Central American Cichild Photos

[Cichlid Connections]

For fishes in the farm, no I don't feed quality food. Infusoria and Daphnia to get them going when newly hatched and tilapia pellets to get them to a certain size, but for my home fishes.. its Hikari, Tetrabits, Home made cichlid-recipe and the occasional freezed mysis, brine shrimp and bloodworms. You know something Ari, I always thought it was the other way round... the hobby here is about buying fishes of poor lineage and spending more on products rather than fish. People tend to spend more on equipments only to own poor quality fishes. Look at the cichlid flock availability on the market.. look at the bettas, look at some of the poorly bred charachins/tetras and livebearers available nowadays.. its a shame. The main problem here is the farms lackadaisical attitude in introducing new bloodlines into their existing stocks. Thats the MAIN and UNDERLYING problem, not the food and equipment associated with it.

[RazorBlade]

Originally Posted by BlueDempsey

Doesnt mean ours cannot show colour, just have to ask RazorB how to do it well! Hehe! Most of us dont have ideal tank conditions or over populate our tanks!

Hmm, the factors that I look out for in getting good colour fish:
1. Good quality fish ... good lineage, not a hybrid, looks good physically, well-raised
2. Feed quality fish food ... yes, it makes a difference
3. Tank conditions - water quality, tank mates, etc

[RazorBlade]

Originally Posted by ari

... before the fish can grow to adult ,try to pair them off liao, wan to make money liao. helo kawan, cichlids that had pair off will never regain their true colours lar, especially the females...

Hmm ... can someone explain this to me please?

Something new to me actually - I wonder if it only applies to CA/SAs or it is true for Malawi cichlids as well.

[ari]

Originally Posted by Cichlid Connections

For fishes in the farm, no I don't feed quality food. Infusoria and Daphnia to get them going when newly hatched and tilapia pellets to get them to a certain size, but for my home fishes.. its Hikari, Tetrabits, Home made cichlid-recipe and the occasional freezed mysis, brine shrimp and bloodworms. You know something Ari, I always thought it was the other way round... the hobby here is about buying fishes of poor lineage and spending more on products rather than fish. People tend to spend more on equipments only to own poor quality fishes. Look at the cichlid flock availability on the market.. look at the bettas, look at some of the poorly bred charachins/tetras and livebearers available nowadays.. its a shame. The main problem here is the farms lackadaisical attitude in introducing new bloodlines into their existing stocks. Thats the MAIN and UNDERLYING problem, not the food and equipment associated with it.

bos, then you mah introduce better quality ones lar, but then who will buy ah,so better remain lackadaisical,after all its malaysia wat ...and then toking about kiamsiap to buy equipment, well, u need to open a fs to know how kiamsiap im toking about, there are kakis i know who will throw big money for cichlid. quite often import Blue Ikola and for them....and yet when it comes to equipments, walau a..tak mau cerita lar.
so bos kenot really underline poor blood line , but good maintainence and a good fish to start off with must go hand and hand , none could do without each other.

[ari]

Originally Posted by RazorBlade

Hmm ... can someone explain this to me please?

Something new to me actually - I wonder if it only applies to CA/SAs or it is true for Malawi cichlids as well.

onli to CA as far as i know....about malawi ...i dont know,neber kept them before, after all this topic is about CA, do a google probably will get you your answer on malawis

[RazorBlade]

Originally Posted by ari

onli to CA as far as i know ... after all this topic is about CA

Yeah, you're probably right. Haha, sorry for going off-topic.

Originally Posted by ari

about malawi ... i dont know,neber kept them before ... do a google probably will get you your answer on malawis

Off-topic, but I'll reply anyway:

I've remember reading about "Males losing colour after breeding" some years ago (in Cichlid Forums I think) - did a Google on it at that time but turned up irrelavant stuff only.

Anyway, IME Malawi cichlids are MORE COLOURFUL when they have females around. No females - the male turns a duller colour. I have not encountered males that "lose their colour" due to pairing/breeding. I have noticed that males "turn a duller colour" when the female(s) are removed from the tank.

[yogigan]

aiyo no female what for the male show color. In my younger days with this spp. I also noticed that when there are female the male tend to be more intensed in color.

SEX is important ma

[Bocourti]

I don't see the color of my breeding pairs fade. In fact, breeding pairs color up.

If you like to see your CA color up as beautifully as in the pictures....try putting them in a green(algae) water tank for a month- don't need to feed them very expensive pellets.

I find that Spectrum pellets color up my Festaes and Fenes faster, but does not have much effect on the Bocourtis and Pearsei.

BTW, most of my CA were bought from CC(Joe).

[ari]

Originally Posted by Bocourti

I don't see the color of my breeding pairs fade. In fact, breeding pairs color up.

If you like to see your CA color up as beautifully as in the pictures....try putting them in a green(algae) water tank for a month- don't need to feed them very expensive pellets.

I find that Spectrum pellets color up my Festaes and Fenes faster, but does not have much effect on the Bocourtis and Pearsei.

BTW, most of my CA were bought from CC(Joe).

green algae water?...wow ...first time hearing this.
guess i have to throw out what ever i have learned about PEDIGREE and donkeys do actually could be made to race at the Kentucky Derby.
Festaes and Fenes will colour up faster than most , even if you are feeding cracker jacks. Bocourtis and pearsei will take alittle longer, about a year for their true colour to finalise...only then you will know what you have, a donkey or a race horse and no amount of green algae water is gonna change that.

it must be understood ..that to have a quality cichlid you must start off with a quality juvenile, not just any juvenile but the best from a particular spawn. sad to say, unless you are the breeder, its very hard to get such fishes. the best option is to get the best from an allocated batch, and from there you do your selection.
for example...i bought 7 juvenile Blackbelts from cc a few months back, they are all good quality... months later i have only 1 left...the best from the 7. no point having 7 since i do not have space nor the intention to breed them. you have to make the decision from the onset...are you keeping this cichlid as a showfish or a breeder? if its a show fish, then they will never be allowed to set eyes on a female...ever.

if one has bred CA cichlids long enough...they would know most females will turn black during breeding and in most cases it would take a long time for them to regain their former glory if they ever regain at all.
for the males...if you have taken photos of one before breeding, during breeding and after breeding , then you can tell the difference.
Most CA cichlids are easy to breed and having sucessfully bred any of them doesnt make anyone a master, infact its a waste of time ,effort and money. we dont need to flood the market with surplus homebred cichlids, as it was one of the major reason why the cichlid market folded the last time out. give breeders like CC a break guys, after all , its only a hobby to us.
but for those who had never bred them before then it could be a learning experience, once you had your fun ..then stop.
have to admit thought i tried breeding Pearsi about 5 years ago...without sucess, guess i would give it another try, providing CC could hand me some good fishes...so Taikor CC...got ah?
dont worry hor ...i practise culling lar.
btw...wan to RE-BUY the blackbelt you sold me ,,,since you always say you dun have big fish for sample?....hahaha..bery chun one hor, dun worry lar, i wont tekan the price 1 lar.

[Bocourti]

Hi Ari,

I agreed that if you start with a good quality fish (as breeder), you do tend to get good quality fries.
Are those the blackbelts you bought from Joe? If they are, they pretty good looking...second only to the batch Joe brought in years ago from Jeff Rapps.
As for the green algae, try it.....especially if the CA colors faded. It works for me at least.
Breeding female turning black.....based on my experience so far(which is not alot), almost all turn white and black except Bocourti and Melarunus. But then maybe I am wrong. Anyway, what I wanted to say is that even after breeding, I don't find the breeders to have their color fade. in fact, I find their colors brighten up. Well, at least, my breeding pairs do.
Breeding CA is easy?! How about you passing me some hints and pointers, please...hints and pointers to breeding Argentea, Regani and Bocourti? Not having much luck with these chaps. Well I guess breeding CA is easy, once a pair is found.
Joe brought in some Pearsi a few months ago. I think about the same time as the Blackbelts. Not sure if his farm had started producing Pearsi.

BTW, which CA have you bred?
Cheers