# Cichlids in New Zealand



## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Following a thread on LFS, I thought people might find it interesting to see what is available where I live. This is an add from a site similar to Craigslist. The fish shown are fairly typical for what's available here in the aquarium trade.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Wow. Are there import restrictions?


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Yes, we have a White List. Only fish that are on the list are allowed to be imported. I believe the list is from the 1970s and was never updated. Any fish that came into the hobby after that are not allowed - many interesting Tanganyikans, like Cyps, Sandsifters, and so on.

But all that is no excuse for the fish for sale. L. caeruleus are of amazingly poor quality here. I have never seen one that doesn't look like it spend the last night in bleach. Also, what are those fish the dude is selling? I really couldn't tell from the photo. Presumably mixed hybrids. But why is there a dead L. caeruleus as 'indicative only'?

This kinda stuff drives me nuts and wanting to go back to Ohio. :?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The shape of the lab looked off as well. Any thought of becoming an importer? At least the ones on the white list could be better quality, if any.

We would love it if you came back!


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Our customs and quarantine inspectors like to test aquarium fish for health problems. That usually involves dissecting the fish. Let's assume after setting up a suitable quarantine facility, getting all the licenses, and jumping through a gazillion other hoops, you are finally ready to import a dozen L. caeruleus for breeding purposes. They might test all twelve of them...

Plus New Zealand is a very long way from pretty much anywhere. Shipping fish here is very expensive. And the market is very small. Even if you manage to import a species in good quality and you are breeding them, you will very quickly saturate the market.

I have seen people breed Tropheus in good quality, and I will probably get some, but they have problems selling them, because there just aren't that many people interested.

That all said, the virtually non existent fish hobby is one of the very few drawbacks of living in NZ. I just take my dogs to the beach instead, and we have no winter that deserves the name.


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