It has been over a year since I posted anything to this site. In that time the Neolamprologus nigriventris featured in the last post did indeed spawn again. It was a small batch of seven fry. I kept them in the hopes of raising them up to become the next generation of breeders as I don't believe I am going to see much more activity from their aging parents. The juveniles are now between 2 and 3 inches long and quite healthy. I just recently moved them from a heavily planted 40 gallon breeder aquarium to a 75 gallon that is also housing some recently acquired Lepidiolamprologus nkambae of similar size as the nigriventris, a few haps, around fifteen yellow Labidochromis caeruleus, and a couple of medium sized L128 plecos. Most of the occupants are temporary residents. I will try to post some photos soon.
There have been many changes in my tank inhabitants recently. Take a look at the updated Currently Keeping page. The newbies came from two events, the December swap meet held by the Greater Chicago Cichlid Association and the Ohio Cichlid Association's Extravaganza. This is second consecutive year I have attended the annual convention held in Strongsville, OH. It is a great event that I would recommend to any cichlid or catfish enthusiast, and most any other aquarium enthusiast as well. They have a slate of intelligent, well informed speakers, a fish show displaying a variety of beautiful adult catfish and cichlids, a packed vendor room, an evening hospitality suite featuring some grub for attendees, and a huge Sunday auction. On top of all that, attendees set up elaborate mini pet stores in their rooms from which can be purchased all manner of interesting fish, inverts, plants and dry goods. That alone makes a one-time trip worthwhile.
Allow me to mention that the auction is one of the best I have seen for a few reasons. First, despite an entire weekend of fish trading hands in hotel rooms and at local fish shops, the content of the auction - and this is true for both of the auctions I attended - was comprised of a lot of quality stock. Yes, there were some unsightly entries, that is to be expected at any auction, but the majority of the fish were desirable, healthy specimens. I picked up some nice adult Neolamprologus cylindricus breeders, some uncommon Victorian Enterochromis paropius, and a few others. The second reason I like this auction is that there are a large number of buyers to compete for the available fish. And these buyers are all largely insane by normal standards - most of them having double digit aquariums in their home, some triple digit. These wackos - and I include myself in this group - are willing to spend for what they want. That leads to good prices for the sellers, in general, which in turn encourages sellers to enter better stock into the next auction. As I said, it is a very good example of a fish auction. Mind you there are always deals to be had, you just have to be patient, attentive and decisive. There were many bags of fish that I wanted, but ultimately lost out on in the bidding war. Still I went home very happy with my purchases.
I will attempt to post some photos and videos of the fish in upcoming weeks. I also really want to add to the species articles located within the Cichlids of Africa tab too. We'll see.
Stay tuned to see some info about the Parathelphusa pantherina, panther crabs, that I recently purchased.
There have been many changes in my tank inhabitants recently. Take a look at the updated Currently Keeping page. The newbies came from two events, the December swap meet held by the Greater Chicago Cichlid Association and the Ohio Cichlid Association's Extravaganza. This is second consecutive year I have attended the annual convention held in Strongsville, OH. It is a great event that I would recommend to any cichlid or catfish enthusiast, and most any other aquarium enthusiast as well. They have a slate of intelligent, well informed speakers, a fish show displaying a variety of beautiful adult catfish and cichlids, a packed vendor room, an evening hospitality suite featuring some grub for attendees, and a huge Sunday auction. On top of all that, attendees set up elaborate mini pet stores in their rooms from which can be purchased all manner of interesting fish, inverts, plants and dry goods. That alone makes a one-time trip worthwhile.
Allow me to mention that the auction is one of the best I have seen for a few reasons. First, despite an entire weekend of fish trading hands in hotel rooms and at local fish shops, the content of the auction - and this is true for both of the auctions I attended - was comprised of a lot of quality stock. Yes, there were some unsightly entries, that is to be expected at any auction, but the majority of the fish were desirable, healthy specimens. I picked up some nice adult Neolamprologus cylindricus breeders, some uncommon Victorian Enterochromis paropius, and a few others. The second reason I like this auction is that there are a large number of buyers to compete for the available fish. And these buyers are all largely insane by normal standards - most of them having double digit aquariums in their home, some triple digit. These wackos - and I include myself in this group - are willing to spend for what they want. That leads to good prices for the sellers, in general, which in turn encourages sellers to enter better stock into the next auction. As I said, it is a very good example of a fish auction. Mind you there are always deals to be had, you just have to be patient, attentive and decisive. There were many bags of fish that I wanted, but ultimately lost out on in the bidding war. Still I went home very happy with my purchases.
I will attempt to post some photos and videos of the fish in upcoming weeks. I also really want to add to the species articles located within the Cichlids of Africa tab too. We'll see.
Stay tuned to see some info about the Parathelphusa pantherina, panther crabs, that I recently purchased.
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