Rastinger62 Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 So are they rare???? Can't seem to find any around or ever seen a post apart from Donny's ones he brought up from interstate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 They are rare, but they are around and the bloodline is good! Tough and pretty fish. But like red empress they do take a while to mature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew31 Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 I had some in stock at Annerley aquarium but they all sold pretty quickly, beautiful fish, I may soon have an adult colony from Syndey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rastinger62 Posted October 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 ok thanks guys. I have 1m 2f of your old colony [MENTION=9246]Donny@ageofaquariums[/MENTION]. Over time they have had some issues chris and paul that owned them and I'm only down to them 3 now. I just added them in with my kapampa frontosa and seeing how they go in the 8x2x2 but thinking of adding them into a 3ft and focusing on breeding.. I got 1 fry here from chris' batch about 5cm so hopefully another girl. See what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 (edited) Yea groovy man. Was a hard choice to sell them, but I needed to slim down a lot before I moved. Definitely a species I will get again when I have time and space lol Actually succumbed the other day and added a protomelas to my peacock display. little taiwan reef male. It aint the same sort of bright yellow as a virgatus...... but hes a funky little fish and knows he is pretty! Protomelas in general are very under rated fish. I think its mainly because they take a while to colour up. Even if they are spectacular later on....... its hard to believe it looking at a silver juvie fish with a few grey bars lol Edited October 31, 2013 by Donny@ageofaquariums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the German Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rastinger62 Posted October 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 [MENTION=4276]the German[/MENTION]. Yeah I was told you were the only other person that had them and if I'm right you only have a pair. That male isn't showing much colour underneath with the yellow / orange I would of thought compare to the male I have here. Are they in with something else that might be making them not colour up as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the German Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 I did stress them out when I turned on the lights last night to get a pic ,so he was not really showing off , yes I started with a pair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarden Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 I like how you " Started " with a pair Sounds to me like you have a few more up yah sleeve Never the less they are a nice fish ... Yes protomelas species are under rated people don't like waiting a long time for fish to color up ... but when they protomelas do they are ooooorsum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 You have to take pictures crouched Steve, want to be angled upwards. Virgatus look more blue in photos taken looking down from 9 foot. I demand pictures taken when the male has his breeding eye stripe on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rastinger62 Posted November 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 hahaha. I think chris took some bomb pics of them. There still settling in my tank so no decent ones yet but here is a chris you beaut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_a Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 Are you 100% sure that they are P. virgatus and not P. sp. "steveni imperial"? I've always had my doubts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rastinger62 Posted November 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 There very similar that's for sure from the pic of the 'steveni imperial' off google I just checked out. [MENTION=9246]Donny@ageofaquariums[/MENTION] was the one that brought them up from interstate so I would assume he is on the money with these being virgatus but I do see where you could have that doubt about it [MENTION=237]matt_a[/MENTION]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_a Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 They definitely look very similar to sp. "steveni imperial" and not very similar to virgatus. Bear in mind there's a bit of fun and games in their taxonomic history which probably would explain the confusion. I might so some digging later and see what I can come up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 I didnt bring most of the ones we speak of from interstate, I actually bought them at a fish auction ( St. Joseph's College Basketball Stadium)a few years back. The bloodline I got from victoria I had previous to this one by a few years, and I managed to kill them to a fish. 80% water change when the tapwater was reading almost 2ppm nitrite. As to whether they are steveni imperials, thats a hard one to prove either way. But I am certainly looking forward to what you can dig up. It may also be possible to backtrack QFAS records and find the seller I brought the fry from. If they can search by species sold, it should be a quick search. Virgatus dont come up often. Part of the answer may come from exactly how long ago the person who initially bought them as virgatus, did so. When was steveni imperial described? Thats the thing with slower to mature haps, theres big gaps between buying 5cm fish from someone and having fry from those fish at 5cm to sell. I have looked at so many different locality colour morphs of virgatus now that I am as confused as anyone. At its crudest I consider a virgatus a bottom half yellow, top half blue, protomelas looking bream thing. I'd also prefer it if the Taiwan reef was the only steveni we had to deal with lol The colour on a good sized male, when he runs a tank, are very nice indeed. I was putting them into a display at pet city, and they kept selling for $150 each. The price was meant to stop them selling as I only had a few males up to full size. but it didnt. If they dont run the tank, or are a subdominant male. or they are spooked. The colours are more subdued, espec the higher yellow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqc247 Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 saw plenty of Protos. taeniolatus, reds, imperials, fenestratus & virgatus. My eyes were tuned to look for other stuff so just incidental footage... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rastinger62 Posted November 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 from what I notice they have a different head shape to the steveni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_a Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 I'm just doing some research now. I think I'm on to it, but before I jump to conclusions has anyone got a photo of a female? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_a Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 From Konings: The question remains whether to regard the numerous populations of P. sp. 'steveni imperial' as geographical variants of P. virgatus or as a separate species. For the time being I suggest treating them as separate species. The females of P. virgatus are identical in the four populations known and little or no geographical variation seems to exist. The basic melanin pattern of females and juveniles of P. sp. 'steveni imperial', however, differs considerably among populations, in contrast to the breeding colors of males, which seem to consist of a blue body with varying degrees of yellow suffusion on the shoulder. I would group P. virgatus with P. fenestratus, which has a lake-wide distribution but with a rather constant melanin pattern (consisting of heavy bars) in females. P. sp. 'steveni imperial' seems to be closer to P. taeniolatus as both species have variable coloration in females and the melanin pattern of one species can be found in the other in another population. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_a Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 And taxonomic history of P. sp. 'steveni imperial': Taxonomic history: Protomelas sp. 'steveni imperial', Konings, 1995, provisional name. Protomelas cf. virgatus, Konings, 2001, misidentification. I'd say the fish in question should be referred to as sp. 'steveni imperial' and not virgatus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rastinger62 Posted November 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted November 3, 2013 Report Share Posted November 3, 2013 Theres some juvie pictures here http://www.qldaf.com/forums/qld-cichlid-trader-classifieds-113/protomelas-virgatus-~-teenagers-81698/ They are stressed though...... as yea..... not in the water and all that. Not 100% sold on the sp. 'steveni imperial'. IMHO the steveni imperials should be moved into the virgatus species. They have a different narrow face, sort of more angular. I know that fenestratus are often mixed up with the steveni imperials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqc247 Posted November 3, 2013 Report Share Posted November 3, 2013 Ping the pic to pam@cichlid room companion, she'll id it or find someone that will, or just ping Ad. Agreed the face shape is the key, but what we have isn't always the same as what they trade as o/s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Yea, and its also worth noting this bloodline likely entered Australia many years ago. Back before we realised we were as confused as we are lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
