Cent. perugiae tankmate suggestions

[ahodge84]

LMAO!, she is limiting what I am allowed to have in our appartment. I am ok with that, two tanks is plenty for now (plus a lot of them are a tad to big for appartment life.) Now when I get a house, the basement becomes the Fish room lol. I had another idea, building a 4 season sunroom and build an above ground pond (like the large display tanks at the bass pro shops only way WAAAY smaller) and use the natural heat/humidity from the room to heat the pond and have a few spotlights over head to light it and have a pool filter. I REALLY am pushing for that idea, because then I would only want a couple (2-4) other tanks for fish from other continents (N.A. tank, Tanganyikan tank, and an Asian Nano fish tank.)

Yeah, apartments are a real drag when it comes to our hobby, lol. Your ideas are very interesting - I know they probably won't materialize for awhile, but I will definitely be interested in seeing how they turn out. Any idea what you would want to put in the pond?

I also have some ideas for larger setups in the future, but I am a long ways away from a house so I try not to torture myself by thinking about it. For now, I just need to stop buying fish because I am pretty much out of room, lol.

[nvcichlids]

I will keep Gymnogeophagus/Guianacara sp cich lids in there along with some catfish species (probably

Pimelodus pictus

,

Microglanis iheringi

, and

Liosomadoras oncinus

have all crossed my mind (the first two being in there together with the gymnogeos and the later being the only catfish sp)).

[ahodge84]

So, to get ready for the little guys' arrival tomorrow, I did some last-minute things to get the tank ready. After doing a 25% water change, I added a nice piece of driftwood and a couple of PVC caves. I only took two pictures, one of which is with only the nocturnal lights on. The "wood" in the middle is plastic. The real driftwood is propped in the left rear corner, among my upper level/ surface plants.




Prepare for a flurry of pictures tomorrow (well, later today)...

[nvcichlids]

Looks good. I ordered some of the smaller pleco breeding logs that will be used in the tank for breeding caves (though I doubt anything will successfully breed until I get my L201's and L129's out of there) I actually hope that they will breed amongst the wood, as there are great hiding spots that the plecos cannot get into.

[ahodge84]

Thanks! But I'm not entirely happy with it. After I move and am in a more permanent situation, I want to go with all-natural stuff for these guys. Sand, live plants, all real driftwood, more rocks, etc. I hate the plastic stuff, but I've got to make do for now.

I think you're right on the breeding. I'm not really shooting for any breeding myself, but it may happen - probably with my BNs. I only put the PVC in to give 'em more hiding places.

[nvcichlids]

You want a tip of advice for really cheap driftwood? Collect it yourself. I have collected 90% of all driftwood I use from a local river. I then take it home, let it soak up the sun for a couple weeks (in the summer) then bake it in the oven, then boil the heck out of it, and then soak it in a bucket for a few days... long process, but cheapest way to go IMO and plus, you can get pieces that you want and have them look exactly the way you want it too.

[ahodge84]

Interesting. I will keep that in mind for later on down the road. For now, I did purchase a couple of small pieces that I still need to soak. One in particular I really like. But I may take up your advice in the future to save a few bucks.

BTW... they're here! Pics to come later!

[nvcichlids]

Wo0ot! look forward to seeing the pictures.

About the soaking, if you add it to your tank, just put a couple of rocks ontop of it to weigh it down (2 pieces in my tank have rocks on them to weigh them down. (the one on the far left and the one behind it)).

I am really excited to see if they are indeed perugiae or if they might be mixed, or the Centromochlus reticulatus.

[ahodge84]

My camera is acting up. So, for some reason a lot of the pictures that I took today won't transfer to my computer. I also took some video footage. I hope I can recover it all tonight. Here's what little did transfer:







They're all 1" SL and just under. I can't wait until feeding time later...

EDIT: My camera is really making me mad. I can see all of the pictures and the video that i took earlier on the camera playback mode, but none show up when I access the camera through my laptop, not even most that i took before today.

[nvcichlids]

nice, how many males and females?

[ahodge84]

nice, how many males and females?

I haven't sexed them. If I knew how, I might. I never really looked into it since I am not really looking to breed. Sorry, man.

I recovered the pictures. Whew.

















Will get more as the opportunity arises...


Oh, and I got this to work as well. Nothing spectacular, but it's something. A short video of them swimming around furiously while they acclimated.

[nvcichlids]

Wow, nice, and spunky, just the way I like my fish! lol... As for the sexing, it is the same as livebearers, they have the male genitalia fin (don't remember what its called ) is it called a gnodopen? whatever, they have that modified anal fin that guppies and platties and swords all have.

I like the little runt in the video. I cannot wait for mine now, as if I wasn't excited enough, I am darn near ready to drive to Ohio and steal yours!!

[ahodge84]

I'll be keeping this place locked up tight. Don't want my beloved oil cats disappearing now that I finally got 'em!

Yeah, I just noticed the runt in the video. He sure kept the others stirred up by zipping around. I can't wait until I feed 'em later. Hope they go into a frenzy!

[Martin S]

Nice looking fish - very different patterning to mine in that the blocks of clolour are much larger and appear to have more space between them - could these be

Centromochlus altae

?

I haven't sexed them. If I knew how, I might. I never really looked into it since I am not really looking to breed. Sorry, man.

FYI these are really easy to sex once they are a decent size. The feature to look for is the same as live bearers in that the anal fin is 'normal in the female, but is adapted into a 'pencil' shape in the male. One of you pics below shows a female:

and another shows a male:

Below are two pics, one of my males:

and here is one of my females:

Look at the difference in the anal fin between the two pairs of pics and it should be clear.
HTH
Martin

[ahodge84]

Thanks, Martin. As I have the opportunity to do so, I will try and see what I've got. And they may very well be another species. Regardless, I am more than happy with these guys!

nvcichlids, if you have nocturnal lights in your tank, you are in for a very special treat. I spent much of last night watching these little guys zip around the tank searching for food, and after finding it, going even crazier. They seemed to really like the bloodworms, but I was able to get one of them to nibble at a piece of a tubifex worm cube that I held in the water with my fingers. I'll try to get some video tonight.

[Martin S]

Thanks, Martin. As I have the opportunity to do so, I will try and see what I've got. And they may very well be another species. Regardless, I am more than happy with these guys!

No problem - and yes, I'd be more than happy with them too

They seemed to really like the bloodworms, but I was able to get one of them to nibble at a piece of a tubifex worm cube that I held in the water with my fingers. I'll try to get some video tonight.

Yes, I've found bloodworm to be their absolute favourite! It must have a smell about it that gets these, along with the Tatia sp2, to go mad once lights are out.

if you have nocturnal lights in your tank, you are in for a very special treat.

When you say nocturnal lights, do you mean blue? I have not tried the blue light on the auchenipterid tank as the T.sp2 will feed irrespective of time of day if there's food, yet the perugiae will only feed when the main lights are off and there is very low ambient room light. They are naturally surface feeders, so try and find ways to keep the food at the surface - you could try bloodworm feeders.
Anyway, look forward to more pics as they settle in and grow.
Martin

[ahodge84]

Thanks, Martin. As I have the opportunity to do so, I will try and see what I've got. And they may very well be another species. Regardless, I am more than happy with these guys!

No problem - and yes, I'd be more than happy with them too

They seemed to really like the bloodworms, but I was able to get one of them to nibble at a piece of a tubifex worm cube that I held in the water with my fingers. I'll try to get some video tonight.

Yes, I've found bloodworm to be their absolute favourite! It must have a smell about it that gets these, along with the Tatia sp2, to go mad once lights are out.

if you have nocturnal lights in your tank, you are in for a very special treat.

When you say nocturnal lights, do you mean blue? I have not tried the blue light on the auchenipterid tank as the T.sp2 will feed irrespective of time of day if there's food, yet the perugiae will only feed when the main lights are off and there is very low ambient room light. They are naturally surface feeders, so try and find ways to keep the food at the surface - you could try bloodworm feeders.
Anyway, look forward to more pics as they settle in and grow.
Martin

Yessir, blue LED nocturnal lights. I can honestly say that they were my best investment in terms of aquarium equipment. Both tanks that I have are so much fun to watch after the main lights go off. In my 55, my young eclipse/sun cat emerges from his rock cave and patrols the whole tank looking for food. The 37 simply comes to life as the banjos, bumblebees, and, now, honeycombs come out of hiding.

The bloodworms that I have stay on the surface pretty well. So do the little chunks of tubifex worm. I'm hoping for more of a "frenzy" as they settle in... and more pics, too!

[nvcichlids]

Well I have bad news, mine all arrived with ick. I am treating them, and yes, have added them into the tank to try to calm them down (and seeing my school will not allow me to have a hospital tank.) I am treating them with Ick Guard II for sensitive/scaless fish. Hopefully they will all pull through. I know I have 2 males, and 2 females, the other 2 would not slow down (eventhough EVERYTHING has the ick.)
If sexable, look at my pair of trilineatus corydoras:










What was suprising is that 3 came in floating and all made a turnaround and acclimated to the point of life and swimmingness now.

[Richard B]

Are you sure it's ich? the spots don't look typical, more sort of pustules....

Anyone else?

[ahodge84]

Dude, that sucks. I am going to take a closer look at mine to make sure that they don't as well. But I think either through the pics I took or my constant gawking at them, I would have noticed. Good luck, man...I really hope they pull through. And good job "reviving" that trio...

As for it being ich, I wondered that myself. Maybe the camera doesn't accurately capture the spots, but it didn't strike me as ich at first glance.

[ahodge84]

As I feared, there are some spots on my oil cats. I'm just afraid to start using medicine in case it is not ich. Besides, I do not know if my medicine (Nox-Ich) will harm them. It does say to use 1/2 the normal amount for bottom fish. Does anyone have an input on this medicine? For now, I will just turn the heater up a bit.

EDIT: After taking another look, the spots appear to be white in color, but it appears that they are protrusions rather than parasite "burrows." Much like those on nvcichlids' fish...

[nvcichlids]

Hey, just an update, the spots seem to be going away. I have 5 that are regularly out (during the day) feeding and they definately come out when I put freeze dried bloodworms in after the lights go out. I have not seen the 6th one, but I believe it is fine. I have 2m/4f.

[ahodge84]

Hey, just an update, the spots seem to be going away. I have 5 that are regularly out (during the day) feeding and they definately come out when I put freeze dried bloodworms in after the lights go out. I have not seen the 6th one, but I believe it is fine. I have 2m/4f.

Glad to hear that yours are doing better. From what I can tell, the spots on mine appear to be disappearing as well. I can't really get a good look at the oil cats, but when I do see them, I don't notice the spots like before.

Mine are not active at all during the day, but when I turn the lights out and drop the blood worms in, they go nuts. You also got a pretty good ratio of M-F if you are looking to breed

[nvcichlids]

Well the worse has happened, 3 have died . I do still have a male and 2 females (which are chunky.) They are regularly out sitting in the open. I will get more pictures soon (hope that I will get replacements soon + extras.)

[ahodge84]

Well the worse has happened, 3 have died . I do still have a male and 2 females (which are chunky.) They are regularly out sitting in the open. I will get more pictures soon (hope that I will get replacements soon + extras.)

Ugh, I am very sorry to hear that, man. I know for sure that at least 5 of mine are alive (as of last night). They are so hard to keep track of since I have so many hiding places in the tank. I know where they mostly hide, but it seems that they are getting better and better at finding new, better spots.

Looking forward to the pictures - I never see mine in the open during the day - just at night when they go into a bloodworm-induced frenzy.


Adam

[nvcichlids]

They have none left in stock (which they WOULD HAVE had they actually processed my loss when it happened, but now they are out.) Now I am annoyed with them beyond belief. I sent pictures and they need better ones, I mean seriously? you can tell what they are and that they are dead.

[ahodge84]

They have none left in stock (which they WOULD HAVE had they actually processed my loss when it happened, but now they are out.) Now I am annoyed with them beyond belief. I sent pictures and they need better ones, I mean seriously? you can tell what they are and that they are dead.

Man, I feel terrible about your problem with them, especially since I referred you to them for the perugiae. I hope that they handle this properly in the end.

If they do get "better" pictures, how will they compensate you?

[nvcichlids]

Well they handled it greatly, which if they do ever get anything I want, I wouldn't be against ordering from them. Now I just need to watch for more cent. perugiae's to be available (almost purchased 6 of the

Liosomadoras oncinus

that I saw on aquabid for $4 each, with cheap shipping, but I missed out on them (saw it advertised at work and when I got home they were gone.)) I did get a full refund (shipping included which I wouldn't have expected) and they said they are looking to get more in, which could mean I would order (still watching the other guy though and seeing if he gets them in.) OR I could order 4 of the Biotoecus opercularis that I wanted for the Cent. Perugiae tank and ditch the keyholes (use the keyholes as a trade in for a single Biotoecus opercularis,) or maybe 4 of the

Ancistrus sp(l180)

. I am not sure which way I want to go yet. I would LOVE to get more Auchenipteridae, they just are too few and far between around here.

[ahodge84]

Well they handled it greatly, which if they do ever get anything I want, I wouldn't be against ordering from them. Now I just need to watch for more cent. perugiae's to be available (almost purchased 6 of the

Liosomadoras oncinus

that I saw on aquabid for $4 each, with cheap shipping, but I missed out on them (saw it advertised at work and when I got home they were gone.)) I did get a full refund (shipping included which I wouldn't have expected) and they said they are looking to get more in, which could mean I would order (still watching the other guy though and seeing if he gets them in.) OR I could order 4 of the Biotoecus opercularis that I wanted for the Cent. Perugiae tank and ditch the keyholes (use the keyholes as a trade in for a single Biotoecus opercularis,) or maybe 4 of the

Ancistrus sp(l180)

. I am not sure which way I want to go yet. I would LOVE to get more Auchenipteridae, they just are too few and far between around here.

Glad it turned out well for you, man. I also hope that more C. perugiae show up soon. Although I won't be actively pursuing them myself, I would not be opposed to getting a few more further down the road.

BTW, I think that the guy that was selling the "Liosomadoras oncinus" was wrong. I think they were the "jaguar woodcats" that Uncle Ned had a little while back. The picture and the price didn't match the more common "jaguar catfish." I asked him about it and I got a curt reply basically disregarding my help. That is the second such e-mail that I received from him when I seriously considered a purchase. It's doubtful that he will receive my business in the future. Which is a bit sad because he is located an hour or so from me...

[nvcichlids]

Are we talking about that Tropical Fish Distributors? The picture I saw looked like young jags, but I had only seen a few pictures of them that small (he was saying 1.5-2")