I wish you the best of luck breeding the zebra ottos. I bought 5 from a LFS and one of them lived almost a week. The stock of anything from that store has a poor survival rate.

Have you spawned these catfish Frank?
I bought 6 a year ago but have not set them up alone. The A. albater that are in the tank with them spawn in the mop from time to time after water changes and are not bothered by a school of White Clouds. They are a great looking fish.

I spawned the Dianema urostriatum in 1987. Here is a copy of my original article. Dianema urostriata This striped-tailed cousin of the common Porthole Catfish is a little shy, especially when it comes to spawning. I have only heard of one American hobbyist who has had them spawn. I bought three of t...

I always have the best results hatching Duplicareus by placing the eggs in a bowl on the cool concrete basement floor with an Alder Cone and an air stone and shading it to keep it dark. Some cory eggs just hatch better if kept on the cool side.

As far as I know the male if put in the tank with the fry in his tube with the eggs should not eat the other fry. I beieve that the male does not leave the tube with the eggs even to feed until after they hatch. I also have a hatch of 30+ fry a week old. I raised a good number several years ago unti...

Try treating the breeders with Metro. I have not had this problem with corys but a similar problem with other species where the fry hatch but the belly bloats and they die instead of becoming free swimming. The bacteria is passed through to the female to the eggs. I have seen this problem with angel...

I only clipped the fin below the damaged part. Sorry to hear you have destroyed the lot. PH and hardness I do not feel is the problem. Mine are always raised in tap water which is 7.6 ph and 160 TDS. This was the first time I had any with the bad fins. It was no doubt bacteria.

I am not sure what damages pectoral fins. It is probably bacteria. I do know that I had several L-66 fry in a spawning that had damaged or clubed pectoral fins. I hated to throw them out so I gambled on an idea. The fry were only 2" long so I took a pair of finger nail clippers and cut off the ...

I saw some in a LFS a few days ago. They called them Giant Ottos. They were about 3-1/2 inches long.

I have a dozen large Hoplo thoracatum in a flat bare 30 gallon tank with a number of stray cories and have never had a problem. They have even breed there under a yellow lid from time to time.

It is very nicely spotted.

The best medications that I have found for corys or most other fish and their problems is Jungle Binox. I have even successfully treated young cory fry that have clamped up fins. The only problem is that it kills plants and should not be used in a planted tank.

I just got back from the convention last night. It is a good 10 hours of driving to get down to the Washington DC area from my house in Burlington Ontario Canada. I did find some Super Red Ancistrus that I was after. It was a great convention as usual and it was nice to mingle with old friends. Ther...

I do hope that someone is bringing some super red bushynose to sell.

You never know what to expect from the room sellers. Many are hobbyist breeders and some are importers. The prices can vary as much as the fish themselves. I always find something that is different and interesting. Can't wait to check those rooms. The auction is always good and I always see somethin...

corybreed wrote:I have been to all of the conventions and look forward to seeing old friends. It is always a great time for all and shouldn't be missed.

Mark Soberman

I have been to all of them as well and have talked to you on several occasions.

Charlie

Who all is going to the Catfish Convention in Fairfax Virginia? Are you going just to enjoy yourself and pick up a few fish or are you going as a room seller? I hope to pick up some interesting corys and maybe a new and interesting tetra or two on the Shop Hop. It's the best convention going and I h...

The water was city water that comes from Lake Ontario which is a medium hardness with a ph of 7.4-7.6. The 100 gallon tanks temperature would have been about 80 F and the tank they spawned in would have been in the lower 70's as it was in May and the fish room would have been a bit cooler than usual...

One of our clubs ex-editors found it in an old bulletin. I spawned them in 1987 and wrote this article at that time. It shows my memory is off a bit and now days I would probably write a longer and much more detailed article. But here it is. Dianema urostriata This striped-tailed cousin of the commo...

I wrote an article on the spawning for the Hamilton & District Aquarium Society bulletin at the time. This article should still exist somewhere. I will try and locate it.

Gill flukes are a good possibility. The whole tank could be treated with Life Bearer. It won't harm anything and may help the problem.

Yes thanks I just wondered if anyone has any personal experiences with these lovely catfish or any luck with breeding them :D I had the luck of spawning this fish back in the 1980's. The only way I could sex them was when the female filled with eggs. I had bought 4 adult and after a quarantine peri...

I have found that many of the peppermint type plecos fry feed mainly on live baby brine shrimp as a first food. I hatch my L-184's in a tumbler and move them to a 5 or 10 gallon aquarium when they look ready to feed. It is bare bottom and has a mini filter with a sponge on the inlet. I have found th...

Great looking fish. It appears to have the Aspidoras body shape.

My C. metae are in a 15 gallon tank with S. barbatus It is a bare tank with a sponge filter. If they are in the mood a water change with my tap water is all it takes to get them to spawn. My tap water reads 175 TDS and the PH is 7.6. The C. metae spawn mainly on a floating mop that you use for spawn...

Happy to hear of your success. The 183's have very sensitive eggs.

After looking at Ingo's pictures I am inclined to agree that they are L-071. Importers can never be sure that the number given by their supplier is the correct one.

Here is a shot of the tail of an adult and another shot of a 8 month old juvenile showing a slight band of white on the tail and dorsal.

It was also interesting that at the time I bought these fish from Snookn21 The Fish Place in North Tonawanda also had an identical shipment that they were selling as L-184. I'll try and get a tail shot. The only picture of the L-289 that I have been able to find is in Aqualogs L number book. It does...

I bought these fish from Snookn21 as L-184 plecos. When I posted pictures of them on Plecos.com I was told they could be L-289. Things got left in the air and I still don't know if they are a L-184 variant or L-289. The eggs are as big as the L-183 and are just as sensitive to hatch and raise. Makes...