R.I.P, death of a red & black Ancistrus male, rivalty with L134 leads to death

I'm saddened to write this but I do not want to write about only the positive sides and successes of fishkeeping.

My alpha male, calico red & black Bristlenose pleco was killed yesterday. The photo was taken when the fish was young but in it's adult form it was a very impressive fish.

This fish was approximately 4 years old, in it's prime and should have had many more years, it has supplied me with a constant stream of quality fry.

I foolishly decided to house the fish temporarily with my Peckoltia  compta / L134 group to give it a break from breeding. I knew there could be trouble between the males but did not expect it to lead to it's death. There were more than six empty caves in the tank but this was not enough. The carcass bore clear signs of fighting with another pleco, my suspicion points to the L134 alpha male.

This is something that could easily have been avoided and a decision I will regret. So a warning to anyone wanting to move several boisterous male loricariids into the same tank, monitor them carefully and obviously provide plenty of space and caves!

D.I.Y Coconut breeding cave

As I got some new dwarf cichlids and only have tube shaped caves I decided to make a new home for them. These coconut caves are very easy to make, cheap and suitable for many dwarf cichlids and smaller catfish.

What you need: suitable coconut, fine toothed saw and a knife. 

Start by sawing the lower part of the coconut to make it sit steady on the substrate. Be sure to be careful sawing through it as a coconut can be quite slippy. It’s best if you can find a suitable holder to fix it in place for this step.

Next step is to carve a hole to function as the entrance. I used a knife but and an awl might be better. The size and place of the entrance depends on the fish’s needs.

Carve out the coconut meat from the inside. The meat is quite firm and you will need a solid tool for this. Again I used a knife but a spoon might work well too.

That’s it, your new cave should now be ready for use.

Within a couple of hours this girl moved into her new home.