Help will be appreciated.

Hi there.

I'm kind of desperate to get a certain fish. Two actually.

I would like to get a black diamond cichlid (Paratilapia polleni) and a starry night cichlid (paratilapia bleekeri). They are from Madagascar and they are an endangered specie in the wild.

If anybody knows of somebody that has of these fish or if anybody knows where I can get them, it will be appreciated very much.

I'm really desperate and although I would prefer if the fish are bigger than 15cm I will also buy juvenile and raise them in a different tank till I can introduce them into my 6ft cichlid tank.

Any help will be appreciated as I've been looking for these fish for more than 3years now.

Have a nice day and thank you for reading my thread (plead).

Makulu

 

If they are endangered then they are not likely to be sold very often or at all. Even if you can find them they will be very expensive. There are prettier fish out there so maybe research some easier to find species. Sorry to be a downer, maybe some one else has found them.

 

I know that there are somebody in S.A that has of those fish.

I don't mind expensive. I really want those fish.

You are not a downer... I know of people in the U.K and the U.S that have them in their aquariums in their homes.

I will keep on looking for them even if it takes me a lifetime.

 

Ok then, good luck with your search and I hope you find them!

 

Yeah. @Reedfish... It is a big pity that I'm not in the U.K.

Do you maybe remember the price of the Polleni in your LFS?? I'm wondering if we can make a plan to ship two or three to me??
Do you have any experience in that or do you perhaps know somebody that might know how to do it?? I'm willing to pay for the
transportation and any costs in that regard.

Thank you for replying.

 

Would you not need a special permit or documentation from the authorities to keep an endangered species in your tank?

 

@Khalid. It is only endangered in Madagascar in the wild. There is no need for permits or any paper work to keep it in an aquarium at home.
It's not blacklisted and totally legal. It's not a local fish from our waters that are endangered so no permit will be needed. I did the research on it
and I spoke to a friend in the police about it as well.

@Reedfish. I understand that it will be a very tiring and difficult thing to transport it to me so forgive me for asking. I will continue my search here in South Africa.
Can you maybe try to find out what the price is for the Polleni's that you saw? I know that it will not be the same price as our lfs's will charge, but I would like to know what the prices is in comparrison to something common, like say an Oscar?

Thank you for your replies everybody.

 

You would need an importing permit to bring it in from anywhere outside our brders... And currently the dept are not issuing new permits.