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That's a very nice vid, Wrasse!

I found Ageneiosus on a stocklist of a German shop near Frankfurt.
Probably the same as Marc's.

Ah, so you found them too.
Great timing, just as the holidays are over....

Nice video Richard, but the fish are not talking(?).
Seriously, the thread could do with some positivity. Thanks for that.

I will update on the small tank on Sunday.

I'm going to make a concerted affort to get some of my woodcats to breed... namely T Taniatus and Trachelyichthys Exilis. These are the 2 species that I have witnessed mating/ attempting to mate in my tanks. It might take some time as these things are seasonal. It may be that I can artificially bring forward the breeding season.
With all this in mind, I contacted Michael Hardman for his views, which he is happy for me to transfer to this forum...

'Hi Richard,

I have NEVER spawned ANY woodcats, so am hardly an expert. However, I reviewed some catfish spawning reports and presented them to the CSG at the 2008 convention and there might be some clues there. I found a study of Parauchenipterus striatulus in southeastern Brazil (Rio de Janeiro). The team studied the maturity of the gonads throughout the year and noted a typical tropical response in that this species matures late in the dry season and spawns in the first half of the wet season. Here's a link to Araujo et al. (2000).
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script= ... so&tlng=pt
The study shows how the gonads contained mature sperm and ova Sep-Feb (Fig. 5). The fish may have been spawning during the entire time, but it looks like most of the males were done by mid-January. Given that female auchenipterids can store sperm, they may have been carrying mature ova (and sperm) several weeks after the main spawning period was over, which could explain the broader and flatter "hump" in their distribution.

And a climate chart for Rio de Janeiro so you have a basis for modeling seasonal changes - at least in southeastern Brazil:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_de_Janeiro#Climate

Although T. taeniatus is a largely Amazonian species, I have no reason to think it would do anything differently. Try simulating the dry season by gradually lowering the temperature and frequency of water changes over 1-2 months. Reproduction is a hormonal matter, and feeding has never been implicated as a critical factor in bringing catfishes into reproductive condition. They will need nutrients to form sperm and ova, so feed normally but I wouldn't spend much time on this. In order to keep nitrates under control during the dry season, you could try a nitrate filter or adsorptive media and activated carbon for other organics. Keep an eye on the pH and buffer if it starts to slide. The key here is the change in temperature. Around Rio, the difference in high vs low temperatures may be greater than further north, but I'd guess something on the order or 3-5 °C cooler would be in the right ballpark. You could look into more appropriate climate data for a typical Amazonian location, say, Iquitos or Manaus and base your simulation on that.

Keep an eye on them and, after a few weeks under the dry season, start gradually increasing the temperature back up to where it was originally. If you notice the females beginning to look heavy or there are clear changes in the male anal or dorsal fins after a week or two, try increasing the frequency and volume of water changes and perhaps add a powerhead.

Given they are likely to be internal fertilizers, I don't think substrate or caves/pipes will be important for the spawning event itself, but the female will need a private place to lay and protect the eggs. Make sure you have at least as many pipes as woodcats. Typically, woodcat larvae are very advanced when they emerge from the nest and can feed on small foods immediately, e.g., Artemia nauplii, finely chopped bloodworms, etc.

Don't know if any of this information is helpful - but I hope so. Good luck and keep me posted.
Michael...'

My first thoughts after reading this is that I previously thought the dry season was warmer and the wet season cooler...

I'm pretty sure dry season is warmer, and wet season is cooler.

However, the air-temperature (both high & low and day average) seem pretty stable for a place like Manaus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manaus#Climate
So the difference would come from the water being cooler by the amount and origin of the flow.

--
Mats

Hi Richard,

Afaik I've never had eggs from T. taeniatus, but T. exilis spawn quite regularly throughout the year.
Their eggs are larger, more transparent and laid in significantly smaller clutches than for instance eggs of T. intermedia.

Update on the tank: water seems alright since last Wednesday. Survivors: Spinipterus acsi, Tatia intermedia, Tatia dunni & Trachelyopterichthys taeniatus (1 specimen each; Spinipterus is still wobbly).
The 4 Hemiloricaria melini have not been affected at all.

Marc van Arc wrote:Update on the tank: water seems alright since last Wednesday. Survivors: Spinipterus acsi, Tatia intermedia, Tatia dunni & Trachelyopterichthys taeniatus (1 specimen each; Spinipterus is still wobbly).
The 4 Hemiloricaria melini have not been affected at all.

Marc
Fingers crossed things continue to improve for you and the fish.
Martin

Martin S wrote:Fingers crossed things continue to improve for you and the fish.

Thanks Martin, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to stop keeping the above mentioned auchenipterid species, with the exception of T. taeniatus.

Not the best pic. I hope to make some better pics from my woodcats in the future.

T. galeatus.

I'm pleased to report that I have just reserved a pair of from Steve (The.Dark.One), which Mats will collect for me this weekend at the CSG Show & Auction

Good to see the woodcats return in your tanks Martin and indeed a nice choice!

Meanwhile we (Sidguppy, Kruseman & myself) are about to leave for Frankfurt to visit OF-Aquaristik (aka Tanganyika.de).
Should be one of the "must see" shops. Although sort of buried in work, I thought I'd better take this day off for some leisure.
Ageneiosus cf. atronasus are for certain, but what is Ageneiosus sp. Peru going to be??

We'll find out later - and the same goes for you -)

Marc van Arc wrote:to leave for Frankfurt to visit OF-Aquaristik (aka Tanganyika.de).

Say Hi to Oliver for me!

Jools

Marc van Arc wrote: but what is Ageneiosus sp. Peru going to be??

Possibly the same as the ones Pier had in?

Steve... you are a mind reader?

I don't have new pics yet of the ones I picked up from Pier, but they are looking good and growing. They like to stay at one end of the tank where another tank butts-up to it, so I can't get the camera on them.
I definitely have 3 of one species, 1 of another and the 5th fish could be a 3rd species but not sure.

The.Dark.One wrote:

Marc van Arc wrote: but what is Ageneiosus sp. Peru going to be??

Possibly the same as the ones Pier had in?

Alas, they were also A. cf atronasus.
Will expand on the visit tomorrow.

Jools wrote:

Marc van Arc wrote:to leave for Frankfurt to visit OF-Aquaristik (aka Tanganyika.de).

Say Hi to Oliver for me!

Sorry, too late. By the time you wrote that we were already on the road. As a matter of fact in a huge traffic jam caused by two decorators painting the bridge over the Rhein near Duesburg. It took us more than one hour to find that out -)

As the other guys have already told about their assets in separate threads, I can keep this short.
I bought 3 Ageneiosus cf atronasus which are now in my (sort of) Q-tank with the 4 auchenipterids that already lived (or rather: survived) in there. If they do well they'll go into the large tank where my 2 females live. They need to get a little bit larger, however, so it may take a few months. And of course I hope there's at least one male in the group as they are currently too small to determine their gender.

For anyone interested, OF still has an odd 30 specimens left. There are also 4 Trachycorystes and a Trachelyopterus species from Argentina.
Furthermore loads of synos, pimelodids & plecos. Nice place, too bad it's so far away.

I'm the proud owner for three - I think they are all females, but one looks like it MAY be a male. Will try to get better look at them in a few days when they have had a chance to settle in.

--
Mats

MatsP wrote:I'm the proud owner for three

Tatia gyrina

- I think they are all females, but one looks like it MAY be a male. Will try to get better look at them in a few days when they have had a chance to settle in.

My single specimen is also a female! If you do manage to find one is a male, you may as well take my single female to add to the group.

I'm now on the look-out for a male Tatia dunni as Steve only had two females. If anyone knows of any, please let me know.
Martin

Martin S wrote:

I'm now on the look-out for a male Tatia dunni as Steve only had two females. If anyone knows of any, please let me know.
Martin

Try Rare Aquatics mate, they had them listed at one point

The.Dark.One wrote:Try Rare Aquatics mate, they had them listed at one point

Thanks Steve - have asked on their FB page and am waiting for a reply.
Cheers
Martin

The female still is very shy. She never leaves her hiding place.

the female's well used to nightfeeds without any light on.

it'll take quite some time to relearn other behavior

remember the Driftwood Cat you took from us?

that one hadn't moved for 6 months!
it wouldn't eat or swim at all.......but obviously not feeding for 6 months didn't hurt it in any way

Yes I do remember the other one. There is only one little problem: I can not distinguish her ​​from the rest so I do not know if I see her a lot.

I still have 5 galeatus, some are fat, the others are very fat.

Due to a further down size of auchenipterids, available around last week of October:

- , 3 specimens, smaller species, all females

-Trachelyopterus sp, not in Clog, spitting image of only with adipose, smaller species, 1 male/2 females

- , about 16 cms, female

The fishes from the small tank (, , & ) have already found a new home.

I'm in doubt wrt the pair

The 2 Ageneiosidae species and Auchenipterichthys coracoideus are going to stay.

that's sad reading, Marc.

Do you know where these undiscribed Trachelyopterus originate from?

Marc van Arc wrote: -Trachelyopterus sp, not in Clog, spitting image of

Trachelyopterus coriaceus

only with adipose, smaller species, 1 male/2 females

-I'm in doubt wrt the

Trachelyopterus fisheri

pair

I would like the above two species but getting them to me might be a problem?

wrasse wrote:that's sad reading, Marc.

Not really, Richard. After 2 (separate) decades of woodcats, it's time for something different. Not just for my family - who have been watching a tank with plants, lots of wood and "no fishes" for 10 years, but for me as well.
I'll always have a soft spot for these fishes and don't forget I intend to keep the fishes that stay for another decade.
The Pier-Ageneiosus would have been included as well if they hadn't died. If I'm honest the Centromochlus wouldn't.