Why are there so many ID may Africans posts?

[riley699]

especially when the fish can get eating in your tank

 

[Muske]

Frosty you are lucky....

Most shops I've been to only have Common names on the tank. My LFS is good at ID so he knows what he has and labels them properly.

 

[straitjacketstar]

I've been to like 2 or 3 shops, out of dozens, that label their fish correctly. Many I've been to don't even label them at all. Some try and fail. Like last night when I went to an LFS and found a tank full of yellow labs being sold as "Msobo - orange turn purple". They don't care a bit that they have a tank full of yellow labs labelled "electric yellow" right nearby. They probably thought themselves "I don't see a difference" but hey if that's what they ordered them as, that's what they're gonna put on the label.
Another bit I thought was funny, when I asked how much they were asking for their Paratilapia/Black Diamond/Polleni/Bellekeri cichlid (just to cover all the name bases, just in case) they throw a curveball and say "That a jaguar cichlid! $44.99!!!".

 

[Cichlidsanders]

My LFS labels them Assorted African Cichlids...

Same here its very seldom that I find cichlids labeled at my LFS.(Ha local I have to drive 80 miles into Utah to find a "Local" fish store)
Sometimes they get enough of one breed then they will put up a label, but from time to time they label them incorrectly.

 

[Otherone]

I think I'm statring to get the bigger picture;

We're lucky in SE PA to have the store That Fish Place whom are responsible to the hobbiest.............and those not in SE PA are fortunate to have the experience of those whom call themselves MFK's

 

[Pharaoh]

Well said.

 

[nuggets]

people ask because they dont do there research before they buy

 

[Marius]

Just curious; @ my LFS all fish have labels on the tanks both in latin and common as well as a brief description for care and color. The reciepts they give us have both latin and common names on them - hell they even label the bag. Is this not common?

I don't usually buy from Pet Smart but do have 2 locally and I know they are the same as above - labeled. Granted I have seen assorted Africans
labled but they don't usually look pure of strain, mostly hybrids.

Right now with juvi Protomelas, (Empress, Steveni,Tawain Reef) fireline mloto, xmas fulu, hippo point salmon, bicolor 500, and a redshoulder,
I'd be pulling my hair out trying to figure out whats whats and the odds of someone ID'ing all those juvi's appropriately from an in tank picture are slim to none. I'm not saying it's not possible just improbable.These fish are an inch long.

Granted I've been a South American fish person for many years and it wasn't until the last 3 years I started getting into the African Rift lake fish. The enormity of this class of fish is staggering both in species and apperience. Usually what I do is walk thru the fish store; write down the species names and google them before I buy them. This way I have some kinda idea whats in my tank and what kinda care the fish will require.

After I choose the fish I save the reciept because my memories just not good enough to remember things like joanjohnsonae or polystigma or tropheops right from the store. Then I write down which fish went into which tank and re-read my notes til' I'm comfortable knowing which fish is which.

One of my friends has no-clue. He's like the hunter from Jurassic Park calling his species Elvis or Fryer Tuck. He buy's fish at random and usually fish that change color from yellow to blue or visa versa then calls me and says whats wrong with fryer tuck he went from yellow white and black to all black. Well he isn't a he - She is a female Auratus being moody. I don't even want to get into Elvis and Crew cut. Not sure why after years as an aquarist he's still like that.

Honestly tho; I'm yet to buy a fish that was marked inappropriately by our LFS but I do know if they screw up I can take it back. I'm not trying to bust anybodies chops or be-little anyone for buying unIdentified fish , I'm just curious how this happens and perhaps how it can be rectified.

The biggest problem is with Lake Malawi, as the diversity in species is not accompanied by a substantial morphological diversity as well. You have similar "general" traits in the main groups of fish that occupy the Lake Malawi biotope: Haplochromines and Mbunas.

Now, to complicate the matters a little further, there are Haplochromines endemic to Lake Malawi, Lake Kivu, Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika...

Are you smiling yet?!? The Haplochromines of Lake Malawi are divided into: Utaka, "open water" variants and rock dwelling variants (aulonocara, smaller haps etc). Now, to make your face even more Joker like, there's more than 800 different species in Lake Malawi alone.

The real problem comes from the farmers, wholesalers, retailers and irresponsable fish keepers. The vast majority of the people out there just go for "the color", regardless on the type of fish, what's their spawning behavior, minimum tank requirements and so on. There have been so many variants added to the existent ones already: man made strains through captive breeding selection, or pure and simple irresponsable fish keepers and farmers that have marketed hybrids as pure fish. There have been entire debates on the subject, but what one sees in a retail store as "Assorted Africans" is at best, pond raised fish that they have no clue what their name is, or hybrids in most of the cases.

It is good at least that some people try to identify and learn more about the fish they buy and keep. Here's where responsable fish stores, fish breeders and forums like this come into play. I for one feel happy to help anyone unaware of the traits of the fish he or she just bought in the hope that their next step will be to research their buy more in the future, or try to educate themselves and their kids on the subject.

 

[MoFish78]

people ask because they dont do there research before they buy

you're not always gonna have time to do research when you see a fish at the store that you like especially if it's something that stands out bec of it's beauty.
many fish stores label them incorrectly and some of them put different species in the same tank.
i personally pretty much know how malawis look like or if they're mbunas etc...but bec of the many kinds, sometimes you end up getting one that's not very common and this site is also helpful when it comes to ID'ing them....i guess that's part of the research...asking people here.

 

[deadman]

the blame rest entierly on the consumer. if folks would read up and know what they are looking for and only bought what they knew for shur, most wouldnt happen, then folks buy from idiots on aquabid. and the consumer is also to blame for believeing the seller as most of them need to make a buck , there isnt alot of money in cichlids so every sale counts even if its a hybrid. impulse buying. im shur the fish store has a book that should cover it, oh yea that requires work.