herefishiefishie

They will pair up as they choose, they can & will cross with other colour variants.Then again if you bought 4 juvies to grow up, chances are you could end up with 4 the same sex, 1m/3f etc.... I would advise against buying pairs, for a few reasons. Why would someone sell pairs, bigger discus can be real sooks when moved etc. Best to buy say 6 juvies, then trade back some when bigger/ paired up.. Frenchy

I doubt you would get away with having yellows in that size of tank either with the brichardis. As with the above comments, just go the brichardis for now. All should be sweet. Frenchy

But your fish keep dying from parasitic symptoms. Did you continue to treat with prazi for full term of treatment? Frenchy

Just be careful hand feeding with bloodworms but. Some people are allergic to bloodworms. Frenchy

Haven't had the discus set up to long, this one was probably one I would trade back in, not the nicest. So wasn't to attached. More pissed off at myself, as I killed it. Frenchy

I got another canister filter of Brad to place in my discus tank.Thought 2 canisters be great, no need for interanl. Tank be better etc etc etc.... I went to take out the internal filter when the bottom 2 cartridges fell off. Now the bottom cartridge is fill with ceramic noodles, therefore a bit of weight. It landed straight on a discus head, knocking it out cold. Couldn't think of a way to make it come too. :-? Did try a couple of things, drew the line at mouth to mouth but. :lol: Therefore I suppose the best thing to describe it is, that it drowned. Useless idiot, ramble ramble ramble.... Frenchy

They are a lovely fish, plenty of Venustus here to. No good for you though sorry. The males get a nice blue sheen in their head, where as the females head stays more a yellow colour. They get to nice size too. Frenchy

How good are the smugglers there? I mean if none have come in on the import lists. How good are the back doors? Let us know what you come up with, I will be interested. What are you thinking if you don't mind me asking? Navarre, did you happen to buy your fish from a certain breeder who called his electric blues Ahli? A well respected breeder of many years who is/was based in ChCh? It is common here for people to call dodgy johanni interruptus, as of the different barring. The last pic is an example. To me it is the female that gives it away, compare to... This is an example of what poor johanni's look like. Just so people can be aware of what not to buy. Frenchy

The darkening of the body would of been in relation to stress. Stress can be anything from just being picked on, a disease etc. Once you notice changes in fish behaviour or colour, then look for other other symptoms. eg; sunken body, internal parastes. Frenchy

I never get upset, I have to watch how my posts come across. :roll: Frenchy

Gouramis especially dwarfs are prone to a number of bacterial problems. The lovely sores I have seen on some Frenchy

For now I will just call a blue zebra{slang for blue not sure what it is mbuna}, as pic isn't clear. Either way it shouldn't have been placed with standard tropical fish. Agression differences, water ph etc.... What size tank etc come to mind too? Best bet if its a pain in the butt which cichlids can be. Try & return it, trade into a shop, get rid of other fish & go african cichlids or knock it on the head. Sorry they are really your only options. It will only kill others the way it is going. Frenchy

I agree Ryan,{7.26pm post} especially seeing as Melanochromis interruptus are rarer & therefore would be a lot dearer. Even if these fish were a trade in to the lfs. If the person who owned them wasn't sure. He would of known what they paid for & the cheap trade in offer would of been offensive & interruptus name is a lot different to johanni, therefore hard to confuse. The above is all just minor details points that can be argued. As said interruptus could of come in the back door. I don't like to say hybrid to peoples fish & if anyone wants to pick apart why I think the fish in question isn't an interruptus, can they stick to arguing the points made in reference to how the fish look. Otherwise this will be an endless dribble & round in circles, which I seem prone to being involved in. :oops: :roll: :lol: Cheers, Frenchy

Why are they selling them as Johanni then? As for lists, my comment meant that the contacts I have that have seen fish come in have never heard of Interruptus coming into the country. Sure they wouldn't of seen everything that has come in. Then again, none of the fish I have are on legal import lists. {as in what comes into the country via a "normal" wholesaler. {My comment in previous post}Fish may not be still on lists, just what I have been told about what is seen bought into the country by importers. I think you may well have interruptus, be cool if you do. What we are talking about here is the persons fish & photos we are going by, not yours. Although I see how my previous post would of looked doubtful. The female in the pic looks nothing like an interruptus.{reasons given earlier} As for the male as mentioned earlier, the stripes, head shape & body shape are not consistent with an interruptus. Maybe you can place pics of yours then Navarre. I bet there is a difference to the ones here in question. Frenchy

Not from that description. Any signs of anything before it died? Just keep an eye on your others for a few days for signs of anything they do out of the ordinary. Heavy breathing, scratching, change in colour etc. If it just one could just be one of those things, internal function breakdown or similar. Frenchy

That is right because head shape & thickness of body. I didn't say what you thought it was. But I do think it has johanni in it. Frenchy

I think the best bet is to set them up in a little tank like 2 ft. Buy a filter, some gravel etc. Let them live in that for the winter. Throw back in pond in winter. Frenchy

I don't think it is Melanochromis interruptus. Sorry Navarre. The female pictured looks nothing like the females I have seen. Usually females are clean, yellow or orange, not dull brown. & also the females fins are clean, yellow, orange or clear. This is the first I have seen where the pelvic fins are black. Sorry maybe I have only ever seen high quality ones. The head shape is different to that of a melanochromis too. Brad laughed at me for thinking it could be a cross breed, as of head shape. My point was maybe it got the head shape from a pseudotropheus. As mentioned barring to, usually interrupts don't have so many & not that clean/defined. My guess is the interruptus name has been given to those that don't look like johanni, {had this discussion here before} therefore they give them a name of something they look like. We have plenty of johanni here like that in Aussie. In fact Narvarre, johanni do get vertical barring. It is called to much breeding with limited stocks, bad gene lineage etc. Very common from imported asian stocks too. I still remember Brad saying when he first started, he thought all johanni had this. Didn't realise that good ones only have horizontal lines. From what I have been told, fish have never been imported into NZ under the name M. Interuptus. Therefore how can you say they are then? Frenchy

Well that is only around 60 odd grams plus a bit depending on how heaped the tablespoon. Problem is the skin peeling on catfish is a sign of to much salt. I would still do the water change & treat with parasite remedy. {which I hope you have already done by now, well should of as a precaution yesterday, when Jim posted} Frenchy

I wonder if the boiling water softens up the silicone or has made it leach. Funny I am at the better half's place. I read out what you have done & what I typed is the first thing she said & she isn't into fish. I also wonder if you may of missed parts of the tank? Couple of years in a garage, could of collected anything amongst the dust too. Just for fish to drop that quickly, I think that poisoning is the only thing that could of kill fish off that quick. Especially if you used old water etc. Frenchy

A number of options. What is easiest will do. Bleach will work too, just have to dechlorinate, re soak before re using. When I worked at a lfs, we used an iodine solution. Made a solution in bucket. The theory is as much iodine as you can't see through the water. I guess if you use so much salt that its more than sea water & hot water, that should kill most fresh water organisms especially at high heat. Hang them out in the sun for a few days to dry out. Frenchy

Do a 50% water change & see if that helps. Melafix or furan won't do much. If fish have been twitching & you bombed with salt. It is either the flukes have got them or the salt. To help dilute salt do a water change. The gasping is salt or flukes. How much salt did you throw in? What size tank? Frenchy

I would remove the fish too. There was a case in these parts not long ago a guy a lot of his fish in one tank. After a few questions turned out he scooped out his old gravel, took out half the water added new gravel & topped up. Imagine all the waste that sits in the gravel too. Be enough to choke & poison for sure. Frenchy

That is quick & bizarre. Was the tank brand new? Been stored anywhere? Sounds like poisoning. Frenchy

Welcome aboard. Always good to see another rift lake cichlid keeper. Frenchy