PlanetCatfish.com

Some pictures.
Note that I am much better at raising fish than I am at taking photos.

Just emerging from the egg:



4 days old:



19 days old:



33 days old:


Interestingly it does appear to have white spot, but actually it has white spots down its flanks and on its head.
Enjoy

I have released it back into the main aquarium, so no more pictures for a while.

Great work (and great BLog update too). Reminds me I must add BLog links to the poster panel and also to the cat-eLog pages too.

Cheers,

Jools

Thanks Jools,
It's a pity the "breeding reported" status doesn't automatically update too.

krazyGeoff wrote:It's a pity the "breeding reported" status doesn't automatically update too.

Miracles take a little longer. if you wish to point out any that need changed I'd be happy to change them (or indeed give you access to same).

Cheers,

Jools

Absolutely great stuff Geoff

Thanks Jac.
I seem to have discovered what was upsetting the male too.
The tank is at head height, and I think that me walking past all the time just upset him.
I put some black plastic on the outside of the tank, so that he could not see me walking past and stuff. He has successfully managed to raise some fry on his own.

Cheers.

That's certainly something to include in the breeding report. Sometimes the most obvious things are the ones you overlook.

Great work Geoff One of my favorite ones alongside with the L255. Looking forward to that report

Congrats. Keep us posted on how you did it

krazyGeoff wrote:Thanks Jac.
I seem to have discovered what was upsetting the male too.
The tank is at head height, and I think that me walking past all the time just upset him.
I put some black plastic on the outside of the tank, so that he could not see me walking past and stuff. He has successfully managed to raise some fry on his own.

Cheers.

Geoff (and anyone else):

Did simply covering the glass calm them down? I would have thought the noise/vibrations would still bother him. I have often wondered about this with my tanks -- they are all in high-traffic areas of the house (living room & kitchen) & there are a few fish I have to sneak up on to see at the front of the tank -- otherwise they bolt to a hiding spot or the back. Ideally I would make a devoted "fish room," but our basement is unheated & would make a lousy fish room during Northeastern winters.

Laugh all you want, but everyone in the house knows not to walk around too much during feeding time, so that everyone gets a fair, uninterrupted shot at eating : P

Anyone else have experience with the visual versus sound/vibration stress disturbing their fish more?

awesome definately my favorite want to get of all plecs

Slightly off topic but......

elephant wrote: Geoff (and anyone else):

Did simply covering the glass calm them down?

Pretty much

elephant wrote: I would have thought the noise/vibrations would still bother him. I have often wondered about this with my tanks -- they are all in high-traffic areas of the house (living room & kitchen) & there are a few fish I have to sneak up on to see at the front of the tank -- otherwise they bolt to a hiding spot or the back.

It takes a bit to think about it, but someone made a post once that made perfect sense.
A river is actually a pretty noisy place, under the water.
The force of the water moves rocks and stuff around, so they are always clunking into each other and stuff.
The Amazon is like a highway and there are many boats and things that travel up the amazon, so there is always the sounds of motors and stuff.
People catch fish when trawling etc and there is plenty of noise associated with that.

If you think about moving up towards a tank, then it would be fair to assume that if a fish was being predated on, the last thing they may see would be a shadow or dark shape moving towards them. To them, all the movement outside the tank is the same thing.

If you are dry fly fishing, you tend to stalk up to the pool where the fish are and start casting. If you just walk up to the pool you will more than likely spook the fish, it is all the same thing.

I have never seen 90% of my fish feed, even in the fish room. Unless I put in the food and then sit unmoving for a few minutes to watch them come out. More often than not they are more patient than me.

For my tanks in the living area of the house I always feed them at the same time, give or take 10 minutes.
They have learnt after a few months that this is the case so when it gets to be about that time they all come out and wait in the place where the food goes.
They seem to know they are safe at that time as the cats (feline) waiting for them don't bother them, until the cats try pawing at the glass.

elephant wrote: Ideally I would make a devoted "fish room," but our basement is unheated & would make a lousy fish room during Northeastern winters.

Laugh all you want, but everyone in the house knows not to walk around too much during feeding time, so that everyone gets a fair, uninterrupted shot at eating : P

No laughing matter
My lights on the living area tanks go off at 7.00pm, and they get fed just before then.
You may find that they feel secure enough with just the tank lights out and the ambient light from the room doesnt worry them too much?

Geoff,

Sorry to have hijacked the thread... your comment just caught my attention & made me wonder : ) I had never thought of the Amazon as a loud place, but the way you describe it is perfect (and enlightening), so thank you! We typically don't leave the tank lights on very much, and when they are on, they're bulbs intended for planted tanks, so not that bright. Ambient light from the rooms & sunlight seem to provide plenty (even for heavily planted tanks) & it helps keep the tanks cooler in our blistering summers.

I guess we all develop tricks for luring our fish out for feedings -- we open the versa-tops about 10 minutes prior to feeding & that certainly seems to get their attention... like calling the kids in to wash their hands before dinner...

All right, back to the L034 -- again, sorry for the interruption!
Amanda

krazyGeoff wrote:Thanks Jac.
I seem to have discovered what was upsetting the male too.
The tank is at head height, and I think that me walking past all the time just upset him.
I put some black plastic on the outside of the tank, so that he could not see me walking past and stuff. He has successfully managed to raise some fry on his own.

Cheers.

Good idea im gona do this for sure.

hi geoff,
just logged in after a long time again...these are great news... i kept 13 species that time (the white spotted one) but until i quit al my tanks nothing happened...

good luck rasing them!!!

farid

Hi Farid,
Welcome back
I hope you are well.
Yes they took 3 or four months off, but started spawning again last week.
I have not seen the one I reared, and I have little confidence that the male is very good at raising the fry.
There may be another male in there and that is disturbing him.
I figure that after a few more attempts he will get it right......
Cheers

Geoff

Good news, just now I have noticed a little pair of eyes looking out at me from under the male, in the cave.
Finally it would appear that he has managed to raise one of his offspring.
It has only taken 6 or more spawns for him to learn.

Cheers

Geoff

Hi all,
I thought that I would update this post, instead of creating another one.

5 months since I released the first survivor back into the tank, I saw it last night for the first time.
It is about 1.5-2 inches long, has bristles, and is a deep navy blue colour. The most interesting thing is that it has bright white tips on its tail fin, perhaps 4mm on the top, and 2mm on the bottom.
I was not able to get a photo, but I thought this fact was interesting enough to reinvigorate this post.

Additionally they now spawn every 3 weeks or so, much like normal ancistrus.
Still they only have 8-12 eggs, but the father did have 4 x 1.5 cm fry in the cave with him last week.

Cheers

Geoff.

Not sure if it is possible for you but it would be nice to see development pictures at different stages.
(edit-just looked and there are a couple on the data page already )

Great job with this species.

Birger

That must have been a nice sight seeing your very first offspring and better still, doing well too
Good news!! I hope for you they will get better by every attempt and you will raise some beautiful fry in the future.

Thanks for the update!

I was poking around in the tank today, and thought I should really grab a couple of pictures.

Mum and some fry


3cm fry


this is the original fry with the broken pectoral fin, now 4cm at 7 months old.


cheers

Really nice, fair play to you!

Melander

hi, been following your thread, amazing and awesome

always loved the medusa and to see these pictures blows me away ! Great job .

Georgie

Very nice !! Great pics

This makes me want to try to keep some. My current tank that could house them I am unsure if the water is/will be warm enough. It is unheated in my basement. Tank temp this winter was around 64.. in the summer maybe 68. What do you think of that temp range for these? The water is extremely oxygenated with a big current.

nvcichlids wrote:This makes me want to try to keep some. My current tank that could house them I am unsure if the water is/will be warm enough. It is unheated in my basement. Tank temp this winter was around 64.. in the summer maybe 68. What do you think of that temp range for these? The water is extremely oxygenated with a big current.

I keep them at min 78, so 64 may be a bit cold for them.

I saw that after I went back to their page *sigh*