My CA and SA Cichlids

[Gage]

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930100.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930096.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930081.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930077.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930064.jpg

ill post more later, +/- comments welcome, and btw, this is my first post here :)

[James]

Nice photo's, tanks and fish look great.

James

[Gage]

thanx for the kind comments :)

[grumpystiltskin]

Hi Gage , welcome to the site,
How big is that tank, you have some tough agressive fish in there,
Ive kept the Texas cichlid before, great fish, very slow grower,
Are they green terrors in there with him? Its going to be an interesting tank if they start breeding :laugh: , perhaps you have all males !

[CACAdmin]

Beautiful fish. Great shots!:smile:

[Efish37]

Beautiful fish and tank!

[Gage]

haha, ya, my tank is over stocked, its a 90, i plan to get rid of a few, im big into flowerhorns, but i didnt post them because i didnt know if anyone on here is anti flowerhorn/hybrid. and the green texas is a female, and i think the green terror is a female, not sure about a few of them. thanx for the complements

[Melody]

It wouldn't matter if they were anti-hybrid/Flowerhorn or not. If they don't like them they can either keep it to themself or be seriously nice about it. Otherwise the reply will be tossed. If anyone wants to get scathing & nasty, they're in the wrong forum. We all like what we like and have every right to do so.

That said...lol...:Welcome: Thanks for posting the pic's - nice fishies!

You're definitly going to need more tanks or thin out your population. Keeping Cichlids is an art that requires a lot of research into temperament and environmental requirements before it can be done successfully. We do have some experienced Cichild keepers around whom I sure will give you a hand with that when you're ready.

Have fun!

[Wiedertäufer]

Basically people don't like flowerhorns because such hybrids make identifying similar fish harder and they can be accidentally bred back into other lines. Both of those reasons, though, are quite frankly bad biology on the part of the aquarist/breeder in question. Flowerhorns are a legitimate hybrid where they actually breed together and produce viable offspring that can reproduce. From a philosophy of taxonomy perspective though, I would argue that if two fish can breed and produce fertile offspring, the offspring are not "hybrids" at all. If anything, it's our definition of speciation that needs revisiting.

The only other bad side effect was the spike and drop off in demand that resulted in breeders releasing the surplus hybrids into the wild where they might not have existed in the first place. This though, is an issue that is related to disposal practices and the non-introduction of possibly invasive species.

In short, there's nothing wrong with Flowerhorns, even if some breeders have released them into the wild or because it gives purists a little bit of trouble with their identification of a given species-- if it doesn't result in drastically different colouration, defects, etc., the introduction of a more diverse genetics into a breeding line might only be beneficial. For more information, see biological texts on the concept of "hybrid vigor" or "heterosis". Such an introduction of genetic diversity can undo the damage of constant inbreeding that occurs with some species of fish.

[blainep]

Welcome to CAC !


Very good looking fish !

If you haven't thought of it this way before, hybrids occur in nature regularly. If they didn't, there would be very little diversity in species.

The only other argument is with dumping or wild release of hybrids. That's just human laziness.

[Gage]

It wouldn't matter if they were anti-hybrid/Flowerhorn or not. If they don't like them they can either keep it to themself or be seriously nice about it. Otherwise the reply will be tossed. If anyone wants to get scathing & nasty, they're in the wrong forum. We all like what we like and have every right to do so.

That said...lol...:Welcome: Thanks for posting the pic's - nice fishies!

You're definitly going to need more tanks or thin out your population. Keeping Cichlids is an art that requires a lot of research into temperament and environmental requirements before it can be done successfully. We do have some experienced Cichild keepers around whom I sure will give you a hand with that when you're ready.

Have fun!
trust me, if i didnt do my research into aggression, this setup wouldnt be working right now, ive even went to the extent of making it as natural as possible with lots of hiding spots and territories so each fish can stay in his house, it seems to be working, i would get more tanks, but being 15, and having only my room to fill, that just aint goin to work, considering i have a tank on every wall now lol. this is only one of my tanks. and thanx for the warm welcome

[Gage]

Welcome to CAC !


Very good looking fish !

If you haven't thought of it this way before, hybrids occur in nature regularly. If they didn't, there would be very little diversity in species.

The only other argument is with dumping or wild release of hybrids. That's just human laziness.
thats just my thoughts, never put them in the wild, but when in the aquarium, i see nothing wrong with it, and for example, all dogs are descendants of wolves, for any hybrid hater, think about that.

[Gage]

alright, here are my 2 flowerhorns then. i just didnt wanna start off on a bad note.

first, the one with no potential to be what flowerhorn keepers call Masterpieces, the ones that go for multiple hundreds/thousands of dollars. but i treat them all the same, its not his fault he aint as pretty as my other one. he "rules the roost", hes 100% the dominant fish in my 90.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/photoshopped.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930252.jpg

and now the grow out one with "too much potential" he could end up being worth some money some day, but i never plan to sell him, hehe

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930299.jpg
he thinks im goin to feed him, i felt bad so i ended up feeding him anyway
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930298.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930271.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930300.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930274.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930301.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/fish0930302.jpg

that little guy is my pride and joy, he was a once in a life time find cuz here in canada, flowerhorns arent a very big thing, so its really hard to find a nice one.

[blainep]

Good looking fish !

From the bits of tank in the picture, good looking tanks as well !

[Melody]

Intelligent insight - that's the kind of conversation everyone enjoys. I don't know a whole lot about Flowerhorns personally so its a great read for me. Thanks for the input!

[Slipstream]

Some nice fishies :yes:

[Wiedertäufer]

all dogs are descendants of wolves, for any hybrid hater, think about that.

They did genetic analysis of hundreds of dog breeds and found that there is one breed that shares the most genetic material with wolves, jackals, and coyotes. Zoologists believe it to be the closest thing we have to their common ancestor.

It's the poodle.:twitcy:

[Melody]

Somehow I just can't picture a wolf with her toenails painted and a pink ribbon in her hair :rolleyes: . Maybe someday they'll rebel and eat all masters who dress them up like dolls. :laugh:

[Gage]

i cant picture a dog with any of that either lol, thanx for the kind comments everyone.

[Slipstream]

I cant stand seeing dogs all dresses up like little barbies.. its so... i dunno.. SAD. :laugh:

[KnaveTO]

As the owner of a Staffordshire Terrior/Dalmation cross believe me I can't stand it when I see dogs all dressed up and over pampered like that... they are dogs... not dolls!

As for you fish... you have quite the collection and yes that one flowerhorn is a beauty. I have no issue with hybridization of fishes... I do hold issue with genetic modifications and dying of fish... but like any of us here... our debates and discourses are usually very Canadian... even mannered and polite... LOL

[Melody]

LOL I hadn't thought of it that way.

[Gage]

lol. i strongly agree, id like to shoot anyone that injects dye into fish, it sickens me like nothing else (except dogs fights and the like.) and thanx for the complement ::D:

[Mrs.JP]

I have to defend clothes for chihuahuas. Now some of it is taken too far, but a Chihuahuas coat does not have an undercoat, they will loss body heat and if they are not protected they can get hypothermia. I now a lot of people don't now this and it can be taken too far,and some of the other small dogs just don't need clothes. As you probably guessed I own a Chihuahua/MinPin X and I just got a chihuahua puppy,now I didn't know about the fur until I got my first one so I am trying to inform people when I can.

Now Gage beautiful fish they look well taken cared of. Cichlids fascinate me but I am also intimidated by them LOL. I've started with a few angles and a bloodparrot.

[Melody]

That's a very good point, I didn't realize that was the case. I should also mention that people dress their pets up and treat them like children because they love them and really, there are far worse things people do to animals and for far worse reasons.

Thanks for clearing that up Mrs. JP, and I hope my remarks weren't offensive.:smile:

[Gage]

I have to defend clothes for chihuahuas. Now some of it is taken too far, but a Chihuahuas coat does not have an undercoat, they will loss body heat and if they are not protected they can get hypothermia. I now a lot of people don't now this and it can be taken too far,and some of the other small dogs just don't need clothes. As you probably guessed I own a Chihuahua/MinPin X and I just got a chihuahua puppy,now I didn't know about the fur until I got my first one so I am trying to inform people when I can.

Now Gage beautiful fish they look well taken cared of. Cichlids fascinate me but I am also intimidated by them LOL. I've started with a few angles and a bloodparrot.
thank you for the kind comment, they are very well taken care of, not to brag or anything, my problem is overfeeding, i need to cut back the amount i feed. ill post some full tank shots ASAP.

[Gage]

heres a pic of the big boys tank

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/xmas2007086.jpg

and the grow out tank where the sal and flowerhorn reside

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w39/gmerrell/xmas2007085.jpg

[CACAdmin]

Very nice grow-out tank...lucky fish! (Grow-out tanks are often minimally aquascaped.)

[ellner357]

I really like that slate rock cavern you made them. Very slick!

[Wiedertäufer]

the grow out tank is absolutely fabulous. Great tank.

[Slipstream]

Nice tanks. :yes:

[Mrs.JP]

Wow great tanks. You should add the growout tank to the contest.

[Gage]

lol, im surprised i got that many good replys over my grow out tank, thanx guys! (and girls) its not quite finished yet though, i still plan on getting a couple pieces of java fern to finish it off.

[Gage]

I really like that slate rock cavern you made them. Very slick!
haha, my fish need a place to get away from that little flowerhorn lol