Any cichlids i could be looking out for?

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LogiBear

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Nov 7, 2015
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Minnesota
The MInnesota Aquarium Society auction is coming up in a few days and i was almost thinking of going for the first time.

I was wondering if anyone knows about any cool fish that could be there or any breeders who usually have nice cichlids. Im always open to switching out my stock for fish i like better, so if you have any ideas then you can say them without having to worry about what i have in the tank now.

I know a lot of you arent from where i am so i might not get much response, but just figured i may as well ask. Even if you arent you could still give a few names of fish that you have picked up in an auction.

Tanks i have are 75, 29, and 2x10 thant are currently set up. Not all suggestions have to be cichlids, but i like things with aggression/personality.
 
Bob Randall is one the premier breeders in that area, and always has excellent fish.
I don't know that he will be there, but if I were there, I'd be looking for his name on the bags. He almost always has fish spawning everywhere from Central Americans to Madagascans.
But there are many, many more from that area.
When my sons played hockey tournaments, I'd check those guys out along with Forest Lake pets.
I did a trade with him not too many years back for Paretroplus keener, and I believe it is one of the few Madagascan Paretroplines that could work in a tank as small as the 70gal range.
 
LogiBear said:
The MInnesota Aquarium Society auction is coming up in a few days and i was almost thinking of going for the first time.

I was wondering if anyone knows about any cool fish that could be there or any breeders who usually have nice cichlids. Im always open to switching out my stock for fish i like better, so if you have any ideas then you can say them without having to worry about what i have in the tank now.

I know a lot of you arent from where i am so i might not get much response, but just figured i may as well ask. Even if you arent you could still give a few names of fish that you have picked up in an auction.

Tanks i have are 75, 29, and 2x10 thant are currently set up. Not all suggestions have to be cichlids, but i like things with aggression/personality.
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I really like Cichlasoma istlanum and Nandopsis beani that's what I'm looking for at the moment there both really rare were I'm from, they may be common in the USA not sure, part of the reason I want beani so bad is the fact there ment to be really challaging to keep alive.
 
duanes said:
Bob Randall is one the premier breeders in that area, and always has excellent fish.
I don't know that he will be there, but if I were there, I'd be looking for his name on the bags. He almost always has fish spawning everywhere from Central Americans to Madagascans.
But there are many, many more from that area.
When my sons played hockey tournaments, I'd check those guys out along with Forest Lake pets.
I did a trade with him not too many years back for Paretroplus keener, and I believe it is one of the few Madagascan Paretroplines that could work in a tank as small as the 70gal range.
Click to expand...


Cool fish. Arent they supposed to be really rare and endangered?

I looked at the website and a lot of stuff is sponsored by Bob Randall, most likely the same guy lol. So idk maybe he will be there, as he seems to be pretty involved with it. Not even sure if i will be there but it seems like a chance to pick up some cool fish.
 
Jonnyakawombell said:
I really like Cichlasoma istlanum and Nandopsis beani that's what I'm looking for at the moment there both really rare were I'm from, they may be common in the USA not sure, part of the reason I want beani so bad is the fact there ment to be really challaging to keep alive.
Click to expand...
I havent seen them around here either. Good luck trying to keep them alive ool not sure how well i could do it.
 
About 3 years ago, I sent about a dozen young beani to the Minneapolis area, to a guy who is a MFK member.
I don't know if he had success with them or not.
My first pair died during a summer heat wave, but I had no trouble keeping and spawning them at all, once I realized they did best in cool water around 70"F, and removed heaters from their tanks.
They are the most northern cichlid found on the Pacific side of Mexico, so I theorized diurnal temps could swing quite drastically, holding water temps somewhere in the middle.
When my most prolific pair started spawning activity, the tank was at 68'F, a tank without a heater.
 
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duanes said:
About 3 years ago, I sent about a dozen young beani to the Minneapolis area, to a guy who is a MFK member.
I don't know if he had success with them or not.
My first pair died during a summer heat wave, but I had no trouble keeping and spawning them at all, once I realized they did best in cool water around 70"F, and removed heaters from their tanks.
They are the most northern cichlid found on the Pacific side of Mexico, so I theorized diurnal temps could swing quite drastically, holding water temps somewhere in the middle.
When my most prolific pair started spawning activity, the tank was at 68'F, a tank without a heater.
Click to expand...
.....and Haitiensis at 86F? Polar opposites?
 
Yes polar opposites, and this to me is not surprising. When you consider where beani are from, and where they evolved, on the northwestern slope of Mexico (almost temperate at high elevations), where nights are cool, and those waters flow down from the mountains, it is not surprising their requirements are quite different from a cichlid, from a Caribbean island where temps are stable, water stays warm (almost hot) and the sun bakes down like crazy 365 days per year.
I have also kept higher elevation live bearers from similar areas in Mexico, such as Xenotoca, and Zoogonatecia, and they also so best at temps in the 60s. Whereas those live bearers from Caribbean islands thrive in almost hot water.
 
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duanes said:
About 3 years ago, I sent about a dozen young beani to the Minneapolis area, to a guy who is a MFK member.
I don't know if he had success with them or not.
My first pair died during a summer heat wave, but I had no trouble keeping and spawning them at all, once I realized they did best in cool water around 70"F, and removed heaters from their tanks.
They are the most northern cichlid found on the Pacific side of Mexico, so I theorized diurnal temps could swing quite drastically, holding water temps somewhere in the middle.
When my most prolific pair started spawning activity, the tank was at 68'F, a tank without a heater.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that buddy very interesting to learn about correct temps ( in all honesty even lower then I had though, befor this post I had believed low-mid 70's), so much inaccurate misleading info on the Internet about these fish, always love to get advice from somone who has not only successfully kept but also bred the fish, thanks again
 
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