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Fifteen month update: Got nice photos of one of my original males with well developed opercular odontodes. Females are giant (in girth, but still same length as males) and about to burst, but no spawning behavior yet. Today I removed the last of the L066-L400-Rio Xingu hypans from this tank and I added three smaller L201 big spots which I got from Aquarium Glaser last month (here: California received a shipment from Aquarium Glaser! ), now out of QT. That brings my group to 7.

Cheers, Eric

Eric- Why not go back to L200? 50-50 chance any guess will be correct! Save your fretting for taxes or politics.
Please tell me how you get such great pix!

b.reder wrote: ↑30 May 2017, 22:37Please tell me how you get such great pix!

I do like taking pictures of them. Personally, I don't think most of my photos are all that great, so I really appreciate your compliment. Thank you. I suppose the answer to your question is that I use a Windows phone... As phones go, it's not that great, and certainly among the least popular of major smart phones. But I think the camera and even better the video is terrific!

b.reder wrote: ↑30 May 2017, 22:37Why not go back to L200? 50-50 chance any guess will be correct! Save your fretting for taxes or politics.

Yeah, I saw that thread too. Trading one kind of angst for another... I've never had L200, and I'm not ready to start - besides, they grow too big for my tanks. Nope, no thank you, I'm good.

Cheers, Eric

bekateen wrote: ↑31 May 2017, 00:12 I do like taking pictures of them. Personally, I don't think most of my photos are all that great, so I really appreciate your compliment. Thank you. I suppose the answer to your question is that I use a Windows phone... As phones go, it's not that great, and certainly among the least popular of major smart phones. But I think the camera and even better the video is terrific!

I take all my pictures with a windows phone as well

Jobro wrote: ↑31 May 2017, 21:17I take all my pictures with a windows phone as well

Johannes, you and I might be the only people on the planet who bought Windows phones.... And that's why Microsoft discontinued the Lumia phone line.

I guess we will need to wait for the Surface Phone to become available before we consider future replacements. Honestly, I wish they'd go back to the old Windows 6.5 phones - the cameras weren't as good, but the phones were awesome. They ran a phone version of Win XP with a stylus. I loved that phone.

Cheers, Eric

They just need to really get the system more stable I think. It sometimes runs hot and stuff like that for no reason. Or apps just close. But I do see that on our business iPhones as well sometimes, so I guess they all got some issues.

Haha, when they said they discontinued the line, I went straight to get a Lumia 950 before it's too late

Eric- You're in Stockton and I'm down in Oceanside (San Diego.) I have had good luck ordering from www.freshwaterexotics.com, the wetspot (now that's my sense of humor!), and gunpowderaquatics. Their plecos have been healthy. Where else should I look in the future?
-Barry

Hi Barry,

I understand that local availability of unusual species can be limiting; I've experienced that too in the Stockton area. And yes, all three of the sellers you mentioned are good and reliable. Of those, I've only bought from WetSpot, but even then I did so while driving through Portland - I didn't place a mail-order from them.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of buying fish by mail. My main put-offs are the high cost of shipping fish when it's done well and also I've had some trouble in the past with the local delivery service: The fish made it to my town safely, but the courier who brought them to my house chose not to leave them; he kept the box and was going to put it in their warehouse over the weekend (which would have certainly killed the fish). Driving all over town and making phone call after phone call, I chased the courier around for almost an hour playing tag with them at different facilities before I finally caught someone (after hours- they should have been closed) and recovered the fish without loss.

If you're trying to get some unusual fish, I would prefer to recommend a different approach for you. What I did was I developed a really good relationship with two or three of my LFS (within 70 miles of my house), and they are now willing to special order novelty fish* for me from importers and wholesalers. Since my fish are delivered with a larger order placed by the LFS, my personal shipping costs are much more reasonable. The final prices I pay in store for fish like , , the in this thread, are very comparable to prices on Aquabid, but without the shipping expense and no risk of fish dying in transit. The other element that makes this so good for me is that one of the LFS owners decided to apply for and pay for his own import license. So he is able to place orders from wholesalers, exporters, and breeders all over the world. The shipping is more than within the USA, but there are ways to make even these international orders cost-effective. I'd encourage you to try the same approach. You're in the San Diego area; there must be some good LFS within 60-80 miles of your house. Can you think of any that might fill the bill?

The other thing I did is I joined a local fish club. I've fostered relationships in and out of the club with other catfish keepers, and I actively try to recruit new members who are interested in catfishes as I am. I've been able to purchase some good plecos and corys in the club auctions from other hobbyists who breed or own the species I desire. You have a fish club in the San Diego area. Are you a member?

Does this help? Or did I misinterpret your post?

Cheers, Eric

* By novelty fish, I mean catfish which are not common in LFS but are occasionally available from the big importers/wholesalers. I do not mean the really rare fish that are only available from people who are personally involved in importation or breeding (like some of the super rare corys and plecos). For now, those are still unavailable to me, but since my tanks are brimming with fish, I have no sense of deprivation and I'm really content right now... unless you can get me some male

Centromochlus orca

- yeah, I need those.

You're in the San Diego area; there must be some good LFS within 60-80 miles of your house. Can you think of any that might fill the bill?

Yes- I have a good relationship with several.

You have a fish club in the San Diego area. Are you a member?

No but I have sent an e-mail to ask if they are still functioning

unless you can get me some male Centromochlus orca - yeah, I need those.

Them Centromochlus- them there's some good eat'en. Seriously, those C. orcas (2") are very interesting. Where did you get yours?
Thanks! -Barry

b.reder wrote: ↑03 Jun 2017, 04:19

bekateen wrote: You have a fish club in the San Diego area. Are you a member?

No but I have sent an e-mail to ask if they are still functioning

Their website says they had a meeting two weeks ago: http://sandiegotropicalfish.com/meetings/

b.reder wrote:

bekateen wrote:unless you can get me some male Centromochlus orca - yeah, I need those.

Them Centromochlus- them there's some good eat'en. Seriously, those C. orcas (2") are very interesting. Where did you get yours?

My LFS imported them from Germany, from Aquarium Glaser. I bought all that arrived, but they were all females... Ugh. I'll ask the LFS if they are willing to try again, this time for males. But the shipping is high enough it's not a given on the part of the LFS; the order has to be cost-effective for them too.

How many can you safely house in a 35 gallon tank?

I don't know. I have 7 in a 20 gal long and I bet I could raise that to 10 fish safely at their current size, maybe more. But I wouldn't want to risk it as they grow - I read they get about 4" long TL.

L201 UPDATE:

This morning I woke to find this. It's the first time I've ever found my L201 trapping. Let's see if they can get the job done!

Cheers, Eric

Looks very promising.

Thanks Kenneth. I hope so, but I have reason to doubt. After doing a "head count" in the tank, it's clear the fish trapped inside is one of my recently acquired L201 from Aquarium Glaser. They are much smaller than my older fish and I think they are too young to spawn. So maybe the older larger male is eager, but I don't know if the younger female is ready. If she is, that's terrific. If she's not, I won't be surprised.

Cheers, Eric

Best luck with the spawning, Eric.

Seems to be the Contradens time. My Pair got me some fry just 1.5 weeks ago while I was on vacation in Spain

My female is enormous, but I only got about 10 youngsters from her. She is still very fat, so I am expecting some more soon.

Thanks Johannes, and congratulations on your contradens. Unfortunately for me, it turned out to be a "no go" this time. The male trapped the other L201 in his cave for at least 17 hours, but this morning she was gone and he had no eggs.

The nice thing is that he has discovered how to trap a female. And like your contradens, my females are fat as pigs right now (okay, they always are, but I'm not judging them. ). So hopefully next time the male will pick a mature female and they'll get it done right.

Cheers, Eric

You should try daily waterchanges of 30-50% for 4-7 days. This is what I did before I left for vacation and it triggered their first spawn and since the fry had already hatched when I came back after 7 days, they must have spawned right after the waterchanges (and not just because I was finally leaving them alone for once )

haha, yeah some plecos are real pigs

And more good news: Last night I was able to find the fish that was trapped in the cave. Indeed it was one of the smaller specimens, but it was definitely female: It had the same swollen region around its genital papillae that my larger females have, and just like I've seen on my Panaqolus maccus, P. albivermis and L397. So even if she's small, it's great to confirm that she is a she, and that she's getting into condition.

I fed them a big serving of minced shrimp last night (normally I feed them whole shrimp). They were out and about this morning and most of the shrimp was gone. They seemed to eat the minced shrimp more readily than whole (I may make a habit of mincing the shrimp as long as it doesn't result in overeating meat leading to bloat).

Regarding their extra activity... Maybe it's the total eclipse. Maybe it's the shrimp. But hopefully it gets them going.

Will do more intense water changes as time permits. I'm swamped at work right now, so can't do too much. /

Cheers, Eric

Finally, they spawned!

The male is one of my original four fish. The female is one of the individuals imported from Aquarium Glaser in Germany.

For those of you who've followed this thread from the start, the two females I bought in my original group have grown bulkier and may well indeed be instead of big spot. Support for this theory is that my males, purchased at the same time as the bulky females, have never shown much interest in the bulky females. But within months of getting the new female L201 big spots from Aquarium Glaser, both my original males got their games on and started trapping this same female at one time or another. I've probably seen her trapped, sometimes for 2-3 days at a time (maybe more), about 6 or more times since last summer.

Needless to say, I'm very happy. This is my first successful Hypancistrus spawn.

Let's just hope dad, as a new, first-time dad, doesn't kick his eggs out or eat them. I'm going to leave him alone and give him some privacy so I don't bother him.

Good luck, little guy!
Cheers, Eric

Direct link to YouTube video: Hypancistrus sp. L201 big spot spawned!

Congrats Eric!

I hope the eggs will make it till hatching!

Here he is. Eggs under right pectoral.

Very nice! Congratulations Eric!

I see wrigglers!

Oh my gosh. One male is still nursing his baby wrigglers that are almost done with their yolk, and now the same female has gone and spawned again (about 10 days later) with my other male from my original purchase! Yay! Here is the second male with eggs visible under his right pectoral fin.

Cheers, Eric

Horny female !

Today I pulled 20 6-day-old fry from the first spawn and transferred them to a fry basket.
In the meantime, the other dad is guarding what looks like a really big clutch of eggs.

Hypancistrus sp. L201 big spot - Two Spawns in Two Weeks!

Congrats Eric

With regards to our currend L201/Contradens/whatever discussion, can you give us a ballpark of the current size of your breeding specimen?

Jobro wrote: ↑14 Feb 2018, 21:53With regards to our currend L201/Contradens/whatever discussion, can you give us a ballpark of the current size of your breeding specimen?

Thanks.

It'll be a bit of a challenge to get the adults out of the tank (hiding in their caves). But when I'm able to get measurements, I will update you.

Cheers, Eric