CatBrat

Well done caserole , thats great news!!!!! How large are the one's that you have?? I haven't heard of anyone spawning these guys, but that doesn't mean too much, lol. If you manage to raise some I would love to get some off you. Cheers, CatBrat.

Well good luck finding a mate for it Kim, I hope you do. Cheers, CatBrat.

You lucky #%$@!!!!! How big is it? Male or female? Cheers, CatBrat.

Point taken, but keeping fish together is diffrent from creating new species that would not naturally occur. Just my 2 cents worth. Cheers, CatBrat.

Well they are both for the same genus (Ancistrus), so it would be possible, but I don't recommend cross breeding fish together. We have a hard enough time keeping track of all the species we have, especially pleco's, and in my opinion its just like wanting to play God. Cheers, CatBrat.

What coss bred together?

lol, Congratulations!!! Did you raise any of the last lot? Cheers, CatBrat.

It looks as though it could be some sort of Ancistrus sp., but I can't tell for sure from your pic. I think what is usually sold as a Snowspot Pleco is something similar to L182, and it can appear to have no spots, but it has very, very fine white spots. A better picture would be a great help. How big is it? And if you dont mind what did you pay for it? Cheers, CatBrat.

My one is about 12-13cm now, and it still has most of its stripes, and still looks just as attractive. At first I was wondering weather your one was a juvi Feater-fin, but it should have got its spots by that size, and they are very diffirent from my one. I'm pretty sure that the Aterrimus keep there stripes. Have you got any pics of your one? Cheers, CatBrat.

Lol, I bought that syno as a Featherfin Syno for $33 as well. I'm not too sure weather it is the real Network Syno (Synodontis aterrimus), or not (it may very well be a hybrid ). How big is your one? And how active is it? My one is always out and about and even eats from my fingers! Cheers, CatBrat.

I have seen them for $24 in Auckland, but upto $50, as well. Cheers, CatBrat.

Wow, only £15!!!! Great find! Is that the normal price for nice plecos over there? I'm pretty sure that it is a Gold Nugget Pleco. To me it doesn't look like a species of Ancistrus (bristle-nose). How big is it? Cheers, CatBrat.

Thanks a lot for all your help and suggestions Well I got home on Sunday morning, all ready to cut the tumor off, but when I found the Whiptail the tumor was gone, lol . It must have fallen off at some stage, but I couldn't find it anywhere in the tank. I will keep an eye on it to make sure that it doesn't come back, but since it came off the fish has been a lot more active and feeding well. Will update you later..... Cheers, CatBrat.

My female Crocodile Whiptail (Anyone no which sp. it could be?) has grown what I think is a toumor on its pectoral fin. It seems to have lots of small red veins running into it, which makes me think it's 'feeding' off the fish. It has only taken around 2-3 weeks to get to this size. Is there anything that I can do? Does anyone know what may have caused it (It was in my tank which broke and the fish were left with absolutly no water for an unknowen amount of time, could this have triggered it?)? Heres a picture.... Thanks for any help, Cheers, CatBrat.

I don't use anything to change my pH, I sometimes worry that my pH gets too low. I have lots of drift wood in my tanks so that decomposing (sp) solwly may be affecting the pH. Cheers, CatBrat.

With the sand my pH sat around 6.5 (the same as most of my tanks), so it certainly didn't push it up. One problem with using sand from the beach is that it could be full of small bits of shell etc that would push the pH up, and that wouln't be that good for your pleco's. Cheers, CatBrat.

Well I didn't know weater it was hardness free or not when I bought it, lol, but it was and it worked great. One good thing about it was that it wasn't too fine so it made it much eaiser to clean, as it didn't get sucked up the siphon to much if I was careful. I didn't put anything over my intake, but I was always careful not to get sand near the intake and yes I did stir it up to stop the build up of the gas. Cheers, CatBrat.

Hey, Would you be able to tell us where you are located, as it may help us to help you? The best place would most likely be a land-scaping supply center (I used Central Land-scaping supplys here in west Auckland). Ask tham for river sand and they should be able to help you out. But you will have to wash it very, very well!!! I have used white river sand in one of my catfish tanks before, without any problems. I mixed the sand 50/50 with some dark gravle, and it gave quite a natural effect. I take it you are not trying to make a full biotope tank, rather a mainly pleco tank with a blackwater river setting? It should come out very nice. Good luck with it, and keep us posted......... Cheers, CatBrat.

I'm pretty sure that those are Feather-fin Syno's. In pet shops they are normally always sold as Upside Down Cat's when they are young and are normally about $12. They will get to 20-25cm (well thats how big I have seen them). How big is your community tank? Mine was fine in my 4' community tank (until it broke), where it grew from about 5cm to 17cm in about 2 years (maybe a little less). It didn't bother any of my small tetra's, but at a larger size they might. Hope this helps....... Cheers, CatBrat.

It depends on the species. Some species such as Ancistrus may become mature after only a year, but others (such as some species of Panaque) will take much , much longer. What species do you want to know about?

How old are what when they can start breeding?

They are not easy to sex. The only way that I know is by looking at their genatlia. The rear pleco's won't breed with the common's that you have. The commons need to dig borrows into the sides of banks, and this is very hard to recreate in an aquarium. They have been bred in outside ponds, so that could be worth a try. Other than that I don't know what you could do. Cheers, CatBrat.

lol, well your half way there. Did you put them in where your Butterfly's were? Was there any male hanging around them at all. Sometimes they spawn out in the open, but it's normally only if they don't have a cave, and it's not very common. Do you think they might have been kicked out of the cave? My male's first spawn he kicked them out after a couple of days. Cheers, CatBrat.

Hey John, thanks for the offer . I might take the Ancistrus sp., but I won't be able to take the gold spot pleco, sorry (they just get to big). Do you have any photo's? Will talk to you later.... Cheers, CatBrat.

Well, I just found my 18cm Polka-dot Syno dead :evil:, which is a real BUGGER as it was one of my most favorite fish! Will keep you posted about the others.... Cheers, CatBrat.