# Black Acei?



## yhanavan (Sep 6, 2008)

Yesterday I visited a new fish store in my area, and I was quite impressed! I did notice something though that caught my eye, and now it's got me wondering. They had a tank with several medium sized aceis. The photos I've seen of them on the forum show them normally being light to medium blue with yellow or white fins and tails. These fish were pure black with yellow fins and tails. Is there a black variety, or are these just unusually dark fish?


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## Joea (May 25, 2004)

There is a black variety. They are often referred to as Black Tanzanian. These fish have never been found in the lake and it's believed that they may be a man made strain. In other words, hybrids.


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## copasetic (Nov 26, 2007)

Black acie does occur in the lake. At the location Ngara. Ad Konings has many pics available of them in the wild. 
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=835

The line of black acie i have sounds just like you described at a young age.. The white fins appear yellowish in a sub adult form, and the body has no other coloring than black until mature.


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## Joea (May 25, 2004)

copasetic said:


> Black acie does occur in the lake. At the location Ngara. Ad Konings has many pics available of them in the wild.
> http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=835
> 
> The line of black acie i have sounds just like you described at a young age.. The white fins appear yellowish in a sub adult form, and the body has no other coloring than black until mature.


The black variant with yellow tails are not Ngara however. The fish are described as "medium sized" so I doubt their juveniles.

This is likely the fish that is being described.
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p120 ... zania3.jpg

The "Black Tanzanian" is not found in the lake. I noticed a recent flood of these fish on the market a couple of years back and asked Ad about them and while he states they are a nice looking fish, he agrees that they are most likely man made.


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## copasetic (Nov 26, 2007)

the "black tanzanian" form is just another pet trade name...
The line from Ngara is the line i have.. My top males fins are sooo white they appear to be under a black light. But sub dom males and females can show some yellowish to their fins. 
Even in ad konings photo's from Ngara you can see some with yellowish fins.


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## Joea (May 25, 2004)

copasetic said:


> the "black tanzanian" form is just another pet trade name...
> The line from Ngara is the line i have.. My top males fins are sooo white they appear to be under a black light. But sub dom males and females can show some yellowish to their fins.
> Even in ad konings photo's from Ngara you can see some with yellowish fins.


I think you may be missing my point. The _Ps_. sp. "acei" in that picture is known as the Black Tanzanian. Yes, a trade name (and an inaccurate one at that since no acei are found anywhere near Tanzania) but not one for the Ngara variant. This variant has become quite popular in Europe over the last few years and has popped up at several breeders and LFS in my area as well.

My guess is that it's an Ngara crossed with a Msuli and then line bred for colour.


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## copasetic (Nov 26, 2007)

That is my point that a true Ps.sp."acei"(ngara) will be listed as "black tanzanian" at petstores.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

copasetic said:


> That is my point that a true Ps.sp."acei"(ngara) will be listed as "black tanzanian" at petstores.


Not around here, they aren't.

I bought a good sized group of them labeled "Tanzanian" and kept them through maturity...Not a white mark in sight...Lots of yellow, though!

Here is a pic of my dominant male:


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## yhanavan (Sep 6, 2008)

Joea, the fish I saw did look much like the photo in the link you posted. They were labeled in the fish store just as "Acei"--no designation as Tanzanian nor Ngara. I guess I should have been more specific when I said they were "medium sized." They were all about 3 to 4 inches in length, so they may very well be juvies or sub-adults.

Thanks for all your input! I'm thinking of getting a couple of these. If I do, I'll try to post a picture here.


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## Ravenatnm (Mar 20, 2008)

Here are some pictures of my Acei's. I got them from a reputable online breeder. Mine are more of a navy blue. When I got them they were darker than this, but they are blueing up as they get older. They are about 4" now. This one is a holding female, she was the only one that would sit still.


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## Joea (May 25, 2004)

copasetic said:


> That is my point that a true Ps.sp."acei"(ngara) will be listed as "black tanzanian" at petstores.


I've never seen Ngara sold as "Black Tanzanian", only as "Ngara White Tail", especially around here where these suspect Black Tanzanians are quite popular. I suppose it really doesn't matter what someone labels them as in the grand scheme of things since trade names are entirely superfluous.

The fact remains that the fish described are likely to be the man made strain I've been talking about (of course I can't be sure without a picture) and aren't found in the lake.


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