Fruju

Looking really good there Hecticity! That lighter one is definitely male, the darker bigger one looks female for sure. Jealous of those fish!

It might be riskier adding them together once they are big though? Usually if they grow up together fish are more compatible? Wonder if you would get different growth rates? Does anyone know if roskill HFF still have some?

Dorsal fins are quite rounded at the tips, is that a good way to sex this species? Compared to something like a jag or texas who tend to have dimorphic finnage. First pic I don't know what it is to be sure. Second pic it looks thick bodied and I would suggest male? If they are co-existing then they are more likely to be a pair? Nice fish guys. Jealous.

That top one I think is a male, I wouldn't go by the orange on the fin tips. From what I read online it is about the extent of the black on the dorsal fin (as seen in the 2nd photo you put up) and a blackish mark on the flank? Yeah that last one is female I believe. Saw her a HFF albany.

Nah it's alright. Thanks for the offer though. If they come in again I'd like to get a group of young ones and form a pair out of that. What's the growth rate like on yours? I have heard they are slow-ish? Aggro?

I regret not picking up a few individuals when they were available. Should be female if it has a decent portion of black along the dorsal fin. aldrichdg I'd say yours is a male too. I hope someone is breeding them.

I have seen a red one. Cool looking critter.

I realise that the tattooed fish are not produced in the same manner as 'glow-fish', but I had the notion that they would be lumped in under the same moral ambiguity? I don't know of course but was wondering if people on here did know the legality of bringing something like that into the country. Loved the Survivor analogy David haha. Never thought comparisons between that show and fish keeping would be made on here. Tanked is a show made to appeal to the masses of uneducated hobbyists that want dramatized viewing. Using 'facts' presented on the show seems foolish to me.

I realise that the tattooed fish are not produced in the same manner as 'glow-fish', but I had the notion that they would be lumped in under the same moral ambiguity? I don't know of course but was wondering if people on here did know the legality of bringing something like that into the country. Loved the Survivor analogy David haha. Never thought comparisons between that show and fish keeping would be made on here. Tanked is a show made to appeal to the masses of uneducated hobbyists that want dramatized viewing. Using 'facts' presented on the show seems foolish to me.

Saw that auction; I assume the same rules that apply to 'glow-fish' apply for these too?

Yeah I'd say so, usually it is the tank footprint that counts for more. If you get a female they stay smaller and have better colour..

Just get a salvini cichlid. Stays small (6 inch would be a large male), nice colour, aggressive predator. Could get a pair of pictus cats, they will hit the guppies hard. Entertaining fish.

Great looking fish when they mature. I know there is one individual at HFF albany atm but it isn't a stunner.

As per title. A quality cichlid that needs to become established in the NZ hobby, can't let it slip away like the festae a while back.

Will eat harlequins and anything else that size. BGK will get bigger than that too.

Crank the intensity up and it might? 70cm is deep, but if you structure the reef with low light demanding corals through to the stonies at the top i would think it would be ok? If you wanted you could get readings on intensity, maybe request them on their site?

I am using the Maxxspect 160W nano razor on my reef and have been very pleased with it. Although it is a big cost initially I think that it is worth spending money on a quality light for the corals. Easy to program and the colour is great, cheap to run, looks good - but would look best on a suspension kit.

Sounds good. You should come check out the kingies and the puka sometime as well!

I still haven't popped around yet and I live in the hood. Like that festivum.

Peacock bass are cichlids. You can't get them here. None of the animals you requested are available. You can get Jardini Arowana here if you want aussie fish.

I really regret selling my festae, and for not buying more. Also wish I had got more Cuban cichlids.

I just completed my BSc in marine biology (took aquaculture paper) and will be heading back to uni to complete my pgdipsci and masters next year at the University of Auckland. As mentioned above there is a course at BoP polytechnic and one at Mahurangi, although they are not degrees in a classic sense you can get good practical skills at these institutes. At the end of last year I did a volunteer stint at the NIWA aquaculture facility in Ruakaka, they offered me a job for the period between my studies and I really like it. We do research on Hapuka, Kingfish, Salmon atm, but occasionally other stuff. My end goal would be to get into commercial aquaculture. Yep, I support the industry. For a planet that needs food and has declining fish stocks aquaculture offers an amazing environmentally friendly (group and situation dependent) option. Sure there are problems like any industry, (using wild food fish to create feed/parasites etc) but when compared to alternative farming it can have minimal env impacts with proper management. In regards to Salmon; most of the problems are N.H based, NZ production of salmon is so isolated that our industry is not under the same pressures compared to atlantic/nordic zones. Can't really speak for disease on mussels and oysters, but any outbreaks are spatially restricted it would seem, NZ mussel is regarded as the best in the world (220 million p.a). There are barely any jobs available in ornamental fish aquaculture and would be hard to crack that business. NZ employment is relatively limited, but given time we could have an industry (in my opinion) that could rival dairy. I will probably look overseas for work, but would love to be based in nz. If you're interested in the science behind it you would need to go through to masters level probably. People in NIWA all have high level qualifications. Hope this helps!

Very nice

When I had my pictus with dwarf cichlids (yes, not a great call) the twigs allowed the smaller fish to do well with them. Looks good too. I really like the festivums, bold markings. Columbian tetras as mentioned by someone else is good for colour, and you're not lacking space.

That will look impressive with a lot of smaller fish. Have you considered making a really dense area of 'twigs' (manuka/kanuka) as a potential refuge? Could also breed some dwarf cichlids in there too. A large school of black widows could work too, not a big tetra, but big enough not to be eaten.