ryanjury

They look like they are developed enough to survive if they are kept moving, generally as long as they are swimming they are good, if they are having to lie around then they are more hit and miss but still can be tumbled. The only issue with your tumber is if you have it in a tank with other bigger fish they will try and suck the fry through the netting as they attempt to eat them. This results in the fish getting sucked against the netting and killed, if you want to stick the tumbler in a tank with bigger fish it pays to stick another chamber with netting under the one with the fish in it so the fish cannot suck against the one with the fish in it (if that makes any sense?). It is really hard to tell from your pics but what did you make the tumblers out of?

I agree it is awesome to see new stuff coming in, hopefully someone gets them and gets them breeding so they stay here.. I think they are cool fish and if they are line bred then they are pure to some degree, although allot of these "line breeding" things are very closed door type affairs and they probably cross breed to get different colours then breed them back. Who knows, either way cool to see something new and rare overseas here. Yeah it would be nice to see some pure stuff come in I think people would be jumping to own them if they were Tropheus moori illangi or Kiriza, BUT the price would be ALLOT more than these ones so I guess you have to pick and choose these are a new strain and quite cheap.. There is no point in the wholesaler bringing in ridiculously expensive fish that wont sell or taking the risk that they die in quarantine etc.

Rcon thinks the fish are red phoenix or red bishops they are bred in asia and have been distributed/sold throughout Europe. "This aquarium morph produced in Burundi from a Tropheus sp. Karambe has a pink colored body similar to an albino form but lacks red eyes. With the strong red coloration suffused throughout the body, this rare strain is called Red Bishop and should be a hit with Tropheus fans. " from http://www.cichlidnews.com/issues/2010oct/whatsnew.html It is possible they are more yellow than red due to the strain (maybe they aren't the A grade ones that are fully red) or maybe they will get the red when they get bigger and with some good food etc.. Or maybe they aren't even red phoenix at all

I still find that powder blue very very odd that she was holding for 5 weeks and the fry still had egg sacks and then didn't survive, mine are usually fully free swimming between 2 and 3 weeks so for 5 weeks would expect a temp around 20C and then they should still have survived.. No worries only too happy to help Make sure you update us on how you get on.

For sure mate, no point in getting rubbish in if you can afford it At the moment wild caughts would cost far too much to sell here It will be interesting to see what those imported ones are, I can't seem to match them with anything either..

Congrats on the spawning The fry should be ok with some egg sack the trick is to get them into a smaller tank or breeding tank and keep them moving (google DIY tumbler if you want to make something really fancy). The less developed they are the less likely they are to survive and this is where experience comes into it and you realise the best ways to tumble them and how likely they are to survive. Generally I open the fishes mouth and if it is still really white in there (lots of egg sacks) then I leave them alone, if it is quite dark (less egg sacks) I strip them. Usually I can see into their mouths enough by observing the fish swimming around in the tank and also judge how far along they are by their appearance (skinny fish, starting to swim around with the others and look at food really dark bucal cavity means the fish is needing stripping). I would leave her another week and try again you don't do any harm in doing this. With dems it is allot easier to strip them a bit underdeveloped, they are really hard to strip and the fry swim back in allot easier when they are fully developed so it is a weigh up. I also always leave the fish to hold full term and spit (into the tank generally but if they are important fry I will let the female spit in another tank) the first few times. This allows the fish to learn how to hold and there is also stuff all gain in stripping a small female and getting 5 fry. There is some discussion on if stripping fish is a good idea at all, the fish have evolved to mouth brood and if we keep stripping them early and tumbling them there is some belief we may eventually breed this habbit of not holding fry into the the fish and end up with a whole lot of fish that don't hold successfully. I am not too sure if I believe this theory, but I do know that leaving them the first few batches and letting them learn to hold makes things far easier for you in the future.

Yeah mate from the video you posted a while back looks like those afra have well and truely taken over and will only get bigger and more agro,they are not really suitable for smaller tanks.. The haps will outgrow them too but you will get more time. I agree, I do like the calvus have always wanted them so it is cool to have a nice pair.. Are you saying there is something wrong with the ones I have? feel free to find me some more quality ones, you know im keen

How else are you going to get electric blue babies? I guess you can breed brother to sister from the same batch or to another "unrelated" electric blue male.. But either way the injection of the non electric blue female into the blood line would be good.

You can keep them alone they are fine, they would probably chill out alone most of the time in the wild only coming together to breed..

Awesome, looking good.. Looks like you will have to hang onto the fish and tank for a while longer, grow these fry out and put them back to the blue dad to get some blue babies

I have plenty of spare males if you need one.. Probably not a good move trying to breed the empresses and azuzures in the same tank they are both haps and likely to cross, probably wont bother you considering all the zebras you breed your rusties with but probably not a good idea.. Either of them would be good hosts for the cuckoos if that was your intention though.

azuzures are going awesome.. I am really liking them, I still only have the 1 girl though And they have stopped breeding ever since I stuck the rusties in the same tank so need to sort that out, have kept back 20 fry to grow out and get more females they are around 1" long now starting to colour up..

I tried to take a pic of him for u but he is in with my yellows in a low tank so they just disappeared when the camera monster came near the tank.. Yeah I like the leleupi as well, got a few a while back and now have a nice pair that killed all the others off, have noticed fry cruising round with them in the Dem tank so they're obviously doing well calvus are awesome too

lol I was tempted but he is a bit of a munter with his whole being punched in the face look.. And he just sits and hides all day so a bit hard to take pics of. Was waiting for your comment on how crap the pics were, I tried to listen to your advice but a bit hard without the right lighting etc. The calvus are awesome, I really enjoy them same with the dragonsblood I am going to breed the dragons again soon. Yeah the albinos are awesome, wish I had some lighting on that tank so I didn't have to use the flash then you could see the cool barring etc that he has.. The clowns and Columbians are in my lounge "display" (used very loosly its not flash) tank, columbians were added initially for dither fish and are just chilling out gradually dying of old age, clowns are cool and doing well in there too they have never even had white spot Thanks

Just went into the fishroom and noticed my jacobs breeding so took a few pics of them and a few other fish while I had the camera out there. Yes the pics are crap and sorry I didn't clean the glass but you get the idea Al. jacobfrybergi - yes tons of pics I really like these guys and they would have to be one of the nicest peacocks I have owned.. Breeding What electric yellows should look like.. Brown haps (astatotilapia/Haplachromis brownae) Not usually a big fan of albinos but got these the other day and they are pretty cool.. Al. dragonsblood - have been trying to breed more colour into the body of these for a few years this is my best male Taiwan reef Leleupi Calvus Chilumba peacock - in my worst tank scratched etc but these peacocks are awesome.. Tropheops pair fryeri

Looking forward to pics mate My tropheus ate any plant I stuck in front of them too They seemed to reach an age when they just ate everything.. Here are some calvus for you

lol no I have given up on the apistos I am sick of them "apistoing" on me I have some macmasteri and agassizi still though.. I agree I was in at aqua world and they still had some very nice tris in there and it is a good price which is why mate went in there he is setting up a nice fishroom anyway so hopefully he can breed them as well..

Yeah anything can happen but it comes down to $$'s, Aussie would be a good place to go and buy some F1 fish from a breeder the flight time and ability to go and view/choose your fish before purchasing would be great.. Only issue is you would have to buy up allot of fish to justify the time/effort and fill quarantine tanks and maximise MAF charges. I agree about the lotto thing, however sorry to say I am winning first and building my quarantine room.. I might let you do an import or tag onto one if you ask nicely though

Sorry to hear that you lost the fry Joe Glad to hear that you have a successful pair and good parents though.. Maybe next time siphon them into a bucket or bowl so that they don't get eaten and then pop over to Caryls and grab the tanks he has offered and stick them in that.. I have to agree with everyones sentiments on these fish they are very nice I am look after 2 pairs for a mate at the moment and they are awesome.

The ones coming in are T Moori Yellow there is only one type that myself and a mate can seem to kind of match them with off the net but they are a very rare fish and would think they would have a much higher price tag if they were the real deal (of course these ones might just be a bargain).. So who knows! Either way I think they look like nice fish and I would be very interested to see what they turn out like, the price isn't overly scary compared to the standard retail price of the other "common" tropheus coming off the lists. Simian your list is pretty good, I do know someone with a pair of tropheus brichardi but he isn't having any luck breeding them so they might as well be gone too. It all comes down to money, most descent tropheus would be $60-100 wholesale ($120++ retail) a fish, and not many people have (or can't justify) the $1500-3000 required to buy at least 15 to grow out and have some chance at breeding them and keeping them going. You pretty much have to do it for the want of getting the fish and keeping them here more so than making money also bear in mind they can all bloat and die or just be dammed agro and shred each other, but these are the risks that we take. Unfortunately I think ill just work on my calvus and other bits and bobs for the time being You do raise an interesting question about NZ being big enough to support any more tropheus, I do wonder about this too.. They are more of an enthusiasts fish because they are more difficult to care for so that does limit the market for them a bit, plus most people I have found are pretty simple if they can get an electric yellow for $10 they wont pay $100 for a yellow tropheus..

This is an interesting one some people have talked about tank crashes after having a filter off for 6 hours.. I have had filters not running for upto 24 hours (when moving etc) and just chucked fresh water into the tank and started the filter and had no issues, I have even left filters unplugged (accidentally) for 3-4 days and just plugged the filter back in and done a water change and had no problems. Think the main thing to do is just be careful make sure the filter stays wet and if you can keep it running, but because none of us have actually seen this bacteria and noone really seems to know much about it (some think you can buy it off a shelf in a petshop) it is hard to give a definite answer.

Can't help with the lighting information, but the MH lights can be brought cheaply as ex commercial lighting on trademe and then the correct K bulbs brought from overseas sites.

Your tank is probably too small for dems so I would just discount them straight away.. You might be able to do yellows/shellies they seem to go well together. Electric yellows or yellow lab should come up with some good info on the yellows. lamprologus ocellatus should give you info on the shellies. Ps. Demasoni should give you info on the dems. You are only down the road from me if you want to come out and have a look I have around 30 tanks of africans here so might be able to give you some idea.

Yeah long fins will get their fins chewed off.. Rearranging the tank for no apparent reason can cause aggression issues and stress as the fish fight for territory etc, but it is usually ok. Red zebras might be ok too but once they get to the 12cm+ mark they may be a big big and agro for it, the red zebras I have had have been alright but I have always had them in bigger tanks.