Hi Liz,
Sorry, I went to bed shortly after posting
The ph here runs pretty high...8.0 is an average. As thoroughly as I check my water, ph is the one thing I don't check. Everything I have read says it's hard to control ph and like any parameter, swings will effect fish more than having less than ideal conditions.
I got a M/F pair in October, the female was holding already. She released her fry without me knowing...I found two and put them in the nursery. Those two are around 1" to 1-1/2" long now. They had another group recently, but they're pretty tiny still.
The L. fuelleborni are the biggest group I have...they're the fastest growers too. They are all about 1-1/2". To me, they are a gorgeous fish! They're are sort of peachy/orange with blue splotches or stripes. The Dad is a Marbled Cat...pretty rare. There are some marbled fry, but I can't tell male or female yet. The adults are around 5" and very docile.
The electric yellow fry are gorgeous! But, I have to admit, I don't know for sure if they are pure. She was in a general Cichlid tank and, well, accidents happen
They are very pretty even for fry, but not sure what will happen as they grow.
The others I don't know much about. I bought the Red Empress at a swap meet auction and the other group, I don't even remember what they are lol. I can contact the guy I bought them from and find out.
The Maylandia and L. Fuellerboni have been in my 55g Comminity tank for the last couple of weeks. I like acclimating them to community life for awhile before giving them away or releasing them into my Cichlid tank.
You're welcome to the two Maylandia, maybe a half dozen of the of the L. fuelleborni and if you are interested in the Labs, Red Empress or "mystery fry", just say so!
Since I haven't shipped before and would be very concerned that you might get dead fish, I would want to take every shipping precaution possible. We'll have to get others to chime in and what I need to do on this end to make sure your fish arrive happy and safe!
Take care!
