What was your process? And how did yours compare to the straight-out-of-the-can tablets in consistency and water absorbsion?

I chased a similar problem and blamed all kinds of things, ammonia in the tap water, a faulty heater, whatever. In the end I think it was my cheap 3 year old pond grade dechlorinator. Didn't really realise it until way after the fact.

You mentioned wondering about a cold weather change. Are these ...

Watch some of Below Water on YouTube, they have some footage of dives in the Orinoco with great footage and species identification and descriptions. The information Oliver shares is some of the highest quality available in social media, at least that I've seen.

On a related note I tried growing ...

Wow, thank you for all the responses. I'll include some more details to give some context for my thought processes.

I live on the west coast of Canada where my microclimate is wet, foggy and cold (just above freezing) all winter and then 35°C for most of the summer. It freezes enough for it to be a ...

Hey folks,

I'm finally at a point where I can build a proper fish room. I've waited for a few key things, like owning my own home and not needing to move again in the foreseeable future. I've gutted and completely redone part of my basement so that the majority of a "rec room" can be used. The wife ...

Black base, thin white lines sometimes broken. L260.

Very nice! I recently went through buying a whole bunch of plecos at a good price and realising I didn't really have the space to accommodate them all. I like your restraint, trust me it saves on headaches later!

Yup, some dimensions and glass thickness would help.

I really appreciate getting to read about other people's experiences in the deeper places of the hobby. Hearing you say you felt a responsibility to raise rare fish stuck out as particularly interesting. As much as there is disappointment to hear you're reducing your hobby, it's understandable. Your ...

If you don't mind, could we turn this into a "teachable moment" and learn how you caught that difference? Based on the body patterns in those photos I'm thinking I've seen L052 sold as L134 but never realized. I figured it was a difference between Tapajos and Jamanxim populations.

In my experience, 9/10 one species will be more thriving and gregarious and exploit access to food and preferable structure and caves while the other species doesn't thrive. The other 1/10 of the time both species breeds but usually only in a larger setup with ample habitat and heavy feeding ...

Happy new year Eric! I think you may have it with O. piribebuy, thank you. Seems I'm on the right track with cooler water so I will keep them there.

Picked up a group of these fish, labeled "Otocinclus negro" at a local store. Spent some time digging around on here and think they might belong instead to Hisonotus or Otothyropsis; some kind of Hypoptopomatinae for sure. Called the store back and they confirmed the source was Aquarium Glaser. It ...

Thanks Jools for all your hard work. I didn't realise how much I'm on this site until I couldn't reach it anymore.

Are you determined to not have a lid? The benefits of having a lid to prevent things falling in, prevent things jumping out, retain heat, and limit evaporation and humidity far outweigh (IMO) the benefits of an open rimless, primarily the look and less light reflection/scatter. So unless aquascaping ...

Going on about 25 years on my oldest tank, in and out of use and gone through a number of moves. Thicker glass on older tanks seems to help give them and their seams longer life.


... I've started using PU for my new aquarium builds and re-builds


This is interesting, is PU = polyurethane ...

Great looking fish. If you're west coast Canada I'll definitely buy some off you if you do look to sell off juveniles.

So despite this tank still being a catch-all for downsizing other tanks due to life changes, these zebras are still breeding. Thanks Jools for the advice on leaving everyone through the first spawn. There are now new wrigglers and a few more this time. I'll do the in-tank breeder box in the canister ...

My tap water is extremely low in dissolved anything. I started using Seachem Equilibrium to buffer my water and keep pH swings from happening. I just add a pinch with a water change. Between that and having a reliable heater and thermometer the tank improved. Plants are happier and fish losses ...

Thank you, I appreciate that feedback very much. Can you tell me more about how you find the adults fare after being left with the first spawn as opposed to removing the first spawn?

I just got home from a 2 week vacation. The night before I left, I noticed a male L46 was trapping. Got home last night and looked with a light, sure enough my first L46 spawn was at the back of the cave with big white yolk sacks. Tank had a feeder that fed once a day while I was gone.

Now the ...

Thanks! If possible I will work it in.

I'm interested to know more about your setup and also the breeder box that you've managed to raise the babies with.

Hey folks,

I will be traveling to the UK shortly and though the itinerary is tight, I thought I'd ask if there's any aquarium-related places the UK crowd here would recommend visiting. In particular, I was wondering about stores (and maybe public aquaria). I'm not necessarily asking for just any ...

Amazing that Sturisomatichthys are such carnivores and not a pure herbivore/algae eater like the old literature suggested. The diet you've fed in conditioning your breeders just proves it further.

I've had the entire clutch of eggs die when I tried moving them. This was 2 years ago and they may not have been viable, I couldn't be sure now. Timing of moving /disturbing the eggs probably matters a lot, but my guess is earlier is better and later would be more sensitive.

Great video! Thanks for posting with subtitles. I would love to know some of the details; tank size, temperature, types of leaves you use on the bottom, feeding routine.

How about an Aquaclear? They're terrific bang-for-your-buck and easy to clean. Plus you get the added bonus that it adds total water volume to your system where the internal filter doesn't. That's something I would value for a setup that size. I have Aquaclears that are decades old and still working ...

Thanks, things seem to be looking more normal again now. Just 50% waterchanged and kept up with feeding. It did also go much lighter for about 2 or 3 days, but that seems to have gone away for now as well.

Noticed one of my small L128 has some dark blotches on it. Haven't seen this pattern on them before, even the adult group I grew and kept for years. Wondering if anyone has observed this before. Thanks.