Tony G.

So i was talking to my LFS owner today, and she had a breeding pair of pink convicts. She thought they were parrots, so i talked to her about my FL friends who helped ID samson for me. She said that about 15 years ago, the Convict cichlids were very popular. The demand was so high they kept ordering more and more. Well, she told me that about 10 years ago, they were no longer available. She had 1 pair that she and her mother were trying to reproduce so they could bring the population back up. They no longer sell them.

Isn't it sad? The fact that there are TONS and TONS of ignorant people who dont care for these beautiful fish, end up killing them.

I asked her if they had had any recently and she said that they no longer have access to them, since they are so rare.

Who would've ever thought that a fish that reproduces like crazy, would end up dissapearing due to ignorance...

So i will never be able to have any. I had been looking for some, so now i know why i couldn't find any.

i just felt the need to express what i felt. If only others appreciated our pets like we do...

Red1313

I'm still trying to get over the fact that the Con's are both rare and having trouble reproducing....

Tony G.

no its not that they are struggling to reproduce, they dont last because of the conditions they are kept...

btate617

Tony if she thought her convict pair were parrots i would be careful what I believe coming from her.
Convicts can still be found in the wild. Although some places may not see them due to habitat loss or other reasons they are quite abundant in other areas.

Brian

btate617

I think I misunderstood.... you are just saying they are tough to find for sale in Mexico....

Tony G.

She was told they were, but she wasnt sure. I have lived in 2 other states and have not seen them. The striped convicts are the ones that are not common.
Today, at another Fish Store, i thought i had seen some. They looked just like convict fry only there was something off. Their color. They had ALL the stripes, but the blue color. They had clear/brownish color. I swear they looked just like them.

I think it also depends on the country. the US and canada have caring owners, once they notice one of their animals is an endangered species,they do everything posible to help it repopulate. Here things are not the same. nobody cares here. Its sad, but true. Whenever i tell someone what my hobby is, theyre weirded out, becuase they think fisha re just fish, and dont find anything interesting about them.

Here is a famous quote:
"'The greatness of a nation and its moral progress

can be judged by the ways its animals are treated"

~ Mahatma Gandhi'

Tony G.

heheheh yes

spider_pig

I have some relatives(a lot of my family) that lives in Mexico city. I think my uncle there has a fish tank. Basically you can't find a lot of the species you find in fish stores like canada and the US, which is very ironic because Mexico is one of the most bio-diverse countries for aquatic animals including many popular aquarium fish.

Good luck Tony, hopefully you'll find some cons soon.

btate617

Some of the coolest cichlids come from your neck of the woods.
Try and find a distributor Tony.

Brian

Tony G.

thanks
even if i find something hard to find, they most likely to not have a name for it...


i have heard there is a large distributor in yucatan. I will see if i can contact them..

thanks brian

just wondering, if you lived here, and you had access to some of our fish, waht would you have?
just wondered lol

btate617

First I would go for the holy grail of all cichlids....
Herichthys Labridens

Quite a few Mexican cichlids, but really anything from Central also would be cool.
You like firemouths, look for a Thorichthys species.

Amphilophus Robertsoni are super cool fish.
Vieja Hartwegi, or Vieja Godmanni or any Vieja species.
'Cichlasoma' Bocourti

Lots to pick from man. Find someone who ships fish from your part of the world for the fish trade.

Brian

Red1313

One idea if you're not sure of the fish native to an area is: www.mongabay.com they have a species by country database here.