Ugly juvenile vieja hartwegi

[ari]

A good size adult male hartwegi is indeed a very impressive fish with its beautifull light blue/green markings especially around the cheeks.The juveniles on the other hand ,truly looks ugly with their enlonged body and poor markings, they resembles a GT in body shape minus the brilliant marking of a GT, and often they are given a miss by most aquarist.i have come across these juveniles on many occassions, and to be honest i didnt realise they were juvenile hartwegi, since what i saw in photos very much differ from what i saw at the FS. to me they look more like one of those failed flowerhorn + texas species that nobody wants ....and true nobody touches them. most FS did have a tough time selling them even at a give away price of 100baht(rm10) for a 4 inch fish.more often they are placed in the lesser tanks at the far corner or back portion of any FS at chatuchak fish market. overcrowding leads to fighting among the juvs and they appeared worse as the result with torn and ragged fins , turning black with stress in a poorly filtered tank. the topic of hartwegi came up one night during the weekly drinking session with my fish farm friends at samut sakhon. "why dont anyone here import some hartwegi?" was the question i asked. "what for" ...came the reply...'they are hard to sell, the chatuchak people are urging us to take those fishes back" after more Q&A, i realise those "failed flowerhorn+texas were actually juvenile hartwegi. since the farms had stopped spawning them, i have to give those fishes at chatuchak another look....closer one this time. after browsing thru several FS , i found one with somewhat better looking ones ...at 150baht for a 5inch fish. i choose the two fishes which was keeping the rest away from the corner, i suspect they have paired off. they look a bit ragged but i took them all the same. i placed them in my 100x60x60cm tank along with my female chuco godmani. later the next day to my surprise the male hartwegi had transformed itself from an ugly duckling to a prince charming. the throat was pinkish red, the markings became more clearer with red spots thru out the body and dorsal fins.the female had turn pale light blue to light gray...with heavy black around the lips and throat ( a sure sign she is in a spawning mood)....she doesnt have any red spots on the body except on the dorsal fins, and her cheeks lacks any marking. i rather not have my fishes spawn at such an early age...but what the heck...i wanted to observe their mating. the godmani got evicted and i lost no time in speeding off to chatuchak and got 2 more males at a reduce price of 120baht each. both males did quite well in my community CA tank, their colouration began to come alive and they do look impressive....a far cry from what they once were at the FS and at 120baht ,they are indeed a steal. sadly one went missing two days later.. ...couldnt find it until the ants did . well, try this fish if u come across them...they are not as ugly as they look....and their plain apperance doesnt really tell the full story how they will look once they reach adulthood.