Amphilophus Xiloaensis ?'s

Jason_S;3114755; said:

What I've been told about xilo's is that they stay slightly smaller, in the 8-10" range...but I've also seen posts by people who have xilo's that are larger. I'm of the opinion that xilo's haven't really been available long enough to determine exactly how large they can grow.

I've also heard that they are less aggressive than others of the red devil complex. In general this may be true, but I happened to get one mean SOB..lol. I got 4 from Rapps a couple months ago. They are currently in the 4-5" range and in a 125 with a similarly sized zonatus and a 10" oscar. One of the xilo's runs the tank. He doesn't really mess with the oscar but is not afraid of it either. He doesn't really bother the zonatus much but again, he's not afraid of it. The other 3 xilo's get chased quite a bit.

Rapps told me when I was emailing him back and forth before the order to decide which Amphilophus to go with that xilo's are closer to citrinellum in that they are more tall bodied, stockier fish. This was the ultimate reason I decided to go wth xilo's. That and Jeff also said they, along with Sags, give the most divergent color patterns in their fry.

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Good post!

I agree with your comments about size....... Not many of these fish have been raised to "whatever" full size is in captivity. I have two pairs which are already larger than they "should" have gotten.

Not to mention several species get larger in the aquarium due to constant food they just can't get in nature.

Edit: Oh and the fact fish max length are always SL when given by books, magazines, scientists while most aquarists on forums use TL instead, thus the fish will always 'seem' larger.

CCHHCC, Do you have a photo of your Xilo's at their present size? Would love to see them. Do they get any humpage to them? Is it the Xilo's or the Sag's that have that really thin body structure? What color are yours CHC? I thought I seen a pic of them in the past, are some of them like a lemon color? Would love to pick up some lemon colored, or orange with like a black face/trimmings on them along the upper back, tail, or fin areas.

RMac;3118200; said:

CCHHCC, Do you have a photo of your Xilo's at their present size? Would love to see them. Do they get any humpage to them? Is it the Xilo's or the Sag's that have that really thin body structure? What color are yours CHC? I thought I seen a pic of them in the past, are some of them like a lemon color? Would love to pick up some lemon colored, or orange with like a black face/trimmings on them along the upper back, tail, or fin areas.

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The sags have the thinner, more elongated body as they are more open water predators like zaliosum. Xilo's are stockier, taller bodied like citrinellum.

I'm glad to hear all the mentions of the growing larger, I'd love for them to grow into the 12-14" range. I'm also curious about the humpage. granted there aren't many pics of them on the net but I've yet to see a pic of one with a nuchal hump. I'd assume if they're built more like citrinelum that they would. I guess time will tell. I got mine at around 2-2.5" in late Feb. I believe and they're pushing 4.5" now SL.

darth pike;3118144; said:

Not to mention several species get larger in the aquarium due to constant food they just can't get in nature.

Edit: Oh and the fact fish max length are always SL when given by books, magazines, scientists while most aquarists on forums use TL instead, thus the fish will always 'seem' larger.

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Actually I would have to disagree with that...I think it's the other way around. Sites like fishbase and others, magazines, books etc generally give TL max sizes and I think it's more likely for a hobbyist to go by SL.
At least on other forums I've been on. I always use SL. To me, the tail is comparable to person's hair. If you stand 2 guys side to side, one with a buzz cut and the other with a tall afro, is the one with the afro taller just because of his hair? Some fish genetically will grow longer finnage than others of the same species.

Perfect example...long finned variants of species such as oscars. You take a 3" SL long-finned oscar and go by total length, the fish is going to be more like 6" but would anyone really consider that to be a 6" fish?

just my 2 cents

I always use SL as well, because the aquarium books and magazines do. I was very shocked when I came onto both this and another forum to learn most count TL instead. I agree with you, the fins even in the same species can be differant lengths. Plus they don't really add to the girth/bioload/mass of the fish.

Thanks for the information

my 14" 7year old F1 xilo

Nice! I guess that ends that little debate. lol

Xilos are Midas that goes to white. . I know the hobby and it's ppl that wants to find something new making it all complicated than it should be because they are desperate for more variety in pure breeds.

And personality depends.. Can't listen to one guy with one fish experience and base on that for all of them.