Intro & a question :)

[asgard]

Hello hello!
I'm fairly new to Loricariidae but recently bought one and promptly fell in love with it. Please pardon me if I make mistakes in some of my posts; am trying desperately to understand everything (especially the L numbers)
Planet Catfish is definitely a godsend IMHO.

I'm a 24 year old IT Engineer living in Auckland, New Zealand and have had a freshwater tropical tank for about 4 years now. Was going through my local pet shop 3 weeks ago when I came across this strange dinosaur-like creature that appeared to be rasping away on the tank glass. I was captured! Entranced! I fell in love

It was introduced to me as a "Common Pl*costomus."
At that point I didn't really understand how incorrect that term was, & bought it. The pet store gave me information on how to look after it & warned me that they grew to be pretty big; but being the fish concious person I am, I went online and started hunting for information on them.... wow
I didn't realise what I was in for! But I was too hooked on my little guy to really stop at that point (& have become more so since!)

I'm currently trying to get some good pictures of him so I can post them on the identification board; but was wondering whether people could give me some advice about the best book to buy that concentrates on Loricariidae? I had a read through the Books section and settled on 'Loricariidae : The Most Beautiful L-Numbers'; but will I also need to get the first book 'Loricariidae, All L-Numbers'?

Heh I've come across a number of personal sites where people talk about their experiences with their plec*s (yes, I've picked up on this quirky superstition too!) and it's wonderful reading how each and every one of them have an interesting personality. I'm just hoping my guy decides that it's ok to not be scared of me!

Thankyou, and I'm looking forward to meeting more of you, and learning from your experiences & knowledge

[asgard]

Oh dear, just realised I should have probably posted this on the 'Speak Easy' forum. Apologies folks

[S. Allen]

heh, no problem, it'll work ok here too probably, but if not they'll shuffle it over. anyhow, I'd say to get a book with more info about the actual keeping of plecos... the aqualogs are nice for ID(most times) but contain little, and many times downright incorrect keeping info. Most of the "common" plecos can be treated the same, with some minor variations in size and temperment... the aqualog is something I'd suggest if you're considering getting some fancy plecos, or you just like the pictures(I'm guilty of this as much as using it for any real purpose...) anyhow, welcome to the boards, looking forward to pics and having you around.

oh, and BTW, it won't let us type P L E C O without the * instead of the E. it's a forced thing. I assume to promote continuity.

[Silurus]

I'm currently trying to get some good pictures of him so I can post them on the identification board; but was wondering whether people could give me some advice about the best book to buy that concentrates on Loricariidae?

Pretty pictures aside, there are hardly any books that will have what you're looking for. The site/forum is a much better bet for husbandry info.
You might try getting a copy of the Vires book.

[asgard]

Thankyou S.Allen & Silurus (I've corrected my mistakes where the pl*co nomenclature is concerned.)
Hrrmm well aside from pretty pictures (which I do enjoy!) I really would like a book with more information on their care etc.

One book I did discover at my fish store was the 'Hobbyist Guide to Catfish And Loaches' by Dr.P.V.Loiselle & Dr.D.Pool through the company Tetra. It contains approximately 26 pages on Loricariidae including personal experiences re: breeding & their usefullness as an algal eater. Not much, really

Ah well, just hope you're all ready to groan in agony at some of my n00by questions!

[S. Allen]

haha, they can't be any worse than we've seen... and we've all been there, don't worry, you'll be fine.

yeah, 26 pages in any book about suckermouth cats is pretty good, actually... most books only give 3 or so. but yeah, for keeping the commons, online's a good place to start

[coelacanth]

but was wondering whether people could give me some advice about the best book to buy that concentrates on Loricariidae?

Whether or not you speak German, the Mergus Catfish Atlas by Seidel and Evers is an absolute treat. It's going to be 18 months before it is available in English, but as I've found it possible to understand some of the text with my extremely rudimentary German that shouldn't put you off getting it now.

[mokmu]

Hello asgard! Welcome to the forums! I was just wondering, there are two of you guys from New Zealand here (last I checked), how is the catfish and pl*co scene over there in New Zealand? Do you get a lot of wild and rare(?) pl*cs over there?

[asgard]

S.Allen it may seem like alot but it's not thoroughly informative (I'm seriously considering returning it & asking for a refund at this point.) And _once_ I take a picture of Bob (yes, I'm so cruel, I named my pl*co Bob... ahem ) I know I can come here and ask for help re: identifying and looking after him.

Coelacanth my German is well, non-existant *L* so I think I am going to have to wait the 18 months til the english version comes out; thankyou though
I'm a bit of a book lover, so this is something else I can look forward to.

Heya mokmu! Thankyou for the welcome! Actually I'm a girl
I wasn't aware that there was another New Zealander on this forum; if so, please point me his/her way!
As for the scene, alas I am still pretty new to pl*cos as a whole and haven't had a chance yet to explore whether there are like minded people here. My LFS would have mentioned if there was a "club" of sorts I guess (it was so very obvious that I was really interested in pl*cos!)

I'm also not too sure what is considered rare, yet
Yesterday they had a Royal, Vampire, Spotted, "green" spotted? Albino, Coral Spotted? and of course one like the one I have

[mokmu]

That's okay as things are. Thinking of visiting your country but not anytime soon. Maybe in a year or so. I've been reading up on your country as it is. Heluva place!!! I enjoy a lot of outdoor sports and it seems that NZ is the place for that. I just wondered if the pl*c scene was also exciting. Well, it seems it is. How are the prices for the other pl*cs?