Re: New subscriber

[Ken Laidlaw <K.Laidlaw@roe.ac.uk>]

Hi Thomas,
Welcome aboard.

> Not yet succesful, but hopeful with
>     * A. nijsenni (quite new, yesterday)
>     * Crenicara punctulata (no apisto sorry)

We are allowed to discuss non Apistos, including other 
south american fish and West African Dwarfs.

> Very unsuccesful with
>     * lots of apistos because of diseases and a lot of female fish that were no
> females
>        (the last point might be the most disapointing)
>     * finding the apisto I am just searching for (mostly, except yestday)

Not being able to get females happens quite a lot.  It is 
not very easy to obtain apistos here in Scotland and 
whenever you do see them they are often all male.  I 
recently was in a store and they had in stock nijsenni, 
agasizzi and cacatuiodes all males.  Not very good for the 
hobbyists or the store as most people who keep these fish 
do so with the intention of breeding.

> 
> All my dwarfs lived and live in community tanks with a lots tetras, small cats
> and some other fish. I think this is the best way to keep them because they turn
> to be shy if kept alone in smaller tank (I tried that too - but did not succed).

Some dwarfs tend to be shy by nature, this does not mean 
you will not be successful.

> 
> I got a lot of questions to you. The first (as a warmup):
> 
> I wonder which size my A. cacatuoides should have 8 month old. I guess they have
> 6 cm (maximum). Do you think thats ok ?

This sounds alright to me, I have seen bigger ones but they 
were probably older than 8 months.

Finally I thought it was easy getting quality fish in 
Germany.  Many people travel from the UK to Holland and 
Germany in search of species that are unavailable in this 
country.

Ken.


*****************************
Ken Laidlaw
Royal Observatory, Edinburgh
Tel: 0131-668 8100
Fax: 0131-668 1130
Web: http://www.roe.ac.uk
*****************************