CatBrat

Thaks guys. Im not sure weather google search will find that common name, but I have somee pic's anyway. Male: Female: The eggs and male are both still looking good this morning. The eggs are the green colour that is expected, so hopefully they are developing well. Heres the male with his egg's... I will keep you posted. Cheers, CatBrat.

Yay!!! I just went out to feed my fish and found a nice sized spawn from my Brown Tiger Whiptails. This is my first Whiptail spawn, so hopefully it will go well. I know whiptail babies are generally hard to raise, but I will have to see what I can manage with rasing the bubba's. I didn't really do anything to trigger the spawn, just a cold water change on the weekend with fresh rain water, and that was it. I will try to get some pic's tommorow. Cheers, CatBrat. *edit:* Whoops got them name wrong, they are BROWN Tiger's not white tigers.

Haha thanks. I use photoshop to put the frame on. Im not saying the pic's aren't ok, they just aren't that great compaired to some of my other pic's. eg... That sort of thing, hehe. How did the fish shop visits go becs? Hope you can sort something out soon, so you can keep all those awsome L-Numbers you got over there!! Cheers, CatBrat.

Nope they won't eat algae. If you want an algae eater I would suggest a Common Bristle-nose Pleco, or a school of Otocinclus sp. as they would both suit a tank this size. Although a BN maybe get a bit too big in the long run. Cheers, CatBrat.

To answer your question "what is the smallest cory or cat?" as far as I know the smallest cory available in NZ would be Corydoras pygmaeus. they are a neat lil fish! They were the first catfish I ever spawned. A group of them would defiantly suit a tank that size and they are more of a mid-water swimmer so they are almost always active. Another catfish that is avalible in NZ is the Moth Ctafish (Hara sp.). Not too sure on exact species. I haven't kept them but they are a neat lil fish. Cheers, CatBrat.

I have seen Phills ones and they are very nice! A great price too. As for breeding them they require specialized conditions, and I know of only one reported spawning of them in captivity world wide (the one in that article on PC). So spawning them is not for the beginner pleco keeper really. I'm not trying to put you off keeping them and trying, but spawning them would be a huge accomplishment. Yes they are a very attractive pleco though!!! Just my 2 cants.

When I had mine they absolutely loved Bloodworms! When they died (heater malfunction, ended up cooking them :cry:) the females were full of eggs. That made losing them even worse! Also twice a week I gave them sum veggies, such as Zucchini or pea's which they finished off over nite! That surprised me because Hypancistrus spp. are more of a carnivorous type of plec, but they really went for the veggies! So maybe try some frozen foods and make sure you offer them some veggies. Also try dropping a whole frozen cocktail shrimp into the tank and see if they go for that. Many of my plec's enjoy them! But make sure you remove them daily because they will go off and foul the water.

Oh well at least that some action. Is the male fanning? Yea I had thought that they looked different to the ones that kyle has, they have much strighter lines too. Much more like L199 than L270, but wait and see if the pattern changes as they get bigger.

Oh wow! Congrats mate!!! Hope they are spawning, and that is a very good sign! Keep us posted man. Do you reckon my "L270" are the same specis as yours? Cheers, CatBrat.

Well I will have to get them to spawn first, and thats by no means a guarantee hehe. But If I do manage to breed them I will most probably be selling the babies. I didn't go down there, I got them to send them up to me. They bagged them up, put them in a poly box, and then sent them up overnight. You should e-mail them and ask what they have. Cheers, CatBrat.

Haha Sharn, thats a reflection on the top of the water from the flash, or lights. I paid $150 each for them, which isn't too bad for fancy plec's, and considering they are a pair. CHeers, CatBrat.

Thanks guys. They won't grow much bigger, the female is pretty much fully grown now. I'm planning on setting them up for breeding in a few weeks. Cheers, CatBrat.

I got my new pair of pleco's today (I got them sent up from Tropical Blues in Tirau) . Im not too sure about what exact species they are at the moment, but I think they maybe real L270 (but could be L199 or something). But the good thing is that they are definatly a pair (the females around 8-9cm, with them male around 6-7cm). Anyway, here are a couple of pic's (the first 2 were sent to me from TB)... Male: Female: Sorry about the bad quality of my pics. Cheers, CatBrat.

It sounds like it could be dropsy. If it is I don't like your chances of saving it I'm sorry, because as far as I know there is no cure for dropsy. If you could get a picture it might help as to finding out what is wrong with it. Has it been eating well? Pleco's have a huge appetite, and just left overs alone is not a good diet for them! They should be feed varied foods and their diet should be supplemented with fresh vegetables such as zucchini, cucumber, pea's etc. Hope for the best... Cheers, CatBrat.

Hey, Just looking at the photo's of the "Peru Zebras" and to me they look as though they could be sub-adult Imperial Ranger Pleco's(Glyptoperichthys punctatus). Just thought it might interest someone. Some great looking pleco's there Phill, and wow Kyle did you get a new camera? Photo's look great! Cheers, CatBrat.

Hey, I still have a pair left (i lost 1 male and 2 females tho due to my own fault :oops:). I haven't had any luck with breeding them yet, but in the last 2 months or so I haven't really had much time to do anything with my fish. They were looking close to a spawn then (females looking very gravid, male fanning in cave, and the females trying to get in with him), but i didn't get a spawn. Have you had any luck with yours? Cheers, CatBrat.

The Golden Red Eye looks like it could be an albino Pterygoplichthys pardalis. I'm could be wrong though, it might be best to ask on Planet Catfish. The Cochliodon Pleco is Hypostomus sp. L077 Cheers, CatBrat.

Just a thought, but if the base of your tank is 1m off the ground, and the tank is 0.8m deep, then the top of the tank will be about 6 feet off the ground!! That would make it a bugger of a job to clean. Also, how to do plan to reach the bottom of the tank to keep it clean? Cheers, CatBrat.

Yes, I'm pretty sure that they all do, in different variations. Each different genus has different teeth structures, which are specifically designed to different jobs. For example Panaque spp. Have large teeth which make it easier for them to eat wood, where as Baryancistrus spp. have large scrapping pads which enable the to graze over hard surfaces. By having a picture of the teeth it can make it much easier to narrow it down to the right genus, and find the right species. Cheers, CatBrat.

This is a hard one to identify as there are just so many black plecos with white/yellow spots. If you could get a better quality shot of its mouth, showing its teeth clearly, this would go along way to help identifying it. Also bettter quality pics of the whole fish. At the moment how big is it? Also what country are you from? This could also help. What first came to mind was Hypancistrus inspector (L201), but this could be wrong! BTW, I am pretty sure that the Peppermint Pleco that they have in Aussie is an Ancistrus sp., and not L30. Cheers, CatBrat.

Well the official count is 36!! And I haven't lost a single one yet. They have just finished off their yolk sac's, and have now started to eat lettuce and zucchini. Fingers crossed my brother can keep them alive for me this week (I'm going away) :-?, i hope everything will be OK with them…lol, I sound like a mother . I will keep you posted... Cheers, CatBrat.

Nope it wasn't the Zebra's river, it was the river where Blue Eyed Pleco (Panaque cochliodon) is found. The Zebra's have just been serverly over fished, and now the the Brizilian government have stopped them from being caught (a great idea I think! We don't want to lose them forever do we!). There is an interesting artical HERE on PC, which explains what is happening with the zebra's. Cheers, CatBrat..

For anyone that is still watching this... I just finished catching up 30-40 baby's that just hatched tonight. Woohoo!!!! They all look exactly the same as the last babies (ie with slight body pigment, etc), but man I forgot how small they were lol. Hopefully most of them survive the night...and beyond Anyway, the other 6 are still going well. Growing, eating etc. I will keep you posted... Cheers, CatBrat.

Well I would have to say that its max size, if kept in optimal conditions, with enough space, would be over 40cm (including it's tail)!! But the time it would take to reach that size (especially in an aquarium) would most likely be 10+ years (they are very slow growers in pleco terms). And i think a more realistic size would be around 10-12". This pic here show an adult next to a young one... - HERE (PlanetCatfish). Pretty big huh!! Cheers, CatBrat.

Hey Warren, I was just wondering if you had sorted things out yet? Cheers, CatBrat.