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.