# tilipia Flava



## cornbread_5 (Oct 2, 2007)

i am looking for this species of tilipia from west africa , I believe it from lake bermin . Does anybody have this species at all or knows somebody with the fish .I am really interested in getting my hand on the fish and learning more about this fish, thanks in advance


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## Randall (Jul 2, 2003)

Hello cornbread,

Indeed Tilapia flava is one of the dwarf Tilapia species endemic to Lake Bermin in Cameroon. The species is discussed in Lamboi's book, "The Cichlid Fishes of Western Africa," and in two "Cichlid News" articles.

I've never encountered T. flava in the hobby, but that doesn't mean that it isn't out there somewhere. Of the Lake Bermin Tilapia, T. snyderae is the most commonly found species in the hobby.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn


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## cornbread_5 (Oct 2, 2007)

yes i have T. snyderae and for the most commonly found species that tilipia is hard to come by , i have been able to get it on to occasions, the first time from mainly cichlids all the way in cali and the second time the current pair i got on sunday from an auction. As far as tilipia flava u can not find no info on it on the internet , i have Anton Lamboj book that is the only reason i have some info about the fish and know what it looks like, what other articles of the species u have found so i can see. I have a couple of vendors online had it on there stock list but are all out now and have been for a while


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## Randall (Jul 2, 2003)

If memory serves, Claudia Dickinson wrote an article concerning the Lake Bermin Tilapia that was published in the January 2007 issue of "Cichlid News" magazine. One of the references cited in her article was George Barlow's book, "The Cichlid Fishes: Nature's Grand Experiment in Evolution."

I'm suprised to learn that Tilapia snyderae is hard to come by. Members of the North Jersey Aquarium Society produced so many that they couldn't get rid of them. My LFR in New Jersey, for one, has had a tank full of this species for the past two years.

Randall Kohn


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## cornbread_5 (Oct 2, 2007)

yeah i had six the first time and they were aggressive , i mean they would pair up and not breed, i do not know why i could not get them to breed, also i had zillii and my lfs store got them breeding like rabbits and mine would lay eyes but no fry so maybe it is me or something, i was able to breed hemchromis elgonatus and have so much fry i do not know what to do with it. but in anton book that is the best looking tilipia to me


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## duaneS (Aug 31, 2006)

Same with T. bythobates here in Milwaukee, after mine spawned and were given away, fry were everywhere, and we couldn't give them away.


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## cornbread_5 (Oct 2, 2007)

hey well u got anymore T. bythobates i will take some , and bythobates is very similar to zillii and syndare hard to tell apart especially from syndare , the only difference i know is that one gets bigger then the other


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## duaneS (Aug 31, 2006)

I don't have anymore, but, there may be some some in the LFSs, I'll check next time I pass thru.
And you're right, at the same size, I can't tell bytho from snyd. 
My bythos grew to @ 7" though, which I think is much larger than the snyd get.
Couple old phone shots.
















You may want to try putting a want ad in gcca.net, I took a bunch to their auction in Chicago last year.


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## cornbread_5 (Oct 2, 2007)

are they as aggressive as syndares


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## cornbread_5 (Oct 2, 2007)

here is a pic of the tilipia flava


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## duaneS (Aug 31, 2006)

The bythos weren't bad when not spawning, but just after courtship they had a pair of 9"-10" Etroplus suratensus pinned in opposite corners of the tank. And after a later spawn in another 100 gal tank, they were able to raise a number of fry to "on their own" size among much larger cichlids.
By the way, the flava in the pics above look very similar to "non" dominant bythos. I found when kept in a group the bythos were fairly bland in color, but as a pair with different species, or a pair on their own, they colored up nicely.


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