PlanetCatfish.com

Folks:

I have used this Forum for what seems like forever for research (as you folks are real gurus [ie. Shane, etc]) but only just joined.

I joined (and I kinda hate to say this because it is altruistic) because I could not post or PM without joining.


I cannot find a commercial supplier, or the fish are "wild caught and adults" which I do not want, of the following:

1) Otocinclus vittatus (would like to have 7) ;

2) Baryancistrus sp. (L018) [Gold Nugget Pleco]{would like to purchase 7} and

3) Hypancistrus sp. (L260) [Queen Arabesque Pleco] (would like to purchase 7).



A) Does anyone have these for sale or know of a reputable supplier.

B) I believe that my "adventures in fish keeping" are substantially behind me and that they will be happy fish.

TR

Welcome to Planet catfish!

Welcome to Planet Catfish.

You may be able to find L260 as captive bred - they are quite often bred by aquarists. The others, although they are POSSIBLE to breed in captivity, are not usually captive bred. You have two choices:
1. Accept that the fish are not captive bred.
2. Find some other species you'd like to keep. There are several species that are commonly bred in captivity, such as various varieties of

There are a couple of breeding reports of O. vittatus throughout this and other Catfish sites. I've heard one report [by Larry Vires] that proclaims to have bred Baryancistrus L18 [or a similar fish]. They are probably not impossible to breed, but you need a big tank and plenty of current - and ADULT fish - most of the imports aren't.

--
Mats

Appreciate the posts:

Thanks
Ron Jones

To reiterate what Mats said, basically you have 0% chance of finding tank bred specimens of the above except for the L260.

Is there any particular reason why you don't want wild caught?

racoll wrote:Is there any particular reason why you don't want wild caught?

Yes, but this is "just me".

I very much enjoy "raising my fishies" from juvies and they (or at least many) seem to enjoy me also when they are adults (or a least are much older).

TR

BTW: I do not have a problem spending some $ for the fish and aquarium in which to breed them but based on the Cat-elog I would be "starting from scratch" and I am certain that I do not have the experience to "pull this one off".

I too like getting young fish and see them mature in my tank. But for several types of fish, they tend to not get into shops until they are fairly mature [that's not to say they aren't going to grow bigger in your tank - just that they are more likely juveniles or young adults than "toddlers"].

As I said before, there are other fish that you CAN get as "babies", but the ones you listed aren't frequently bred in captivity, and the exporters prefer fish of slightly larger size because they sell for more [or something like that].

--
Mats

Folks:

I appreciate the welcome and the input.

Thanks
Ron Jones

Seeing how big Baryancistrus sp. get, the 3" specimens for sale can easily be considered to be juveniles, and you will definately get a lot of growth out of them......