Acei fry Dilemma.

**IanR29** · 12-12-2012, 10:02 PM

I've posted this thread on another forum as well as this to get max results, here it is~

"I've had a breeding pair of Acei now for roughly 8-9 months. 1 male 4 female. Roughly 2 months ago one of my females were holding. I saw the act, marked a calender, 21 days later I stript her and put them in a breeder box. Now the adults, when excited show a slight barring. Ill take a picture when I Can but currently am working on the road. The fry are roughly a half inch, some bigger, some smaller. I've given/sold a few of them to someone about 2-3 weeks ago. The fry also have the barring on them and with them being so small I know they are going to be a bit more distinct but will fade and disappear as they get older. Now this person tells me that they can't be pure acei because acei do not have barring on them me thinks that they are hybrids. They are the purplish/blue color with the yellow fins but just with barring. (I will post pictures when I get home like I said). Now has anyone seen acei fry or even acei with barring? At the time of the breeding I had a breeding group of Labidochromis caerulous, a cyaneorhabdos male; a few peacocks and plecos. The aceis come from petsmart in which I know their genes aren't probably the greatest but I've seen the act myself and monitored the situation closely. These fry are not hybrids. Hybrids in my book need to be flushed. Can I get some guidance on what they've experienced with them please?"

**kaybee** · 12-12-2012, 10:27 PM

Originally Posted by IanR29

Now has anyone seen acei fry or even acei with barring?....

While they are normally solid-colored (excluding the different colored fins, of course) acei fry (and adults when they perceive they are threatened) can at times display barring.

The barring pattern is considered temporary. Acei's that do not perceive the are threatened may never reveal barring. I think the fry may display barring as a camouflage tactic.

35-day old pseudotropheus acei, with barring: (and a yellow lab fry tank mate)

Same batch of acei, months later, no barring:

**IanR29** · 12-13-2012, 12:38 AM

The fry look no different than the top picture that was posted. He posted his question on cichlid-forum.com. Now they are being called deformed. This really irks me.
Here's the thread.
http://cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewt...p?f=9&t=252584

**190MPH** · 12-13-2012, 09:53 AM

I've had Acei(Tanzania Black) fry also show barring as fry, it's normal. Those on CF are not calling your fry deformed because of the barring, but because of the snub nosed one you described. I've had a few like this on occasion and agree with them, that it is probably some sort of genetic defect. I culled the ones that had it.

**IanR29** · 12-14-2012, 07:06 PM

What he didn't do is post te pictures of it. This is bothering me so much that I'm going to take pictures of the parents and the fry when I get home tonight from working on the road. This one stings a little because this is my brother in law. One that I just gave a 55g tank to.