Posts Tagged ‘pleco’

Sheaf Valley Aquarist Society Fish Auction Report

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

I went to the Sheaf Valley Aquarist Society fish auction today, this is the second time I’ve been to a Sheaf Valley Aquarist Society fish auction. I received a very warm welcome from members of the society, and despite leaving late from York, and driving like a Forumla 1 driver, got to the auction before it started. Auction started shortly after 1pm, and was well catered for with refreshments, drinks and food, fanastic because I’d not eaten all day (I don’t do breakfast!), so it was nice to get a can of pop during a break, when I wasn’t bidding!

Just a list of the few fish that came up for auction, Corydoras (approx 10 different species), Platies, Mollies, Guppies, Angelfish, L-number catfish, Ancistrus (approx 5 different species), Cichlids, Danios, Gouramis and Killifish. I think there was something for most fishkeepers from beginners to experts, and also for sale F1 (local breed) King Tiger Plecos L66s, it wouldn’t be fair to list prices, just make sure you go to the next auction.Lots of dry goods, filters, food, electrical items, tanks. In my opinion, most tank breed local fish are always better quality than whats available in the local tropical fish shops. (if available).

The next auction, and it’s the last auction of the year is on Monday Evening 12th October at The Pheasant Inn, 822 Barnsley Road, Sheffield, S5 0QG. Auction starts at 20:00hrs.

This is the list of items I won today at auction

  • 6 x Pearl Danios (Danio albolineatus)
  • 2 x “Black Nose Sturisoma” (Sturisoma nigrirostrum)
  • 2 x L147 “Head Spot Pleco” (Peckoltia sp. (L147))
  • 2 x Pairs of “Line Breed Half Snakeskin Round Tail Moscow Guppies” (Poecilia reticulata)
  • 6 x Corydoras Kronei (Corydoras barbatus (Sao Paulo))
two boxes of fish!

two boxes of fish!

Again congratulations to members of the society for a execellent auction.

I was also lucky enough to win a few times in the Sheaf Valley Aquarist Society raffle today, and for first prize I selected a new Aqua One external filter and later some ceramic hoop filter media. So it’s always worth purchasing a strip to help out the society.

Raffle Prizes

Raffle Prizes

I also passed Simply Aquatics, 84 – 86 The Common, Ecclesfield, Sheffield, S35 9WN on the return journey, and this is one excellent shop. Excellent  slection of tropical, coldwater and marines, and very well maintained, and clean setup. Five stars and highly recommended, it will be on my places to visit next time I’m in the area. It’s only been open 6 months, and is definately worth a visit, whether begineer or expert. I also met David Marshall, Secretary of Ryedale Aquarist Soceity purchasing fish in Simply Aquatics as well (I didn’t know, I’d been sat next to him in the auction for three hours!). Just Google for David Marshall, Ryedale (click link and you’ll see who I’m referring to). He beat me to purchasing a very nice catfish, I must contact him, and ask him for the latin name, I also bought, what David Bought.

Purchased from Simply Aquatics,

  • 6 x Purple Zebra Danios (Danio rerio)
  • 5 x Spotted Silver Dollars (Metynnis lippincottianus)

The Zebra Danios were described as purple, but they look red/pink to me, the shop is a member of OATA, and assured me they were not dyed, and were true purple/red/pink direct from Malayasia. David and I were interested how these young danios develop and if they breed true. If DEFRA come knocking at our doors, we will know, thay they are GM fish! The Silver Dollars are to grow on for my large oddball tank.

Interesting!

Interesting!

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Pleco plop plops and trickle filters

Friday, September 11th, 2009

The new aquarium, I’d installed in the fish house at the end of August, has become a large quaratine tank for the common pleco I’d rescued from the vets, it wasn’t eating, and had become very emaciated and weak, and the larger fish started to bully it.  So I removed it from the oddballs tank, and started trying different foods, it wouldn’t eat courgette or cucumber, after 72 hours it started feeding on Barlow Aquatics Trading Stinking Sinking Catfish and Cichlid pellets (I’ve no idea, where I got these from, must Google later!) and Hikari Algae Wafers. I’ve never been so excited to see pleco plop plops. This pleco has started to recover nicely.

I’ve also spent some time, re-integrating seven fish tanks, that I’d removed from the fish house. By rotating the fish tanks by 90 degrees, I’ve managed to fit them all in again, I just now need to find some space for the remaning two tanks. I’ve installed 1 x 18x18x18,  2 x 18x10x1, 2 x 24x15x12 and 2 x 24x12x12 inch tanks. All are filtered by air driven Algarde Bio-foam 200 sponge filters and for the first time, I’m also using Tetra sponge filters in three of the tanks, these don’t use airstones, like the Algarde Bio-foam 200 sponge filters, I’ve never used them before, but had them lying around in the fish house, unsed. Some fishkeepers I’ve spoken to, prefer them to the Algarde filters. All the tanks are currently fishless cycling.

new tanks No.1

new tanks No.1

new tanks No.2

new tanks No.2

new tanks No.3

new tanks No.3

I’ve also added an additional filter to the output of the Lifegard FB300 fluidized bed filter, I’ve diverted the output across a very old home-made trickle filter. This trickle filter was given to me by a friend (thanks Paul) over twenty years ago, it’s not been used for twenty years, I found it in the fish house, and thought time to re-use it. I’ve modified it a little but, by adding a spray-bar and filter floss to reduce the water flow. But the small glass tank has be made to measure to fit the bio-blocks inside. There are twenty square bio-blocks inside the tank. Paul tells me, he used to pay £2 a bio-block from Roman Tropicals, Roman Road, Bow, London and purchased one a week. It took him twenty weeks to obtain all the blocks. I remember seeing the full page adverts for Roman Tropicals in Practical Fishkeeping in the late 70s, early 80s. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to visit. I think it’s long gone.

Pictures of Paul’s HomeMade Trickle Filter

Paul's trickle filter No.1

Paul's trickle filter No.1

Paul's trickle filter No.2

Paul's trickle filter No.2

Paul's trickle filter No.3

Paul's trickle filter No.3

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Fish House Update

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

I’ve introduced another tank buster into my 6 foot display tank, to join the Giant Red Tail Gourami, Osphronemus laticlavius and commom pleco, a Zebra Tilapia, Tilapia buttikoferi. It’s about 6-8 inches. Tilapia buttikoferi are extremely intelligent and aggressive aquarium fish, like most Cichlids! It’s a large African tilapiine cichlid fish that can be found mainly in West Africa, specifically Liberia. (Fish Distribution here on PFK). I’ll have to regularly check, that it’s not starting to attack the other tankmates. Although I collected this fish in a large bucket, I acclimatised it, to tank water conditions, by floating in a very large fish bag for 45 minutes, and changing water in the bag for tank water every 10 minutes. I had to collect Lindsey from the bus station, and when I returned, the Tilapia buttikoferi was swimming around the tank, and the Giant Red Tail Gourami, Osphronemus laticlavius was in the bag!

Now that’s what I call magic!

Trying to get the gourami, out of the bag was another matter!

A few other little problems, my Male Quetzal Cichlid, Vieja synspila (another very agressive cichlid – even with me!) has bashed his head, I’ll have to keep a watch on this, and may start treating with Melafix tonight. The male fish has a pronounced hump, called the the “nuchal hump”, and one of my large Clown Loaches, Chromobotia macracanthus, (8″-9″) has died, of what looks like over-eating! Greedy fish, looks like he’s eaten all the cichlid pellets for the Gourami and Tilapia, and it’s stomach has exploded, with over eating, there’s a message here I think!

and finally, at long last, after 12 months of hassle, I’ve successfully managed to get a replacement aquarium replaced under guarantee. Last year a 48x18x18 glass aquarium leaked in my fish house, and I remembered it had a five year guarantee, after tracking down the initial credit card statement, it was only four years old, and the bottom aquarium seal had failed. It’s taken me over 12 months, to get it resolved with manufacturer, wholesaler, and reseller – finally I collected the replacement last week on Friday.

Blog post of the tank leaking – https://andysworld.org.uk/2009/04/19/the-leaking-fish-tank/

Here’s a picture of the new tank

new aquarium for fish house

new aquarium for fish house

So sometime this week, I need to clean, move the old tanks out of the fish house, and move this tank in!

Thanks to Chris at The East Riding Koi Co Ltd for arranging the replacement of this tank!

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Large aquarium for tank busters

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

I’ve made a decision with the largest aquarium (6ftx2ftx2ft – 700l) I have in the fish house, I used to use it to hold my breeding angelfish stock, but it’s been rather empty of late, as I’m not breeding angelfish currently anymore, so I’ve finally accquired some large fish for it. (it’s being filtered and heated, so I might as well use it to house some tankbusters).  The first was a young Giant Red Tail Gourami Osphronemus laticlavius, I introduced a few weeks ago. (I’ll get some pictures), and yesterday evening I was called by my local vets that had rescued a large common “pleco”, approx 12 inches – they had it in their aquarium but thought it needed a larger aquarium, someone had brought it in to them because it had got too big for their aquarium.

common "pleco"

common "pleco"

It could be a Hypostomus plecostomus, the problem with these suckermouth catfish, they are sold as “common plecos”, small specimens to people that have algae problems, but they don’t realize how large they can grow, and then they become rather boisterous. They don’t do well, in my opinion on algae wafers entirely, and require shrimp, mussels and prawns to flourish.

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Fish House Stock List – July 2009

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

I’ve been meaning to put this list together for a while, so I’ve “audited” the fish house today, and this is some of the fish which are currently in the fish house.

Catfish

Ancistrus

Bristlenose catfish Ancistrus brown sp.  (many breeding pairs)

Albino Bristlenose catfish Ancistrus albino sp. (many breeding pairs)

Gold Bristlenose catfish Ancistrus gold sp.

Corydoras

Corydoras Aenus (breeding group)

Corydoras Aenus Albino form

Corydoras Aenus Green stripe

Corydoras paleatus

Corydoras Loxozonus

Corydoras Sterbai (wild breeding groups)

Corydoras Weiztmani (wild breeding groups)

Synodontis

Polka-dot catfish Synodontis Angelicus (my pet Spotty, he’s now twenty this year, cost me alot 20 years ago, from Blagdon Water Gardens, Plymouth. He’s been with me a while)

Large spot catfish Synodontis Ocellifer (my pet Dotty, also twenty this year! He’s been with me a while also!)

Synodontis Petricola
(wild breeding group)

Cuckoo Cat Synodontis Multipunctatus

“Plecos”

Giant Whiptail catfish Sturisoma aureum (breeding groups)

Goldspot pleco L001 Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus

Goldy pleco, L014 Scobinancistrus aureatus

Sailfin pleco Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps

Snowball plecos, LDA33 Baryancistrus LDA-33

Characins

Bleeding Heart tetra Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma

Buenos Aires tetra Hemigrammus caudovittatus

Cardinal tetra Paracheirodon axelrodi

Congo tetra, Phenacogrammus interruptus

Neon tetra Paracheirodon innesi

Cichlids

Electric Blue Jack Dempseys Rocio octofasciata (Cichlasoma octofasciatum)

Nicaraguen Cichlids Hypsophrys nicaraguensis (Cichlasoma nicaraguense) (breeding groups)

Green Terror Aequidens rivulatus (breeding pair)

Geophagus proximus (breeding pair)

Geophagus sp?

Jack Dempseys Rocio octofasciata (Cichlasoma octofasciatum) (breeding pairs)

Kribensis Pelvicachromis pulcher (breeding pairs)

Quetzel cichlids Vieja synspila (Cichlasoma synspilum) (breeding pair)

Yellow or Tricolour cichlids Cichlasoma salvini (breeding pair)

Cichlids – Lake Tanganyika

Tropheus Moorii Ikola (wild breeding group)

Tropheus Moorii Bemba (wild breeding group)

Tropheus Moorii Kasanga
(wild breeding group)

Tropheus Moorii Ilangi (wild breeding group)

Loaches

Clown Loach Chromobotia macracanthus (Botia macracantha)

Candy Loach Botia striata

My Odballs

Boesemani Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia Boesemani

Black Ghost Knife Fish Apteronotus albifrons

Spotted climbing perch Ctenopoma acutirostre

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Bad things come in threes!

Thursday, December 6th, 2007

Earlier this evening I was going to post an entry about bad things coming in threes, when only two Fish House issues had occured since Sunday 2nd December, I was going to post, what’s the third, well it happened! So let me wind back to Sunday 2nd December

  1. Early evening there was an initial mains power cut of a few minutes (approx 5 mins), too short for me to find a torch, and start-up the generator to power the fish house, after the main outage, the power flickered on and off for a few minutes and then it went off for good. The only problem this time, street lights were on, and the neighbours house lights, so the problem was localised, I found the 32A ring main for the sockets downstairs had tripped, on switching back-on, the main earth breaker tripped! After running around the house, unplugging all sockets, the fault was isolated to the fish house, my concern that the “brownout” had caused some equipment failure!

    At the back of the fish house, I noticed a pool of water, and realised, I’d overfilled one of my tanks, which had back-syphoned into the sump, when the power was off for those few minutes, which had then shorted out a “chocolate block” (terminal block for the layman!) which connects the heater in the sump! This is the only electrical wire on the fish house floor, so if any water gets on the floor, electrics are not affected! You’ll be glad to know, this has now been fixed, no “chocolate block” anymore!

  2. Went todo some washing this evening and found water all over the floor again near my water treatment works at the rear of the fish house, started to move everything out, thinking a water pipe/valve/seal had failed, and noticed the water had blood it in! I then noticed that the freezer, I keep my fish food in, hadn’t been turned back on since Sunday 2nd December! The fozen bloodworm was defrosting, and the freezer had already defrosted all over the floor!
  3. On Monday 3rd December, I noticed two home bred albino Ancistrus (bristlenose catfish), almost in a trance, not moving, I thought they were dead, in my 6ftx2ftx2ft display tank. They weren’t in a very good state, it was strange because all the Angelfish, Corydoras, L number plecos, Clown Loaches were showing no signs of distress, I fished them out and dropped them in a tank full of algae. 24 hours later, they are fit as a fiddle again, and the algae on the tank has gone, so although I cannot see them, I know they are alive and well. (did spot them this eve!).

    Late this evening, I found another Ancistrus (bristlenose catfish) dead in my display tank, this raised the alarm, to check all the water paramaters, still surprised that no other fish are showing signs of distress. The ammonia in the water, was slightly elevated, slightly higher than I’d like, this could have been caused by the dead fish, or another factor, no time to waste, 50% water change with water at same temperature and chemistry, and I’ve added two large sheets of Polyfilter just as “belt’s and braces”, I’ll re-check ammonia/ph tomorrow evening!

So there we have it, Bad things come in threes! No need to worry about the third!

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Aequidens rivulatus aka Green Terror/Gold Saum

Sunday, July 8th, 2007

“Does exactly what it says on the tin” to repeat that well known UK phrase.

The female Green Terror has killed my Rusty Pleco (L077). I’ve had this pleco for about four years, when purchased it had blue eyes, in the last three years has taken on the more rusty colouration.

I purchased a pair of Green Terrors Aequidens rivulatus, from a local fishkeeper, which had difficulties with the male and female, male almost killing the female, and this resulted in a very shy female, unlike the male, which “charges” the tank everytime you go near it. I’ve had them seperated for four months, and the female has slowly been happier, not as shy, sharing the tank, was a Rusty pleco, which I thought was Indestructible (a bit like Captain Scarlet!), she’s proved me wrong! I don’t know why she flipped!

Male Terror
Male Green Terrors Aequidens rivulatus
Female Green Terror
Female Green Terrors Aequidens rivulatus

I’m hoping to breed them in the future, If I can get them together.

I like the Aequidens group of South/Central American Cichlids, and many years ago had some Aequidens Pulcher Blue Acaras (I think the latin name has changed since!), which is similiar to the Green Terror, but maybe not a killer!

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False Zebra Plecos

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

I saw a few of my False Zebra Plecos this evening at feeding time, when feeding the Congo Tetras Tetra Prima, it’s the first time in months, maybe ever – I’ve seen them since adding them to the tank in July 2006, I know there in the tank because I can see movement under the bogwood. Maybe now I’ve included some “dither” fish, to the tank, they are happier!

Fish house temperature has decreased recently to just below 20 degrees C, which is unsual because it’s been a steady 23 degrees C average, I found an insulated panel, that was causing a draft since, the aluminium tape had come un-stuck. Fixed with gaffer tape!

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Andy’s HandyPro 3500L

Sunday, October 15th, 2006

Due to a local power outage in July when I was moving the Fish House, I lost a pair of Angel fish and a Magnum Pleco. Unfortunately, the power outage lasted in excess of 12 hours. Power outages in this area always occur, usually in the Summer months of July and August after the thunder and lightening storms. We very rarely have power outages in the Winter months. I decided in July to purchase a 1kVA (1000 watt) petrol generator from B&Q for 99 GBP UK pounds. Very little money to protect the fish house, if there should be a power outage. It’s only 1kVA (1000 watts), which is about 700 watts of power, using a 8 litre tank of petrol, it will not run the entire fish house, but will keep filters and air pumps running, and a few heaters until power is restored.

Lately, I’ve had a few problems with this unit, leaking petrol tank, after speaking with Performance Power Customer Support, I was not happy with the quality of this unit, and I’ve since noticed that B&Q have reduced these units to 79 GBP UK pounds, so I decided to return to B&Q for a refund.

Performance Power 1kVA
B&Q 1kVA Performance Power Petrol Generator

This was the replacement I’ve purchased, a Briggs & Stratton HandyPro 3500L, this unit is based on the Classic Pro 3500, 16 litre petrol tank, a run-time of 11 hours @ half load. 2.7kVA (2700 watts), 10Amps. It weighs approx 66kg when filled with petrol!

HandyPro 3500L
Briggs & Stratton HandyPro 3500L

I’ve been testing it today, by boiling water in a kettle connected to it, it’s also quieter than the cheaper B&Q model.

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Poor Pleco, well actually it’s a Gibbiceps

Friday, June 30th, 2006

About 2 years ago I acquired a Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps or “Sailfin Pleco” from a local tropical fish shop in York which needed some tender loving care, it was really poorly; sunken eyes, and a grey/white covering over its fins. This didn’t appear to be fungus, but the fish was clearly not deporting well, with clamped and torn fins. This was the picture of the fish.

Glyptoperichthys Gibbiceps

I’ve been waiting 2 years for it’s sailfin to grow back, and it had almost grown back, I was going to take some pictures and produce a “before” and “after” shot for the blog, when the same fish was struck down by a sudden bacterial infection “fin rot”, which started to eat away at all it’s fins, it only affected this catfish in my display tank, so it was immediately moved to a quarantine tank in the fish house, and dosed with Melafix, and large quantities of cucumber for 7 days, and I happy to report, it’s fins are recovering well.

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