I worked at a local fish store in my early 20's and had a guy ask to bring in some fish that came with a tank he bought. He told me they were cichlids but didn't know which one. I asked him how big they were and he told me about a foot. He then asked me how he should transport them. I told him in a bucket. He sounded hesitant and asked if I was sure that would be ok. I then assured him it would. Well he showed up about 20 minutes later with 2 huge synspylum/melanerum. Both face down in 2 buckets because they were too long to fit in nose to tail. Unfortuneately, the male was almost dead on arrival and the female didn't make it either. I measured the male after the guy left and it was just over 17". The female wasn't far behind. I had no idea they got that big. To the best of my knowledge, these were tank raised fish as well.
