Yes, MUCH fatter. It looks like (s)he's swallowed a shooter marble! His/her scales appear normal, not as if s(h)e's bloated. More like a "santa claus" belly. No discoloration. No change in behavior.

I only have one zebra . . . nowhere else to get a second! Skittle (zebra) lives in a cave next to an albino ancistrus male, and I suspect eats a lot of ancistrus eggs and the occasional ancistrus fry? If it is a girl, and gravid, I wouldn't worry so much -- but as I said, I can't find pictures of a ...

I have a hypancistrus zebra with a fat, round belly and a little pouchy area just above/near the anal area. I can't find any pictures of zebras that are this fat . . . this fish has had the round belly a long time (2 years or more) but I got a close look at this fish on the glass last night, and ...

The markings seem close to a Julii, but the size is about a third larger than any Julii I've ever seen, and this fish's nose is long like a semiaquilas, not rounded!

Any ideas?

(view at)
http://www.resorter.com/1fish.html

Kathy S

I just found 12 of these guys and brought them home even though a couple of them had a very light case of ich, and a couple of them looked slighty worked over, with a bit of scale damage. I've never seen them around here before, and they are gorgeous fish even though not in perfect health.

They ...

Can the different color varieties interbreed, and what's the party line on this if it's possible?

Wow! You guys are scary good.

That's the cory all right. Would they be found in the same area as guapores?

I'm sorry the pictures are bad. Always a challenge . . . the corys are light brownish grey with a distinct brown single dot pattern on their heads continuing down the body. The dorsal and tail is clear. There is a dark saddle shaped band that starts on their lower body. The golden glow near the head ...

Do you have any resin ornaments/caves in your tank? Loaches love to wedge into tight spaces. I lost two very small clowns that wedged into the folds on the interior of a resin cave and couldn't get out.

Kathy S

Sorry for the terrible pictures -- the fish won't hold still.
These guys were in with some glass cats (kryptopterus), but they
have stripes and a mottled skin, rosy cheeks, and an extremely
tiny tuft of dorsal that you can't see in the picture.

Any quick ID, or do I need to try the camera again ...

I wish more people would post pictures of fish with diseases. I would love to see a disease/health FAQ. I've read a lot of advise about improving water quality, and discouraging medications -- but I don't think that's the whole story when curing fish of some problems. Unfortunately trial and error ...

Yesterday two more suncats died, two jullii, two peppers, another goby, an agassizi and a ram. These are from the tanks that got the most bloodworms. I run a total of 11 tanks ... nobody has died in tanks that got no bloodworms, and the tanks where I sprinkled a few are okay. The tank with the ...

I haven't found that all purpose algae eater yet ... the ancistrus stay small, and graze algae (although they like sucking on leaves better). Surprisingly my albino rainbow sharks do a good job of licking the green and brown stuff off the walls, and I have a flying fox that does a similar good job ...

I'm experiencing sudden deaths of catfish (plus one knight goby and one pantodon) in four separate tanks, all within a 48 hour period.

I have test kits for ammonia and nitrates which come back normal, which is to say none present.

The 220 gal. tank has been set up for a year, where I work during ...

Here's a good story, with perhaps some bearing on this topic --

While vacuuming tanks and cleaning up, my daughter started
yelling for my help. An albino aeneus cory, nearly an inch long,
was swimming up and down inside the tube under the powerhead
connected to an undergravel filter.

Every time ...

Why does the sequence of the pictures reorganize with every viewing/
voting?

I wanted to methodically work my way through the pictures
(not all at one time), but since they didn't stay in sequence I had
to go through everything or risk losing track of what I'd viewed/voted
on. As it was some of the ...

Two on-line places I order from have the Eheim filters.
drsfosterandsmith.com (US)
and
bigalsonline.com (US & Canada)

Eheim filters *are not* inexpensive anywhere! LOL!

Kathy S

I like using the laser light modules. I think the hi-light kinds
come in green, blue, purple, orange ... you can mix &
match or buy one color. Each module holds 5 lights ...
I use mine on a string of 20 gal. tanks, each with one light
inside, and I get just enough light to keep an eye on the
tank ...

Fiskars -

I'm using Eheim 2217s and a Fluval 404 right now.
I agree that the Eheims seem to be a bit more well-made
than the Fluval, and I like their tubing better ... but
I have to say I like the interior arrangement of the Fluval
better than the Eheim, and it is a little easier to clean.

The ...

What kind of fish are you putting into the tank?
IMO -- I'd choose the Emperor 400 for anything over
20 gals. -- but I go to the 'more is better' side of
filtration in my tanks.

If the tank is closer to 40 gal., do you have the space
for a small canister filter?

Kathy S

My big pleco has a nice piece of driftwood to munch on,
but for the last couple of weeks has spent a lot of time
polishing the fibrous exterior off a coconut cave that
I put in the tank as a loach condo!

Kathy S

My husband refuses to let me put 'Chief Overlord' on our tax returns ...
but it isn't a bad job description. Doer-of-laundry, nagger-of-family,
publisher of a weekly newspaper.

Kathy S

Ancient lady drifts
ivory ictalurus
transform to dragon

Thanks Ian - Since you ID'd these guys in the What's My Catfish area,
can you tell me anything more about semiaquilus? Is the size usual --
(over 3.5 in.), and are they more territorial than other corys?

Kathy S

Thank you very much!

Kathy S

... or what *is* the correct spelling, Ian?

Here are my new guys, being mobbed by a bunch
of paleatus.

http://www.resorter.com/mystery.html

Thanks -
Kathy S

Ian -

Both the oriatae & semiaquelus look closer to my fish than
the fowleri.

My fish have a tan "eye spot" three quarters of the way down
their bodies. It's small and faint, but both have it.

Kathy S

I just brought home two new corydoras that were identified as
fowerli (by LFS). Looking in the cat-e-log, the pictures are close but
not spot on . . . and I see the size is indicated at a max of 3.2 inches?

These guys are about 4 inches, what I would consider a big
disparity between stated and ...

Been there. When I moved a big pim out of an old tank into a holding tub
he thrashed and wedged himself into the net. I let him sit in the tub, in
the net for about 40 min., hoping he would untangle himself ... but, no.

I cut him out, and he was still left with a wad on his pec fin that I
couldn't ...

So, what kind of catfish was Big Fish?
(What a great movie! Two thumbs up!)

Kathy S