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Hi

From right to left: female, 2 males, female

Cheers Charles

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Hi Matt

Given the fact htat they came in from Vietnam I would agree: juvenile A. normani od A. sp. I added a working link to Glaser’s presentation of the shipment. But they look different to mine.  Don’t have a clue.

Cheers Charles

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Not really, Matt. The digging cycle goes: digging for about two/three days, then recovering it. Changing to another stone and restarting digging. That means, there is always one place, where work is in progress. If we take the group-session and two spawning session by a pair with similar behaviour as real spawning, I just was lucky to witness it three times. But I think – regarding the females with large and then less bent bellies – spawning takes place once/twice a week. Spawning didn’t stop since I fixed the lower temperature at about 22°.

Interesting is the choice of the stones: they prefer stones with an overhang, about 100°. Seems, that it is easier to digg with the tail hanging free?

Cheers Charles

PS: since May we had temperatures higher than 23°, from June to September 28°-35° (max. 29° in the walk-in refrigerator and annex). Decreasing temperature, now below 23°, seems to slow down activities. Digging places rest there for a week, are covered and reactivated again. Largest females seem to keep “weight”.

And: counting the subadults – 1, 3, 15, 4, 6, 2 – appearing little by little, I doubt, that every spawning activity leeds to offspring or to a large number off eggs laid. As I never witnessed the release off eggs, it can be that most eggs are eaten, not fertilized or just won’t develop. Since April the joung C. erythrogaster are out of the tank, only possible predators are some shrimps. Unlikely, that they dig eggs.

Another point: G. Ott asked me, if the red spots faint out with age. That’s not the case. Even the most pale, small male, which I never saw on a spawning-stone, shows the spots. So, if spots are related to nuptial “feelings”, mine would be in ongoing state of exitement.

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Time for an update

When they come out of the gravel, they are thin and about 10-11 mm long. I’ve never detected smaller ones.

 

 

 

 

 By the time they “fatten” – slowly

 

 

 

 and they start fighting. Of course on a stone far away from the front glass. Difficult to take pics

 

 

 

 

 At feeding time, they come together, about 30 specimen by now. Adults join later. And at the slightest movement outside the tank, they scatter when the first is jumping

 Digging activities are normally started by the dominant male, here joined by the main rival

 

 just the normal procedure. But a juvenil specimen – 28 mm long – seems to be very interested

 

 

 and tries to imitate?

 a second joins, this one just by curiosity

 A close up of the first one. The red spots are already visible, but faint. It’s the only specimen so far to join regularly the adults in digging activities. Interesting is, that they don’t chase it away

 A ventral yiew

 and a close up

 A pic of the second dominating female

 A pic with a strange specimen between larger ones. I saw that pattern only for one day, the specimen seemed to be week,

being pushed around by the others occasionally.

 The first specimen I detected is now about 4 cm long, mixing with the adults.

Cheers Charles

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Hi evi

your Id is ok for me.

Cheers Charles

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Hi Matt

No scholing behaviour. But the group of five/six youngsters are the first to appear, when feeding is exspected. Adults following.At the slightest sign of “danger” they all dive into the plants. Seems that they always have an eye on each other and react as a group. A loose swimming unit (lockerer Schwimmverband).

Could try some to take pics of the youngsters – now at 4 cm TL, one at 5 cm, one at 3.5 cm.

With the high temperature – up to 36° – since end of June, on some older specimen a kind of white large fungus appeared, a about 2 mm large. It doesn’t seem to affect them much. they are always mooving around. I lost two of the adult specimen some months back. Seems, they come to a limit after 4-5 years.

Cheers Charles

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Hi Thomas

Five years could be a god guess. I got mine in June 2011. Saw the last four in October 2014 when changing the tank. May be there is one or another still alive. Seems not too bad for a very delicate species. A pity anyway that they die away without fry. I would like to retry it. Must have a look at the lists.

Cheers Charles

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Hi Shazray

Most of my experiences make part of the profile. At least 80 cm for a group of 6-8 specimen. Not a community-tank, but company of going together with other species is possible in  larger tanks. I would tend to species tank with a setup made for the special needs. Yes, they eat snails, but on the other hand I see still some P. corneus and N. vittata in the large tank.

@mikev said:
Thanks a lot for the info, Charles,
Hmm… 80cm tank… hopefully 76cm is good enough (standard 20 Long)… and garras for tankmates actually sounds very good.
Just one followup question: filtration … do you have a flow (powerhead) in there?

a foam filter, 50x15x15, 20 dpi, within a 1000 liter Rena powerhead connected to an air-pump for diffusion of oxygen.

Cheers Charles

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It’s the orange I mentioned above, Mike. They lose that strong coloration becoming older.

For  the tank: at least 80×35, a lot of Anubias and a thick layer of coarse river gravel up to 18 mm. Half of the 160×60 tank is overgrown with Cryptos, the rest contains large root wood with Anubias from bottom to the water surface. It seems, they spawn in the shelter of the root woods over the gravel. Perhaps a method with a large plastic-container filled with gravel and a root wood with Anubias covering it, would work too, but I don’t know, if they accept a restricted area as that for the spawning. Seems they didn’t in a 80×35, as no offspring appeared.

Due to that tank set, dozens of young S. lineolata survive, despite A. nigrolineata, Kyathit, large Garras etc. I hope to get some A. nigrolineata one day that way.

Cheers Charles

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Some new pics of P. brevis. The inbringing of coarse gravel at the backside did work and at least half a dozen youngsters are buzzing through the tank.

A curious female visited the net. Size: 6 cm

 

 

 

the first one has grown up to 4 cm

 

the rest has just 3 cm or less

 

 Cheers Charles

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hi ?

Acantopsis dialuzona

Cheers Charles

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I hadn’t sen them for years, Jim and that bright golden/black coloration was a surprise. It’s even more intensive now, as they have settled in a new tank and the shock is over. Of course it’s a matter of genes. And of feeling well?

Cheers Charles

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regarding the ID of S. octozona: Jim’s specimen and the pic here

http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ian_Baird/publication/234108647_Fishes_of_Southern_Laos/links/0912f50f3534aebb47000000.pdf

nr 188, show identical patterns. Only difference in mine is the head-pattern.

Any ideas?

Cheers Charles

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The session with Serpenticobitis cf octozona had to be short, they reacted anfavourably to the shortcut of oxygen and didn’t like the procedure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Cheers Charles

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un update

As the frontglass of a tank in the lowest row dicided to part, I had to evacuate some fish. So Microsynodontis sp. Maluba went for a short foto-session into a small tank. All well fed and very active. Males up to 12 cm, females about 9 cm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Cheers Charles

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