The first thing I will mention is that you just posted picks of your male and new female from Rapps. The female you have also has a very long face which all of you are saying is not typical of a midas. To me if anything yours looks more like a cross then the one in this thread.
First off, your putting words in my mouth. I think your adressing TruMidasKing on that point and need to go back through the thread.
My female that I just recieved from Rapps is very slender and needs some power feeding. This is common when recieving fish from a distrubutor as they do not power feed their fish on most occasions. Also, females have longer snouts then males due tot the males broader facial structure. For me, it wasn't the snout that had me concerned, it was the lips. The lips are more pointed, but again I just told Ken(how I have texted back and forth) just to verify more with Dan.
I'm not in anyway saying yours is not pure because none of us can see DNA with our eyes and properly identify these fish. I think that most people will find that when they order any of the amphilophus from most vendors that are any size they are always slimmer and do not show many of the typical adult features. This is because they are not stuffed with food like most hobbiest do with there fish at home. They are fed just enough to grow and survive to cut back on tank maintence and tank space required to keep them. There's a good chance that the one your bought from Rapps (with the pointy face) and the one bought from Dan on this thread (with the pointy face) both mature into chunky midas females when fed more and given more tank space.
As for if Rapps purchases fish from Dan or not I do not know that but I certainly would not be surprised. If you look at both lists Dan often has rare fish listed about 2-4 weeks before Rapps and about 25-40% cheaper. This does not mean that he is getting them from Dan but it certainly is possible. Especially when some of them have the same collection points and are the same size. Why wouldn't Jeff order fish from Dan if he can get them in cheaply and still make money off of them and he is satisfied with the stock he is getting?
First, Jeff wouldn't order from Dan(atleast in this case) because he has his own breeding stock that "he" imported. All the Amphilophus on his page have been bred at his facility unless I am mistaken. Mo could probably vouch for that since he is friends with Jeff and has been to his facility. I intend to shoot Jeff an email anyway letting him know that the female I revieved made it ok and will make him aware thread so he can adress it himself. Dan has made one post, but it would be benificial if he would come on to adress the issue further.
Second, your confusing "longer snout" with "pointy face". My female has a snout appears longer because she hasn't been power fed like my male. Same would go with Ken's female in this thread. You even admited spoke on this in your post which makes perfect sense. However, females will always have a longer snout because that is part of the sexual diversity between males/females. However when you compare the end of the snout, more specificly the lips you see a dinstinct difference. My female's is rounded( U shaped) and the other is more pointed(V Shaped) which is what the others have been alluding to.
Third, next time when you descide to quote someone I suggest you make sure you quote the people speaking about the points your trying to dispute/discuss. I beleive TrueMidasKing is the one you should be quoting for the most part. As for Rapp's, his reputation is without a doubt the best of all the C/SA cichlid distributors. I have yet to see anything from Dan saying he sells his fish to anyone else, let alone Jeff. So unless I see that or Jeff admiting to receiving Amphilophus from Dan all should be considered hearsay.
OP: I think that is a great looking midas pair. Give the female time to mature and see if she meets your expectations. If not hunt down a different one for that brute of a male.
This I have also told Ken as we have been texting back and forth about our fish. I have advised him to wait and see what happens. They havle already spawned and he should have fry in a few days. Either way, he has had tons of offers from Flowerhorn enthusiasts wants Juggernaut. He will definently have some of them wanting his fry.
Now, lets stop derailing this thread. If this continues perhaps we can make a seperate thread concerning where Dan, Jeff, Conkel, and so on get their amphilophus and the physical diversities between them.
