I recently returned from the ACA Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a blast. Lots of fish, lots of great speakers, and lots of great conversation.
I’m not going to summarize the convention here because the ACA Facebook group did a great job of highlighting the event. I encourage you to join that group. In fact, I highly encourage you to join the ACA. It is a fantastic organization that provides financial support for cichlid research, raises money for cichlid conservation, brings cichlid keepers together, and helps the hobby in general.
Anyway, the reason for the post is to share my excitement about purchasing some Amatitlania nanolutea from Mike Liu at the convention. It is a type of convict cichlid, sometimes referred to as the “gold” or “yellow” convict. Endemic to Panama, it can be found in small rivers and streams, as well as in other areas of Central America.
So, what’s the big deal with A. nanolutea for me? It is a big deal because 1) I don’t normally keep New World fish, 2) I have never kept A. nanolutea, and 3) they came from Mike Liu.
This beautiful little fish has been on my list for a while. When I saw them listed for sale in the fish room (yes, cichlids are sold at the annual convention), I got pretty excited. In fact, when I saw them in the tank on Friday at the convention, someone had already purchased eight of them from Mike, and they were bagged. It appeared there were only maybe eight or so left in the tank. Thinking they might all get sold before I left Sunday, I caught up with Mike the next morning.
I went ahead and purchased five juveniles from him. Unbeknownst to me was that he added an extra, which I didn’t even notice until I got home.
The six fish – four females and two males – easily made the 3.5 hour trip home from Cincinnati. They’re about 2″ long and doing great in a 20g long, where they’re growing out a bit. See video above.
I’ll post an update in the near future, once I move them to larger tanks.