[DwightIris]

Greetings,
Just getting back into the beautiful Africans. Of course, now that my new 90 is up & running, it's not going to be big enough. Most likely within 6 months, I will go towards. 150-200 gal as my show & use the 90 as a grow out.

From your experiences, if you found or went with wild caught stock to fill a new show tank.
Is it worth it to try & find the more rare Cichlids & wild caught or stick with F1's ??

Also, Malawi Cichlids Canada, has anyone dealt with them? Or suggest any others that carry wild or rare stock?

Many thanks,
Dwight

 

[VElderton]

Hey Dwight,

Not sure what you are aiming for. I like the set-ups the Fish2Water have in New Zealand but that is a personal preference. For me choosing groups of fish that like different parts of the tank / habitats is also a preference. What's your goal?

Sounds like you have a great project in the works. When it comes to wild or F1 / F2, I usually go for F1 / F2 that way I have better chance that the fish are use to captivity, once again this is personal preference.

Having grow out tanks with isolation options is also great idea as the fish don't all grow at even rates and you can have a nice specimen that gets bullied and being able to isolate them is useful.

Hope this helps ... I have no experience with importing fish, never done that.

 

[rhennessey]

Just a quick comment on wild caught africans. Most of them if not all are threatened or endangered. The perch and collection have made it very difficult for them to survive in their nartural habitat so F1 or captive bred is the best way to go IMHO.
Good luck setting up the tank!
Russ

 

[DwightIris]

Thanks Russ,

When you say perch & collection?
Also, captive breed & IMHO?
From what I understand, F1 is like first generation, is there a way too tell the difference or is more of a $$ grab if your not connected?
Thanks,
Dwight

 

[VElderton]

Thanks for the conservation comment Russ.

It's easy to forget that when fish are caught in the wild there is a lot of by-catch which usually die and many fish even of types we are interested in die in the process. I don't think selective capture techniques are used often.

It's another key reason that I focus on captive bred fish from other hobbyists.

FYI: Your A. agassizii quad are doing well. I hope to add them to the SA biotope in another month or so I don't want them to get harassed by my full size male ...