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Aulonocara I.D. help please


fishy-fish

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My friend bought some of these aulonocara a while back from a breeder who gave them the species name etc. but it went in one ear and out the other! I have recently taken them off their hands and was hoping you legend genius smarty pants experts could assist with identifying him. Thanks in advance!

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It is really hard to tell.. That fish is not in full colours (and judging by tail has been getting a hammering so prob not very happy) give it some time and space to colour up.

yeah, he was getting a wee bit picked on in his previous tank. He's now is in my 200L with his girls and 15 borleyi fry and 1 tawian reef hap fry. Definitely much happier. He has only begun to colour up in the past couple months according to the previous owner, so more colour to come.

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:smot: How do you get them to sit still for a photo?

Aulonocara seem to come up to the glass and they are generally not to skittish. It still takes ages to get a decent pic though with my little $200 point and shoot. Wish I has a fancy SLR!

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Where or from whom did you get them from????????

I traded some fish with a friend who is getting out of Malawis to focus on tropheus with the exception of dems and yellows. I got these guys along with a bunch of other species. They bought them a while ago at 2cm from a breeder who gave them the correct name etc but they have since forgotten it. If you knew my friends, you would totally understand! :slfg:

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There was someone a while back who brought some random peacocks and used that name when selling them.. Just cuz someone goes on google and sorta half manages to kinda match a fish to a random photo doesn't mean a definite I'd.

Ryan, I understand this, but conversely, just because someone is not fully aware of the full origin of their fish it doesn't discount the fact that it could be a true "fill in the blank". Some constructive help IDing the fish would be appreciated.

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Ryan, I understand this, but conversely, just because someone is not fully aware of the full origin of their fish it doesn't discount the fact that it could be a true "fill in the blank". Some constructive help IDing the fish would be appreciated.

For sure :) But if you don't know the true origin of the fish then the ID is just a guess and it would be a very dicey call to adopt that guess of an ID and breed and sell from it.. Just knowing the quality of the peacocks in NZ and the fact that most people (or "breeders") breed in mixed tanks and make up names based on random google searches means that 99% are hybrids until proven otherwise. In fact most of our imported stock that is imported with proper names are actually hybrids to begin with so we just can't win.

I say give it some time to grow and colour up and then have a guess even then it would just be a guess.. But in all honestly if your friend brought a bunch and has forgotten where from and what they were, how do you know they are all from the same place or any idea what they are?

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Some constructive help IDing the fish would be appreciated.

Agreed fishy fish helping with the id would be constructive rather than doubting ive done a good search on aulonocara hueseri and they do look very similar.

99% are hybrids until proven otherwise. In fact most of our imported stock that is imported with proper names are actually hybrids to begin with so we just can't win.

so whats the point in saying keep fish pure if you have no history of the origin or if they hybrids thats just contradicting yourself by saying keep it pure when you have no proof any of yours are pure right?

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I say give it some time to grow and colour up and then have a guess even then it would just be a guess.. But in all honestly if your friend brought a bunch and has forgotten where from and what they were, how do you know they are all from the same place or any idea what they are?

I think photo IDing fish against reputable websites is a pretty solid way to gain a proper ID. As you pointed out, anyone can say anything about a species being this or that but 50 photos all showing the same characteristics is pretty convincing evidence.

Forgetting aulonocara names is easy to do as they don't have common nicknames like a lot of other fish unless you count sunshine peacock! They could certainly remember the names of their cobolts and auroras :wink: Some of us just suck at latin!

I'll give it a few months and see how he colours up.

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Agreed fishy fish helping with the id would be constructive rather than doubting ive done a good search on aulonocara hueseri and they do look very similar.

so whats the point in saying keep fish pure if you have no history of the origin or if they hybrids thats just contradicting yourself by saying keep it pure when you have no proof any of yours are pure right?

lol interesting how threads go when someone gets realistic and throws the hybrid thing out there :)

I have given some constructive advice, let the fish colour up and then put some more pics up, that fish has obviously had a very hard time so wont be in full colours. It isn't the same shape or colours as a hueseri but that does take some experience with peacocks to pick.

Most of the fish we get in are hybrids :) And there are a few of us that pick and choose the best of them that most match profiles on the internet and then breed an grow them out to see if they breed true to type and if they are worth carrying on. Most of my peacock lines can be traced back many years to a very good breeder who had allot of good quality fish (Carey in Christchurch) most other peacock lines I don't bother with because most aren't worth it.. lol I wish I was like someone I know with a whole heap of good quality (mostly F1) peacocks sitting in my tanks :)

Id with pictures is very subjective and not very good, also with hybrids you have no idea what way the fish will throw, for example you could do an id on that fish but his fry could be completely different.. Also with no idea what the females are it is even harder. And then how do you know if your reputable website is reputable? How do you know with variant of the fish you are iding on? Are you iding against a show winning specimen off the net? Do you have the experience to be telling the difference between peacocks which (lets be honest here) all look like basically the same thing and there are only very discrete differences between different species and all will cross breed. I know that one "breeder" who used to have a big operation used to be very creative with his ids and made up a whole heap of random species that weren't here and commanded huge prices for them.

Not saying your fish is a hybrid I am just saying it is not Aulonocara hueseri and from my experience (only around 6 years of keeping and breeding them and roughly 40 tanks of cichlids so not much) 99% of the peacocks in NZ are hybrids so that is a good place to start and be realistic about. I generally roll with the attitude that there are already so many crap peacocks around that if something doesn't have a name then I wont touch it and will go with something else from a good breeder with a name and good history. But I am more into spreading quality fish than making money.

And any common name is very subjective, sunshine peacock for example could be considered stuartgranti maleri or baenshi or any other gold or yellow peacock, just another issue we cross with peacocks I guess.

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Lets just wait and see. FF how about you update the photos in 3-4 months. Its very possible that the original male was Aul.Hueseri

but bred with the wrong female. (And we know theres a crowed out there that is doing that :an!gry)

Keep us posted :cofn:

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Hey FF

They best thing to do is let them settle down for some time and get some pictures in order to ID them properly. Once he is fully coloured i will hunt around to see if i can help but the best way to trace the fish would be to find out who the breeder is.

In NZ its hard to get the correct fish. The supplier/Store may call them one name but they are something completely different. Its hard being in New Zealand and get quality fish.

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Regardless of what they are there very :nfs: get em breeding and sell them.im not so much a purest if two species breed thats nature and i mainly get fish for looks i couldnt really care where they have come from as long as im happy with them thats all that matters 2 me :slfg:

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