Mosquitofish, Gambusia sp., Samos, Greece

Found these livebearers while on holidays last week in Samos, Greece.

Introduced mosquitofish, Gambusia sp.

Ancistrus claro, Lda008 part 1: selecting fish

I dare to say that all hobby aquarists have one dream fish that they would like to keep, the one that never seems to become available, perhaps the one that got away even. For me the dream fish has for a long time been the little riverine loricariid: Ancistrus claro, Lda008.

This however changed in January 2016 as Stork Zoo in Gothenburg were able to import a wild caught group through Austria. I bought nine individuals in total, in retrospect I regret not buying more but there is no reason to cry over spilled milk (fish?).

These fishes are recognized by their small size, flat and wide body shape resembling that of Chaetostoma as well as their beautiful reticulated patterns, especially in certain males.  

I opted to try and pick out five females and four males, simply as it’s easier to spot young males then females. If it turns out that some of the “females” in reality are males that’s fine too as there should at least be a couple of girls in there.

The males were picked out due to traits such as a “fat lip", more bristles and a stronger reticulated pattern.

These are the four possible males selected:

 

The females were a bit trickier to pick out. They were chosen due to traits such as the lack of a “fat lip", minimum amount of bristles and duller more spotted patterns. Looking at the photo now afterwards it looks like there could be a small male in there too, time will tell.

These are the five possible females selected:

The fishes now reside in the 375 litre community tank pictured below. I had nothing prepared for them at the time so it had to do as a temporary accommondation. The community tank does however suit the species quite well in that it is furnished with lots of pebbles, rocks and roots and has a moderately strong current.

That’s it for my intial impressions of the Ancistrus claro and selection of individuals. The next post in this series should include setting up species tanks for these little fishes as well as a follow up on sexing.

 

Corydoras panda & wild guppies feeding on Repashy

I'm still working on sorting out the old photos & videos, here's a short
clip of two of my favourites: Corydoras panda & wildstrain guppies
(Brazil) feeding. (food from Repashy Norway)

Video: Corydoras concolor & Hypancistrus debilittera Sharing a Meal:)

I'm going through the mess that is my files and found this gem of C. concolor and H. debilittera (L129) sharing a meal of mussels, enjoy:)

2016, future plans

I thought I would talk a little bit about what is going on in the fishroom right now, the thruth is that it's not that much. 
As I am in the process of moving (which takes forever) I have had to sell off many of my beloved fish and most of the tanks, this has not been fun but at least it was for the best of the fish. 
The fish that are left have been bundle up in temporary community tanks which has put breeding on hold too. 
I'm however not throwing in the towel, far from it, as soon as I'm set up again I will slowly start up tanks again.

The plans for 2016 include:

• 1-2 tanks for Ancistrus claro, lda008: This species has for many years been the holy grail for me and I was lucky enough to aquire a wild group earlier this year. They are still young and reside in a large community tank. The plan is to divide the group in two, kept in species tanks

• 1 tank for the spotted version of Peckoltia compta, L134: I have sold off most comptas but I did keep the spotted ones from a separate import, they are still young enough so I'm not hoping for any spawn this year but they deserve their own tank.

• Try to hunt down a couple of Ancistrus "Rio Paraguay" females from my love hungry male, he's been waiting for too long the poor thing.

I have plenty of other ideas some which might or might not realise but here's a couple of them-:

•  New photo tank, with my camera back from repairs this seems like a no brainer.
•  Start building up a really large group of Corydoras for a future display tank.
•  Trying my hand on a optiwhite display tank.
•  Whiptail catfish, say no more.
•  Finally I want to do something really different. Most of my tanks are natural or functional, usually a combination of the two. I might have a go at doing something outside of this template. Something that will make most biotope fans cringe:)

Stay tuned fishy friends!

Andreas


 

Happy St. Patrick's Day Felllow Fishkeepers!

Breeding Report Corydoras concolor, Slate Cory

This is one of my absolute favorites and a much underrated species. The fish available in the shops are often juveniles that are not that impressive to look at, mainly due to their greyish coulour.
This drastically changes as the animals mature and adults are among the most impressive Corydoras there is.

Like with most Corydoras the females grow rounder than the males, this is however a very robust species in general so even the males have a heavy look to them. Both sexes grow an extended dorsal fin but the dorsal fin of the males grew to a very impressive length.

I acquired these fish in May 2013 from Artane Aquatics as wild caught juveniles, I also later added a few individuals from a second supplier.

The fish were kept in a 60x40x30cm grow out tank with fine sand, plenty of twigs and moss. An air driven sponge filter as well as a sponge filter driven by a power head was used, the current was in places of medium strength.

The diet consisted of live foods such as mosquito larva and white worms but also dry foods such as catfish pellets and flakes, the fish grew very well.

Weekly water changes using slightly colder water were made of about 20% of the total volume, this might have triggered the intitial spawn. It should also be noted that breeding activity intensified as live foods were offered on a regular basis.
  
The first spawning took place nearly exactly a year after the purchase, the reading were as follows:

Temp: 24-25°C
pH: 7
Hardness: 30-40 ppm

The fish scatter their eggs and they can either be collected and raised in a breeding box or left in with the parents as quite a few seem to survive in their presence.

For the first spawns I collected the eggs and raised the young using fine flakes, brine shrimp, micro worms and mosquito larva. After the initial spawn the adults continued to breed on a regular basis and I stopped collecting eggs. There were still quite a few survivors appearing now and then.

I personally try to keep plenty of moss and dried oak leaves with my fry as these provide both shelter and micro organisms for fry to feed on.

The group was later moved to a community setting containing guppies, tetras and also other bottom dwellers such as Hypancistrus and Ancistrus species. Even in this setting there were juvenile Corydoras concolor appearing on a regular basis.

Reviving Melander's Aquarium

Melander's Aquarium has been very quite for a long while now but I have decided to try my best to revive the blog.

I'm likely relocating in the future and have therefor had to sell off quite a few of my fishes, luckily I know fishkeeper's in the area and most of them have gotten new, good homes.

There will however be a new beginning, some fishes are kept and new tanks will be set up. I'm planning to write about this but I also have plenty of material from the past that I'm planning to post about. 

Have patience my friends:-)

Andreas