A picture of my fish
- Thread starter KenyiGirl
- Start date
A
Kenyi, that's is a nice looking girl! I love her blue hue... I imagine she isn't a Wal-Mart fish 
Please, tell me more about your tank and such, I love talking cichlids
By the way, I've been in the cichlid biz for about 3 years now. I raise/sell Afra Cobues and Red Zebras mostly. Also in me tank, I have a male Red Eureka, a pair of yellow labs, and George, the pleco.
ETA: That might not be a female after all... he/she is much too young to tell yet. Most juvies stay blue for before becoming sexually mature.
Please, tell me more about your tank and such, I love talking cichlids
By the way, I've been in the cichlid biz for about 3 years now. I raise/sell Afra Cobues and Red Zebras mostly. Also in me tank, I have a male Red Eureka, a pair of yellow labs, and George, the pleco.
ETA: That might not be a female after all... he/she is much too young to tell yet. Most juvies stay blue for before becoming sexually mature.
LOL Angel Chicken!
Well I was told that they should have their color all figured out by the time they're 2 inches. But that could be wrong information, a lot of pet store employees don't know a whole lot about the animal they're selling
I only have the one Kenyi for now, she's in a 10 gallon tank along with a chinese algea eater. I will get more when I get a larger tank.
AC: how did you get into the cichlid biz?
Well I was told that they should have their color all figured out by the time they're 2 inches. But that could be wrong information, a lot of pet store employees don't know a whole lot about the animal they're selling
I only have the one Kenyi for now, she's in a 10 gallon tank along with a chinese algea eater. I will get more when I get a larger tank.
AC: how did you get into the cichlid biz?
peacocks can take an awefull long time to color up
(peacocks are different from many of the africans in terms of color, they are THE most spectacularly colored of the cichlids, but they take an awefull long time to mature, ive seen show specimines that their poeple have told me didnt start coloring up untill they reached full length!)
another problem with peacocks is if there in a tank thats too active or theres a highly dominant male in the tank they will not always color up to full potential.
so take stock of who youve got him in with and see if mabe a nw group helps...
most of my guys are in the 2-3 inch range and there starting to color nicely, my big boy though and king of the tank is a red shoulder whos about 4inches and getting some stunning color on his shoulders!
the one i cant wait for though is my dragon blood, they are one of the longest to color up and hes just now at almost 4 inches starting to get some nice red on his cheeks...
i know the feeling, the peacocks are definatly not cheap!
(peacocks are different from many of the africans in terms of color, they are THE most spectacularly colored of the cichlids, but they take an awefull long time to mature, ive seen show specimines that their poeple have told me didnt start coloring up untill they reached full length!)
another problem with peacocks is if there in a tank thats too active or theres a highly dominant male in the tank they will not always color up to full potential.
so take stock of who youve got him in with and see if mabe a nw group helps...
most of my guys are in the 2-3 inch range and there starting to color nicely, my big boy though and king of the tank is a red shoulder whos about 4inches and getting some stunning color on his shoulders!
the one i cant wait for though is my dragon blood, they are one of the longest to color up and hes just now at almost 4 inches starting to get some nice red on his cheeks...
i know the feeling, the peacocks are definatly not cheap!
A
Since Kenyi only has one, a 10 gal will be fine for now.
Yeah, Kenyi... Pet Stores peeps are newbs, trust me on that :lol-sign:
There is no real general rule of how to sex them this early on, unless you vent them. Venting can't really be done unless you have a confirmed male to compare to. You can also wait for them to color up, but that generally takes longer.
Anywho, Rob (my SO) actually got me into cichlids. I had talked of wanting a new hobby and he mentioned how cool they are. I looked into it, and bought my first Kenyi a few months later. I made the mistake of getting 4 kenyi's and putting them into a VERY (less than 5 gallons) tank together. Rob told me they would be fine... well, they all got killed by one of the males. I ended up getting a 30 gallon from a newspaper ad, and starting all over. A few months after that I asked Rob to get me a bigger tank for my birthday. I put my male Kenyi into the new 55 gallon tank, and he died a week or so later.
So, I started all over, re-cycled the water, and bought 4 red zebras and some yellow labs. A few months later, a good fish pal of mine decided to quit the cichlid biz, and gave me a whole slew of Cobues for a very cheap price. I've been doing them ever since
Yeah, Kenyi... Pet Stores peeps are newbs, trust me on that :lol-sign:
There is no real general rule of how to sex them this early on, unless you vent them. Venting can't really be done unless you have a confirmed male to compare to. You can also wait for them to color up, but that generally takes longer.
Anywho, Rob (my SO) actually got me into cichlids. I had talked of wanting a new hobby and he mentioned how cool they are. I looked into it, and bought my first Kenyi a few months later. I made the mistake of getting 4 kenyi's and putting them into a VERY (less than 5 gallons) tank together. Rob told me they would be fine... well, they all got killed by one of the males. I ended up getting a 30 gallon from a newspaper ad, and starting all over. A few months after that I asked Rob to get me a bigger tank for my birthday. I put my male Kenyi into the new 55 gallon tank, and he died a week or so later.
So, I started all over, re-cycled the water, and bought 4 red zebras and some yellow labs. A few months later, a good fish pal of mine decided to quit the cichlid biz, and gave me a whole slew of Cobues for a very cheap price. I've been doing them ever since
well that's pretty offensive. I have a Bachelor's degree in zoology, and guess what - after I graduated, I went to work at a pet store (later to manage it). Our staff was filled with vet students and others working towards degrees in Biology or Zoology. I instituted a rigorous educational program where every employee was drilled in pet care.
I could tell you that most pet store customers are idiots that refuse to believe anything you tell them, would rather spend $5 on a weak broad spectrum antibiotic that likely will do nothing for their pet rather than take it to a proper vet, that routinely ask "what's the cheapest dog food you sell" but that would likewise be offensive to pet store customers everywhere.
Just because you've run into some real winners at the pet store doesn't make them all worthless, just like I KNOW there are good pet owners out there, even though I was constantly bombarded with the losers.
I could tell you that most pet store customers are idiots that refuse to believe anything you tell them, would rather spend $5 on a weak broad spectrum antibiotic that likely will do nothing for their pet rather than take it to a proper vet, that routinely ask "what's the cheapest dog food you sell" but that would likewise be offensive to pet store customers everywhere.
Just because you've run into some real winners at the pet store doesn't make them all worthless, just like I KNOW there are good pet owners out there, even though I was constantly bombarded with the losers.
A
I should have rephrased myself. I meant like Petsmart and Wal-Mart employees, not your "normal" pet-store people... Big Box pet stores. They are eeeeevil. Sorry to offend you
I had a Pets Mart employee tell me it'd be perfect to put 15 cichlids, 10 of which were of aggressive, in a 30 gallon tank. Ya... riiiight. It seems like they just tell you this junk so you can go back and buy more when all your other fish are dead.
I had a Pets Mart employee tell me it'd be perfect to put 15 cichlids, 10 of which were of aggressive, in a 30 gallon tank. Ya... riiiight. It seems like they just tell you this junk so you can go back and buy more when all your other fish are dead.
In my experience Walmart, Petsmart, and Petco employees don't know a whole lot about the fish they're selling. We don't have any small pet stores here that I know of, so I just take anything the employees tell me with a grain of salt. Then I go home and do a little research of my own online or from a library book
very pretty fish. I would love to have a nice big fish tank with some nice fish. But I need to do some reaserch before that.
I have never worked in a petstore before. But I was in there the other day, buying some feeder fish for my pet turtle. when a family came in wanting another goldfish for their tank. the children were so happy. The employee asked how she could help them and they pointed out a large GF. She asked what other fish did they have, how big, and how big the tank was. The ank was a 20 gallon I think, and they already had 4 or 5 (they were not sure how many as one may be hiding in the flowers/caves when they count...) she says she can not sell them a fish. When asked why she explained that if they have so much decorations in there, plus 4 or 5 fish at 3+ inchs when full grown that the tank is much to small. The dad thanked her and didnt buy the fish, the children were sooo upset. Luckily he said he would get them a much larger tank soon. I just wanted to point that out that not all pet store people are terrible. this girl seemed very fish knowledgable and I even told her how glad I was she did that and didnt just sell to make a sale.
Then I bought my 12 feeders. andjokingly said, dont worry, I have a 50 gallon tank, which is too small for all those fish to live, but Mike the turtle will take care of that. and that he did, he is a piggy lol.
oh it was petsmart
PS sorry for such a long story
I have never worked in a petstore before. But I was in there the other day, buying some feeder fish for my pet turtle. when a family came in wanting another goldfish for their tank. the children were so happy. The employee asked how she could help them and they pointed out a large GF. She asked what other fish did they have, how big, and how big the tank was. The ank was a 20 gallon I think, and they already had 4 or 5 (they were not sure how many as one may be hiding in the flowers/caves when they count...) she says she can not sell them a fish. When asked why she explained that if they have so much decorations in there, plus 4 or 5 fish at 3+ inchs when full grown that the tank is much to small. The dad thanked her and didnt buy the fish, the children were sooo upset. Luckily he said he would get them a much larger tank soon. I just wanted to point that out that not all pet store people are terrible. this girl seemed very fish knowledgable and I even told her how glad I was she did that and didnt just sell to make a sale.
Then I bought my 12 feeders. andjokingly said, dont worry, I have a 50 gallon tank, which is too small for all those fish to live, but Mike the turtle will take care of that. and that he did, he is a piggy lol.
oh it was petsmart
PS sorry for such a long story