Chewy salad. Zucchini and pea pod medley.
-Shane

Bottle opener. Feels like galvanized thick sheet metal.
-Shane

Thanks @David Banks
-Shane

Great fish!
-Shane

Wow. That one is new to me.
-Shane

I think your best option would be to stay with Corydoras from the Rio Xingu as it is a somewhat unique habitat. The combination of clear, shallow water over a mostly stone substrate results in higher temperatures than we see in most other South American rivers.
-Shane

Thanks Eric. Lots of interesting information and great photos in the book.
-Shane

29-30 C is 84-86 F. Way too warm for the Corydoras spp. you are contemplating. Can I ask what plecos you are keeping that need such high temperatures? I assume fish from the Rio Xingu?
-Shane

Looking at Lasso' new Orinoco book, any reason to believe LDA 114 is not Spatuloricaria terracanticum . Defer to those more familiar with the genus than myself. -Shane https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370581100_XXI_PECES_DEL_FONDO_DEL_RIO_ORINOCO_Y_AFLUENTES_PRINCIPALESCOLOMBIA-VENEZUELA_div...

My only concern would be mineral and shell fragments leading to an increase in pH and\or hardness. If you are not worried about that I see no issues. I use sand and gravel from the creek behind my house as substrate. Florida, California, and Hawaii have laws against taking sand from public beaches a...

I have a whirlwind of speaking engagements coming up. If you are in the area for any of these please stop by and introduce yourself.

9 May Pittsburgh (Otter Valley)

10 May Montreal, Canada

11 May Burlington, Vermont

13 May Silver Spring, Maryland (Capital Cichlid Association)

-Shane

That is a great start!
-Shane

This is fantastic! Glad you noted the lighting change as I think photoperiod and light intensity are potential triggers. In the rainy season the environment goes from clear bright skies and the pounding heat of tropical sun to cloudy and dark. I am confident that this is one of the triggers that tel...

Have you looked at Ivan's site?

https://www.mikolji.com/

-Shane

Found these recently on Amazon. A major upgrade to the plastic manifolds that come with many fishroom air blowers. They are available in different sizes (up to 18 outlets). I was also able to tune the amount of air to each tank which had the added benefit of greatly reducing the overall noise level....

Interesting. The collection sites are all clustered around population centers. You need roads and infrastructure to reach sampling localities. Take care when referencing an entire drainage such as "Orinoco" and "Meta." These are massive areas with dozens (hundreds?) of micro-habi...

@jools All super valid points and hard yards indeed.
-Shane

"Would love to have seen the fish." Well, it's apparently in a jar in Frankfurt lol. The hard part with distribution info is that using any data but the holotype location from the description introduces lots of false information. I have stacks of "Fishes of...." papers full of ba...

Those would much, much further south in main rivers and tributaries.
-Shane

Just a copy of the original description and a stone from the actual holotype location given to me by a Scottish guy.
-Shane

If you are just going for a generic morichal habitat there are many choices. Morichal habitats are often spring fed so the water is clear. Moriche palms must grow with their roots submersed, so a morichal is stable (less impacted by dry season) year round. Some morichals will have tinted water, like...

Yes, limited to drainages north of the branch of the Andes mountains that runs west to east across the coast of Venezuela. Have attached some helpful maps below. This map calls the area Cordillera del Costa, but the term Serrania del Interior is more commonly used now. Maps were produced by a petro ...

Have you seen this?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_agTo67qc1A

Sadly there is no mention of Corydoras in the video.

-Shane

That's a good question. C. venezuelanus (sensu strico) is restricted to coastal drainages north of the Serrania del Interior. This includes the Rio Tuy system and Lake Valencia drainages which were once connected, and several smaller drainages like the Rio Guapo. It is the only species of cory in th...

@bekateen. I am getting the extra 10% off coupon. So an additional 10% off the prices above.
-Shane

Sale is on now. Just got an email.
75 gal $129
60 breeder $99
40 breeder $59

Aquarium prices have sure come down. I paid more than $59 for my first 20 long 30 years ago.
-Shane

I use heavy duty metal shelving from Home Depot or Amazon.
Note cover on right. These are just cut pieces of masonite painted black. I glue magnets to the corners so they just stick straight to the metal shelving. I like the look it gives the fishroom.
-Shane

If you are going to use a shelving system... The 60 breeders are the way to go. The few extra inches of saved height is critical. My top (3rd) row is 65" from the ground and I can easily reach the bottom of the third tier tanks. Raise that 3.25" x 3 and the top row rim height would be at j...

Just agreeing with everything above. I have left my tanks for up to 3 weeks several times without any issues. I'll also emphasize that you do your water changes 48 hours before departing. Never the day or day before leaving. Fish "baby sitters" are well intentioned, but your better off lea...

Can you give us more information? What other tank mates, aquascaping, tank maintenance, feeding regime? In general, I think you will be ok but tank mates are key as you need to ensure a very low protein diet for the Panaque.
-Shane