I ventured into the wonderful world of Malawi in January just gone and I've not looked back since.
My first batch of fish were a trio of tank bred Pseudotropheus Acei Msuli (Yellowtail).
After some serious hunting around my next purchase was a trio of Labidochromis Caerulus (Yellow Labs) - however the majority of the ones I found were very very wishy washy in colour and obviously of poor quality but these three were a nice vibrant bright yellow with crisp black on the fins and a definate must for my tank.
What with the poor quality of Labs I'd seen and with me being quite a picky person, especially my fish ... (my partner fondly nicknames me 'Monica' from friends - should say it all really ) not to mention I have expensive taste and like to have unusual things .... I decided to look into wild caught fish!
I started reading up about wild caught malawi and the difference in colour between those and tank bred and their natural habitat and water conditions and so I had a scout around on the net and asked a few questions here and there and decided I was going to buy myself my first wild caught fish .... (gulp)
I took the bull by the horns and found a mail order website that sold the wild caught fish I was after .. Pseudotropheus Saulosi! After I'd bought (without consulting anyone) I read you must be careful where you buy wild caught fish from as some places advertise wild caught but they not what they seem. Uh-oh! Had I just spent £15 per a fish on something that was NOT wild caught! I quickly went running back to this forum for some expert advice hoping I hadnt just made a complete utter booboo. Phew, thankfully the shop where I had bought the Saulosi from was a good fish shop and DID sell true wild caught Malawi. Panic over, now I just needed to sit back and wait for my next day delivery of fish. How excited was I!
8am the next day I'm up, dressed, awake with nose pressed tightly up against window waiting for my fish delivery ... I was there a long time! They arrived just after midday and the delivery drive took what felt like an age to find them! I was thinking hurry up poor fish are probably scared and cold and I needed to get them in my tank to warm up. I carefully unwrapped my parcel, plonked them in the tank to acclimatise with all the curtains shut, TV and lights off as the poor fish have been in darkness for hours and hours so I needed to acclimatise them to the light too. After a patient hour of acclimatising and adding my tank water to their bags the moment of release was here.
All I could say was WOW. I had seen photos of this fish and they were nothing in comparision to the colours I was seeing from them. Within a few days the male was showing off to a female and his colours were phenomenal! However, she did not accept his advances ... poor girl must have had a headache
Since then I have been hooked - I now have wild caught Cynotilapia Mbamba Nkhata Bay, Metriaclima Estherae (my most expensive fish so far) and awaiting a batch of Membe Deep, a OB female Estherae and my special order fish Pseudotropheus Williamsi North (Williamsi Blue Lips).
When you watch tank bred and wild caught together you can even see a difference in their mannerisms. It's quite difficult to explain but there is a plain difference in the way they act not just their colours!. They also seem to be more of a peaceful fish or I've just been fairly lucky with the majority I have chosen.
The bad part is when you lose a wild caught fish I lost a female estherae recently - she got stuck in a hole of ocean rock and died. I was gutted to devastated to say the least - it was a horrible thing to come home to! It wasnt so much the money (although yes obviously the money comes into it) but more the fact that this fish was once swimming around in a huge lake, caught, flown all the way from Africa to the UK, put in quarantine for about 2 weeks and then dropped into a tiny shop tank with no hidey holes and everyone gawking at her and then put in a bag transported by car home and shoved in a tank just to get stuck in a rock and die. I felt like I had let her down .. and so the ocean rock went and boulders moved in. I do miss the ocean rock, found it nicer to look at than the boulders but it's what is best for the fish and makes them happier and they love all the hidey holes in there now.
With all that, I still find it very satisfying knowing I have the real deal in my tank, not a strain of a strain from a tank bred fish. Although I do make sure my water parameters are spot on as they are not as forgiving on water conditions. I wouldnt say they are more work as they're not it's just good water management - stuff you would and should be doing for any tropical fish anyway.
All I'm waiting for now is for some spawning as then I will be in my element as I would know I have the right conditions for them and they are happy fishies - that would so make it worth the while taking them from their natural habitat and sticking them in my 4ft tank! One day soon I hope
So are wild caught worth the money .. I go back to my earlier statement .... HELL YEAH!
