Re: [RML] Herbies & pappan creek tris

Stephen Boulet (stepheb at comm.mot.com)
Mon, 19 Mar 2001 16:33:40 -0600

Thanks much for the comments. I'm glad to hear that both fish at their best are
really good looking fish. I know that the "at their best" part can be iffy,
especially in the states, regarding getting good quality stock to begin with.

On the positive side, my pappan creeks are already quite yellow, don't come
from a pet store (good source), and are laying viable eggs.

By the way, how do you define juvenile? Are fish that are fertile still
considered juvenile?

I'd certainly be interested in trading folks (I'm near Chicago). Right now I
have M. parkinsoni and M. trifasciata pappan creek, and am looking for a mop of
known-to-be-good-quality G. wanamensis eggs. Right now I have one known good
wanamensis female and one juvenile unsexed wanamensis that gets the red carpet
treatment in my fish room (bet you can guess which sex I hope it turns out to
be... :).

-- Stephen

Bruce Hansen wrote:

> G'day Stephen
>
> I don't know how many "grizzled Aussies"will take up the challenge but as I
> don't have either of the 2 species at the moment it will have to be from
> memory - both are lovely fish when seen at their best, which is usually the
> case when you look at photos by the top aquarium fish lensmen like Gunther
> Schmida and Neil Armstrong.
>
> Remember they have access to top specimens and are experts at selecting and
> displaying the fish to get them to display. Gunther always "borrows" your
> best and biggest 2 males and your largest female - those Pappan Creek Tris
> in his book were of my fish and were wild-caught at about 2 inches, kept
> inside in aquaria during winter, outside in ponds in summer and were 4 years
> old and between 5 and 6 inches long. They only looked that good (as in the
> picture) for an hour or two each morning when displaying or a half hour or
> so after lights on.
>
> Sorry about all this preamble but I'm trying to make sure you don't go
> looking for yellow fish in the aquarium shops - they wont look yellow there.
> They will look like many other juvenile tris (except the reds like Goyders,
> and the blues like Wongas etc) so try to buy from a reputable breeder who
> "knows his streams and keeps them clean". Then you will have to grow them up
> but the effort is worthwhile.
>
> "Herbies" are more likely to look a bit yellowish and to have a reddish tail
> (although they may not) when you see them as juveniles. If you had a tank of
> adults of each species side by side the things that would tend to impress
> you would be -
>
> Herbies have proportionally smaller fins, the bodies not as deep and oval,
> the snouts not as pointed.
>
> Herbies tend to have more red in tails, and the band of colour in the fins
> closest to the body seems to have more pigment.
>
> I'm sorry if this sounds a bit vague but it is often difficult to look at a
> couple of uncoloured juvenile stressed fish in a dealers tanks and
> confidently be sure of their ID even if they haven't been crossed and even
> if they have been well fed and looked after :-(
>
> Regards,
> Bruce Hansen
> vicepresident - ANGFA Inc, ANGFA (Qld) Inc
> Please visit us at http://www.angfa.org.au
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Stephen Boulet" <stepheb at comm.mot.com>
> To: <rainbowfish at pcug.org.au>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2001 1:21 AM
> Subject: [RML] Herbies & pappan creek tris
>
> > I've noticed through looking at photos that herbies and pappan creek tris
> seem
> > to have similar colors.
> >
> > Would one of you more experienced types (read: grizzled aussies) care to
> > compare and contrast these two species? Thanks.
> >
>
> > -- Stephen, who's starting to get eggs from his pappan creek tris
>