Next Week - Come, See and Buy Cichlids Never Before Availab

[Dovii]

Finally have a bit of time to do some posting.

More cichlids will be arriving this Saturday.

I would not be at the shop, but will be home, preparing them for sale the coming week.

Most of these cichlids are selected because they are rare and I do not think that anyone will have the opportunity to obtain them here otherwise.

The Pinstrip Damba aka Paretroplus menarambo for eg, is found only in a small area in Madasgacar, and is now extinct everywhere else in the wild. The other two species (Paretroplus maculates & Ptychochromis sp.) are also threatened in their native land, and this is a good opportunity to get your hands on them.

For Simon and the others into dwarfs, your apistos have got to wait a while but I have two dwarfs, one from S. America and the other from Madasgacar.

Finally for lovers of the Dovii (not me, the fish [] ) the real wolf cichlid is coming too. Small and affordable now but destined to be the juggernaut of the cichlid world someday.

Maybe you guys should start saving up now?

Amphilophus lyonsi


Chuco godmani



Parachromis dovii



Caquetaia spectabile


Laetacara dorsigerus


Paretroplus maculates


Paretroplus menarambo


Ptychochromis sp.


Thysia ansorgii

[Cichlidae Medalodon]

Why don't I just move to singapore?!

[huaikong]

wah lao jason u sabo lah....so fast bring in fish and havent got time to recuperate.[] [] btw sorry for not turning up on sun cos been sick and sleep at my gf place whole day til night fall.and dovill here i cum.....!!!!


rgds

[lsz]

madagascar fish can bring in?

i think there is a lot of conservation efforts for them now.

[chris]

I want the lyonsi!!!
Very nice but see if I can fit it in first...

[Simon]

i quite like the colouration of the Laetacara dorsigerus

[huaikong]

bro not smuggle lah.mayb in some part of the world there r commercial breeding.u never know....


rgds

[lsz]

maybe we comment after we got the truth or we have some proof?

but yeah they are endangered and there is an increased awareness abt them now

[stormhawk]

dovii, haha, since u got the space why don't u try breeding the madagascar cichlids? by the way, aren't they protected by the CITES thingy?

[Dovii]

Here's my 2-cent's worth for those who are concerned about conservation efforts and CITES -

You can't list the Tasmanian Tiger on CITES, can you? Why? Because it is truely and completely extinct. Some of the Madasgacan and Victorian cichlids are already extinct too, but we should not conclude that it is harvesting for pet trade that had caused their extinction. Tanganyika, Victoria and Malawi and also Madagascar all have yearly yields of several hundred thousand tons of cichlids for food as well as pet trade, but the vastness of their biotops can cope with that, no problem at all.

But what they cannot cope with is the deforestation and introduction of the foreign species by man.
Victorian cichlids got eaten out of existence by the nile perch. The Madagascan cichlids got eaten up by the black bass and asian snakehead, and their breeding patterns were upset by the introduced tilapias.

Do you know why conserving these fishes are such a problem, as compared to that for the big cats for example?
Because their problem cannot be solved by setting up a game reserve and the banning of harvesting. These are not the real threats.

Banning the harvesting of these fishes is like putting a gazelle in a 10 by 10 cage with a leopard inside and then place the whole thing in lion invested savannah and then declare to the world that you have set up a protected area to protect the gazelle from lions.

Let's face it, reserve or not, banning harvesting protects the enemies of the cichlids more so than the cichlids themselves - the asian snake head, bass and perch all breed like wild fire, and out-compete the poor fishes in this respect. Since no fishing is allowed, the foreign species are also protected as they infest the same water bodies and we cannot single out who is who in such water masses without harming the cichlids too. Remember, in the first instance, the cichlids lost ground because they are fragile. If any large scale extermination process is carried out on their predators, they would be first to go. And their biotops are not a 10 by 10 concrete tank, but forest streams and water bodies with rocks, branches and fallen trees which could also provide sufficient hiding spaces for the cichlid killers.

From another perspective, it is not fair of us who are well fed, to talk about conservation and prevent harvesting and deforestation when we do not live there. Those Africans there live in proverty, and when you have nothing to eat, the last thing you care about is to protect some fish which are deemed to be endangered by some rich and well-fed 'do-gooders' who do not live in their countries. Eat them would be more like it.

From the above, it is apparent that CITES does not protect these fishes. Their future lies more in the hands of aquarists who promote them and get people to be interested in them as aquarium subjects and hence allow their genes to continue to exist and propagate in this Universe though captive breeding programs.

Witness the Pollini and Astatilapia of Madagascar and Victoria. Both of these fishes are extinct in the wild, but they are saved from true extinction by people who actively cultivate them and sell them as aquarium specimens. Now they are abundent aquarium fish and cheap too and what's more important they are not extinct!

So if you list the fish under CITES, what would happen - you would prevent the fish from being made commercially available as aquarium subjects, while in the wild, the snakehead can't read your CITES prohibitions; to them, the cichlids they encounter are just - food! food! food! Ultimately, you are the one that contributed to the demise of the species that you sought to protect through CITES.

Hence, for the sake of our beloved cichlids and their future, please read more, do more analysing and thinking and do not apply what the little you know across the board. This is good not only for the fishes, but generally for us as fish keepers as well.

And lastly, I have had to pay some $300 for a game and wildlife export permit for exportation out of the "enlighte

[Pacific_Flame]

Yo Dovii d=unch u have a Frontosa in 1 of ur tanks cos i tot i swa 1 in the photo

[Dovii]

yes, but I think it is a female.

[Simon]

jason, no prob.. we will wait patiently []

thanks anyway

[stormhawk]

dovii, relax a lil bit, it was a tongue-in-cheek comment. there's no need to get so worked up. anyway, how much are the laetacara going for? [:]

[lsz]

Just a thing to say about arowanas.
like said they are protected under CITES regulations. Commercial fishing/harvesting not allowed in the wild. Like said, this can only do so much..but in this case, the threat is largely from humans.

Commerical farming of them had been going on since early 80s, but most of the sizable farms in our region only got their CITE license from late 80s to mid 90s. Now there is no lack of arowana in the market due to all the breeding efforts, and the popular sales.

Arowana is fortunate...initially over-fished, now saved from true extinction and making an ever strong comeback. more recently, tagging of fish bred in authorised farms with microchips enforces it even more. There is a lot of awareness about their endangered status. There are untagged fish going ard the market selling at cheaper prices....but somehow with arowanas, people are very willing to pay more too. One big reason is that a certified fish has bloodline assurance.

Sadly, this cannot translate to all kinds of fish that are dying off in the wild right now. Animals too, for that matter.Pandas should disappear from this earth much earlier than some other animals... but human decided that they like pandas. So like arowanas. FOr those less favourable animals, too bad.




i agree strongly abt loudest voices coming from ppl who are most well fed.
someone sitting on his fat armchair screaming about protecting wildlife.

Someone sitting in his aircon room watching discovery channel..looking at wolves in the wild "Oh thats a beautiful alpha male! look at the cute pups"
To a farmer living there, this particular wolf pack may just be killing off the animals his livinghood depends on. It may even threaten the safety of his family.

WHen this wolf gets killed and its body hung on a tree as warning, all the overfed ppl will jump from their fat sofa and scream "cruelty to animals" "god save the wolf"

[Dovii]

Got the airway bill and other documents. Should be here tomorrow.

The lactecara I ordered 10 pieces. But the supplier left 9. Should not be more than $30 each, unless alot die in transist.

Going for my IPPT now. Sigh, hate this every year.....
Like LSZ said, wish I could sit on a cart and my canary dogs pulling them.bet it is like a breeze....

[chris]

HI Dovii... You really like big creatures.

[] [] []

[spilopterus]

Hey Cichlidae Medalodon, you could seriously consider coming over to Singapore. The government having this foreign talent thing. From the soccer team to who knows, government service itself, as long as you're not Asian, they'd love to have you join us.

Poor Dovii has to import more cichlids that way. Hey, the laeteraca looks like sheepshead acara. Is there a name for it other than the scientific one. You got any lobang for discus or not Dovii? Wild ones.

[Dovii]

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Hey, the laeteraca looks like sheepshead acara. Is there a name for it other than the scientific one. You got any lobang for discus or not Dovii? Wild ones.
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The common name of rhe Laetacara dosigerus is the Smiling Acara. The scientific name of the Sheepshead Acara is Laetacara curviceps. It is similar in body shape to its cousin, the dorsigerus, but not so colorful and looks like this:

As it should be obvious by now, I am not really into discus, only cichlids and even then, I like to bring in those that are difficult or impossible to get locally. No point competing with the big players in bringing in commonly available fishes, right? My friend who owns Japan Ranchu Palace do carry stocks of some very nice discus which he exports overseas though.
I don't think I dare to bring in wild fishes (not that I ever did, though). Scare of stepping on the toes of those conservationist wannabes. Might get flamed left, right and centre if I do, you know.[]

[Cichlidae Medalodon]

Actually, I am thinking of moving back to Japan. I was born there (okinowa), when my dad and mom (both american) were there in the military. We also visited S. Korea alot, so I am very familar with Asia. I might be going to Thailand this year, so I might travel over to singapore to visit for a day or two.