New German Reds

Picked up this pair tonight

WOW! Beautiful fish!

Thanks! The Males about four inches near as I can eyeball, and the female's a little smaller, definitely wasnt the biggest they had but had the best color. This is probably the last set of fish I'll put in the tank till the acei's get bigger and I can isolate the dominant male, if anyone is interested in one or both of the other males let me know, probably going to keep all the females but may be able to let one go... don't get me wrong they're all beautiful, but I've got fears about having three larger males in the tank...
I love these peacocks, they really add some different color to the tank!

Dam that is nice.
I'll be watching the forum to see when you complain about them breeding like labs and needing to sell some! Or did you get them locally?

I picked them up at a local LFS... still have yet to find a local breeder, seriously is there a secret handshake or something?!

Lol, it's funny you mention labs, I've got a batch of fry I strpped about two weeks ago lol

The advantage of living in the Metro, you actually have a choice!

I have to say I have a compliment and a complaint about this forum.

I have kept cichlids for about 2 years, and have to say I have learnt more in the time I've been on this forum, than in the rest of the time, mainly due to you rekindling my enthusiasm to learn more....but there comes the down side, and my complaint.

The more I learn, the more I NEED a second bigger tank, so I can set up a nice African tank for all the varieties that I didn't know were available.

I've had tanks on and off since I was really young but have only recently gotten back into it, in planning the tank I knew I wanted cichlids. Ironically oscars, considering one died within a few days of bullying by a midas, and one traded a few months ago because the tank I had at the time was too small for him and I didnt want him to suffer or eat the other tank mates... however, they were a gateway to africans, specifically malawi.. though i doubt this is uncommon.
I will say it's way different when you're paying for them haha, I'll never go back to goldfish thats for sure... Koi pond maybe but I have to get out of the rent race -ps F you bob luvell!

My point without rambling is in the past few months I've been keeping a tank again I've upgraded to a larger tank while keeping the smaller tank active as a nursery, so I completely understand, this hobby is dangerous like pokemon, gotta catchem all!
(I feel shame for making that reference but had too...)

Nice fish...
Broached the subject of larger tank with the wife. Not even in the realm of possibility for quite a while....

Those are nice fish . . . but NOT German Reds. He looks more like a sunshine. Probably a stuartgranti maleri strain. Which I suppose, if it is from a chipoka line that had been selectively bread in Germany, technically could be a "German Red". However, he is nowhere near red enough to be considered, in the hobby, a true German red. Not even really red enough to be considered a rubescens. There is, however, no doubt that it is a fabulous looking fish, show quality even, just not under that name. Having said all that, I wouldn't mind having him in my setup. . . he's THAT nice.

Ya I had my suspicions also, especially after trolling the net a bit, no chance he'll get any darker? He's definitely still got a few inches to go before full grown, honestly I think he's gorgeous regardless, but I would like to get the name right >_<

I'd say that's about as dark as he will get. He may fill out a bit more, becoming more solid colored throughout the body. He will also likely get a more vibrant metallic blue in the face, but I wouldn't hold my breath for a darker red. I think he is awesome regardless of what you call him, but when you distribute fry from the pair, I would probably call them sunshine peacocks.

Agreed, he's already showing a pretty vibrant blue in the face, but the more the merrier I suppose. The male's already showing mating behavior towards the female so I'll keep everyone posted, who knows, might have a new batch of Sunshines soon

+1 Not German Reds (to much yellow)....Also not Sunshine (to much Red orange)I would guess German Red Sunshine hybrid. definitely a hybrid of some sort. To much yellow and red mixture there. Here are a few pics of what true German Red should look like at that size. These are pics from my tanks.

Wow... I like the hybrid!

I know, I know... I just committed a freshwater sin! That blue and yellow is stunning though.

Shank wrote:I picked them up at a local LFS... still have yet to find a local breeder, seriously is there a secret handshake or something?!

Keep workin on that hand shake and when you get it rite I'll let you pass through the sacred doors sell you some fish

etexer wrote:

Shank wrote:I picked them up at a local LFS... still have yet to find a local breeder, seriously is there a secret handshake or something?!

Keep workin on that hand shake and when you get it rite I'll let you pass through the sacred doors sell you some fish

LOL, I think the secret to the hand shake is the Benjamin hidden in the palm. Seriously though, I haven't found many people around that breed African's . . . other than mbuna (labs, zebras, etc.) I got out about a year ago and etexer is the only one in the area that I know of that actively breeds them. There may be more, I haven't really looked too hard. Now, if you are talking the DFW area there are some people out there that keep and breed them, but most of the fish trafficking is people trading fish around, but not necessarily "breeding".

I agree that the yellow orange combo is not common, but there are a few collection points that contain pure specimens that look like that. The "original" species that was line bread to get the "german red" color was one such fish. There are several color morphs in the stuartgranti maleri subspecies. One is the more red strain from Chipoka (sometimes called sunshine), then there is the more orange version from Chidunga Rocks(most commonly called sunshine), and there is the bright yellow version from Maleri Island (known as yellow regal). The A. Baenschi is also called yellow regal ocasionally, but is more commonly known as benga peacock and is a completely different species than the stuartgranti. Anyway, it is possible that your fish is a hybrid, but I still think it is a stuartgranti maleri morph. To be honest, the name "German Red, or Sunshine, or Dragon's Blood, or Ruby Crystal, etc. are all trade names that could be and are used for multiple species. To get to the root of what a fish actually is you need the "official" Latin name and collection point.

Lucky I'm in Dallas then!

Stickzula wrote:I agree that the yellow orange combo is not common, but there are a few collection points that contain pure specimens that look like that. The "original" species that was line bread to get the "german red" color was one such fish. There are several color morphs in the stuartgranti maleri subspecies. One is the more red strain from Chipoka (sometimes called sunshine), then there is the more orange version from Chidunga Rocks(most commonly called sunshine), and there is the bright yellow version from Maleri Island (known as yellow regal). The A. Baenschi is also called yellow regal ocasionally, but is more commonly known as benga peacock and is a completely different species than the stuartgranti. Anyway, it is possible that your fish is a hybrid, but I still think it is a stuartgranti maleri morph. To be honest, the name "German Red, or Sunshine, or Dragon's Blood, or Ruby Crystal, etc. are all trade names that could be and are used for multiple species. To get to the root of what a fish actually is you need the "official" Latin name and collection point.

+1 all very true