rich_one
Members
This is actually a little hard to do, but given my change of heart, it is nonetheless necessary. I am sorry in advance for the long post. But I do feel all of the info in it is important... so bear with me? Thanks.
I have a bonded zonatum pair. I literally do not know how to sex these fish, so I really do not know which is the male and which is the female. Unfortunately, the two times they have laid eggs the past month, I did not witness the actual act. That said, I believe the smaller one is the female, and the larger one is the male. A pic of what I think is the male can be seen in this thread:
http://www.capitalcichlids.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10983
A little history:
The smaller one (for the sake of this post, lets call it the female), I got from Dan Ye Jennings. She is about 7" give or take. She was not cheap, and is a high quality fish. She actually is one of my two favorite fish in my entire collection, to be honest. But she is not a good community fish, and will harrass any other fish, even if it is bigger than her, ime. She did get along with my oscar, but she had zero fear of him, and had no problem challenging him, despite him being quite a bit larger than her.
The larger one... the "male"... I got about a month ago, give or take, from bloo. He is about 9" give or take. Another high quality fish. They bonded within hours of him being added to the tank, and have laid eggs twice. No successful spawn yet, as they have eaten the eggs... but they are already behaving as if they are going for round 3. Must be the water. Go figure. When not in breeding mode, these two fish are BLUE. Of course, they've been in breeding mode since they have been together this past month. Despite the female being one of the favorite in my collection... I have decided to let her go. She has found a mate, and I do not wish to separate them. However, over the past month, I have discovered that I'm just not into the whole "one pair to a tank" thing. Admittedly, I simply have become bored with them.
As you can see in the thread that I linked to above, there was some question as to whether or not the male was a zonatum, or a hartwegi. Please note, no "expert" has confirmed to me, that he is a zonatum, and not a hartwegi. I have come to the conclusion that he is a zonatum on my own, simply by observing him in my tank, and seeing him next to the female, which I know for a fact is a zonatum. In my opinion, they look nearly identical. So I am just adding this as a "full disclosure" kind of thing.
Both of these fish are very healthy and thick. They are bruisers. You must have a minimum 125 gallon, 6 ft. tank, for me to even consider selling them to you. I will only sell them as a pair, so you need to be able to handle that, because they will NOT play nice in any attempt to put them with a community, unless you have a HUGE tank. They will defend their nesting site with vigor... eggs or no eggs!
While I do not expect to necessarily get what I paid for them in total... I will not take low ball offers either. I'm not desperate to sell them. I just want to move in a different direction, and I will proceed with that, but not until these fish find an appropriate home. This is not first come, first served... this is best setup for the fish, first... combined with best offer, second.
Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to let you know what you were getting, and be clear on the terms. Please PM me offers, along with a description of the setup you plan to add the fish to. Pictures of your setup are appreciated and preferred.
Lastly, the tank they are currently in is being changed into an all male Malawi tank. I will consider appropriate trade offers, that get me closer to acheiving that goal as well. I will also consider a HOB refugium for a 75 gallon SW tank, that is complete with pump and light, and in nice condition. I may consider other things as well, so PM me if interested, and we can discuss. If you've actually hung on and read all of this... I thank you.
-Rich
P.S., almost forgot... I'd prefer pickup, but can bring to November meeting, if I must.
I have a bonded zonatum pair. I literally do not know how to sex these fish, so I really do not know which is the male and which is the female. Unfortunately, the two times they have laid eggs the past month, I did not witness the actual act. That said, I believe the smaller one is the female, and the larger one is the male. A pic of what I think is the male can be seen in this thread:
http://www.capitalcichlids.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10983
A little history:
The smaller one (for the sake of this post, lets call it the female), I got from Dan Ye Jennings. She is about 7" give or take. She was not cheap, and is a high quality fish. She actually is one of my two favorite fish in my entire collection, to be honest. But she is not a good community fish, and will harrass any other fish, even if it is bigger than her, ime. She did get along with my oscar, but she had zero fear of him, and had no problem challenging him, despite him being quite a bit larger than her.
The larger one... the "male"... I got about a month ago, give or take, from bloo. He is about 9" give or take. Another high quality fish. They bonded within hours of him being added to the tank, and have laid eggs twice. No successful spawn yet, as they have eaten the eggs... but they are already behaving as if they are going for round 3. Must be the water. Go figure. When not in breeding mode, these two fish are BLUE. Of course, they've been in breeding mode since they have been together this past month. Despite the female being one of the favorite in my collection... I have decided to let her go. She has found a mate, and I do not wish to separate them. However, over the past month, I have discovered that I'm just not into the whole "one pair to a tank" thing. Admittedly, I simply have become bored with them.
As you can see in the thread that I linked to above, there was some question as to whether or not the male was a zonatum, or a hartwegi. Please note, no "expert" has confirmed to me, that he is a zonatum, and not a hartwegi. I have come to the conclusion that he is a zonatum on my own, simply by observing him in my tank, and seeing him next to the female, which I know for a fact is a zonatum. In my opinion, they look nearly identical. So I am just adding this as a "full disclosure" kind of thing.
Both of these fish are very healthy and thick. They are bruisers. You must have a minimum 125 gallon, 6 ft. tank, for me to even consider selling them to you. I will only sell them as a pair, so you need to be able to handle that, because they will NOT play nice in any attempt to put them with a community, unless you have a HUGE tank. They will defend their nesting site with vigor... eggs or no eggs!
While I do not expect to necessarily get what I paid for them in total... I will not take low ball offers either. I'm not desperate to sell them. I just want to move in a different direction, and I will proceed with that, but not until these fish find an appropriate home. This is not first come, first served... this is best setup for the fish, first... combined with best offer, second.
Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to let you know what you were getting, and be clear on the terms. Please PM me offers, along with a description of the setup you plan to add the fish to. Pictures of your setup are appreciated and preferred.
Lastly, the tank they are currently in is being changed into an all male Malawi tank. I will consider appropriate trade offers, that get me closer to acheiving that goal as well. I will also consider a HOB refugium for a 75 gallon SW tank, that is complete with pump and light, and in nice condition. I may consider other things as well, so PM me if interested, and we can discuss. If you've actually hung on and read all of this... I thank you.
-Rich
P.S., almost forgot... I'd prefer pickup, but can bring to November meeting, if I must.
