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


 

Additions to the family / L134 juveniles

Due to my current work situation there has been very little time for me to spend on the internet and this blog, I do hope this will change soon.

I did go to www.seahorseaquariums.com/ the ther day and came home with these beauties. Many thanks to John at Seahorse for sourcing these and for taking the time to discuss signs of gender in juveniles.

These are quite small and it is very hard to sex L134's this size with any accuracy. I am hoping there will be some females among these and when picking them out I was looking for rounded shapes (body/head/fins). If all of them turn out to be female I will be extremely impressed by myself and John, and very surprised:)

 

 

Wanted section, Peckoltia compta, L134 females

A Wanted section has been added to the blog and at the moment I am looking for some Peckoltia compta, L134 females so If anyone has some in the eastern part of Ireland please let me know at: melanderandreas@hotmail.com

Melander

144 litre tank

 I have finally moved my old 144 litre tank, here's a pic:

I decided to get rid of all the stones for now and I think the wood looks better but it’s much harder to hide the caves. I have a few smaller pieces of wood to go in and some smaller stones so hopefully that will do it. The bright orange caves that stands out really annoys me at the moment.

The plants are a bit of a mess as this moving business has taken its toll but I'm sure they will recover.

The fish seems ok but a bit frightened; I'm going from a acidic pH to a neutral, that's why the tank is not fully filled yet. Hopefully they will acclimatize ok. I used most of the water that was in the tank originally and I'm adding small amounts of the new neutral water two times per day.

At the moment there are two Peckoltia compta, three bristlenoses, 25+ Corydoras panda and 4 Corydoras Schultzei in the tank. The C. Schultzei will be moved a.s.a.p to prevent hybridisation.

Plants include: one Anubias heterophylla and three small Echinodorus bleheri.

Still loads more to do as I have to set up the new tank too.

Melander