Looking for some fish, and looking back on this year, and ahead to the next

["Alan Whitten" <caw18@bak.rr.com>]

Being that Christmas has come and gone, Santa Clause has left me with a
little money to try to get some more breeding stock.
I live in Central California, so shipping to me this time of year is not a
problem.

My fish wish List:
Ap. Cacatoide "Tripple Red" 2x males
Ap. Agazzizii 4x female 1x male (I have a male, and he has killed both
females)
Pelvicachromis pulcher: 1x male
German Blue Rams (2 pairs)
Neolamprologus Brevis: 2x males, 4x females (I want to try shell dwellers) +
shells

If you have any of these fish (or all of them) let me know off-list.

My first year as a Apistrogramma keeper is nearly up.  I stared with 8
tanks, and now I am up to 14 tanks, with 2 empty
tanks waiting in reserve.  This year, I have successfully breed Cacatoides,
Rotpunkts, and Kribs (Pelvicachromis pulcher).
My most prolific breeder by far have been my Rotpunks, however, the fry have
also been the most difficult to raise.

My first batch of Rotpunk fry all suffered from stunted growth, and bent
spines.  I attributed this to bad water quality,
and I started an every-other-day 50% water replacement policy.  My second
crop of Rotpunkts so far seems to be
avoiding the bent spine syndrome, but after 2 months, the fry are not much
over ½ inch long.  They seem to be taking
twice as long to mature as my Cacatioides.  I have been feeding all my fry
baby brine shrimp.

For the next year, I would like to get my Agazzizii to breed.  So far, I
have gotten one batch of eggs, but they disappeared
after few days.  The male has since killed both of the females I had in with
him.  I am hoping that with four new female,
 his aggression will get spread out a bit more, and I won't loose any more
females.

I would also like to try my hand at Tanginian (sp?) shell dwellers next year
as well.  I have set up a pair of tanks with fine
sand and crushed corral substrate.  The tanks have been set up for about 4
months now with nothing but a few platties in t
hem.  I have never had a problem getting my Ph to go up :)

ere's to a new year of fish keeping!

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