Is it a Red Texas?

[BrAin]

Bought a "red" texas from a lfs a couple weeks ago and now I'm wondering if it really is a red or maybe just a green. I took a couple shots of it and the green I got from Crusher as a comparison. The red is still fairly young so I could be wrong and it might change later. Let me know what you think.

maybe_red.jpgmaybe_red2.jpggreen.jpggreen2.jpg

[alexrex20]

looks more like a red terror / texas cichlid hybrid. maybe that's what they meant by 'red texas' lol

[Tek]

Doesn't look like a red to me. Looks kinda part convict to me

Or you may have gotcha a blue Texas Cichlid

all the reds I have seen have been... well red:

http://www.aquascapeonline.com/prodView.asp?idProduct=218

They are a cross between the Green Texas and a Flowerhorn. They are also mean sumbritches. Really nice ones go for hundreds of dollars. If you paid a few bucks for that fish it was probably a green Texas, blue Texas or some hybrid of those.

But Texas Cichlids come in:

Regular- Herichthys cyanoguttatus
Green- Hericthys carpintis
Blue- H. cyanoguttatu (or a variety of others)


all three are different species.
The Regular is an olive black, the green has more green spots the blue has more blue spots and the reds are not a single species but a cross with the flowerhorn

[DTony]

The first fish is a Kamfa Flowerhorn. Petsmart has them mislabeled as RT, and many LFS that deal with Seagrest farms(Florida) are probably getting the same stock. These Kamfas are being sent in through Asia in large numbers and Seagrest helps send them out.
The second fish is a H. Carpintis.

Keep in mind that RT and FH are 2 completely different hybrids. A true RT will not have FH in it's lineage. The reason many RT appear to have a very bulky FH look is because breeders in Asia are perfecting their H. carpintis lines to be more fully bodied and to have a larger hump on the head. The price for a RT various, but if you're buying it oversea's, it's gonna be pricey.

This is my RT that I bought from a RT breeder on MFK. I paid $7 for him.

[myjohnson]

So which fishes are crossed to make the RT?

[DTony]

So which fishes are crossed to make the RT?

There are different approaches to making RT/SRT. You have your basic H. Carpintis(Usually Escondido variant, the bigger the pearls, the better) Red Mammon would probably be the main key(Blood red color), but getting your hands on a legit female red mammon is like winning the lottery. King King Parrots are also used, along with Blood parrots. However when most people start RT breeding projects, they use a KKP or BP but only come out to orange/yellow fish, and it takes generations of line breeding to achieve something presentable. I've seen many people start RT projects, only to stop after the second gen. Just like the secret recipe of FH's, the secret to create SRT is heavily guarded in Asia.

[Tek]

Excellent fish Tony. That is exactly what comes into mind when I think of a Red Texas. The ones I had when I lived in SA looked like that

[BrAin]

Very nice fish Tony.

I went back today to see what they had and mine looks like what they are calling a Dempsey now. I bought two others in the red texas tank which are much lighter and dont have the green spots this time. I'm just curious to see what they come out as and I couldnt help but buy them.

[mistahoo]

Very nice fish Tony.

I went back today to see what they had and mine looks like what they are calling a Dempsey now. I bought two others in the red texas tank which are much lighter and dont have the green spots this time. I'm just curious to see what they come out as and I couldnt help but buy them.

Yeah the petsmart near me have the red texas in the same tank as the jack dempsey. The JD have the green/blue spots on them and can be easily distinguished from the red texas

[DTony]

Very nice fish Tony.

I went back today to see what they had and mine looks like what they are calling a Dempsey now. I bought two others in the red texas tank which are much lighter and dont have the green spots this time. I'm just curious to see what they come out as and I couldnt help but buy them.

Upload some pics!

[eklikewhoa]

DTony, you are a true asian fish nerd.

[Airjammer]

DTony, you are a true asian fish nerd.

Hello Pot...Kettle calling!

[BrAin]

Upload some pics!

Took a long time to get a shot where they werent moving. This was the best I could get right now. This is the smaller of the two.

red2.jpg red.jpg

[Tek]

nice fish, but I think the lfs is still wrong on the labeling. Those are not Red Texas either

[DTony]

Took a long time to get a shot where they werent moving. This was the best I could get right now. This is the smaller of the two.

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Definitely not a Red Texas. I don't see any signs of having any H. carpintis or H. cyano lineage.