African Cichlids Direct NZ

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African Cichlids Direct NZ

Auckland based hobbiest breeder of quality African cichlids. I am very passionate about the hobby and quality of fish in New Zealand.

Unlike many hobbiest breeders or fish keepers I don't breed in tanks were hybrids cannot be created.

19/08/2024

Tonight's mission is to upgrade some of the filters in the fishroom. Just discovered these bad boy big ass sponge filters which should do the job. A lot bigger than the standard ones I was using.

13/08/2024

A lot of people get worried about water changes. Some even say they are bad. Water changes are good. And easy!

This is how I do water changes on my display tanks over winter. 50% out of the garden hose and pour boiling water in to warn it up a bit.

Beem doing this for years and so far I haven't made any miso soup.

22/07/2024

Aulonocara stuartgranti 'Usisya', this one has caused a bit of a stir lately. There are a number of strains of these around passed on by breeders that I don't believe are right. Sometimes it takes a bit of digging and you have to make some hard decisions about keeping a strain going.

I am always questioning the fish and trying to learn more regardless of where they come from. This is because I am a fish geek and enjoy it and believe it is a responsibility of being a "breeder". Also in the interest of quality and the intention to spread good fish and keep them in NZ.

Video is of my fish purchased as usisya from an importer.

This link is also good for photos
https://malawi.si/Malawi/Haplochromises/Aulonocara/Aulonocara%20stuartgranti/slides/Aulonocara%20stuartgranti%20%27Usisya%27.html

And I reference Ad Konnings. Books - photos attached.

From the research I have done this should be an almost all yellow fish with rays of yellow going into the tail fin and a dark almost black dorsal fin. It is discusses in Ad Konnings book and appears they are collected from a few places in the lake Usisya, Chilumba and Hongi island.

Of course it is almost impossible to tell 100% but I believe we can follow some basic steps to get close.

06/07/2024

I know I should clean the glass. But I wasn't intending to film this guy tonight. I have just been struggling to capture him and he was out and about. Albino peacock of some sort looking good.

30/06/2024

Loving the jullies at the moment. I have kept these on and off for 20 years and still love them.

25/06/2024

Just got a bit of a food order from https://www.repashy.co.nz/

Just in case you were wondering what just over 17kg of it looks like. This is just to feed my fish and should last about 6 months if I only do 1 feed a day.

I got lazy and stopped using it for a few months. Started again and instantly noticed an improvement in the fish. This stuff really is the best food you can buy.

05/10/2023

Who doesn't like a good mbuna? Red top likoma male looking awesome. Always found the common name confusion when they have a yellow top.

26/08/2023

F2 stuartgranti maleri island male looking good. Unfortunately lost my f1 male but this guy can carry on where he left off.

16/08/2023

Everyone loves seaweed day! Even the dogs have figured it out. Good cheap fishfood. Buy packs of 100 from the asian supermarket.

11/07/2023

My Dimidiochromis compressiceps ob. Note the shape of these guys. They are almost back to the true eye biter shape.

11/07/2023

Azureus strutting his stuff. These guys have a very distinctive shape and colour.

11/07/2023

German red peacock showing his stuff!

31/05/2023

Reflections are terrible on this tank. D. strigatus. Interesting there are 3 coloured males getting along in this colony. Which I am closely monitoring.

24/05/2023

Aulonocara Stuartgranti Usisya or flavescent peacock.

Another species we are really lucky to have in the country. This colony has been really slow. But noticed them spawning this morning.

29/01/2023

Aulonocara stuartgranti usisya. Also known as a flavescent peacock. Been really hard to find real ones. And there seems to be a lot of hybrid ones being passed on at the moment. Look for a full yellow body and black dorsal.

12/01/2023

Another tropheus colony. This time red bishops. These guys are not naturally occuring. The exact origin of them is a bit of a mystery. Some say they are linebred from Tropheus sp. "Black" (Caramba) some say they are hybrids. We may never know. But wither way they are cool fish. As with all tropheus they are best in large species only groups.

09/01/2023

Tropheus duboisi breeding colony. Just over 20 fish. Only 2 males in there. If you watch until the end you will see the juvenile coloration which is completely different. These fry were bred and survived in this tank.

30/11/2022

Xmas came early for the fish. 4 more kg of flake food.

21/11/2022

These ones have been a bit of a long term project for me. Iodochromis sprengerae aka rusty cichlids. I managed to find a pair and get them. These are the resulting fry growing out to hopefully form a nice breeding group.

14/10/2022

When your dog decides to "help" you clean the filters..

05/10/2022

Aulonocara stuartgranti 'Usisya' also known as a Flavescent Peacock. It has taken me a few years to find some of these that I believe to be right. This guy is only young but I reckon he ticks the boxes.

27/09/2022

The colour on this ob peacock is pretty unreal. Trying to figure out which female to breed her with.

23/09/2022

Ob eye biters looking good!

17/09/2022

Small Sunday mission of adding a bit more filtration to the fishroom.

04/09/2022

Loving the red in the firefox colony. Awesome how it changes in different light. 🔥

03/09/2022

Vitamin day.. Once a week I add these vitamins to the fishes food. Following advice from a good article I read. My theory is that the fish don't get access to a lot of fresh food so it can't help to top them up a bit. This is all added to repashy because it's a really easy way to bind it together. Plus I feed a lot of repashy anyway.

02/09/2022

Really enjoying these empresses. I have found them hard to get coloured up in a mixed tank. But the big guys looking good. Sub dom male still hasn't found his place. Really distinctive shape and markings on these guys making them really easy to identify.

24/08/2022

German red under normal room lights. Still a young male so nowhere near full colour..

12/07/2022

Lwanda looking good tonight! The male is always hard to capture in this tank.

04/07/2022

Been a bit quiet lately but the fish are still going well. Even been progressing with the fishroom upgrade. Not seeing many good quality fish around lately so sharing a video of my flametail colony.

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Videos

A lot of people get worried about water changes. Some even say they are bad. Water changes are good. And easy! This is how I do water changes on my display tanks over winter. 50% out of the garden hose and pour boiling water in to warn it up a bit. Beem doing this for years and so far I haven't made any miso soup.

I know I should clean the glass. But I wasn't intending to film this guy tonight. I have just been struggling to capture him and he was out and about. Albino peacock of some sort looking good.

Loving the jullies at the moment. I have kept these on and off for 20 years and still love them.

Everyone loves seaweed day! Even the dogs have figured it out. Good cheap fishfood. Buy packs of 100 from the asian supermarket.

My Dimidiochromis compressiceps ob. Note the shape of these guys. They are almost back to the true eye biter shape.

Azureus strutting his stuff. These guys have a very distinctive shape and colour.

German red peacock showing his stuff!

Reflections are terrible on this tank. D. strigatus. Interesting there are 3 coloured males getting along in this colony. Which I am closely monitoring.

Aulonocara Stuartgranti Usisya or flavescent peacock. Another species we are really lucky to have in the country. This colony has been really slow. But noticed them spawning this morning.