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Good idea, I bought some koi spawning mops, about 5-6 inch diameter and 4 feet long a while back, they just collected a lot of detritus so I took them out and forgot about them.

Now you have reminded me, I'll give them another try!

Great post! I enjoyed the build and it's nice to see ongoing updates. How are the Sturisomatichthys festivus doing?

Thanks, the S. festivus, are doing well, haven't had any eggs from them for a while though.

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while since much has happened in the fish room. Over the weekend my group of spawned for the first time, I've had them for 6 years, and they were adults when I bought them!

From some previous conversations I thought they would only spawn in a mop, but there were eggs on the glass in corners and all over the foam mattenfilter, as well as a few spilt on the sand.
I'm also looking forward to my first fish related event in a while, having just booked to attend the CSG convention in March, hopefully it's able to go ahead as planned.

Congratulations, Marc!

And enjoy the CSG meeting.

Cheers, Eric

great job but the only thing I would not of done id put the electric so close to the water just in case you get a blow out off a water pipe fittings or some think like that, I would off put the electrics on the wall at the back far away from the water or out side the room on the outer wall.
but still looks great

Some beautiful catfish in your collection. I'd love to have jaguar cats. I've only seen one specimen once in my country thirty years ago which was $2000+

Are you happy with your power backup solution now? I stay away from those all in one solutions because if one component fails, the whole unit still needs to be replaced and I prefer separate for better control even though that's less compact.

I used to make my own Auto Transfer Switches but nowadays I use an oversized smart charger to continuously charge deep cycle batteries (200 Ah) to run an inverter. I only back up the air supply which is 2 large air pumps (80LPH each) on the same central air circuit. So no change over is necessary. The batteries stay fully charged even while the inverter continously draws some power.

One air pump is sufficient but having two pumps is great redundancy since air is so critical. Similar reassurance to having two air filters per tank without needing twice the filters/fittings/pipes/mess/cleaning etc.

I have a petrol generator as well should electricity be unavailable for many days and I use my stored oxygen cylinders on a normally closed solenoid tap to central air line for my very valuable stock.

Thank you, Jaguar cats are nice, a shop I was at a few weeks ago just had an import of 20+ really chunky ones!

Yes I'm happy with the backup I have, agree that several functions in one box could mean one fails and renders the device useless, but it is just much more convenient for me to have the automation it provides. I also have a generator, as well as some old car batteries which I keep topped up, and a cheap inverter, which can be brought in if needed.

Like you I also have two air pumps (and service kits for both), so one can be switched out if needed, the backup air pump is smaller, but I'll still be able to run the filtration with it, provided I shut off the valves for the various air stones etc.

That's quite a commitment having oxygen cylinders! But as you say it's worth having a few backup options to protect the fish, they are animals we are responsible for, as well as often a big investment.

Having two pumps running on the same circuit is quite different from having a spare pump ready to swap in. When one pump fails (which has happened several times over the many years of my fish keeping) the air volume drops considerably and easily noticed. It's one of those, wish I'd tried this - known this years ago thing. Especially if you are often away.

You should still keep a spare air pump (or two) available. Try to get the same size air pumps to make swap out easier and reduce the amount of spare parts to stock.

Oxygen tanks are not much more of an investment but I do run lots of tanks and needed for shipping, moving large quantities of fish and simulating rainfall events. And since the oxygen tanks just sit there, they might as well be incorporated.

Of course the safest backup of all is to have low stocking levels.

Amazing build! I have read everything twice! Is there an update on the L095 plecos and the mouse catfish?

Thanks NewPlecoKeeper!

The L095 are doing well, two have grown significantly chunkier than the others so I'm hopeful I have both sexes, occasionally I see two or more swimming around side by side, but nothing to get particularly excited about.

The mouse catfish, Hassar orestis are also doing well and are fully grown chunky fish. One repeatedly gets a long flowing filament on its dorsal fin, I'm assuming that is a male, maybe it's not always the same one, but only one fish has it at a time, after a month or so it disappears, then comes back in a few months.

Pleased you enjoyed the thread .

Amazing, nice to hear that things are going well. I hope you Get some breeding out of the Hassar Orestis. Seems like it’s little to no info about breeding the different mouse catfishes

The fish room has been ticking over for a while now, without any changes. A visit to the CSG (Catfish Study Group) convention this past weekend encouraged me to shift a few things around and pick up some new fish.

I brought home, 2 pairs of , 2 pairs of , 2 pairs of , a pair of , as well as 5 young .

There is a bonus picture of some swimmy fish I got too! Hopefully once settled I'll be able to breed some of these, and report back.

Hi Marc,

Those are great fish. Congratulations! Did you enjoy the CSG convention?

Cheers, Eric

Thanks Eric, yes the convention was great, really good to see everyone again.

Going around the shops and convention hall looking at fish, then talking to people about them got me excited about keeping fish again. Now I just need to find the time to re-arrange a few things in the fish room, once the new fish are through quarantine!

Those are nice pics too. Not to get too far off-topic, but the convention was great, spent lots of time with many folks I've not seen for a few years. It's bloomin' torture to see so many great fish without any means to keep them at home mind you. Must get fishroom sorted!



Jools

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while, but thought I'd update on a surprise spawn, a few months back I found some small along with a presumed female who was looking very lethargic. I assumed that the small fish was a skinny male not doing well, but it soon disappeared and I thought no more of it. I moved the female to another tank and she has now fully recovered.

I suspect that the battered female was involved in a spawn, as I noticed a few more 'skinny males' recently and got a much better look at them, they are about half the length of the adults and much skinnier, but observed to be eating well, they are smaller than the adults when I purchased them ~3.5 years ago, so I'm confident they are the result of a spawn. I managed to get a picture of one of the young alongside an adult. I'm amazed any eggs survived as the adults are fierce feeders, the Barilius in there also aren't shy with food!

They are housed in the tank below:

Congratulations Marc! That's spectacular!

Cheers, Eric

Thanks Eric, I see you are speaking at the CSG convention next year, see you there!