Hi Janne, You talk about high toxin levels at the walls of aquariums and high bacteria count .Do you think snails with their scouring method of feeding will directly (eating bacteria)and inderictly (eating the food the bacteria eat)will significantly reduce this. Regards Chris

Hi All, It appears my ongoing deaths in my 134s may be due to Lordosis I have finally got my fish onto a much more varied diet as apparently Lordosis (vertical spinal curviture)is frequently caused by a vitamin c deficiency. Wondering if anybody else has had any similar experiences. Regards Chris

Thanks for the input.I suppose I'm looking for conditioning beyond gravid looking fish. I'm reading a book titled Conditioning,Spawning and rearing of fish with emphasis on marine clownfish by Frank H. Hoff.(Worth reading)Which goes into egg viability due to broodstock nutrion .Have you experienced ...

Hi Barbie, I didn't give enough history .I've read that things like carotenoids etc(passed on to the egg) can greatly affect egg viability having had problems in the past with failed spawns and reading Jannes article feeding a shrimp and vege mix I thought I'd give this a go to add something extra ...

Hi All, Due to my laziness in feeding a varied diet in the grow out of my L134s I now have fish that wont take to the conditioning foods I'm trying to give them (have tried fasting them for a week plus ).They pretty much take to frozen brine,frozen bloodworms,hikari carnivore pellets and live ...

Hi All, Just wondering what peoples experiences have been with L134 whether they fan their spawn much.I beleive fanning is greatly regulated by the dissolved oxygen levels of the micro environment(and their own respiritory needs) of their cave , I beleive do levels are good in the cave,however it ...

Hi Raul,
Probably worth your time to do a search on docs ,dissolved organic carbon theres more reasons to do water changes than nitrogenous waste.
Regards Chris

Hi All' Just wondering wether peckoltia types where the males get odontodes will breed without having odontal growth.Another smaller male has odontodes he does the spawning.Theres 4 females I think for them so i thought They might have shared. L134s in this particular case. Regards Chris

Hi Boots,
Theres a couple of posts already on here with my L134 dramma.
Regards Chris

Pretty much just did the text book stuff having dramas with the fry but they spawned quite readily.Probably 18 months old odontodes had being obvious for two months on male .Bought ten dropped 4 within 2 weeks but last six look good.They're carrying on abit today so fingers crossed for another spawn ...

Hi Boots,
Other than ancistrus, L134s which I've got spawning (only one fry so far)but I'm pretty happy with the little guy or girl.
Regards Chris

Yeh reckon you'd be right on same batch about the same size put new caves in today they will have outgrown the old ones shortly.So there's been a spawning but no fry reports by anybody yet?Worked pretty hard on mine mixing up parameters etc to no avail.
Regards Chris

Hi Boots,
Have the females hanging out near the caves males in or at front of caves it all looks good but no luck either.It becomes more difficult with out much info. Have you found much info on their natural waters ?
Regards Chris

Why don't you try soaking your fish foods in garlic extract for a two week coarse .
Regards Chris

Water parameters are appropriate for species.Temp is usually 28c and 25 c after water change.D O is 6 to 6.2 ppm possibly alot less in the cave as the male doesn't appear to fan much although circulation around cave entrance is fair. Appreciate what your saying about not working their imune system ...

Hi all, Having problems in a breedig tank with fry dying(before egg sac adsorbtion) I want to try a ultra violet on it I know different bugs need different wattages and residense times to die its a 400 litre tank.Any body suggest appropriate wattage and flow rate? Regards Chris

Congratulations Pleco Farmer any reported succesful breeding of this speciec before by antone?
Regards Chris

Thanks for that Pleco Farmer.How well do ultra violet sterilizers work if pathogens are the problem?
Regards Chris

Hi Pleco Farmer,
Just make sure I've got this right.You shorten the cave to incorage the male to be closer to the eggs and increase fertilization rate?
Regards Chris

Hi Line , Appreciate I'm probably in denial and just reaching.Did have ancistrus spawning a little while ago at a young age which threw small eggs. The eggs hatched but many were deformed and I had a huge mortality rates.Egg size appeared to get larger after a few spawns and fry problems were no ...

Hi Line, do I mean dissolved oxygen.No copper in water I've checked. Dead fry I was talking about were fry that were dead but had about 3 to 4 days to go before absorbing egg sac and requiring food if they were alive.I emptied male out of cave in desperation and found 4 fry still alive. I have lost ...

Hi Line,
Water parameters are now
cond 50ppm
ph 6.5
do 6ppm
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate got to get kit back but it will be low.

Regards Chris

Hi All, Vacuumed out L134 fry they looked about 3 to 4 days of absorbing egg sac.Water paramaters are appropriate for species from reading.Have breeders of this species had problem males before . He doesn't seem to fan much at all but I put that down to good water and circulation etc I's he just a ...

That shouldn't be giving you much heat.

You don't by chance have metal halide lighting on your planted tank?

Hi All,
Just wondering how long or how many spawns you could reasonably hope for .Specifically L134.No fry yet.
Regards Chris

Sweet I'll go the test kit first then .

Could try putting a airstone on a timer in there .Have it come on when your lights are of may help your fish while maintainig you co2 levels during the day

Cheers Roger,
I think I'll get him to try a heavy metal sponge.Ancistrus start air gulping a couple of minutes after being put in this tank which has high dissolved oxygen levels a behaviour I noticed in my fish when copper levels were high.

Hi Roger could you please elaborate on what you mean whith increase copper levels without obvious detection.A friends having a ancistrus problems which seem remarkably like the time residual copper from snail treatment was killing my ancistrus.