Howdy

[Wyomingite]

Howdy,

Been keeping fish for 30+ years. Mainly a Rift Valley cichlid kinda guy, currently breeding over 20 species in my fish room now and have bred nearly a hundred RV cichlid species over the years, with 40 of my tanks devoted to cichlids from Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika and Malawi. Always liked catfish and have always kept a few around, but not many cats go well with Africans. Even native catfish genera, other Synodontis spp., and plecos can have a rough time of it. I have a redtail sternella that can attest to that, as he lost his caudal overnight to some Tanganyikans a few years back. That was the only, and last time, I kept any pleco other than dull brown BNs and dull colored large plecos with my Africans. Other catfish species tough enough to withstand the adult cichlids predate fry and disrupt spawning, so I've found them undesirable. My common BNs breed constantly, with little work on my part, and that has filled my catfish fix for many years, breeding a fish that I can keep comfortably with my Africans.

I've lurked on this site for years and have always had it in my favorites. Always found it to be an invaluable resource for catfish info. I have a dozen tanks with fish other than African cichlids in them and have always kept a few catfish, mainly very common, cheap and easily acquired species. I've actually had paleatus and bronze cories spawn for me. But I have acquired an interest in breeding challenging species. Actually want to hone my breeding skills with a few smaller, "exotic" plecos, and then acquire some zebra plecos. I have a philosophy that it doesn't make sense to keep uncommon fish species if I'm not going to try to breed them, so I want to be prepared. Zebras have been number one on my wish list of catfish since I first saw them many, many years ago, but alas, not high enough on my overall wish list to do anything about it. Until now.

Anyway, looking forward to participating.

Sincerely,

Ivan

[bekateen]

Welcome, Ivan. Thanks for sharing your story.

Cheers, Eric

[Jools]

Welcome aboard!

Jools

[SherLar]

Wow! Quite the tank list. I'm a bit jealous.