# Trimac?



## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

Ok, so i bought these fish from the local pet shop and of course our pet shops don't write the names on the tanks to well or at all, i bought them cause they were a cute pair and were beautiful. They are only about 4-5 inches long (Babies)

But i just want to be sure, i hear this debate about flowerhorn and Trimac or something... 
Going to upload pictures very soon but ill give you a description.

They are like a silver colour with black dots running down its side starting from half way down their body and the dots are in a perfect straight line (Different shaped dots) they have a red/pink colouring under their "Chin" and around their head, and on their head have slight stripes, when i look with their light on i see kinda like a neon leopard pattern in their fins. And slight coloring (reddish pink dotish cool) Around where the dots also start and finish.
The tank is a little bare and they are housed with Tetras until i can find a nice home for them when the babies grow bigger...

Cheers!

~Ally :3


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

The water looks green, but that's the wall... Its a yellow. :$


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## m1ke715m (Jul 26, 2012)

looks like a vieja synspilum to me


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

m1ke715m said:


> looks like a vieja synspilum to me


And me.
Though I think the scientists now call em Paratheraps melanurus. But still V.synspilum in most of the hobby.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=105


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## Azedenkae (Apr 19, 2012)

Paraneetroplus melanurus nowadays. Yeah I know, frustrating that the names keep on changing. ><"

Anyways yeah, neither Trimac nor Flowerhorn.

Cute pair tho. And quite mellow in temperament (should be anyways). But quite a lot of personality.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Goodness I am out of date already.  
Yep fishbase agrees with you. http://www.fishbase.org/summary/26788
Guess many websites need updating. :wink:


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

Thanks guys, i am rather embarrassed as to people on facebook leading me on, i did however end up finding what it was, very beautiful they are!


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## Azedenkae (Apr 19, 2012)

Out of curiosity, is this people on some fish fb page? If so which un?  Cause I live in Brissie as well and I wanna know. XD


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

Do you guys know how long it takes for them to grow? Im trying to find a site that just tells me alot of info about them...

@Azedenkae Huh? Just some people on my facebook telling me what the breed was... :c


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## Azedenkae (Apr 19, 2012)

Oh, right. XD Nvm then, it's just there's some Brissie Fish Pages around on FB and some of them gives really, really, really, really bad advice is all. XD

As for info on 'em, try googling for combinations of 'Vieja', 'Paratheraps', 'Paraneetroplus' + 'synspilum', 'synspila', 'synspilus', 'melanurus' as many of the old info pages haven't been updated for a long time. Pages like this: http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/species.php?id=235

As for their growth rate, from what I've gathered if you feed 'em well and everything, they can reach full maximum adult size in 2 or so years. Or something.


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

Thanks so much!

I don't know much on some species but on others i do, i always like to try something new! Would be funny to see some of those pages .

It's like a fish shop told me, i can get a Dwarf Gourami and small Neon Tetras.. Turns out, the female liked eating their faces....


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## Azedenkae (Apr 19, 2012)

Ouch. ><" Yeah at that size they'll start eating stuff that well, they can fit in their mouth. Even if not yet they'd have gone for the little guys now they'd have some time in the future anyways. These guys grow HUGE. XD

But yeah same here, I've actually been sorely tempted to get Syns/Melas in the past, though I've always manage to steer away. I only have two 55 gallon tanks, and have no prospect of upgrading any time soon so don't really want to stuff 'em in too small of a housing. Which reminds me, what size tank are they currently in, and what are you planning to upgrade to? Eventually?


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

Im not sure how many gallons it is, i think its over 70 something. Im planning in the future to get a 300-400 gallon tank  But while they are small, they can wait ^_^


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

Also, my fish seems to love.. "Laying" On things or something.. Like the pot in my fish tank, my fish will lay against the top (inside) the pot... Normal?


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## Azedenkae (Apr 19, 2012)

Apparently so. I can't find the article anymore, but someone was documenting Syns and had one that did cartwheels and barrel rolls and all sorts of crazy maneuvers all over the tank (alongside with swimming upside down)... might have been three or four different articles there, but alas I can't find 'em again unfortunately. :/


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

One good tip for this sort of cichlid. Always have a cave or ceramic pipe big enough for the female to get in and not the male. Then when they fall out (and they will from time to time), she survives.

Kept and bred em in a 180g if thats any help.

All the best James


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

24Tropheus said:


> Goodness I am out of date already.


Not everybody has jumped on the Paraneetroplus bandwagon just yet. The Cichlid Room Companion has not...even though the study has been out for 2 years now. http://www2.southeastern.edu/Academics/Faculty/kpiller/pdfs/McMahan_et_al_2010.pdf

I beleive it is based solely, or primarily on this DNA study. And only on mitochondrial DNA, as the study claims CA are too closely related for nucleur DNA to shed much light on their ancestory. It apears to contradict morphology: Paraneetroplus bulleri being more closely related to numerous Veija species then it is to Paraneetroplus gibbiceps! The study did not sample Paraneetroplus nebulifer nor P.omonti, nor different regional variants of P. bulleri....... maybe that might give better idea on the precise relationship? Even a single hybridization event in the distant past could show a 'funny' relationship today. I doubt the exact relationship has been determined just yet; more studies will come.


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

Thats classic, mine only does it when it gets scared, look like its playing dead xD


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

24Tropheus said:


> One good tip for this sort of cichlid. Always have a cave or ceramic pipe big enough for the female to get in and not the male. Then when they fall out (and they will from time to time), she survives.
> 
> Kept and bred em in a 180g if thats any help.
> 
> All the best James


Cool! i don't have to get a huge tank 

Well *** got like terracotta guarden pots, but ill try to find some better hiding


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Ally.Jane said:


> 24Tropheus said:
> 
> 
> > One good tip for this sort of cichlid. Always have a cave or ceramic pipe big enough for the female to get in and not the male. Then when they fall out (and they will from time to time), she survives.
> ...


Well its kind of nice if the male has enough room to turn around. Rem he can get to 17". Seem to remember my male got to 20" and the female 15" but breed far far smaller. About half that size.
You may want to move em on before this and try a less tank buster like urophthalmus. Can be bred OK in a 75g.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

24Tropheus said:


> Rem he can get to 17". Seem to remember my male got to 20" and the female 15"


No doubt, they are a HUGE cichlid. Can have a body size similar to a dinner plate.....which by the way is only 10". Even my large cooking roaster is 16".....and a synspilum that long probably wouldn't even fit in a roaster that size because they are so deep bodied! I think 17" is probably more like a world record in the wild. 20" in aquaria, I would never beleive unless I actually see a pic with a measuring tape beside it!

Question was asked on MFK who has the largest? http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?410519-who-has-the-biggest-synspilum So far nobody has been able to show anything remotely close to 17" on the internet. Note Arapaimag's response in this thread. Many years in 15,000 and 52,000 gallon tanks. He's grown some huge fish in those tanks, yet only a couple synspilum got 14" and 50-60 in the 10-13" size range. But that is BIG. The distinction is that he's actually put his fish to the tape measure, as shown by video and pics in a number of threads......not just an estimate by simply eyeballing the fish.


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

Is their something wrong with this breed? 
Tank buster, what do you mean by that? 

Their very small at the moment, but i have plans to upgrade tank very soon, i found a 4ft with filter and all for only $150 aus ! 

Do you personally think i can't handle this type of fish? I don't really care for breeding much, and i don't even know if their boy or girl..


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Ally.Jane said:


> Tank buster, what do you mean by that?
> 
> Their very small at the moment, but i have plans to upgrade tank very soon, i found a 4ft with filter and all for only $150 aus ! (


Most big Centrals are part of the tankbuster cichlids. Pretty much everything that gets to over a foot tends to be called this.
They look like a boy and girl to me.
Yep a 48" should hold em for a while. 8)

All the best James


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Oh beware its very easy to get attached to these big cichlids and even morn thier deaths after about 10 or so years. I had no idea mine (now long gone) were so exceptionaly big.  

Though I take no credit for thier size as they were that big when I picked em up at auction for £5 each.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Well if you do want to breed em its a bit of a treat. :wink:


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

So stunning and beautiful!


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

My fish have had babies!!


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## Azedenkae (Apr 19, 2012)

Nice!  Pics?


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

I think they are to small to capture!  But when i do i will upload, i was not prepared for them to have kids of their own.. (Lol) So, should i get a sponge filter and put them into another tank or get a breeder box??

I noticed them this morning, i didn't even see the eggs, haha :s


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## Ally.Jane (Jan 7, 2013)

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 1222_n.jpg
http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 4877_n.jpg
http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 8608_n.jpg
They are swimming around and some of just sitting under mum. .(or dad)


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