, if you want to keep the babies you can remove her and allow her to spit naturally in her own tank, or you can strip her after about 2.5 to 3weeks. I usually leave the fish in the tank for just over 2 weeks and catch them strip them stick them straight back in, that way they don't loose their position in the tank or heaps of condition by being removed and waiting for her to spit the babies.. Sometimes they can hold on for a long time and it takes them ages to recover, of course if you have her in her own tank you can ensure she gets alot of food and recovers quickly.. Of course if you don't have spare tanks and couldn't care less you can just leave her and see if any survive.

Awesome was worried I had been doing it wrong

Yeah id add more fish should help to break things up a bit, make sure they're of a similair size or else they will be ignored.. You can try putting the in a "naughty tank" hope someone else takes over his position, but then you'll probably end up in the same place. Good luck Mbuna can be aggressive little buggers!

We realise that but they may think people will buy them for community tanks if they think they are a smaller less aggressive fish.. Unsure that was purely speculation..

Everyone should note I edit my comment I meant to say the conclusion was they dont exist lol sorry about that..

It has been raised and debated on here before the last time the same person was selling them.. The verdict was that dwarf ones doesn't exist.. Maybe the seller thinks they can sell them easier if people believe they wont grow to 30cm's and kill everything in the tank.. EDIT sorry to everyone they DON'T exist guess I should use that preview button before I post lol :oops:

If the fish came in with no particular variant then they don't have one.. There are some on the list at the moment, the ones that came in a year or so ago looked most like these ones.. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=2293 Guess all you can do is buy them and grow them out see what one they turn into..

Not if there is already a possibility if it has bred with a kenyi.. You have absolutely no idea of this fishes origin so personally I would stick with "blue zebra".. It could be a mix of anything so you cannot give it a scientific name..

Lionheads are cool fish alright.. Before you go and shell out the big $$ at the petshop see if any local breeders have them, IMO the petshop prices are very high.. Unsure if you would get sexable ones but you could start in a 2ft tank, grow some out and then see what happens.. I saw a breeding pair with a heap of babies yesterday in one of those little jebo tanks and they were sweet. LOL An FX5 on a 3ft tank would be wicked but probably a bit of an overkill, if you can afford it no reason not to though, at least you would have something that can do alot bigger tank for later on. As for conditions etc, most people keep them in with their malawi's but some of the purists setup specialist congo tanks, they seem to breed in both (and also barebottom) conditions so either way they're happy.. I have only seen them grey but haven't done any research into any other colours.