Hemichromis: I Think I Have A Pair, Someone Confirm?

[minnnt]

Mattlee has a journal going... £40 a fish he paid. They must be hard to get to in the wild or something. Unsure mate. Humbug cats are all wild I think, so maybe consider these too.

 

[Chris2]

Mattlee has a journal going... £40 a fish he paid. They must be hard to get to in the wild or something. Unsure mate. Humbug cats are all wild I think, so maybe consider these too.

Yes, i read through it quickly and seen the adult coloration. Wow!

It just seems odd that a farmer in Florida would not have been all over these guys. They breed all sorts of Cichlasomas down there, and rear thousands of offspring for $0.20-30 each...next time i talk to one ill ask him if he knows why Ornatus are not available.

I picked up a little over a hundred Fossochromis Rostratus juvi's this morning for work. The guy who bred them said they were 2"+. When i got there most were around 1.5", and some were near 1" I like to try and support captive breading, but people like that dont make it easy.

EDIT: Thanks for the idea on the platydoras costatus (humbug). I have never seen them, but will keep an ear to the ground if any pop up locally.


Double edit: Are Raphael cats and Humbugs the same thing, or is one confused for the other at times? They look VERY similar in pics, but they carry different latin names.

 

[minnnt]

If Matt gets them to breed he will see a great return on his investment for sure.

I am all for captive breeding, but colours and quality are often lost compared to when you find a wild or F1 version. These days Firemouths are almost pink when comparing them to wild or F1/2's. Such a shame.

 

[Chris2]

I am certain he will, he should be able to get them going...i dont see any reason why they wont.

Im looking into L-144's or BN pleco's as my next venture. Of course, im getting well ahead of myself since at this moment all i have is a male and female jewel that are getting along lol...

 

[minnnt]

Lol! Some of the rarer cory's maybe an idea too

 

[Chris2]

I just stopped in a customer's place on my lunch break. He had 6 tens filled with floating plants (unknown sp. to me, sorry!)...within the tens he had about 60 .5-.75" long fin BN. They were tiny, but it was pretty neat seeing juvi BN's...they really do look like mini clones of mature BN's! Some were no bigger than the width of a snail shell.

 

[Chris2]

I have about 300 hemichromis eggs!

They have to be less than 24 hours old as i checked them this time last night after doing a 20% water change. Im very excited!

BUT, I have a problem now. I bought 5 powder blue rams, which will be here tomorrow. I Was planning on moving this hemichromis pair to their own tank tonight (that was before i found the eggs). Now, im not certain what to do. I emptied out the other container i have in the 90 gallon (it held the dither hemichromis) in preparation for the rams. Its not my first choice, but it should work until i get my first pair at which point the next tank will be ready to go.

Oh problems! Atleast i have this knid of problem

 

[Chris2]

Well I had eggs, they were eaten by the pair over night. Not to shabby for 2.5 weeks!

Pic from last night:

Also the female has intensified GREATLY over night in color. Yesterday she had touches of red, today she is fire engine red everywhere. Most people would not believe it is the same fish just 24 hours ago.

 

[minnnt]

Keep an eye on them, the male will be after her now and may cause damage to her.

Congratulations though!

 

[Chris2]

Thanks for the heads up, so far the male and female are getting along like usual. I think its because they can see the rams i have in another container, separated from them. Everytime i go down there to feed, they are pushed up against the sides of the container trying to show off/attack the rams 10" away lol...