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View Full Version : A Bonus Trip to Atlantis


CrabbyMatty
02-12-2011, 05:24 PM
I decided with the nice weather to make another trip to see Peter and John. I only spoke to Peter briefly as he was heading out of the shop when I arrived. John was there to meet me and I had his undivided attention the whole time I was there. It was quite a different scene from when we were there for our road trip when 40-50 people navigated the aisles.

I had hoped to meet up with Ed Martin, but my plans were being hijacked last night by my son who I was counting on today to help me with a task. As a result, I couldn't give Ed a firm time that I'd be up there. All I remembered him saying last night when he called me was that he didn't want to have to get up early this morning. Ed's a night person...LOL

After my son decided late last night to go to a party I knew he'd be worthless in the morning and that I might as well head to Atlantis at the crack of dawn, get home early and then put him to work (and he's still working). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to hook up with Ed. He called me from the G.S. Parkway as I was pulling into Atlantis' parking lot. Next time Ed we'll connect.

On our ECC road trip I bought the dominant male in the tank of wild caught Protomelas virgatus Spots Mazinzi. Of course, after I got home I wished I had bought some females, so that's what I returned for today. I actually bought a second male too.

I also cherry picked some nice young male peacocks and a male N. Venustus that is all of 3" with killer color. STUNNING!!! I know Venustus aren't rare or exotic and even I already have a few, but this fish had the most color of any example at that size I have ever seen.

The catch of the day though had to be the fish I bought that were a complete miss for me on the road trip. Today I purchased a pair of wild caught Copadichromis verduyni and they are amazing. There's no link to a pic on Atlantis's website, so I may have just made the mistake of dismissing them on the initial pass. With basically having the shop to myself this morning I was able to closely inspect all the tanks for prospects and happened upon these. I was thinking to myself. Where'd these come from? Even John had to stop while bagging them to admire their beauty.

Another group I missed on the road trip were the gems that Bill will soon be owner of. They hide terribly, but I teased them into submission just long enough to catch a few glimpses of their brilliance. I'm not spilling the beans, so don't PM me.

Upon leaving we talked about the WC Malawi shipment due in 2-3 weeks and you can bet I'll be making the drive once again. This is my new not-so-local LFS.

cracks
02-12-2011, 05:54 PM
Let me know when you are gonna go up again & maybe I'll meet you. Been trying to find the time so I can get a few more cyps.

emartin
02-12-2011, 07:04 PM
Today I purchased a pair of wild caught Copadichromis verduyni and they are amazing.
I knew you couldn't resist them after what I saw written on the tank...I almost bought some myself! Let me know when yours breed, I want offspring.

CrabbyMatty
02-12-2011, 08:08 PM
I knew you couldn't resist them after what I saw written on the tank...I almost bought some myself! Let me know when yours breed, I want offspring.

Ed, I was shocked when I saw them. I can't believe I missed them, although John did say they've gone through a pretty big transformation since they first came in. You're first on the list for fry too.

CrabbyMatty
02-12-2011, 08:10 PM
Let me know when you are gonna go up again & maybe I'll meet you. Been trying to find the time so I can get a few more cyps.

Tom, I wish I lived as far north as you do. I'd probably be there every week. Well, maybe every other week. :becky:

Absolutely...as soon as I hear that the WC shipment has arrived I'll be headed back up there, so let's plan around that timeframe.

Matt

emartin
02-12-2011, 08:19 PM
Ed, I was shocked when I saw them. I can't believe I missed them, although John did say they've gone through a pretty big transformation since they first came in. You're first on the list for fry too.

When they first came in, I saw them and there was one male that was in FULL color...a real stunner. You're right though, at the roadtrip the males they had left weren't looking too great at the time. The one male you left behind today was looking fantastic though so I can only imagine how good yours look.

CrabbyMatty
02-12-2011, 09:03 PM
When they first came in, I saw them and there was one male that was in FULL color...a real stunner. You're right though, at the roadtrip the males they had left weren't looking too great at the time. The one male you left behind today was looking fantastic though so I can only imagine how good yours look.

LOL. You know me Ed. Always looking for the cream of crop. I even brought my own flashlight this time with fresh batteries. I had that guy all lit up so there was no chance of John missing him. :becky:

zebra7
02-13-2011, 05:55 AM
I've kept these species 6-7 year's back, great looking fish. At the time I wasn't able to give the fry away, people weren't familiar with the species. The collection pt. was Verduyni Narangu, here's a picture of my dominant male, does your's look similar Crabby ? I'm also sure if someone were to take the drive back you will she a new male colored up just as nicely. Good luck with your grp. Crabby,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v654/zebra7/a9f1ca77.jpg

emartin
02-13-2011, 06:45 AM
I've kept these species 6-7 year's back, great looking fish. At the time I wasn't able to give the fry away, people weren't familiar with the species. The collection pt. was Verduyni Narangu, here's a picture of my dominant male, does your's look similar Crabby ? I'm also sure if someone were to take the drive back you will she a new male colored up just as nicely. Good luck with your grp. Crabby,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v654/zebra7/a9f1ca77.jpg

That looks similar to the males I've seen at Atlantis during my past 3-4 visits but not exactly the same. The one's atlantis had that I saw had a more reddish-pinkish color on their flanks instead of that yellow-orange color...though I am not sure if I am describing it accurately. I wish I got pictures of that first male I saw back in early December... Matt will be able to better describe them though since he actually has one of the wildcaught males in possession at the moment

I think the ones Atlantis has were collected at the Malawi-Mozambique border (usually just referred to as "Border"). It looks like 'Border' is a couple kilometers (10km+?) north of Narungu.