Sturisomatichthys sp. Colombia and Centromochlus perugiae fry

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Christmas came early for us here at AmazonTropics.com. Our catfish continue to produce eggs and fry! Our Sturisomatichthys sp. "Colombia" and Centromochlus perugiae have both produced eggs and fry. Sturisomatichthys fry are somewhat difficult to raise as are all species related to Royal Farlowellas. They require water changes and several feedings daily! As a matter of fact, we have had the best success by twice daily 90% changes and 2-4 feedings each day! It takes dedication to raise such fish but I assure you that we are up to the challenge.

We recently had three batches of Centromochlus perugiae. This is a really neat woodcat that only attains a length of around 2-2 1/4". They are relatively easy to keep so long as extremes are avoided. They are also one of the most popular woodcats but not always available. We are working on changing that. We are happy to report that our first round of fry have survived with 60-80% daily water changes and two to four daily feedings. The largest fish now measure a little over 1/2". This should allow for us to offer these at some point next year and very likely in time for Cataclysm! We are going to try to raise this latest batch of eggs in the same fashion. Hopefully we can secure the availability of this fish species year round! For now, enjoy some videos below.

Hisonotus aky Eggs Developing

Snapped this really cool photo of some Histonotus aky eggs developing. Had to share this photo with you guys!

A Quick Visit with Rob McClure and the GPASI Org.

Fellow Columbus Fish Club Enthusiast (CAFE) member, Bob Townsend and I set out Friday night to pay a visit to the Greater Pittsburgh Aquarium Society Inc. (GPASI) during their December meeting. GPASI brought in Rob McLure who gave an excellent talk on Callichthyidae. Unfortunately, we arrived a little late due to traffic in Columbus, OH and an error by our navigation system. Bob and I had seen Rob's talk two previous times but the main reason we came out was to show our support.

After the GPASI meeting a large group of us went out for drinks and food. I took the opportunity to talk to Regina Spotti about her recent spawning of the Auchenipteridae, Centromochlus macracanthus. It seems one of the keys to raising the fry may be constant food and daily aged water changes.  A big thanks goes to Eric Bodrock and Regina Spotti for hosting us during our stay! It is always special to see their amazing fishrooms. That is right, multiple fishrooms, four to be exact.

The year is drawing to a close but there is one more local event, the CAFE Holiday party is this coming Friday, December 16th. Awards will be given out for Breeder of the Year for the Breeder's Award Program (BAP), Horticulturalist of the Year for the Horticultural Award Program (HAP) and Rookie of the Year. A special award plaque has been created for each award made by CAFE chairman elect, Paul Wingert. It should be a fun event with great food and great friends!

As mentioned in our previous post, our Hisonotus aky continue to produce viable eggs. Having just returned from Pittsburgh, we counted not less than 30 eggs and 12 fry. It has been difficult to count the exact number of offspring due to the tank being semi-planted. The fry can be found on every leaf of every plant in the tank!

At this point we plan to leave the tank as to not disturb the adults. The old saying, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it", comes to mind here. This species is doing so well that I believe we will be able to offer the first U.S specimens in 2017! So here is to a New Year!

Pictured above is a F-1 specimen measuring a little over 1 1/4". This fish is just starting to show the emerald green color of the wild adult pictured below.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving fish keepers! We have posted a ton of videos to our YouTube Channel. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to stay updated with everything fish related: AmazonTropics YouTube Channel

A few updates for you to feast your eyes on. First, our Hisonotus aky, Emerald Green Otos continue to produce eggs and fry. It is hoped that we will be able to start offering this species some time in 2017. The fry require very small foods to start and can be somewhat sensitive to changes. The species does best in cool, soft water but the adults are very straight forward in their care.

Recently, we obtained a really interesting Auchenipteridae species in Tetranematichthys wallacei. We were able to acquire this cool woodcat from Rivers to Reefs here in Central Ohio. R2R, as I like to call it, is a hobbyist friendly fish store that caters to die hard hobbyist like yours truly. T. wallacei is an unusual woodcatfish species that shares a lot of traits with Ageneiosus. Especially if you look at the head region of the two genera. Tetranematichthys is a very timid species so care must be given not to place them with more active species like Tatia, Centromochlus and Trachelyopterus. However the species does do well with the also timid Trachelyopterichthys taeniatus. For more information on Tetranematichthys, visit PlanetCatfish at: Tetranematichthys wallacei Info.

Happy Holidays!

Hypancistrus zebra and Krobia xinguensis

Fall seems like it is here (most days). Happy that winter is holding off for now but we are sure it is around the corner. With the change of seasons, comes hopefully more spawning in the fishroom. While we do not have a lot of species from Rio Xingu, we would like to highlight two species here, Krobia xinguensis and Hypancistrus zebra, also known as the Zebra Pleco. Both species could be in danger due to the dams that were built along the Rio Xingu. We do not know how well these species will do now with the dams in place but it appears both species are safe in our aquaria, for now.

We are excited to have offspring of both species and hope to get these into the hands of other capable and interested aquarists. The Krobia xinguensis are going to take a little longer to get established in the fishroom as the adult breeding pair were only being housed with us long enough to arrange their move to their new home in Pittsburgh, PA. The H. zebra have been in our aquaria for the last 10 years or so. We have several groups of these amazing fish and are happy that are F-1 breeding group is now producing again. With that said, we will be taking pre-orders on Zebra Plecos for the Ohio Cichlid Association Extravaganza. We have a group of 7 fish that will be ready early next year for delivery or pickup. We are requesting a down payment be made to hold this group of fish. These fish will not be shipped and must be picked up or dropped off (no exceptions will be made due to the rarity of these fish). For serious inquires, please contact us at: jeremybasch@gmail.com. See everyone in Cleveland!

CatCon Wrap Up

CatCon 2016 is a wrap and what an event it was! Between all of the talks and fish sales, it was one of the best catfish related events an aquarist could ask for. If you weren't there, you really missed out! All of "THE" top catfish breeders were in attendance for this one. If you missed this event, you will get another chance at a catfish convention next year with Cataclysm. This three day event was such a hit in 2015, that they are doing it all over again in 2017. And AmazonTropics.com will be there as a speaker along with some of the other greats! For all of the details, visit: catfish-cataclysm.com

Geophagus sveni

Another quick update on our Geophagus sveni. This species has become regularly available recently but they are not cheap. They are certainly worth the cost as you can see in the video below.

CAFE Auction

Today was the local fish club auction. It was quite the auction! CAFE brought in 40 bags of New and Rare species. Certainly some of the species tempted us including some of the killifish, Chromaphyosemion bitaeniatum "Lagos Red" and even the Ctenopoma ansorgii. We did come away with Biotodoma cupido and Apistogramma rubrolineata. Both are species are related Geophagus and in the subfamily Geophaganii.

We hope to be able to work with these two species in the future but for now they have some growing to do. You know the saying, "Good things come to those that wait." Geos and Co. are well worth waiting for. In the mean time, our Geophagus mirabilis spawned and we now have fry. These should be ready at some point in the spring. Good news, time to rest up after a long weekend.

More with Geophagus sveni and Geophagus mirabilis

Just an additional post on some photos we took of our Geophagus. The consensus is that the Geophagus talk may be requested soon so time to update our talk. I will save the best photos for my talk but check out the color of these Geophagus sveni and G. mirabilis below! Incredible! Hope both species spawn soon as they have been teasing us recently with courting and dropping their tubes. In the mean time, several pairs of our Geophagus megasema have spawned and one pair is currently holding.

And do not forget about the CAFE Fall Auction next Sunday, October 2nd at Columbus Courtyard  West. AmazonTropics.com will be there in force likely serving as auction reader and auctioneer. Here is the link: CAFE Website See you there!

Platystacus cotylephorus and Geophagus sveni

Check out our new video on the Eeltail Banjo Catfish, Platystacus cotylephorus and the gorgeous new species of Geo, Geophagus sveni: 

End of Summer

Somehow I missed posting in August but we certainly kept busy with fish related events including the CAFE August Meeting. CAFE brought in Robert Lupton and his lovely fiance, Amanda Myers. Both are avid shrimp keepers having a huge 4,000 square foot shrimp hatchery. The club spent Saturday touring fishrooms and fish shops. Robert will soon be sharing our fun on his YouTube Channel: LupDiesel. We ended the day with BBQ at Tony and Sheri Helwagen's home. It was a great event!

Robert inspired us to start sharing some video of our fishroom. Our first short video is on our Procatopus species also known as Lampeye Killifish. They get this name from the reflection of pigments within their eyes which makes it appear that their eyes are glowing. Procatopus are more well known for the coloration on their bodies and fins than eye color.

In the wild, Procatopus are found in the rivers and streams of central West Africa in countries like Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Here they are found in schools along side fish species like: Pelvicachromis spp., Nanochromis spp., Hemichromis spp., Barbus spp. and Synodontis spp. Most of their diet likely consists of insects, insect larvae and aquatic crustaceans.

In the aquarium, treat Procatopus like smaller rainbowfish species. They need to be in groups of at least a half dozen fish. And a larger group in tank sizes of 30+ gallons can be an impressive sight. Foods can consist of flake food, smaller pellets, brine shrimp, bloodworms, glass worms, grindal worms, white worms and Daphnia.

Overall their care is very straight forward. Avoid large water changes as they can be sensitive to larger changes. This sensitivity is similar to Lamprichthys tanganicanus from Lake Tanganyika but Procatopus are a little hardier in our experience.

The second video showcases how we store killifish eggs. A lot of killifish keepers use this method. It allows for a larger number of eggs to hatch at once. This makes raising the fish a lot easier than having several containers containing several sizes of fry. We hope you enjoy our videos. We will keep producing them as time permits.

Last note, auction season is upon us! The Greater Pittsburgh Aquarium Society (GPASI) has their fall auction next weekend. Hope to see everyone there! Happy Fish Keeping!

Over 100 For The Day and More Hisonotus aky

Just amazing to have over a hundred views for today. Bet we can hit 200 before the day is out! A few weeks ago, we had the privilege of attending the American Cichlid Association (ACA) National Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. The event was hosted by our good friends, the Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society (GCAS). It truly was a great event as we were able to catch up with all of our cichlid friends from around the U.S. and the world. A big thank you to the GCAS and the ACA for putting on a great show!

The Hisonotus aky just keep on going. Wish I could get a good photo showing the amount of green these fish have. Below are some photos of more eggs along with some views of the amazing color of this fish. The second photo shows the amazing emerald color of these fish. Enjoy!

ACA Happy 4th of July

This Thursday is the start of the American Cichlid  Association (ACA) Convention. This is always a well attended event. Please be sure to stop by our room and say hi. We will have the below fish available for purchase. This is available, first come, first serve. Email us at: jeremybasch@gmail.com for questions. Thanks!

Cichlid Species Available Common Name Size Price
Geophagus megasema F-3- Rare! Large Spot Geophagus 1 3/4" 5/$80
Laetacara araguaiae F-2 Purple Gold Dwarf Cichlid 1 1/2" 5/$40
Laetacara araguaiae F-1 Purple Gold Dwarf Cichlid 3" 4/$40

Catfish Species Available Common Name Size Price
Loricaria sp. "Rio Atabapo" F-2 (Pre-Order Only) Crying Lipbrooding Whiptail 3-4" 4/$100
Panaqolus sp. "L-398" F-1 L-398 1 1/2"+ $35 ea. 6/$180

Killifish Species Available Common Name Size Price
Aphyosemion elberti "Diang Yellow" Elbert's Killifish 1"+ $15/pr.
Aphyosemion punctatum "Bolo Bai" Red Spotted Killifish 1"+ $15/pr.
Aphyosemion primigenium "GBN 88/10" Primitive Killifish 1"+ $15/pr.
Aphyosemion striatum "Lambarene" F-2 Striped Killifish 1 1/2" $15/trio.
Chromaphyosemion bitaeniatum "Mbanga" Two Stripe Killifish 1" $15/pr.
Chromaphyosemion splendopleure "Ekondo Titi" Splendid Killifish 1 1/2" $12/pr.

Inverts Common Name Size Price
Asolene spixi Spixi Snail 3/4" shell 6/$5
Clea helena Assasin Snails 3/4" shell 4/$10

Daphnia Cultures

Amazing what you can do with carrots, a vitamin pill and water mix in a blender! We are now working on setting up additional cultures. We should have plenty of food shortly. Check out our YouTube Video along with photos below. Enjoy!

The American Cichlid Association Convention hosted by the Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society

It is just around the corner, the ACA 2016 Convention in Cincinnati Ohio is upon us! AmazonTropics will of course be there with several offers including some rare Geophagus, a few catfish and even killifish (no they aren't always cichlid food). All the details for the event can be found here: ACA Convention 2016

We hope you join us as we enjoy a fun filled weekend of all things cichlids. For those in our hometown, Columbus, OH, do not miss this event! It is only a short two hour drive. Bring the kids and make a long weekend out of it. Cinci has a ton of great things to do and the GCAS has several tours arranged including: the Cincinnati Zoo and the Newport Aquarium. Hope to see you there!

Hypancistrus zebra 2.0

It would seem our zebras have finally settled in and have started breeding again. I expect the first batch to leave the cave shortly within the next few days. We will be holding these back for future breeders so that we might one day be able to produce these on a more regular basis. Once we have enough for future breeding stock, we will offer this wonderful species again to the public.

Also this week, our Centromochlus perugiae have spawned. We will be looking at improving our yields by incorporating a new in tank aquarium system. It should help keep things more stable and allow for a large volume of water for the fry. We anticipate this will increase our growth rates on our fish and allow more flexibility.

Last, we are moving our Emerald Green Oto fry to a 20 gallon growout. We are going to hold these back also for future breeding stock. There are around 20 offspring that now range in size from a little over 3/4"-1 1/4". Our goal is to try to offer as many offspring as CatCon approaches and beyond.

More updates to come!

Hypancistrus zebra

I went ahead and posted some unique fish to Aquabid.com tonight. These include sub-adult zebra plecos! These are close to spawning size. These fish are for pickup only as it is extremely warm out and these fish are just too special to ship. Pickup is available at the GAAS All-Aqua Show. Please email us at: jeremybasch@gmail.com if you have further questions. Follow the link below. Thanks!

AmazonTropics.com Aquabid.com Listings

Tatia gyrina

And today we found Tatia gyrina eggs! A photo is listed below but this is a photo shortly after acquiring them. They look much better now that they are in their prime! Fall is looking like it will be full of catfish in our tanks! Guess we will have plenty for the All-American Catfish Convention.

A Rare Event Caught on Camera

This is up there with rare spawning events, as our Trachelyopterichthys taeniatus spawned for us tonight. And we were able to catch it on video. Will this result in fertile eggs later? One can only hope!

Spring Time

You have to love spring time! A lot of spawning brings another update. Today we found eggs from our Reticulated Woodcats, Centromochlus reticulatus. Unlike our Jaguar Catfish, these are viable! The fry can be seen wiggling in their eggs. On top of that, our Hypancistrus sp. "L-333" F-1 have also laid eggs! Love is in the air! For now, a few photos of the largest Hisonotus aky F-1 and Centromochlus reticulatus F-1 eggs.

Liosomadorus oncinus and other Woodcatfish

Win some, lose some as they say. I feel like we were close to achieving a second spawning from our Jaguar Catfish, Liosomadoras oncinus, but all of the 400+ eggs are infertile. My thinking is that the male did not fertilize the eggs and instead the female discarded them. This still leaves us with hope that they will one day lay fertile eggs and that we will be able to offer the first F-1 Jaguar Catfish juveniles to the public.

Our Tatia strigata and Tatia gyrina also laid eggs but these too were infertile. It might be time to get the R/O water going on all of these species to see if that helps. We are still in our early stages of working with these fish. Our Centromochlus reticulatus appear to be next. Fingers crossed!

On a happier note, our Centromochlus perugiae fry are doing well and they just had a second spawn. All the eggs appear to be fertile. We hope to be able to offer these at CatCon in October. Until next time, enjoy these videos of Geophagus megasema and Geophagus sveni which should be ready by ACA 2016 in Cincinnati!

Centromochlus perugiae

Always nice to come home to a surprise...Centromochlus perugiae eggs & now fry!

On the Road Again and Hisonotus aky

A lot of traveling this last month has made it difficult to provide updates. Hope everyone is enjoying what I will call a tour of the Midwest. 7 speaking engagements before the end of May! Akron, Buffalo, NY and Pittsburgh, you are next!

For your entertainment purposes, a Hisonotus aky spawning video. A lot of fry are coming up of various species. Hope to make a new availability list as certain species reach a sellable size. More updates to come!

Quick Update - Geophagus sveni

Good news! Our Geophagus sveni "Rio Parana" Wild look to be close to spawning. One of the females had her tube starting to come down. It just goes to show good water quality and food go a long way. They weren't in perfect condition when they arrived but they sure have come around. We may move them to larger quarters soon so that they have a little more room.

Post CAFE Convention

All I can say is wow! What a convention Columbus, OH! What a wonderful event it was last weekend! Special thanks to our guest speakers, Dr. Stephan Tanner, Spencer Jack, Rob McLure and Richard Pierce, our vendors, sponsors, volunteers & everyone who attended. Saturday's swap had it all, plants, cichlids, dry goods, etc. Sunday's auction was the best auction I have ever been a part of. There were some super rare fish such as Pseudohemiodon apithanos & Corydoras reynoldsi! If you missed this convention, you may have missed one of the best conventions in the midwest!  Better luck again in two years.

The fishroom has been pumping out baby fish. Hopefully this continues for the near future. This month we have eggs or fry from Geophagus megasema, Geophagus mirabilis, Melanotaenia pygmaea, Melanotaenia praecox "Pagai" F-1 & hopefully soon, Telocichla monogramma. The killifish also continue to produce but I will save an update on those for a later date. Spring is here, which means Spring Auctions! Hope to see everyone at an event soon!

Teleocichla, Geophagus, Hisonotus and 2016 CAFE Convention

It seems winter has finally decided to show up. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the extra time indoors with their fish. A quick update on the Hisonotus aky. They just keep on producing and at one point we found 68 eggs in one day! The first fry are approaching 1/4". We hope to be able to offer these later this year.

A few other fish seem to be in the mood this Valentine's Day including our Teleocichla monogramma and Geophagus megasema. The Teleocichla did lay eggs but a few days later they were gone. They are still young yet so it may just take them a little more time. The Geophagus came close to spawning and even had their spawning tubes down. I think they are close and it will not be long until we find eggs. This all said, it is time for us to add a few additional 50 gallon breeders for grow out tanks. Now if we can just find the time to set those tanks up.  Until then, see our quick video of the Geos going through courting.

Last, do not forget that registration is now open for the 2016 Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts Convention (CAFE). CAFE has lined up a group of great speakers once again along with vendors, a swap meet, silent auctions & an all day auction on Sunday. Do not miss out on our New & Rare  auctions which will be going on throughout the event! Click on the link for more details: 2016 CAFE Convention

Emerald Otos Hisonotus aky

There is a long story that goes with us acquiring Hisonotus aky (pronounced Hi-so-no-tus). This species was always a fish that was on my list after viewing it in the Baensch Catfish Atlas I by Hans Georg-Evers and Ingo Seidel. Fast forward to last year when I found that an aquarist from the U.S., Ken Davis, regularly travels to where these fish are found. I messaged Ken, shared my interest in acquiring these fish and he agreed to bring a group back in December of 2014. Once Ken was back in the states and situated, I contacted him inquiring on how the fish were doing. Soon arrangements were made with my good friend and apprentice, Bob Townsend to travel from Columbus, OH to Statham, GA. Yes, you read that right! I will drive for fish!

The trip was mostly uneventful until we hit winter weather on the way back. Bob, who lives a little over an hour from me stated that he had to crawl home in his SUV. It was pretty slow going just north on Cincinnati but we made it back all in one piece with our new fish!

During the acclimation process and the weeks that followed a few of the fish were lost due to unknown reasons. These fish were acquired with hollow bellies and sunken eyes, an indication that they are on their way out. The remaining fish pulled through on a diet of Repashy Super Foods and baby brine shrimp. As stated before, Ken regularly travels to Uruguay and he brought another group of these fish back in February of 2015. Ken and I made further arrangements for more of these fish to head my way along with another undescribed species of Hisonotus. This group of fish arrived in much better condition.

The summer of 2015 found us moving our entire fishroom to our home in western Columbus. Over 100 aquariums with over 80 species of fish were moved in 4 days! The last time I moved that much stuff in such a short time, was when we had to be out of our old home by the end of the month. That is a story for another day. Needless to say everyone was stressed from the move!

Since summer, all of our fish have settled back in and for the most part are doing well. Due to the cooler weather, I have since closed off the door leading into our basement. This has helped the temperature stay around 70 F. With the heat and dehumidifier running the moisture content is around 40%. A few weeks ago I also recently added an LED light and plants to the Hisonotus aky tank to make them feel more at home. Well a combination of the above probably caused spawning behavior out of the group.

Yesterday while doing water changes I was cleaning the filter out when low and behold baby Emerald Otos started moving around. Of course I always thought I could spawn these like our Otothyropsis and Parotocinclus but applying theory to practice are two different things. I almost jumped for joy seeing the fry. And while this species has been spawned in captivity a few times, it is still uncommon. With that, I give you a few photos of the baby Hisonotus for your viewing pleasure. More updates are sure to follow! Again, thank you to Ken Davis for making this fish available!

2016 Spring

Just a quick note that I am fully booked for spring. Thank you for all of your support. As it stands right now I have two scheduled talks in Detroit, MI, another in Indianapolis, IN, one in Buffalo, NY and last but not least, Akron, OH. Stay tuned for more updates and our fish availability list as we move through winter. Stay warm!

The CAFE 2016 Convention

A New Year and time to mark your calendars for the 2016 CAFE Convention. CAFE has a lot planned for this every other year event. There will be hotel room sales of fish and all things aquatic, a Saturday swap with everything under the sun fish related, vendors, new and rare silent auctions, a great speaker lineup and a Sunday auction. It is truly an event not to be missed! Hope everyone can make it out! Go to the link for more details: 2016 CAFE Convention. And do not miss CAFE's February speaker Dennis Ball of Ball Aquatics. Dennis is the "man" on Danios having worked with several species that are very uncommon in the trade. Be sure to go visit Dennis' website at: Ball Aquatics