Blue Bar Buddy

[Scotty]

Hey Sgypsymermaid 8) I was about to be all over Seans Blue Bars on Aquabid until I saw it was you who placed the first bid :D I hope you get them! If you do, we have to trade some young'uns to strengthen the genes of both of our groups. I'm very exited for you, but have to ask. Did you buy a giant shoehorn, or have your apartment stretched :lol:

[SGypsyMermaid]

i actually bid on them to get the bidding going--but planned to trade fry with you in case i won--so we're on the same page. no--the space has not expanded--as a matter of fact, i was considering boarding them with you anyway!! :lol: :lol:

[SGypsyMermaid]

so scott--were the fish that you just got from tim the blue bars?

[Scotty]

Hey All- I was away most of the weekend. Hope everyone is doing well. Sgypsymermaid- Yes it was the Blue Bars that I received, finally :wink: They are awesome!!!!!! To make up for being late, Tim also sent me a mature trio of Pundamilla Nyrerei "Ruti Island". The male is an almost 5" monster, and is the most beautiful fish, freshwater or marine, that I've ever seen 8) Idefinitely need to take some pics of all my fish, and get them posted.

[SGypsyMermaid]

most excellent, dude!!! 8)

[SGypsyMermaid]

got my blue bars and some lethrinops sp. nyassae black fin from sean today. good-sized, healthy fish...happy mermaid! :mrgreen: :party: :mrgreen:

[Scotty]

Congradulations on your aquisition :party:

I think yours are still pretty small, correct? Wait until you see a full grown dominant male, it is one of the most amazing haps I've ever seen :shock: Sean has six more posted on Aquabid, and I think I'm going to pick them up to create a nice sized, genetically healthy colony of these fish.

Sean, thanks by the way for providing the article on these fish. Until I read it, my original plan was to put them in a 20 gallon by themselves. After the info you provided on their high conspecific agression levels, I decided on putting them into a 70 gallon tank that's loaded with small, active Tangs and Rainbowfish. The dominant male is still pretty rambunctious, but the tank is too large and busy for him to do much damage. The group is thriving, and two of the three females are already holding eggs. Thanks Sean!

Gypsy- I'm going to put some of my first batch of young aside for you to add to your colony also. Again, congradulations!!!!!!

[SGypsyMermaid]

yes--they are about 2 inches. they went into a crowded 70 gallon tank. for now at least. thanks for the fry offer. :D

[SGypsyMermaid]

scott--are you aware that tfh may 1980 and cichlid news jan. 1993 have articles on the blue bars? i don't know whether or not the back issues are available. :confused:

[Scotty]

My Goodness Gypsy- I've finally met my match as far as being a well read aquarist is concerned 8) Would you believe I probably have that issue of TFH buried somewhere? I'll have to check on the availability of the Cichlid News back issue. Of course, I'm sure that you'll post any good tidbits that you find :wink:

Hey I placed bids on the same two fish. Besides wanting to add to my Blue Bar colony, I also wanted to bid on the nyassae last time. I'm going to try them in with the Bloyetis. Are you keeping yours in with any Vics? If so, let me know how they're getting along.

[SGypsyMermaid]

LOL!! scott, i do a lot of reading, but i don't have those issues--i found the info on...you guessed it...a google search! :mrgreen:

right now, the nyassae are in the 70 gal. hap/utaka tank with malawi haps, vics, frontosas, and synos.

[Scotty]

You're a Googlehead :rofl: OK, change of plans, I'll share any tidbits I find with you 8)

[Scotty]

I made what I think is an interesting observation while watching my Blue Bars spawn yesterday. It was especially interesting in context with a comment by Sean that he only gets around eight babies per spawn with these fish. The male was "aggressively" eating every egg he could grab before the female :shock: I've seen a male occasionally do this, but never so enthusiastically. The female actually started forcing out four or five eggs at a time just so she could get a hold of a few. I'm wondering if not individually fertilising each egg is also resulting in some of the few eggs she managed to grab being infertile. My fish did not come from Sean, but after watching the spawning, I'm guessing my female is going to spit right around the same number of fry as his did. I'm going to let the female hold to term in the hopes that she's a better parent than the male :roll: I'll report back with the results..... Scott 8)

[SGypsyMermaid]

thanks for the info scott--i had no idea about this behavior. something to look forward to. :confused: my little ones are coloring up and already look beautiful--i can just imagine what they'll look like when they are grown-up. :lol:

[Scotty]

Hey All. Well, despite what appeared to be aggressive predation by the male, I got more fry than I would have expected. My female just spit out "27" healthy babies :party: . As soon as the group I got from Sean start spawning, I'll be putting together some genetically diverse groups of these beautiful fish, and making them available on Aquabid. This won't be until the weather starts warming up again. Gypsy- these babies are from my original group, and are completely unrelated to yours. I'd be glad to give you a few to add some new genes to your colony. Let me know....Scott 8)

[SGypsyMermaid]

you know i want 'em! thanks. :mrgreen: