Collecting fish on the Rio negro.
Posted: 07 Jan 2011, 15:41
I had a few hours to collect fish 15 minutes from our house on the rio negro. We were on a nice beach and we wanted to see the sunset. Around the beachi didnt find too much but in a little deep stream fish were everywhere! My first catch was a tetra and an Acarichthys heckelli. I went further up the stream and saw myriads of tetras swimming up and down the small creek. The bootom was very rocky and about 3 feet deep. the water was clear.
The ph was surprisingly high, at around 7.8 while the Kh was around 53. There was 0ppm of Ammonia.
The GH was soft at around 71.
Collecting fish with my large dipnet proved to be extremely difficult the water was very clear and the fish wouldnt let me get near them. If i got to close the just dove under the nearest rock and could not get them. I observed a 5 inch pike cichlid but when I tried to catch it it swam calmly under a bolder! I also saw two gorgeous apistos, Satanoperca jurupari, large Heros efasciatus, Mesonauta insignis and large numbers of tetras. No catfish whatsoever. I finally succeeded in catching a heros and in the same clump of plants, a very interesting fish. It was most likely either a non carnivorous piranha (yes they exist) or a relative of a silver dollar (metynis?)At the moment it is hard to ID since it is only a few centimeters. Then i decided to go along the beach again. The tetras were very fast a seine would have helped a lot. I managed to catch a few but the drag on the net is very great. Along the shore a fisherman had caught a very nice pike cichlid (crenicichla sp.) this used to be my favorite genus and I still really like them. It was to dry to have survived I think though. Another fisherman had caught another species with a rusty brown color. It had large protruding jaws and regrettably I did not take a picture. Along the beach I caugth two small baby headstanders and some tetras. I did not catch any cichlids here. It was almost time to go and I was walking back with my camera, shoes, and bags when I randomly poked my net into a clump of dead gras I looked in my net and saw a three inch catfish in it like nothing i had ever seen the overall color was pearly white with black lines all over it. Its dorsal fin was huge and it had long flowing whiskers. My first thought was that it might be pimelodus ornatus but after looking at pictures I think it is in a differant genus. Please help with ID.
After the sunset came and went we headed home.
The ph was surprisingly high, at around 7.8 while the Kh was around 53. There was 0ppm of Ammonia.
The GH was soft at around 71.
Collecting fish with my large dipnet proved to be extremely difficult the water was very clear and the fish wouldnt let me get near them. If i got to close the just dove under the nearest rock and could not get them. I observed a 5 inch pike cichlid but when I tried to catch it it swam calmly under a bolder! I also saw two gorgeous apistos, Satanoperca jurupari, large Heros efasciatus, Mesonauta insignis and large numbers of tetras. No catfish whatsoever. I finally succeeded in catching a heros and in the same clump of plants, a very interesting fish. It was most likely either a non carnivorous piranha (yes they exist) or a relative of a silver dollar (metynis?)At the moment it is hard to ID since it is only a few centimeters. Then i decided to go along the beach again. The tetras were very fast a seine would have helped a lot. I managed to catch a few but the drag on the net is very great. Along the shore a fisherman had caught a very nice pike cichlid (crenicichla sp.) this used to be my favorite genus and I still really like them. It was to dry to have survived I think though. Another fisherman had caught another species with a rusty brown color. It had large protruding jaws and regrettably I did not take a picture. Along the beach I caugth two small baby headstanders and some tetras. I did not catch any cichlids here. It was almost time to go and I was walking back with my camera, shoes, and bags when I randomly poked my net into a clump of dead gras I looked in my net and saw a three inch catfish in it like nothing i had ever seen the overall color was pearly white with black lines all over it. Its dorsal fin was huge and it had long flowing whiskers. My first thought was that it might be pimelodus ornatus but after looking at pictures I think it is in a differant genus. Please help with ID.
After the sunset came and went we headed home.
