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Pray tell? And are you talking all hypans. I presume that could come in a change to the import list. Hope you are right -still sometimes hard to find importers to bring in good stuff that is on the list. Thought you might be interestred in shots of the Zebra that was TM. Definite female 7-7.5cms. enjoyed shooting these for the new owners. Gorgeous fish- so sleek and refined

Nice to hear Ryan, and I Know what you mean regarding Mike, I've seen his set up and would trust him no worries. The comments come as I got trios of both jacobs and Baenschi from the 'last lot'. I presumed they were imports due to numbers. Smidey-Thats why I ID'd your fish as A baenschi as well, I presumed as it was a similar age it might be from the same batch. The Baenschi I have ( the one you said looked exactly like yours) was sold as that and looks for all money like any shot of a juvi I've sourced on the net. So for that matter does the Jacob and the females. Only time will tell how diferent the Baenschi are from Mikes 4-5 yr old one, I would be happy if they were half as beautiful as his. Hope you get it sorted mate. I'm going to get some new photos of both males tonight if I get time and post a few

Under current NZ Law the fish you are looking to export here are illegal. This is whether they are captive bred or not. A few fancy plecs come into the country and evry now and then some Hypancistrus manage to come in also. The other unfortunate thing is that a few 'would be' supplliers from Europe have proven to be fraudsters and left a few people both fishless and pennyless. It's Pity that a reputable dealer as yourself may be tarred by the same brush. If you had L134's or L239's for sale they could come in, and I bet there would be market for those.

I've seen Mike's Baensnchi as well and no doubt it is a beauty. Mike do you recall how it looked at 6-8 mths old as that is probably the age these new guys are? Next point- I'm getting confused- what I've picked up so far- Mike are you saying the fish at the top of thread is not a Baenschi but a Jacob? The recent ( 3mths ago) Baenschi and Jacobs selling in retail were imported? Someones opinion can turn into fact in a heartbeat? We are all nice guys so it's OK to incorrectly label fish you are selling into the market, regardless of cellphone coverage. At the end of the day it's academic because we get imported peacocks that are, at best OK, therefore no specific variants are named, you just hope you get a good looking runt. The best way to ID a Peacock is to hunt through the 'net' and find the closest facsimile to your would-be hybrid and sigh in relief as "mystery solved" The three times one of my chilumba females held to my Maisoni male instead of my lone maisoni female she was keeping company. I should have kept fry and sold them as Maisoni anyway? same for my Rubens with Maleri red. Fair trading and consumer guarantees don't apply to auctions or private sales so.... Smidey- If I were you I wouldn't be apologising for upsetting anyone. I would be pissed!-Having said that don't go on with this(ie: look now for a female jacob). This has potential of worsening the situation. Take back the fish and get your money back or demand a definitive ID. any breeder worth their salt shouldn't bat an eyelid P.S-This is just an observation and not a swipe at anyone.

American cichlids are unknown territory to me so looking for personal accounts of these as have read they are less aggressive than their blue cousies, and therefore an OK tankmate for blue Dempseys. Have read accounts overseas of these guys being a good option yet I got only NO!NO!NO! from anyone I asked locally. Would introduce them when they were smaller than the blues- what do you reckon? what are you keeping them with?

Hey!- for what its worth I think its a Baenschi too. Here's my Jacob at a similar age- Body shape is different as is Dorsal and anal fin, even colouration. the 'jacobs' that came in a few months ago while not named specifically seem to be most likely the 'lemon Jake' variety . the females are a lot lighter, more silvery and significantly more coloured in the finnage than the Baenschi. I keep them in the same tank as the Baenschi females as are easy to tell apart. Just to add to discussion here is a young Maleri red male- his female is virtually identical to the Rubens- not surprising as one is a line bred version of the other

Hey Smidey Below is shot of my maturing Baenschi. He's about 6-7cm and would be more coloured up if he wasn't in the same tank as some more mature peacocks, particularly the 'Rubenscens'(other shot). Tank mates will definitely determine how soon and how well some peacocks colour up. The female- there is nothing about the photo that would have me discount her as a Baenschi. Mine are a darkish warm grey with the smallest hint of yellow hue in the fins. However as the others have suggested females are a minefield.

Well if its not what he specified then the easy answer is 'No deal" I guess. It 'll be interesting if it turns up again relisted as a male. I can understand not wanting to have endless numbers of 'Tyre kickers' turning up for a Gork. Anyway, somewhere out there, someone is getting a new home ready, hopefully outside some boys cave.

Even better mate -discover a new rainbow species. Timor- mate that'll be an interesting trip, how long is that in a Herc.

Jacobs ladder!

Ha Ryan! By the sounds of you mate any trip overseas is sure to have a decent fishaholic fix.

Yeah- and I definitely paid a lot less than the price there, when I got them through My little LFS. Hows that ! Cheers!

LOL. Two boys and two girls. If only I could be so lucky!!. But yeah this would be a great outcome especially with being able to breed a new/different male with the 'blue genotype' offspring. I'll definitely contemplate straight blueXblue breeding- would make an interesting control if nothing else.. By the time these guys are ready to go, there will no doubt be double the info available.

Definitely paid a lot less than the price at Animates. One of the benefits of building up a good relationship with a Little LFS, as they will get such fish in and settle for a lot less mark up. Yeah I will in the future need a regular JD. Ideal is to breed blue boy with regular JD girl. Those offspring are all regular JD's but carry recessive blue gene ( I think they're calling them blue green JD's or BGJD. A BGJD is then bred with EBJD, (electric blue JD), and of those fry 50% are the blue variety. The first step is to get some of the BGJD going and thats got to be nearly a year away with the size of these guys. I'm not sure if two blues will even breed, or if they do all fry are 'regulars'.

Got mine from my Fav LFS. He got in 4 at a very good price as they are pricey in some of the chain shops. Apparently quite a few have been brought in so should see them around. Once I saw them in the flesh it was hard to get the colurs out if my head.

Hey Ryan At the moment they are in a 90ltr tank with 1/2 dozen blue tera and over some plecs, just to grow them up. They're meant to be way more docile than regular Jacks and best not with the super aggressives like Jaguars, texas etc, but ok with salvinis etc. They will when they are ready go into a 135ltr tank which currently hold demasoni, yellow labs and a few female peacocks. So them in planted tank with something like yellow or white convicts, would be cool(if I could find the covicts), or even jewel cichlids with their red. Seems that big enough and fast enough tetras as dither fish are used also. Have to wait and see I guess. I will need a regular JD which I'd get when they got bigger if I want to breed.

Anyone else been beguiled by these guys. I had been looking for some top fish to go over some plecs that are growing up. I got four , all about 4cms sand real little characters. Curiously checking out every nook and cranny of their home. Got these shots of net as haven't bothered them with my camera yet, but my juvis look exactly like these two, and 2nd shot of Adult. Actually got them as the breeding program is interesting http://bluejax.co.uk/default.aspx- Found this site which is a great background on them

" I was also talking to someone else 6 motnhs ago who was going to import them and they were going to be bout $600 each." Hypancistrus species aren't on the list so no-one is allowed to bring them in. The Hypas that do get in seem to come in on importers lists as a "Ancistrus species and a L number maybe and then rely on a MAF official not sure what he's looking at. At the price the zebs are, even at wholesale, and the fact they are so identifiable, how likely would some slip through or someone tried to sneak them- bit of a gamble if they all got confiscated. Don't know why these guys couldn't come in if they had certificate of captive bred. I guess it is the best way of insuring we aren't part of the illegal export of these guys from Brazil. be good to see how auction goes - from the sidelines for me.

Well first of all I'm amazed this post wasn't blocked by a mod because you mentioned The TM word. Glad its not as I'm sure there will be heaps to say on this. ( hopefully mods will see this) How much is it worth? A 4 yr old female could easily get to a thousand dollars and probably worth it if you had a male. Without a male what a you prepared to pay? These guys aren't on the list so chances of getting a male is almost non-existent. Best hope is that one of the other zeb owners will get it so hopefully we can see some of them hopefully bred here- that bway you might get something for way cheaper in the future.

Hi The females will hold for a little less than 3 weeks( 18 -20 days) and wont feed in that time. If you know roughly how long they have been holding you can work out when to "strip" them, ( inducing them to spit the fry out) usually into a fry trap that sit in the top of your main tank in your main tank. I do this at 2 1/2 weeks That way the mothers can continue in the main tank until that time. You could leave them where they are and let nature take its course but take the bristlenose out if there is no real reason to keep him there. Mum wont eat the young but she can be removed to the main tank once she spat. You wont need java moss or the like but I do put in some small coral pieces into the trap for the bubs to hide around. Feed brine shrimp or even colourbits. At some stge they will need a little fry tank.

Enough said- Check this link out - Crazy!!!!! http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 8d712c97cf

Check it out -Cheers! for the pic Ilah- very jealous

that make four of us with small pockets!

I have seen Royals and papas are around and available now. There is a bit of coluration difference among the royals I seen, probably due to age, but they seem to adapt slightly according to habitat. Yes it would be great to get a red fin. Any chance of a pic ilah- would be great to see. how big is it?

Great info Spider.. Arowana-No, nor is a pleco or a school of tetras a cichlid. As you have illustrated the requirements of cichlids are as wide ranging as our hobby. My point was to illustrate that with the fact that many options are available to "cichlid" keepers. While they vary greatly-mouthbrooders, Substrate brooders, their commonality is their parental care and defense of mate, young and territory Seems that people experience or view of cichlids stems from there first encounter. When I talk of Cichlids you can bet I'm talking about my malawi's, yet my mate is talking about his Angels or Discus and his mate is talking Blue rams( which like apistos are dwarf cichlids). I haven't kept Kribs for ages but they are cool as I remember. Some cool little apistogrammas around like cockatoos( have a pair n Discus tank with tetras and guppies), panduros, pretty and are real characters. Stay really small(smaller than the Krib), I wonder if seperating the Cichlid section to old and new world would help, Good post Janelle