Noted Bas, thanks for your input.

I will stick to a mix of regular water and tank water for now and see how it works. I will refrain from using filter gunk for these plants.

I use fish tank water on my plants routinely (especially after filter maintenance) and the results have always been good.

I recently got a bunch of Tillandisa (first time keeper) and was wondering if it makes sense to use the same water for weekly dips? Any opinions?

I also read in one of your posts that your Ompok malabaricus lunged at your Pterocryptis. I don't have any backup tank to put them back in, as my other tanks have pseudolaguvia, aborichthys, and oreichthys, all good food choices for silurids. Since you mention that Ompoks don't bother slightly smal...

perhaps the Pteros can catch up in size, unless they are even slower growers, which would mean that I'd end up with two very fat Ompoks. They grew quite quickly from 5 to 7 inches for me. I kept them on a diet of Hikari Carnivore/Massivore, live shrimps, scampi feed and blood worms once in a while....

I've never kept O.pabo but the species I've kept were all the same, mild temperament, slow growers and a little fussy when it came to feed. There were a lot of small Mystus in the tank and nothing ever disappeared, I don't think Ompok will go after fish more than half it's size. I recently got pics ...

Congratulations on getting them set up. Good luck with them. Cheers, Eric Thanks Eric. Awesome! Very special fish. Great job, Balaji. Are they the same as those photographed in 2017? Thanks Viktor. Nope, that specimen went to a friend and later jumped out before it could be shipped to me. It was fa...

OXOhe5tvi7E Finally, after a very long wait and a 1700 km trip. Both specimens came in starved after an excruciating journey and have been bulking up on Massivore, clams and Kens Fish Feed. I don't know if it's because I am seeing these after long but their dorsal fins look way longer than I can re...

Sadly, Pterygoplichthys pardalis and P.disjunctivus are extremely common in south India, especially Tamil Nadu and Kerala. There is a report of P.anisitsi from Bihar as well. There have been videos (from Kerala) of large specimens being fished out of what can only be called a cesspool. I have person...

Thanks!

Is a copy possible Eric?

That is a heptapterid.

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Ok, that does makes sense but the R.chrysea I used to keep actually used to sweep the area clean, I could see the presence of gravel bothering it. I later found out that this species is usually found around fine sand and added the same to no avail. Swept away. This H.punctata seems very active at ni...

Good to hear that!! They generally go mad over any live food dropped. You could up the feeding a little bit in the summer as a safety measure.

Alright, thanks HH. I dropped it in yesterday and I don't think there's gonna be any problems, seems to be a very docile species.

Thanks Eric, this video was taken at 5 am or so. Tank decor by day and greedy bagrid at night, that's the best way to describe it.

I am holding a B.macracanthus (~5 inches) for a friend, is it safe to keep it with a bunch of small (~1 inch) Pethia?

I've noticed that the larger bagrids (Rita and Hemibagrus) always clear out the sand around their territory. I have tried fine sand, river sand and gravel and everything invariably gets swiped away.

It is now eating clams and Massivore, some nice dorsal extensions developing as well.

Adipose doesn't match M.castaneus, provenance and/or better pictures may help with an id.

That looks more like a Mystus.

Thank you, I've made up my mind to stick to conventional fish food. Some of these fish are very very hard to come by and I don't want to experiment on them.

A small video of the inhabitants with some new additions, Tor malabaricus, Osteochilus nashii, Cyprinion semiplotus and Botia rostrata.

I have been looking up various options to source as feed ever since I was hit by the Hemibagrus thunderbolt, the latest of which is fish based cat feed. Does anyone have experience/thoughts on this? https://www.amazon.in/Meat-Up-Ocean-Fish-Adult/dp/B078KJV8JQ/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=cat+food+fish&qi...

Very nice!! What krill pellets are these?

Thanks Viktor, that's a major relief! I prefer to keep a variety when it comes to feed and the marine feed I get is quite effective. Come monsoon (July onward), I'll get an unlimited supply of freshwater crabs as well. I've attached the images below for your reference. Wet Form.JPG Dry Form.JPG Clam...

A few of the tankmates with more cyprinids to be added in the coming weeks.

Viktor Jarikov wrote: ↑06 Apr 2019, 19:37 Cute stuff. So alert. I can't find where you stated the species... Do you know?

Hey Viktor,

It's a Hemibagrus punctata.

Hi Balaji, That's an interesting fish. Thanks for sharing. What did you finally choose hoose for its main diet? Cheers, Eric Hey Eric, I've so far been feeding Massivore and what I think is an Acetes sp. which is a local delicacy that is commonly consumed in the dried form. I feed the dry form to m...

It is now settling in and eating well.