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Are these cichlids still around?


malawi sand diver

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Sad to see some of the malawi haps not around any more that used to be common a few years ago - I doubt the following are here any more but happy to be told otherwise:

- Lethrinops Yellow collar

- Dimidiochromis Kiwinge

- Stigmatochromis Modestus

And I would have loved to have got some Taeniochromis Holotaenia a couple of years ago but looks like noone got spawns out of them.

I guess I will add Copadichromis Virginalis "Fire Crest" aswell.

 

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I'm pretty confident kiwinge has gone.  I did a pretty thorough search a few years back and followed every lead.  At that time a handful of males were about, but no females.

Stigmatochromis woodii and S. pleurospilus are about, but I haven’t seen S. modestus.

Yellow collar and fire crest have been around within the past few years – the Lethrinops in WA and fire crest in Victoria.  There is a chance they could still show up.

It will be sad if holotaenia has gone.  They are a stunner, with lots to offer the hobby. 

 

There are a few species that are still about in numbers, but I think are in real risk of being lost to hybridisation.  Malawi trout (many around are spilo hybrids) and electra (most I am seeing now have yellow dorsals) are two that come immediately to mind.

One mbuna species I’d love to track down is baliodigma.  I have “unfinished business” with that species, but I suspect I’ve lost my chance.
:(

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Hi Kathy

I think you are right about the Kiwinge. They were a nice fish, the ones I had were really agressive and maybe that's why people found it hard to keep them. The fry looked cool, had a greenish tinge to them.

The last modestus were in WA about 2-3 years ago, slim chance they may still be here but I doubt it. And the Holotaenia that came through the same time as the Taeniolethrinops. I got the Taeniolethrinops and bred a couple of hundred a year or 2 ago, but didn't get the Holotaenia but wished I had.

A lot of those cool fish were from Keysborough back then, where I also got the exos from. Had to feed them live food for a while to get them to eat when I first got them and treat them with medication.

The firecrest that were in NSW died out but good to hear they may still be in VIC.

P.S. My Lichnochromis Acuticeps trio I have (your fry) are doing well and are coming up to breeding size (one of my personal favourites). Am going to remove all the dominant fish from my display tank to get him to colour up and will post some pics on the forum in a month or so.

Rob

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Great to hear about the Lichnos, Rob!!  I adore those fish!!  In my mind they are the ultimate hap – the connoisseur’s fish.  They take patience, but that patience is sooooooo rewarded when they start to fire!!


I love the Taeniolethrinops as well.  I sort of got “tricked” into buying a group.  They were added to an order at the last minute to make shipping from Vic worthwhile and I didn’t do my homework properly.  I confess I hadn’t realised just how big they grow.  Gentle giants though, and I’m soooo in love with them.  The male, when he is spawning, is breathtaking!!!!  That massive dorsal fin, and the way they use it like a huge flag!  Funny how sometimes life’s “mistakes” work out so well. :)

 

I’m of mixed thoughts about the kiwinge though.  They are the species that took me to Malawi.  I had a single male we called “Buddy” in a mixed tank for many years. He was a firm family favourite.  It was losing him that sent me on the hunt to find more.  I had no luck.  Seeing a video of them in the lake sparked my interest in diving with them, and hence the trek to Malawi in 2014. 

Some of the most memorable moments of that trip where spent with kiwinge.  No chance whatsoever of me putting my thoughts into words . . . . those fish are bl++dy amazing.  I’m tearing up now just thinking about the spectacle of males defending the territories above their massive bowers.  Their movements (so fast for these big fish) churned up the silt so much that a permanent haze hung over the area.  I remember the surface of the water “boiling” as we pulled up to one dive site in the boat – a massive school of “lake sardine” being preyed upon from below by huge, lightning-fast kwinge.  Breathtaking!!!  And seeing what two of us were independently convinced was a male guarding fry with a female (a behaviour apparently not previously recorded) . . . . . just adds to the mystique of these awesome fish in my mind.


But having seen just how much room they occupy in the lake, and having witnessed some of the natural behaviours they exhibit, I suddenly feel rather uncomfortable with the thought of confining these majestic creatures to a small glass box.  That trip has changed my attitudes a bit as to what I’m comfortable to keep now.  Perhaps, just perhaps, it’s not that sad for that particular species to be lost to the hobby here?  Anyway – it just serves as a sodding good reason to make another trip to dive with them again. 

 

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OK Rob – now you've got me going again. I’m hijacking your thread.  And once I get going, watch out!!  Its essay time . . . . .

This is obviously a topic close to my heart. The situation with maintaining pure strains of cichlids in Australia has been a problem for decades, but it has become dire in recent times.  The advent of the internet has opening up the breeding and trading of fish between new hobbyists without the guidance of more experienced people.  The addition of further restrictions on imports has in effect closed our borders to fresh, quality breeding stock.  The growth of back-yard breeders more interested in producing volume that quality and the on-line sellers who have distributed those cheap, mass-produced fish throughout the country, has led to the decimation of some species.  The pressures of energy costs etc, etc is perhaps leading to a contraction in the hobby.  All of these ,and other factors, have led to the reality that we are losing species hand over fist. 

Yes, there is a small band of dedicated people who are serious about maintaining pure species, but they are thin on the ground, and there are a hell of a lot of species in need.  And lets face it, who really knows who has what?  Its sooooooo easy for species to fall through the cracks.  A species can be common one day, and 18 months later you look around and can find nothing but hybrid wannabes.  Don’t we owe a debt to future hobbyists to keep these species going and in good shape?

 

I know when this subject is brought up people often point to breeder’s lists on forums as the answer, but in my opinion they don’t work well.   They are positive in one respect – they do at least provide some visibility of who is keeping what.  But there is little visibility, and zero vetting, of the quality of people’s breeding stock, or of their breeding and management practices.  People new to the game have no way of determining what’s good, and what’s not.  And from a distance it may appear that a species is in good shape because numerous people are breeding it, but if they are all breeding from corrupted stock, then it gives the wrong impression of the “health” of that species.

 

I was going to rabbit on with a whole heap of other thoughts about the state of things at the moment, but for anyone who has read this far, I’m sure I’m just preaching to the converted.  Time to change tack . . . . .  perhaps a solution???

 

Unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky thoughts, I know, but how about imagining a true register of breeding groups of pure cichlids throughout Australia.  Imagine a register of breeders across all states, listing the accredited breeding stock that they hold, verified by knowledgeable people.  A comprehensive list, updated and audited on a regular basis.  Yeh – I know it’s an unrealistic proposition, but if it could be done, do you think it would it have value?????

 

I know that producing such a register has warts all over it.  It would require a hell of a lot of work to achieve.  It would put a lot of people’s noses out of joint.  Think about how you would feel if fish you had been keeping for years were rejected from a register because they didn’t conform to “type”.  Think of the problems of getting disparate groups actually talking to each other, let alone agreeing on a common position.  Think of the problems of getting clubs, forums, groups etc, all working towards a single outcome.  Even getting hobbyists talking about problems in particular species . . . . . .

 

But . . . . . if it was possible to get past all of the hurdles and produce a register which had integrity, would it provide added incentive for people to hunt out good stock?  Would it provide an easier road to finding pure fish?  Would it help identify species at risk?  Would it provide some kudos to some of the unsung stalwarts in the game, and encourage others to consider the value of truly contributing something positive to the hobby?

 

I believe that a model exists for such a register which could address many of the practical issues.  But for it to have any chance of being useful to the hobby long term, I believe it would have to have strong backing and support from hobbyist groups across Australia – the cichlid societies, aquarium clubs etc.  For inclusion on the scheme, breeding colonies would need to be assessed to ascertain that they were in fact of good quality, and that assessment process would require ongoing review.  For a system to be useful, people would need to respect the system’s integrity, and feel that there was prestige in being associated with it.

 

Sorry – but I’m going to be blunt here.  I personally think it’s well past time that specialist (and generalist) societies, clubs etc stepped up and started to take a real role in preserving species in this country.  Start being more than just an avenue for members to make a few bucks at auctions.  Start really doing something concrete about preserving the hobby of cichlid keeping for future generations. 

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Well said and your Malawi experience sounds amazing.

I like the challenge with the Licho's - they are not the easiest fish to keep and breed but they are my favorite. They have a lot of character also.

I create web applications for a living so it would be fairly easy for me to create a site that people could update.

e.g. Maybe by a representative of each cichlid society that is given a login.

something like cichlidregister.com.au

Then a representative logs in and updates the list. The list shows update history of each species and currently availability.

Columns in the list would be: Species, location, verfied by society, last updated etc.

Would help to keep track of what we have. 

Regards, Rob

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I've often thought about the list thing. Its a trade off adding too much data that people would need to update (get less data but more valid) or having something where anyone can update but get heaps of data. e.g. just a list of species with date updated and location. It would be an interesting excersise just doing the second one to start with and see what happens. and if someone adds junk into it i could just roll back the data.

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Have a look at the C.A.R.E.S. program.  I personally think that this would form a great model for an Australian register of cichlids. 

https://caresforfish.org/

The aims of the C.A.R.E.S. program mirror what I believe we need to do within Australia.  C.A.R.E.S. is looking to preserve certain vulnerable species in the hobby in a pure form in case they are lost in the wild.  We in Australia need to do the same with all cichlid species we have here – preserve them in a pure form, maintaining as much genetic diversity as possible, in case we never again have the opportunity to import them into this country.  Obviously in our case, this needs to cover ALL cichlid species, not just the C.A.R.E.S. listed species.

This organisation includes member clubs and organisations to help promote and coordinate the program.

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20 hours ago, intern1 said:

Have you checked WA I got mine a couple of yrs ago from there dont have them anymore

Hey mate, check WA for what, Kiwinge?

 

18 hours ago, 5uka said:

A register is a difficult but great idea!

Agreed it could become diffcult but the key to people actually updating it long term would be to make it as simple as possible.

One page with a list on it with species representative, suburb and one text field. Text field example:"I have an old pair of fish but they are not breeding, someone else take ownership" or something like that. Then the other person updates the species representative.

 

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Another problem is people seem to be so secretive about their fish! The result being that a list would not be comprehensive but I would hope their are plenty of keen breeders and lovers of this hobby who would want to get involved.

Perhaps a starting point would be to update the breeders list on this forum???

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Another problem is people seem to be so secretive about their fish! The result being that a list would not be comprehensive but I would hope their are plenty of keen breeders and lovers of this hobby who would want to get involved.

Perhaps a starting point would be to update the breeders list on this forum???

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So many keepers/breeders who are not on forums. So many who are not raising up spawns as shops not buying fry. Its a difficult project, but the worthy ones always are. The rare stuff around here is often kept in the hobby almost solely via the auctions we have a few times a year.

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