African Cichlids Direct NZ

02/07/2025

A couple of the young male peacocks and haps I have separated to see how they turn out. Sometimes putting them in these small tanks really helps them pop.

03/06/2025

Tried to film my tang(ish) tank in the dark tonight in an attempt to show the colours of the Firefox. It just made the fish skittish.

Cool to see the jullies breeding well in here.

20/04/2025

Been a while since I posted anything. Been pretty busy so haven't been doing an awful lot with the fish still breeding stuff but not much. Spent the day out there the other day and moved some stuff around so just sharing some photos of my favorite yellow ob. Love the colour and fins of this guy. Hopefully create some more!

02/09/2024

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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.