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Marc - maybe it's a stupid question but where these floating eggs are wouldn't be a tank containing callichthys or thoracata would it?

Callichthyids don't have that thick layer of goo around the egg.

Jools

Jools wrote:Callichthyids don't have that thick layer of goo around the egg.

Jools

Without looking intensely i wondered if there were multiple bubbles sizes etc although it looks most unlike the hoplo nest i've seen - just thought i'd check.....what about doradids, weren't some of those suggested as bubblenesters years ago or has all of that been disproved?

Hey Mark Its frogs you have frogspawn in the tank
Let us know what hatches woodcats or tadpoles ?
Richard (mr Wrasse) the fishes can see the blue more than the red ?
I thought fishes could see blue light ?

Richard B wrote:Marc - maybe it's a stupid question but where these floating eggs are wouldn't be a tank containing callichthys or thoracata would it?

It does contain one single male Callichthys. The 2 pairs were put in the large tank some weeks ago, where at least one of the males is trying to destroy the plants by picking leaves.

Anyway, the addition of the Bryconops forces me to put the Auchenipterus in a different tank for they are really bullied around by the small characins. And I didn't drag them away from the "gate of hell" to let them be killed by a tetra species..... It's been some time since I have seen such a docile and skittish species.
Truly hope C. perugiae, romani and reticulatus won't scare them.

Marc van Arc wrote:Anyway, the addition of the Bryconops forces me to put the Auchenipterus in a different tank for they are really bullied around by the small characins. And I didn't drag them away from the "gate of hell" to let them be killed by a tetra species..... It's been some time since I have seen such a docile and skittish species. Truly hope C. perugiae, romani and reticulatus won't scare them.

I got them out yesterday and put them in the tank with the tiny auchenipterids. First thing they did was bang into everything they could possibly hit; second thing was that they refused to eat. The latter may be logical, yet some of them could do with a little food. They also looked awfully pale and hardly swam. On the whole, they were a poor lot and I got worried. At a certain point I even regretted going through all the trouble of obtaining them.
Luckily they ate this evening and their colours returned. So I don't think we'll have to go through the whole ordeal again.
I hate to say this of an auchenipterid, but I would only recommend this species to experienced fish keepers.

Wrt the floating eggs: pretty sure they were T. intermedia. The nest sank for some reason and landed near another nest; at the same time both my intermedia girls had become very skinny.
No frogs Neil, sorry . Nor woodcats btw, for the juvies won't survive their relatives.....

Hi Marc shame the eggs / juvs will be eaten..
No one commented on the red -blue light issue .
We always used to use red lights when unpacking shipments.
Have you ever tried to use red lighting ?
Hope you are well it looks like your fishes are

Hi Neil,
Yep, too little tank space I'm afraid.....
Wrt the lights: I prefer blue over red. I've been using this for quite some time now and I'm able to see my fishes "in the dark". Which is good, for usually people think I only have 10 Triportheus and a few Callichthys
Wrt your new fishes: have you already had any buyers for the Ageneiosus sp and the Otorongo cats?

Sorry for not replying on the red/ blue light issue. I've yet to try either and will probably try both. Still waiting for a 'blue sleeve' that a sparky friend has ordered for me, I'll try that to begin with.
My fish house is slowly coming together (half my garage, converted). I can hardly move in there at the moment, but the walls and ceiling are painted, the floor laid and 'tanked', the RO unit connected and the reservoir is full, drainage sorted, electrics sorted. I'm currently painting some steel stands I had made. Still loads to do and I have to make 3 sumps yet.

The Auchenipterus nigripinnis rather quickly adapted to their new environment and are doing fine again.

Marc van Arc wrote:The Auchenipterus nigripinnis rather quickly adapted to their new environment and are doing fine again.

good news!

Just getting the hang of posting pix directly...

These fish are no longer shy! Very active when fed.

And they look very healthy too.
Well done!

Very nice - and nice to see that they do not mind your hands in the tank.

--
Mats

nice, very nice


lovely fishes, but witch species are they?

wow

wow
tame Auchenipterids......

and I'm always teasin' Marc about his invisible fish-collection. just yesterday I told him he only has 1 visible Auchenipterid (Auchenipterus spp)
looks like at least 1 other species can be handfed like a Syno!

Marc, there's a huge oppertunity here, me thinks

Hehehe.
My 3 jaguars also perform, but I've not been able to take good photos of them yet. They are also more spikey!!!
It might be the garlic in the shrimp paste I feed them, that drives them wild. They all love it.

I'm not into hand feeding. Once I almost fed my hand to a large Cephalosilurus - thus hand feeding it, sort of - luckily I could retrieve it

I normally would have the same view on hand-feeding. But at the moment its fun and it allows me to inspect them and make sure they all get to eat. They are all strong specimens now.
I haven't had them long enough for the females to be ripe with eggs. It will be interesting to see if they 'fill up' like the female jaguar does.
I love the way these fish swim. They are a bit like an arrowana in shape and movement. To swim horizontally in the water the long heavy body is counter-balanced by the splayed ventral fins.
Marc, what temp do you keep your tanks at? Do you vary it over the course of a year?

wrasse wrote: But at the moment it allows me to inspect them and make sure they all get to eat.

That's of course a very plausible reason.
When I bought mine (page 28 of thread) they were very skinny. I trusted they would "recover" by putting them in a tank with few companions, yet at least one died.
Two specimens (pair) are doing fine and were relatively visible till 10 days ago, when Alex and I replaced their 120 liters tank with a 180 liters tank. I haven't seen them since.....which is rather usual after a large tank overhaul.
The third specimen possibly lives in a large piece of mopani wood, which has some hollow spaces. My live in it and one can only see their mouths. When this piece is taken out of the water these stubborn auchenipterids won't let go, also blocking the exits for other species.
It was my intention to get rid of this wood (because of the above mentioned disadvantage), yet a car accident prevented me from getting the wood out after lights out - and thus hopefully fishless. At that time I had some other things on my mind....
Long story short: I noticed a "different" mouth, which had to be the third T. taeniatus imo ( or maybe my wishful thinking) for a head count showed all other fishes were present.
I guess we'll just have to see and the same goes for the exact number of Auchenipterinae sp`guyana`.

wrasse wrote:Marc, what temp do you keep your tanks at? Do you vary it over the course of a year?

It's more or less constant at 24-25 degrees C; in summer it may go up for obvious reasons.
(It's all in the My Aquaria feature btw).

While typing this I know some of you are having a PC day out.
Enjoy and hopefully you'll all return with some - or at least one - fish!

Stunning pictures of the fish Richard , They look as fat as butter
Nice to see they retained the light colour and bars .
Impressive stuff ,you must have three arms to feed and take a GOOD photo at the same time

I should add toe list of Auchenipterid keepers with my that I got on Sunday from Pier. They are part intended for Martin S. They are quite small, but I just looked them up in Cat-eLog, and I'm not sure they will grow MUCH bigger.

--
Mats

You were already on the list with , but more than welcome (again) with your new entry.
Nice of you to share some with Martin; he really deserves some new auchenipterids after the horrible disaster that cost him so many fishes.

Marc van Arc wrote:You were already on the list with

Centromochlus romani

, but more than welcome (again) with your new entry.

Oh, yes, but each new (to the owner) species counts, doesn't it?

Nice of you to share some with Martin; he really deserves some new auchenipterids after the horrible disaster that cost him so many fishes.

You do have to remind me, don't you?

--
Mats

MatsP wrote:You do have to remind me, don't you?

Sorry? I miss the clue I'm afraid.

Marc van Arc wrote:

MatsP wrote:You do have to remind me, don't you?

Sorry? I miss the clue I'm afraid.

Ah, the whole problem in Martin's tank was started by me bringing the fish down from Pier... They didn't like being moved twice in the same week, I suspect. I still feel a bit guilty, tho'.

--
Mats