"Australian" Lab. Hongi

[...]

I had never heard of a "Swedish Hongi" until recently but have yet to see any that matched the "standard" red top hongi I kept and bred in Australia in 2008-10. The red top on lilac/mauve bodies were second to none that I have seen. I dredged up a few pics off an old lap top tonite...these guys were smoking hot!

Top 2 images are the alpha male. 3rd image is beta male. Last 2 images were the primo ladies. Hope you enjoy. Seeing them now I real
ly miss them

[jumpman]

Wow that's some orange that you had on those. Very nice.

My two Hongi Sweden I'm pretty sure are females as they rarely show much colour, just occasional baring towards each other, but mostly a purple tint of brown the rest of the time.

[...]

Thanks Jump...they were beautiful alright...a lot of the hongi in Australia actually have more of a yellow dorsal fin...these were the first I had seen with the variation to orange...they were sold as "super red top" which is just a fancy name someone gave em to make an extra few bucks...I have never seen any "swedish hongi" here that are any where near close to what comes up on google images...in fact these ones I had were FAR better than anything I have ever seen here no matter what the trade name.
I paid $12 aud (8usd) each @ 4-5cm for mine back in 08', and I sold the fry for $4-7 depending on quantity.

[jumpman]

Yeah the 'Super Red Tops' seem to be the most popular here in the UK as well, don't see as many Sweden ones anymore, they just aren't quite as orange....i think the yellow dorsal fin ones are more like the fish in the lake, whereas the orange finned versions are more line bred.

[ben]

Feb 9, 2016 10:02:18 GMT -5 jumpman said:

Yeah the 'Super Red Tops' seem to be the most popular here in the UK as well, don't see as many Sweden ones anymore, they just aren't quite as orange....i think the yellow dorsal fin ones are more like the fish in the lake, whereas the orange finned versions are more line bred.

Yeah most lfs in my area (Manchester) buy Mbuna, Peacocks and Haps from Tailand and are of very poor quality and most of the time aren't what they say they are lol.

[...]

Here's a few shots of the girls holding...as you can see the coloration really died down during the holding phase...but still pretty decnt in comparison the usual malawi female drabness...prob to keep the boys attention at bay!

[tnnsman7]

Very nice. I'm not much of a mbuna fan, but I'd buy those in a heartbeat if I had a chance.

[...]

I hear ya...I had no care for anything other than EY's back in the day to help keep the fish kitty flowing...when I saw these guys I had to have em...once having these guys I got a labidochromis fettish...not a fan of zeb's and the lie at all but lab's I really got into...funnily as far as habitat & diet are concerned mbuna are the "tropheus" of Malawi