First time Vieja Syn/Fene

[chrscap]

Hello everyone, just joined this forum and there is a lot of vieja pictures and information on this site, even made me pick up a couple of fish. I just picked him or her up about 3 hours ago, 3 inches, any idea if its a male or female? They said its a synspillum strain and this was the most colorful and head potential out of the tank (flash washed out most of colors). Also I have 3 fry Fenestratum about 1 inch each.

In your opinion, which strain is more value Syns or Fene? color? head potential?

Thanks for looking!

 

[thor meeki]

Welcome to MFK
Nice pick up.

 

[orbit]

Hello everyone, just joined this forum and there is a lot of vieja pictures and information on this site, even made me pick up a couple of fish. I just picked him or her up about 3 hours ago, 3 inches, any idea if its a male or female? They said its a synspillum strain and this was the most colorful and head potential out of the tank (flash washed out most of colors). Also I have 3 fry Fenestratum about 1 inch each.

In your opinion, which strain is more value Syns or Fene? color? head potential?

Thanks for looking!

Welcome to MFK!! Lots of fun here! I would have to say Vieja is maybe, maybe my most favorite genus of cichlids. Maybe... LOL

The fish in the pic does look like a Syn which is an excellent fish. Depending on where you're at is dependent on how "rare" a strain is. I have never seen my local get Fens before. However I have seen lots of Syns..

As for value? Buyer choice I love both of them but have never had a Fene so that to me would be more of a value. As for the head potential? I assume you mean nuchal?

If so, neither will get a large nuchal, especially if its female. Males will get one but its pretty minor. Still both excellent species! Congrats.

Oh and post a pic of the Fenes!!

 

[chrscap]

the last fry pic is a fenes, I bought in a local auction, tracked him back to the father where he got from a reliable wholesaler. Won 6 for $12, due to tank breaking, I was left with 3

The 3" Inch syn is from a LFS about 1 hour away from my house I got for $15

Both strains look very alike, how can I tell apart from Syn and Fene? And is my larger one a syn? and is it a female?

 

[orbit]

They're still to small to sex unless you vent. Search them each and you'll see the difference as adults! 1st and 2nd pic look like Syn.

 

[chrscap]

thanks

 

[Jason_S]

I disagree...I don't think that fish is synspilum...even at a young age true synspilum usually do not have a black lateral line running the entire length of the body. the black lateral line starts at the tail and usually is only half the length of the fish or less. if the 2 options are only syns or fene then I'd say the 3 pics are of fene's but there's always the possibility they could be bifasc as well. both bifasc and fenes have a black lateral line that runs the entire length of the body.

 

[orbit]

I disagree...I don't think that fish is synspilum...even at a young age true synspilum usually do not have a black lateral line running the entire length of the body. the black lateral line starts at the tail and usually is only half the length of the fish or less. if the 2 options are only syns or fene then I'd say the 3 pics are of fene's but there's always the possibility they could be bifasc as well. both bifasc and fenes have a black lateral line that runs the entire length of the body.

I thought that when they are juveniles they have a fading lateral line... Just looked back at the pics above and see that the line is longer...

Heres a link to some http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210151&highlight=synspilum

 

[Jason_S]

I thought that when they are juveniles they have a fading lateral line... Just looked back at the pics above and see that the line is longer...

Heres a link to some http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210151&highlight=synspilum

ok here's my thing with the fish in that link...at the end the poster makes the comment "not bad for a couple of $4 fish". only way I can see he got those for $4 is from an lfs which most likely got them from a fish farm and not someone like Jeff Rapps or anyone comparable. That means, to me, that most likely the fish he got are some sort of synspilum/bifasc hybrid just like pretty much any "red head" cichlid you'll find at an lfs unless you know for a fact where they came from.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing the fish at all...just pointing out that I don't believe them to be pure synspilum. I had a pure synspilum that i know for a fact came from Rapps. I thought I still had a pic on my old webshots acct but I don't. I'll look when I get home on my home pc and see if I can find some that I can post.

 

[chrscap]

3 frys in not worried about because the seller i got them from is really anal about mixing strains, the bigger one is the one im a little worried about because im looking for pure syn. His line does look like its fading after the gill area and see area colors of red in the head, yellow bottom/tail area and blue veins in face area and top of line.