# Blue Johanni at petsmart really a Maingano?



## BRSmith (Dec 14, 2012)

I have mainganos. I need to get a few females and im pretty sure petsmart is actually selling them instead of the Johanni they say the fish are in their tanks. The issue is that the fish in the tank at petsmart are brown/gray in color and about 1.5 - 2 inches long. I cant find anything about the mainganos being this color at any point. Mine have always been black and blue even if some arent as dark as others they are still black and blue. Is this gray/brown color normal for stressed mainganos or something? Also, i cant vent them at the petstore and if i could i still suck at it, any pointers for trying to pick females from the store tank? Dont have many options to buy these and im not spending the money on shipping costs to order off line. Not for something i can buy in town anyway. Thanks for any help guys. *** searched my tail off for days before finally making this threat to ask this and cant find anything about it.


----------



## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Good Maingano are very attractive black and blue when little.

A fish called "Electric Blue Johanni" is a very common mass market fish, and usually seem to be hybrids thou sometimes Maingano might be sold also. This "Blue Johanni" is probably the "Electric Blue Johanni". Usually they are lighter than Maingano but color varies a lot, from light to dark. The pattern is usually somewhat sloppy. Females can get really washed out when they are bigger.


----------



## jcabage (May 29, 2012)

The fish at Petsmart are always questionable, especially with something like a maingano or yellow lab (very often if not always hybrid). If they are anything but blue and black, I wouldn't waste your money. I'm on the same hunt for some maingano females, but there's no way I would try to stock from a chain store.

Think of it this way, buying unreliable stock is basically taking on a problem (a fish you don't want and will need to rehome) as well as using money that could have been applied toward shipping good fish to buy something you don't want to keep. Maybe you could try to find a local breeder?


----------

