bit of a mystery

[Neil N]

i hope your guys can help out someone in the UK, i have just bought some juvenile cichlid to grow on, they were supposedly all synspilum and black belts, however the biggest "synspilum" who is about 3.5" has a black band running the whole lenght of his body, and is only just sarting to colour up with a bit of pink on the gills and fins, i know its hard with out a picture but does anyone have any ideas, also how big should these guys be before they do start to colour up?

Thanx

[Rex Karr]

Coloring up at 3" is normal. But the fact that your fish has a long black bar the legnth of the body means that it isn't a synspilum, It may be a fenestratum of bifasciatus (or 10 others). I bought a 5" synspilum from a guy in my area (that means 40 miles away) last winter for $25. I got home and posted a picture of it on the web. Several people told me that it wasn't a synspilum because of the long black stripe, red fins, vertical bars when in an aggressive mood, and red patterning (as opposed to a solid color) on the head. Turns out it was a very nice fenestratum! I was dissapointed about not getting a synspilum but the fish I got was actually more rare and just as nice. I e-mailed the guy to let him know that it wasn't a synspilum. He said that he had kept synspilum for 20 years and that it was just young and didn't look like an adult. That guy was full of crap.

[madgamer89]

sounds like a good fish

[kbmackie]

I have one of those to. . The lady in the shop i bought it from didn't know what it was and had it down as just "cichlid" and gave me it for just 10 quid but i'm sure it is a Fenestratus. 5 bars appear when it's in an aggressive mood as Rex's does so i'm pretty sure it is.
Where exactly did you get them from as i am after a few more myself

[tomb]

This is my synspilum i have two small around 3 inch one got beaten an has no colour so i haven't shown it also because i'm not totally sure it is a synspilum the page www.freewebs.com/mytank/cichlidsamerican.htm theres also a few pictures of my green terror on thee its an info sight thats being built any comments on it sign the guest book! anyways the synspilums at the bottem so take a look mines startin to colour up its got loadsa gold pink around the gill head area and its getting dark spots on itsbody also its black strip has pretty much gone!:dance: :party: o yeh!

[ludwig]

synspilum,bifacti,and maculacauda(black belt)all take time to color up fully,maybe over a year but its worth the wait,black belts and bifactis like salty conditions.