Having been away from home for 4 weeks, I'm delighted to report that at least one of my baby L244 Pseudolithoxus dumus is still alive, as are my Corydoras burgessi fry. They haven't grown a huge amount but are noticeably bigger and better patterned than before. My friend who looked after the feeding...

I have two thriving cultures in the substrate of fish tanks without Corydoras. When I siphon the substrate at water-change, I separate the worms and feed them to other tanks. I use a dennerle substrate with grain size about 2mm, which seems ideal for them. Temperatures in these tanks are as high as ...

A few more photos of the fry this evening, all of the same fish which was being quite bold on a twig near the front of the tank. I did see another one on the powerhead casing at the same time, but it scarpered. I still haven't seen more than two at once!

I feel your pain! I'm about to go away for 4 weeks, with these youngsters just starting to develop nicely.
At least they're vegetarians, as are most of yours. I've arranged for a friend to come in every 4-5 days and add another bundle of green twigs and some Repashy cubes.

You'll love it! Sorry I won't be there myself this year.
Maybe next year I'll bring some of my little ones for sale? Cheers,
Paul

I don't see the fry (or the adults) very often, but the fry certainly enjoy grazing on 'green' wood. I have gathered a load of fallen branches and twigs from local woods, which are covered in algae and lichen. Here's one of the little ones (now about 16mmSL) having a munch! L244_closeup_4s.jpg I swa...

Thanks Eric!

One of the fry came near the front of the tank so I managed a few more photos. Being closer I struggled to get the right focal depth in the available light conditions, but there is some detail visible. Am I imagining it, or are the distinctive orange fin tips of this species starting to show? Incide...

A few more photos of the youngsters, which are still enjoying grazing on my log, though it's been stripped of almost all the green stuff by now. They like clinging to the underside of the log (which is still floating) - these photos are the right way up! I used a torch to illuminate them for the pho...

I agree, many cories do well in soft water, but keep an eye on the temperature requirements. Some prefer it much cooler and will not do well in continuous high temps. Personally I’d go for a group of one of the golden-shouldered types from the Rio Negro basin: adolfoi / duplicareus / burgessi etc. T...

First time I've spotted one of these. Must be my lucky week! Paul M-B

Today I managed to see two Pseudolithoxus dumus fry at once, and get a photo of them. Unfortunately I couldn't get them both in focus at the same time, but this pair of photos clearly show there are at least two. I put this fallen log in the tank a few days ago, it was covered in algae and lichen an...

I had one more sighting of a baby on Monday, and nothing since then. The tank has countless hiding places so hopefully the one I saw is OK and there are some others in there somewhere. As well as repashy I have added some more branches with algae growth to provide additional grazing surfaces, plus s...

Thanks! I think I’d be looking at a herd of about 20 Corydoras in a 180L tank with a moderate number of other fish I normally do water changes of about 50% per week or 30% twice-weekly. I would recommend getting all the same species, or two similarly-marked species that are found together in the wil...

Great photos! Congratulations and thanks for sharing with us.
Paul

The half dozen ancistrus you have already will give a singificant bioload for that size tank, plus a lot of bottom-dwelling territory. And that’s before they start breeding. While I love big herds of cories, I think you don’t have much space for then with the existing inhabitants. What percentage wa...

Thanks Jools!
First in the UK, I think. I think there are a couple of reports from Germany.
Regards,
Paul

Many thanks Eric!

I have seen one baby fish several times now, always in the same area of the tank (so I think it's the same fish). It's very active, grazing over the hard surfaces and occasionally a brief dash across from one to another. I have put a chunk of Repashy near it in the hope that it realises that it's fo...

Thanks Eric!
There are only adults of the same species, no other fish.
Also snails and blackworms.
Cheers,
Paul

I have been away for a few days, and have just come home to spot this while doing a water change on the L244 tank! Happy times :-) L244_baby2.jpg L244_baby.jpg Sorry about the poor quality photos, I was in the middle of siphoning the tank and it scarpered pretty quick. Hopefully there are some more ...

I’m really disappointed to be missing the convention this year as I’ll be on the other side of the world. Looking forward to reading up about this though!

Many thanks, Eric. Sorry for not replying sooner, I've been away from home quite a bit and there has been nothing much interesting to report. Several times I have seen two fish near that same cave where there was activity before, but that was about it. Just before writing this I went to glance at th...

I’ve had a lot of pleasure (and a few spawns) from my group of Biotodoma cupido. Half-way in size between rams and geos, they do well in a shoal of 5-10 fish and are more peaceful than most cichlids. Other than that, a zillion rummy-nose tetras. They’re the best shoalers and look stunning in a group...

I'm currently sitting at my desk watching my Corydoras oiapoquensis in a spawning frenzy, and I've got one fry already hatched in the nursery from a little bit of early activity last week. They share the tank with two Corydoras condiscipulus and a single Corydoras amapaensis which are doing the equi...

I do use oak, but I generally dry it thoroughly (6 months or more) rather than use it fresh. I also find that they prefer the wood in the middle rather than the bark. At first I thought this thread would be about feeding Farlowella twig cats! Would be interesting to see if others have used fresh tim...

Thanks guys! For now I’ll keep an eye on them with minimal disturbance and update this thread with any more news.
Cheers,
Paul

There has certainly been a lot of activity in the front corner of the tank recently, involving the big male Pseudolithoxus dumus and possibly two other fish. The male is spending a lot of time in a particular cave, and this afternoon he kept adjusting his position in the cave, like tossing and turni...

Something interesting is happening. After having all my Pseudolithoxus dumus out of the tank last week for photos and a clean-up and rescape, the five fish have settled back in, with the big male preferring the front corner of the tank where he was before, even though the decor has changed somewhat....

Merry Christmas to you all, and may your catfish think it’s Easter!