Adventures in Fishkeeping or A Fish Tale
- Thread starter TwoTankAmin
- Start date
I mostly have worked with the B&W Hypancistrus from the Big Bend of the Rio Xingu, zebra, 236 and 173. I have also kept L66 and L333 from there but did not spawn them. other i have spawned are H. contradens, L450 and L173b. I also kept P. compta and got spawns but usually the eggs got eaten. I did manage to get a few fry out of them but trade them for other fish. The L207 comes from the Rio Curuá-Una which is not too far from the Xingu but I have not worked with them.
re 204, I have never worked with any of the Panaqolus.
I have had a thing for the small black and white Hypans since I saw the first pic of a zebra. I knew then I had to have them. Today I have two groups of zebras, 236, 173 -plus a group of super white 236.
re 204, I have never worked with any of the Panaqolus.
I have had a thing for the small black and white Hypans since I saw the first pic of a zebra. I knew then I had to have them. Today I have two groups of zebras, 236, 173 -plus a group of super white 236.
I joined the wild angel site in 2012. I wanted information on Altums angels. Withing a year I got my first one and they lasted a few weeks. All who got fish from the same place lost them so I did not feel too bad. Eventually i got it right and set up a 55 gal for them- very soft water and a pH around 4.2. Over the next 6 months i got them up to 6.0 and that was when I added two Hypancistrus contradens and a few rummy nose tetras to the tank. Over the ensuing years I lost a number of the angels and replaced them. I also never saw the contradens but, eventually I did find a corpse.
Today I still have Altums in the tank and one rummy nose has survived. But the biggest surprise is that second contradens is still alive and well in that tank. My last Altums were hit with internal parasites and I lost all the adults save one and then I added 9 new youngsters which were tank bred. Normally this means they are much more hardy. Either they arrived with parasites or some had survived my treatments. One is syill alive today along with four larger ones I trade for.
That contradens must be tough as a tank. It has survive some pH swings, poor care when I had my heart attack and whatever got the Altums.
That is one of the best thiongs about this hobby. No matter how long one is at it, there are always still some surprises down the road. Hopefully they are mostly pleasant ones like this pleco.
Today I still have Altums in the tank and one rummy nose has survived. But the biggest surprise is that second contradens is still alive and well in that tank. My last Altums were hit with internal parasites and I lost all the adults save one and then I added 9 new youngsters which were tank bred. Normally this means they are much more hardy. Either they arrived with parasites or some had survived my treatments. One is syill alive today along with four larger ones I trade for.
That contradens must be tough as a tank. It has survive some pH swings, poor care when I had my heart attack and whatever got the Altums.
That is one of the best thiongs about this hobby. No matter how long one is at it, there are always still some surprises down the road. Hopefully they are mostly pleasant ones like this pleco.
As I noted at the start of this thread, when I began keeping fish the farthest thing from my mind was spawning anything. That sure changed. And now I am trying to head in the other direction. I am no longer trying to spawn things, no longer parlaying current species into the new additions. I am trying to move in reverse.
I just finished doing yesterday's maint. on the last 2 of 6 pleco tanks. 3 are breeder tanks and 3 are grow out tanks. Since the 2 I had to work on were breeder tanks I brought my flashlights and did cave checks on all three.
Tank 1 with 173s- Cleaned yesterday when it had no spawning activity of any kind then, had the Beta male trapping a Fm today.
Tank 2 with Budrovcan line 236- This also had a trapping in progress. The male was vibrating and I expect eggs when I check tomorrow.
Tank 3 with Super white 236- Has a dad on wigglers. I had suspected a spawn was there but he would not let me see when I checked recently. But he was doing the bump bounce boogie, so I was pretty sure he was on a spawn.
I am running a fry-by-night operation........................
I just finished doing yesterday's maint. on the last 2 of 6 pleco tanks. 3 are breeder tanks and 3 are grow out tanks. Since the 2 I had to work on were breeder tanks I brought my flashlights and did cave checks on all three.
Tank 1 with 173s- Cleaned yesterday when it had no spawning activity of any kind then, had the Beta male trapping a Fm today.
Tank 2 with Budrovcan line 236- This also had a trapping in progress. The male was vibrating and I expect eggs when I check tomorrow.
Tank 3 with Super white 236- Has a dad on wigglers. I had suspected a spawn was there but he would not let me see when I checked recently. But he was doing the bump bounce boogie, so I was pretty sure he was on a spawn.
I am running a fry-by-night operation........................
Last night was the X-mas dinner final meeting of the year for my fish club. As always there was an auction after the dinner. It has been a pretty long time time I have purchased new fish for any of my tanks. But last night I came home with a few corys. Of course these were bred by club members. My club has a number of very capable breeders, a few well known. So I felt reasonably safe in doing something I normally don't do, I did not quarantine.
I got four decent sized sterbai to add to my 7 in a planted 29 with a bunch of amano shrimp. The tank has needed top swimmers for some time. But I cannot set up a Q tank due to space limitations, so I have ignored this need.
I also had a lone large albino aeneus, having lost the second a while ago. This was in my planted, in-wall 75 gal. There was a bag with six very young albino aeneus, 3/4 inch TL or less at the auction. And while smaller than I wanted, I could not resist. I paid a whopping $30 for the 10 fish.
I came home late after the meeting with the fish and I did about a 10 minute bag float since they came home w/o a styro. The tanks were all dark when the fish went in their respective tanks.
Today I got to check on the fish and to feed them. Those 6 tiny aeneus are just cute as buttons. I am still smiling as I type this. The 75 holds 7 long fin paleatus and the aeneus, more assassin snails than I can count and an assortment of small fish- orange fin danio (Brachydanio kyathit), purple emperor tetras (Inpaichthys kerri), rummynose tetras (Hemigrammus bleheri ) and a ton of amano shrimp.
The best part of last night's meeting is I ordered 6 more purple emperors from the master breeder in the club. I asked for more but he did not want to sell more than 6. At the last meeting he had put a bag of them in the auction and I got cheap. Brain fart.... I get the six at the Jan. meeting
All of my attention has mostly been paid to the plecos since the summer. I have done minimal in my community tanks beyond the needed weekly work. The number of fish has declined a bit from old age and some tanks were always understocked.
A lot of the fun in this hobby for me has been the planning for and then setting up of a new planted community tank. But I ran out of space, and now age has run me out of energy. So it is rare that I get new fish, and that is one of the most fun parts of the hobby.
I got four decent sized sterbai to add to my 7 in a planted 29 with a bunch of amano shrimp. The tank has needed top swimmers for some time. But I cannot set up a Q tank due to space limitations, so I have ignored this need.
I also had a lone large albino aeneus, having lost the second a while ago. This was in my planted, in-wall 75 gal. There was a bag with six very young albino aeneus, 3/4 inch TL or less at the auction. And while smaller than I wanted, I could not resist. I paid a whopping $30 for the 10 fish.
I came home late after the meeting with the fish and I did about a 10 minute bag float since they came home w/o a styro. The tanks were all dark when the fish went in their respective tanks.
Today I got to check on the fish and to feed them. Those 6 tiny aeneus are just cute as buttons. I am still smiling as I type this. The 75 holds 7 long fin paleatus and the aeneus, more assassin snails than I can count and an assortment of small fish- orange fin danio (Brachydanio kyathit), purple emperor tetras (Inpaichthys kerri), rummynose tetras (Hemigrammus bleheri ) and a ton of amano shrimp.
The best part of last night's meeting is I ordered 6 more purple emperors from the master breeder in the club. I asked for more but he did not want to sell more than 6. At the last meeting he had put a bag of them in the auction and I got cheap. Brain fart.... I get the six at the Jan. meeting
All of my attention has mostly been paid to the plecos since the summer. I have done minimal in my community tanks beyond the needed weekly work. The number of fish has declined a bit from old age and some tanks were always understocked.
A lot of the fun in this hobby for me has been the planning for and then setting up of a new planted community tank. But I ran out of space, and now age has run me out of energy. So it is rare that I get new fish, and that is one of the most fun parts of the hobby.
New fish are always fun! So is adding to a species you already have, more are more fun & less work. I have done the no QT thing from people I know & trust, never a problem so far (knock wood)
I haven't gotten new fish since our first "pandemic" meet in June. 2 baby bns I hardly ever see, never both. I wonder if 1 is a hiding male, 1 a more out & about female or what. I was planning to keep 1 in a different tank, I don't want fry...My club friend has cornered the market on freebies lol. Our club is not back to regular meets or even irregular 1s. I haven't been to any lfs in 2 years or more
I haven't gotten new fish since our first "pandemic" meet in June. 2 baby bns I hardly ever see, never both. I wonder if 1 is a hiding male, 1 a more out & about female or what. I was planning to keep 1 in a different tank, I don't want fry...My club friend has cornered the market on freebies lol. Our club is not back to regular meets or even irregular 1s. I haven't been to any lfs in 2 years or more
I almost never shop for fish in stores. They are often unhealthy and usually over priced. I hate paying retail for things. I recently was running low on Almond leaves, so I bought a 14 pound box of 50 leaf bags of them. I sell them at club meetings or events for a couple of dollars more than I paid and I ultimately end up getting what I really need for myself for a cheaper price. I do this with alder cones and rooibos tea as well. I try to sell them for less than other vendors so it is a good deal for all.
So where do I get my fish? A lot of them came from imports. I worked with somebody who brought in fish and my reward was i could buy some at insanely lone prices. I also buy from home breeders and occasionally have gone in on a wholesale buy. My fish club as well as weekend events I have attended have also bee a good source of fish. Most of my fish have come to me shipped rather than being purchased from a retail store.
But I have been fortunate in most of my dealings. I have also usually bough many more of something than I want for myself and then grown them got them pretty and offered them to others. In such cases the fish have always gone through quarantine, often for many months. When I was doing the NEC yearly even at the end of Mar./early Apr. I would buy 40+ redline barbs as imports in Oct.
On the few occasions where I have skipped Q, the fish have not gone into any of my "prized" tanks. And example is my 150 with my clowns and roseline barbs. Two of the clowns have been with me since 2002 and they are big and my special babies. I would never risk them. On the other hand the tanks the new corys above went into are nice but they contain more common fish. I may be a willing to take on some risks, but other risks are out of the question.
As I am always willing to admit, I have been very lucky in my fish keeping journey. I have been helped by some well known experts who were willing to talk to a rank amateur. I had people in the business willing to let me piggyback on what they do. As a result I have always tried to pay this forward. My good luck has allowed me to support the orgs. from which I benefit as well as some that just do good things for hobbyists.
One the other hand, what I am not is an expert on fish. I do what I enjoy and try to be as well informed on these things as I can. But I am way to old to spend time studying the fish I can't and will never keep. At heart I am still a hobbyist and not an expert on almost anything live unless I work with it for some time. And then what I know is mostly about how the fish behave in tanks as opposed to in the wild.
So where do I get my fish? A lot of them came from imports. I worked with somebody who brought in fish and my reward was i could buy some at insanely lone prices. I also buy from home breeders and occasionally have gone in on a wholesale buy. My fish club as well as weekend events I have attended have also bee a good source of fish. Most of my fish have come to me shipped rather than being purchased from a retail store.
But I have been fortunate in most of my dealings. I have also usually bough many more of something than I want for myself and then grown them got them pretty and offered them to others. In such cases the fish have always gone through quarantine, often for many months. When I was doing the NEC yearly even at the end of Mar./early Apr. I would buy 40+ redline barbs as imports in Oct.
On the few occasions where I have skipped Q, the fish have not gone into any of my "prized" tanks. And example is my 150 with my clowns and roseline barbs. Two of the clowns have been with me since 2002 and they are big and my special babies. I would never risk them. On the other hand the tanks the new corys above went into are nice but they contain more common fish. I may be a willing to take on some risks, but other risks are out of the question.
As I am always willing to admit, I have been very lucky in my fish keeping journey. I have been helped by some well known experts who were willing to talk to a rank amateur. I had people in the business willing to let me piggyback on what they do. As a result I have always tried to pay this forward. My good luck has allowed me to support the orgs. from which I benefit as well as some that just do good things for hobbyists.
One the other hand, what I am not is an expert on fish. I do what I enjoy and try to be as well informed on these things as I can. But I am way to old to spend time studying the fish I can't and will never keep. At heart I am still a hobbyist and not an expert on almost anything live unless I work with it for some time. And then what I know is mostly about how the fish behave in tanks as opposed to in the wild.
I have an in-wall 75 gal. tank. For many years it was a planted display tank. it housed my clown loaches before they got big. And then one day it developed a leak in the bottom from right corner area. Fortunately it was a slow leak and I was able to move all of the contents into the 150 gal. there all now reside.
I do not repair leaking tanks, I replace them. I did this with the 75. However, I never got it set up as a display. I put it into use as a "junk tank." I put in a thin layer of sand but any and all plants that went in were in pots or on wood or rocks. One of the first uses for the new 75 was to Q 40 red line barbs at 2 inches. These were to be sold at the NEC about 6 months later.
Since then the plant load has doubled or maybe even more. The barbs are no longer in the tank, In its current incarnation it mostly holds a mix of fish I bought to resell at the NEC, and those that did not sell I kept for myself. The tank now holds paleatus and albino corys, rummy nose tetras, orange fin danios, and purple emperor tetras plus way too many amano shrimp and assassin snails.
The tank lights are on a timer and come on at about 10 a.m. However, when I get up and open the blinds and the sun comes up, it will shine into the front right corner of the tank. As the sun climbs, the portion of the tank that is fully illuminated by sunlight moves from right to left. Despite staring at that tank whenever I am at my desk working or on my PC, the tank is about 9 ft. from me.
I see this tank all day long but c couple of days ago I notices something which I confirmed today. When that small area on the lower front right of the tank gets the sun, the rummy nose tetras are all in that area. The rest of the tank is still pretty dark. What I found rally interesting was how those tetras behaved. The would swim to the place where the line between the light and dark was and stop. They would stare into the dark and then turn around. They seemed to be scared of the dark- almost like it was a deadly radiation zone like we see in some futuristic movies.
Moreover, as the sun rose further it expanded the light area and the light/dark boundary moves left towards the center of the tank. As it does, the tetras expand the area in which they swim. They still stop where the light/dark boundary is. It did not take me long to figure out what this was all about. In the wild most fish like tetras sleep at night. During this time they are at risk from nocturnal predators. As the sun rises and begins to make it possible for the fish to see, they will venture from where they shelter at night into the lighted places. But they will not venture into the dark as they cannot see any potential predators there.
For me this was another learning first in a long lone of first over the years. It is this sort of thing which makes this hobby so much fun. No matter how long one has been at it, there is always more to see and to learn.
I do not repair leaking tanks, I replace them. I did this with the 75. However, I never got it set up as a display. I put it into use as a "junk tank." I put in a thin layer of sand but any and all plants that went in were in pots or on wood or rocks. One of the first uses for the new 75 was to Q 40 red line barbs at 2 inches. These were to be sold at the NEC about 6 months later.
Since then the plant load has doubled or maybe even more. The barbs are no longer in the tank, In its current incarnation it mostly holds a mix of fish I bought to resell at the NEC, and those that did not sell I kept for myself. The tank now holds paleatus and albino corys, rummy nose tetras, orange fin danios, and purple emperor tetras plus way too many amano shrimp and assassin snails.
The tank lights are on a timer and come on at about 10 a.m. However, when I get up and open the blinds and the sun comes up, it will shine into the front right corner of the tank. As the sun climbs, the portion of the tank that is fully illuminated by sunlight moves from right to left. Despite staring at that tank whenever I am at my desk working or on my PC, the tank is about 9 ft. from me.
I see this tank all day long but c couple of days ago I notices something which I confirmed today. When that small area on the lower front right of the tank gets the sun, the rummy nose tetras are all in that area. The rest of the tank is still pretty dark. What I found rally interesting was how those tetras behaved. The would swim to the place where the line between the light and dark was and stop. They would stare into the dark and then turn around. They seemed to be scared of the dark- almost like it was a deadly radiation zone like we see in some futuristic movies.
Moreover, as the sun rose further it expanded the light area and the light/dark boundary moves left towards the center of the tank. As it does, the tetras expand the area in which they swim. They still stop where the light/dark boundary is. It did not take me long to figure out what this was all about. In the wild most fish like tetras sleep at night. During this time they are at risk from nocturnal predators. As the sun rises and begins to make it possible for the fish to see, they will venture from where they shelter at night into the lighted places. But they will not venture into the dark as they cannot see any potential predators there.
For me this was another learning first in a long lone of first over the years. It is this sort of thing which makes this hobby so much fun. No matter how long one has been at it, there is always more to see and to learn.
I am watching that sunlit area and now it is not only the rummy nose doing this. I now see some of the orange fin danios doing it as well. However, the corys seem not to be bothered by any of this. I see them active in the darker areas.
The small fish playing in the sunlight and scared of the dark expand their safe zone as the sun creeps across the bottom of the tank. Right now the tank lights have not come one but the sun lights about 1/2 the bottom at this time.
The small fish playing in the sunlight and scared of the dark expand their safe zone as the sun creeps across the bottom of the tank. Right now the tank lights have not come one but the sun lights about 1/2 the bottom at this time.
