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A few weeks ago I was able to buy 5 specimen of A. mangois. They were rather small and disappeared quickly in their tank. I had good hopes that this was a visible species, so I didn't worry at first. By now I'm a little concerned, however. I managed to trace 1 (one) specimen so far; it lives behind (!) the background . No trace of the other 4....
Does anyone know if this species buries itself into the sand, like Akysis or Platystacus? Or are they just very nocturnal?

They hide in little crevices but don't burrow into sand.

Thanks Dinyar,
Now I know where (not) to look for them

No sign of them yet?
Here are some of mine (got them today) before they disappeared...

I'm quite sure I saw two today; they both sit behind the background. Perhaps they aren't territorial yet (if ever ) and all 5 live there happily, in which case I just have to wait until they've become too large to squeeze into that limited space.
BTW: I saw these aren't your only assets of today. Great supplier you've got there

daniel60 wrote:No sign of them yet?
Here are some of mine (got them today) before they disappeared...

Are you enjoying them just as much as I do??
Illusive little fish. There's one thing I can credit them for: compared to them the Auchenipterids are very visible fish all of a sudden

Yes, I have seen one of them, but only for a brief moment.
Tha tank I'm planning with Amblyceps and Akysis will be very tranquil...

lol


don't mention it; I STILL have at least 3 Akysis (thought they would be goners, but no), since I saw them jumping out of the sand last weekend during a feeding session that overspilled on my side. hadn't seen them in months.....

they're fairly big (4cm at least) and healthy looking.
amazing.

reading the whole experience of Marc up until now, i'm not unhappy I didn't went for them. nice enough catfish, but i got plenty fish I won't see, dont need more of those (that's what kept me from Auchenipterids the last few years as well), especially since it's only a 55G tank wich already's quite busy.

too bad!
given the looks of Amblyceps I sort of expected a fish wich would behave like a riverine version of Lophiobagrus or Phyllonemus.
guess I made a wrong guess there.

sidguppy wrote:reading the whole experience of Marc up until now, i'm not unhappy I didn't went for them.

Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I haven't given up hope. The one I see regularly (behind the background) is doing fine.
Btw: you might want to go for ; Ruinemans stocks them as "Tanganjican catfish" (?; I thought this was a riverine species). Check your LFS.

that's a riverine species, not a Tanganyikan. from the Congo basin and surrounding countries.

a very nice cat indeed, but my riverine tank is far too small at 55G/208L for a fish that size and I don't want to crowd the floor of the big tank, nor add anything that reaches 10"/25cm and can swallow fish up to half its' size.

I have 24 rare cyps in that tank as well, an adult C ornatus might get on a very expensive snacking spree; 24 wildcaught microlepidotus 'mabilibili'......
haven't seen em for anything less than say 30-40E each.

so I think I skip on this very good looking wels.
too bad. sort of an African 'tailormade' Shovelnose without the huge bulk of the TSN.

tnx for the tip.

daniel60 wrote:Yes, I have seen one of them, but only for a brief moment.
Tha tank I'm planning with Amblyceps and Akysis will be very tranquil...

Well, I saw two specimen today but merely because I was redecorating their tank.
I have 3 Akysis longifilis in there too which behave pretty well. During the day they are buried into the sand like Bunocephalus and when being fed and of course at night they swim around like Microglanis spp.
I don't know which species you are going to buy but see to it that you have fine (river) sand in that tank for they love it.
About the tranquility: add some lively Asian Cyprinids, otherwise you'll be indeed looking at a wet desert

Marc van Arc wrote:I don't know which species you are going to buy but see to it that you have fine (river) sand in that tank for they love it.

I got five Akysis longifilis in April 2004. The last year I just saw one of them, so I thought I had lost the other.
But they weren't dead, just buried. A few weeks ago I emptied their tank and dug up five healty fish.
I'm going to keep them in a fairly cool tank with Amblyceps, Erethistes, Hara and Scleromystax.
To be able to see three out of five species isn't that bad!

Marc van Arc wrote:I saw two specimen but merely because I was redecorating their tank.

Today I saw 3 specimen and to my utter disbelief one of them roamed around near the surface. I have a thick layer of plants in one corner and there it was, quite at ease.
It was eating for some time and then crawled back into the bush-bush

A tank like that is just crying out for some Garra flavatra as algae eaters. They are recently available over here again (about â?¬2.50 for 2-2.5 inch specimens and about â?¬3 for 4-5 inch specimens).

Picture from FishBase:

I've seen at least 3 different Garra species for sale in Zoo Zajac the last time, some where very pretty and looked a lot like the one in HH's pic.
however, much closer to home (and Eindhoven); the Maanvis in Nijmegen has a tank full of Garra spp (G rufa I think), a 'peaceful' species as Garra's go; and a LOT cheaper than those in Germany.

All Garra's are good algae eaters and ALL Garra's should be kept as a group or they'll invent all kind of "fish chase games" to keep themselves occupied. in a group of 5-6, they're a joy to keep. 2-3 isn't enough. tried it often, but it doesn't work, it's a countdown.
now I have 7 Garra's in 1 tank and although some are old and worn out and thin, ALL are alive and feeding well and almost unharmed.

Garra's are the "tropheus" in the algae-eaters-universe. true shoalers, good looking, really nice add-ons to any tank when kept properly. otherwise they can be eal nasties.

that took me some time to learn as well. and some Garra's.

Sorry, I don't like Garras. Besides, the algae problem is very well taken care of by lots of Otocinclus macrospilus.

I'm getting to see them more and more the last few days. Seems it wasn't such a bad buy after all. The one behind the background is getting too large for that cramped space, so it's in search of a new hiding place.
However, I still haven't seen all 5 of them at the same time.

Update: all 5 are alive and growing. They show up at feeding time and aren't half as shy as they used to be in the beginning. They also get on very well with their fellow tank inhabitants.
In short: recommended.

Marc van Arc wrote: They also get on very well with their fellow tank inhabitants.

A bit too well lately which caused the group of 19 Corys - not the bravest of fish - to become invisible. When seen they were panicking in all kinds of directions.
This being my son's tank and him being very fond of the Corys I could do just one thing: get the Amblyceps out.
The change in Cory behaviour is stunning.

Hi,

any news about your Amblyceps mangois?

I've seen some of these species a few days ago, i'd like to prepare
a tank for them.
Do you have pictures of your tanks? And what about the current
in your tanks?

Which size did they reach in the aquarium?

Thanks a lot!


Tobi

Hello Tobi,
Pls forgive me this short reply (at work atm):

- I took them out 1.5 years ago (as stated)
- I don't really miss them....
- tank photos pls see My Aquaria

HI Marc,

thanks for your answer.

I thought you just took them into another aquarium... I think
i'll give a try.


Tobi

Hey guys,

i bought 11 specimen of Amblyceps mangois on 16th of December, they're hiding in the pebbles
during the day. I can see at least 5 or 6 of them every feeding time! Then they're
very hoggish and agile.
Size: 4,5-5,5 cm. They're in company with Danio's and a few Garra's, the tank
is about 80x45x35 cm.

Here are some pics:










Greetings,


Tobi

Very nice fish indeed - i've always had a soft spot for these!