"So interestingly enough, Kevin from TUIC got back to me this afternoon and said there’s a ban now on the collection and exportation of all wild Cichla from Brazil and Colombia, so he said tems probably won’t be around for a while
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yep. sadly this is correct. Cichla in Peru, and Colombia are fully protected and banned from collection and exportation(legally). Brazil also has a similar ban. However we are still seeing small amounts coming out of Brazil. Nothing like the quantities we saw a up until a year or so ago. Likely until all of the already collected fish and permitted fish run out. The long term, well established exporters wont touch them. Some of the newer exporters are still risking it and other 'pop-up' exporters will continue until they are shut down and will pop up a few months later as a new company and try it again. it is like the old wild west down south lol. All of that said, to do it by the book and legally it will be a while.
As for temensis specifically, they all came out of Colombia & Brazil. The other countries they are known from (Guyana & Venezuela) have zero exporting companies in operation so we will likely never see them from those regions. Thats the official scoop on Cichla.
