"Classic" Cichlids?

[Sab_Fan]

the ones I can never find are Blue Acara ... sure, I can find GTs any time, but I hardly ever see a. pulcher or a. latifrons anywhere but on-line ....

ditto for port acara (c. portalagrensis) ... I have two pair, but bought both on-line ...

 

[Otherone]

Last winter the Fish Farming industry was decimated in Florida due to extermely cold weather, it will take a few years for the fish farming industry to bounce back. Many of these farms were just plain put out of business by this event. Others had to start from scratch. I've read totals as high as 90% of all tropical fish sold domestically in the USA prior to this this event were raised in Florida. This may not explain why vendors shy away from certain stock in differing locals, however, it definately explains the depletion of available stock vendors have to choose from.

 

[fishguts]

i know my lfs use to carry them but now a new owner took over he just carries the bread and butter fish. when i buy my fish i usually order them.

 

[_Jessica_]

Ask! I have a good selection of these "classic cichlids" available to me, but I don't stock them usually. I'm more than willing to order in stuff, but tank space=money. If I can sell three green terrors before I can even sell one chocolate cichlid, I'm going to keep the green terrors there. I had half a dozen synspilum for about 4 months...I just sold the last one. I don't think any of the people that bought them actually knew what they were, they were just "cute" or whatever.

 

[peathenster]

if I were the manager of an lfs, I'd prefer to carry fish that:

- are attractive when young
- people would buy in larger groups
- won't kill off or stress out each other in my store
- fairly good retail value compared to wholesale

I guess that leaves mostly tetras, angels, cories, guppies etc....

 

[importracer]

i'm wondering why i don't see too many classic cichlids like blackbelts/chocolates/red devils in the stores i go to. besides the fact that i mostly go to petsmart, are these fishes still around?

Probably because most people now are aware of the sense less cross breeding and hybrids being traded in and sold at local fish stroes.........The internet is becoming more and more a place to purchase exotic and, frankly, regular tropical fish...........Sure the price is a little more, but the quality of a wild fish pays off in the end and the during...........

 

[darth pike]

Also, especially with cichlid keepers, you are getting people that want to collect instead of keep pets ... always searching for the rare stuff. So with the exception of a few common species like GT's and jags, most of the stuff that has been in the hobby a long time isn't trendy enough for these people.

- are attractive when young

And this is another problem with a lot of SA/CA cichlids, they take a long time to color up. 'Geophagus' brasiliensis and blue acaras both come to mind. They are plain and even down right ugly when small, at the sizes they come into pet stores at. Adults of both species are both beautiful though, but most people want that instant gratification, instead of waiting and growing stuff out.

 

[dogofwar]

Amen!

if I were the manager of an lfs, I'd prefer to carry fish that:

- are attractive when young
- people would buy in larger groups
- won't kill off or stress out each other in my store
- fairly good retail value compared to wholesale

I guess that leaves mostly tetras, angels, cories, guppies etc....

 

[dogofwar]

I think one of the best things that, for example, the ACA could do to promote the cichlid hobby is to make available free-to-use, high quality, properly labeled adult pictures of an array of cichlids.

LFS (and other vendors) could use the pictures to demonstrate the beauty of cichlids to prospective customers...without the kerfluffles that seem to constantly arise over vendors using pictures from the internet.

Matt

And this is another problem with a lot of SA/CA cichlids, they take a long time to color up. 'Geophagus' brasiliensis and blue acaras both come to mind. They are plain and even down right ugly when small, at the sizes they come into pet stores at. Adults of both species are both beautiful though, but most people want that instant gratification, instead of waiting and growing stuff out.

 

[Sab_Fan]

Ask! I have a good selection of these "classic cichlids" available to me, but I don't stock them usually. I'm more than willing to order in stuff, but tank space=money.

good idea, and tried this approach when I was trying to find acaras, but the stores I went to either wouldn't commit to placing the order, or took way to long to do it.

for example, I waited months for gymnos at my LFS, but only a few days when I ordered them on-line ...

I also paid a lot more on-line, so you weigh expedience against expense ...