Ice222

I'm quite certain that Synodontis Eupterus is available. The one I saw at HFF just last week was being sold as 'upside-down catfish', which usually refers to Eupterus I'm told. Also, I have looked up Synodontis Nigriventris, it is on the allowable list, but sounds like it's not one of the fish that we usually get in the country.

Yea I saw a few in HFF that definitely looked different to each other in the same tank. Asked them if there were two different kinds in there and was told 'most likely yes' but as they just get them together they just get sold as general 'ottos'. The only oto that I think looks different enough for it to matter to me is the otocinclus cocama, they look amazing imo, but they aren't even on the allowable list it seems. Wish we could get them, but I reckon they'd still be hard to get even if they were on the list really :lol:.

I'm thinking of breeding more as soon as this batch is big enough to go in with my betta without getting gobbled or bullied. Since I kinda promised 2 to someone (TBH I don't think they'd do well there as they'd be alone with guppies :-?), I want to have some to sell after I figure out which fin markings I'd want to keep and breed, and I want to have about 27 CPDs in my community tank which I am hoping to do up over xmas break. 17 fry + my original 6 just isn't quite enough :lol:.

Haha I sure think it's cute but it's not a very good photo, plus there's already a CPD on this month's photo, I like to see some variety .

After keeping CPDs for a few months now, I never figured them to be jumpers, except perhaps when they get startled. Oddly enough, I saw my first ever CPD jump, and it wa a fry . It hopped out of the water twice in quick succession which I had never seen any of my fish do, and I'm quite certain that they were'nt startled. I better start being careful with how I fill my water!

Yea I do quite like how they're turning out. When I first got the parent fish, they were about 15mm with very pale colouring and pale orange fins. These little ones are only about 10mm, but their colouring is more vibrant already, although their fins are still more yellow than orange at the moment. My adults are 20mm now, they have sure coloured up a lot more since then, but I am hoping that these fry will be even more vibrant. Might end up keeping them, or at least growing them out to see what their fin patterns are like before I choose which to sell. Colour's probably not a accurate way to judge sex at this age, but I'd guess that I have more males than females. Definately keen on breeding CPDs again .

Ah thanks

By the way, I always hear of this 'allowable fish list' is there actually a complied list? If so where can I find it?

Updates . Most of the fry are looking like small versions of the adults, even starting to get colour in their fins, but there's still a fair bit of variation in size, so some still look more like fry than fish. They're now being fed crushed NLS 'grow' and occasionally decapsulated brineshrimp or white worms. I think the growth has slowed down a little since I've been very busy lately, and I'm only able to do water changes once a week (50% Waterchange each time). I had 18 fry, in the last month, I've only been able to count 17, so either one is very good at hiding or got sucked up during a waterchange. Anyway here are the pics: Here is what most of the fry look like at the moment This is one of the smallest fry All the fry together . The top 2 small round spots are snails, but see if you can find all 17. Last but not least, my favorite pic of the fry. It's a cropped image so the quality's not great but I love the little tiny fishy 'yawn' here.

Will do tomorrow or Sunday. They're mighty hard to get good pics of now as they are still small, but as quick as the adults. Also just got a new camera so will need some getting used to the controls before I can get good pics.

What's happening with the Tank crawl btw? I would be interested, but not sure what it involves aside from seeing ppl's tanks and have no idea when/where it is.

I've actually been thinking about the same thing, I'm definitely going to use some amount of black sand flourite, but I can't decide if I will mix it with any other substrate. My tank is 860x500mm for the base, take about 15mm off of that for my custom background but it's still quite an expensive amount if I attempt to go full flourite. Especially when I want at least 25mm depth at the front and possibly 50mm or more at the back. Main problem is that I just haven't come across any other black sand in Auckland. The closest I have seen is the fine midnight gravel from HFF, but it looks a little coarser and slightly lighter than the flourite from what I can tell. I think I'd need a sample of both to compare. I already got 2 bags of the seachem sand, guess I'll try get my hands on some HFF gravel too. Hopefully they'd be similar enough to be mixed together. I decided on the Flourite is because I am looking for something that won't really leech nutrients into the water and does not need to be replaced or changed for a very long time. I'm not after a intense and densely planted tank, but I know that the plants I want to keep can be quite demanding. Using inert gravel would mean additional root ferts or clay balls, which can leech into water if plants get pulled up, and over time may work out to cost more than the flourite. I often pull up and move my plants, especially with the twisted val, as they often send out runners that quickly grow huge masses of roots so Flourite is probably the best option for me. I do have one question though, does any one know if flourite black sand is okay for catfish barbels? What about the HFF Midnight gravel? As I'd most likely end up mixing the 2.

Already planning to get those :lol:. Some one mentioned Myctus Catfishies, is it just the one kind that we can get here, or are some of the smaller varieties available? eg. Mystus tengara or Mystus pulcher. Also, I've heard the mention of 'upside-down catfish' before on the forums, would that be Synodontis Nigriventris, and are those available? as from what I could find, they seem to stay small. My main concern with size is I'm worried that larger fish would eat my cpds.

Thanks guys. All the fish mentioned so far are pretty much they 'type' I am hoping to find, still a bit on the big side though, I can see my CPDs becoming food. I'm guessing we can't get http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=284 in NZ? That's the main problem with trying to find available fish using overseas sources.

I really like the look of catfishes, but I also intend to keep mostly small fish so I don't want to get any that would get too large. I am now in the process of setting up a tank of about 190L (less once I include custom BG) so I just want to get some ideas for what smaller sized catfishies are available. I already intend to stock dwarf cories, otocats and perhaps some small kind of loach, a school of around 7 of each type, so I'm looking for a catfish with a different look and slightly larger size, but get no bigger than 12cm max. Are there any small catfishes with longer whiskers available, or at all similar in look to Hoplo catfish or syndotis? Preferably ones that are happy on their own and do not require a school. Basically I am wondering if we have anything that we can get in NZ that look like this http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/im ... e_id=10290 (in terms of the mouth shape and long barbels, as well as small size). If that style of catfish cannot be found in a small size here, then I'm open to suggestions for other interesting looking catfish around that size that would be happy on their own. Tank dimensions would be 860Lmm x 500Dmm x 440Hmm, PH - Slightly below 7, Temp - Kept at 25 degrees constantly. Other fish in the tank would be CPDs, Otocats, Dwarf Cories, either Kuhli or dwarf chain loach, and either a lone betta or a pair of pearl gouramis. Although, if anyone can give me names of any fish that fit the bill of what I'm looking for I can look up the compatibility info myself .

Sounds good . I may be keen for some later when mu tank's actually set up, not as a breeding divider, but to allow water behind my custom background once i get along to making it.

Really? I know HFF Mt Roskill has quite a bit for sale if you did want some. Mine are looking pretty dismal as most of them have melted when I treated the tank for velvet, I may end up just buying some more from HFF, so I don't have any that are decent enough to give out.

What are your lights atm? I have twisted val in one of my tanks with a 24W PL light over it and it grows well. I actually think that the substrate is more important for the twisted Val. It was growing so fast at the start, 3 new Plantlets each week! I thought it would overrun my tank, but after the JBL ferts were used up, the growth has slowed to a crawl. I can't really add any more cause my substrate's too shallow now:(.

Unless if you're like me, and keep getting new foods for the fish to try. Most of the time they don't really seem to like it or I end up finding something better. Atm NLF seems to be doing them good though, so I'll stick with that for awhile . I think I have at least 7 containers of unused food, and various packets of frozen foods, as well as bloodworms/mozzies outside in a bucket. Pretty overkill on food for only 3x 30L tanks .

Untill you get better lighting, there's really no point with C02. The AR380 light is pretty dismal if you're wanting nice quick growth, about the only thing that visibly grows in my tank is the ambulia.

Wow it sure looks mighty dark in the pic. I Really like dark substrates, hence why I'm going for the black sand Flourite in my brand new tank. Got 2 Bags, still thinking it might not be enough . Want to mix it with something similar in hopes of reducing cost but don't want to ruin the look because it really looks pretty awesome (even though I still have it in the bags atm).

The dwarf puffers I had annihilated my snail population overnight. Wouldn't put them with any other fish though. I've heard stories of them nipping and killing fish much much bigger than them . But if you had a spare tank to put your other fish while you borrow some puffers or snail eating loaches I think it would work. Otherwise I think it's pretty hard to completely clear them.

Of course . I haven't seen tinwinis except in HFF so I can't compare, but CPDs are definitely shyer than most. They'd be called timid even when compared with other small, skittish fish. I find their colours, patterns, and gestures pretty mesmerizing though and I personally quite like shy fish. So if you like to be able to see your fish all the time, and don't like playing 'spot the fish' with them, CPDs probably aren't your cup of tea. Mine seemed to have warmed up to me, and will swim up to the front when I go near the tank, so it doesn't worry me that the tank looks bare while they're hiding during the other times.

I wish we could get those in NZ, MUCH cooler looking than brineshrimp imo. I've seen them overseas and almost bought them once or twice before I remembered that I probably couldn't bring them back.

Agreed! Everything looks great together. I like beardies, they always look a little grumpy or smug when I see them.