Merry X-mas and more Cumana!

This is the last post this year, so merry X-mas and a happy newyear to all of you who have stopped by.

I have done some pictures on my Cumana Center City 2013 colony males. Really a lot of variation! I hope to be able to add more phenotypes next year!

One of my favourites; such a simple pattern but it really catches the eye!

Yellow top sword seems to be a quite common trait in Cumana. Several phenotypes from both Armando Pous and Phillip Voisin and Co.'s collections are showing this.

This one is a bit strange - in the colony-tank it shows a big, black chest sport covering most of the front half. When moved to the phototank the spot "shrinks", probably due to stress. I will try to get a good shot in the main tank at some point!

Another yellow top-type. Quite similar to Adrian HD's Red Top Yellow Sword, but side by side there are differences. Furthermore this is from another location. Adrians fish are derived from Laguna de los Patos-fish.

This phenotype I am currently keeping in a singe-type tank. It gives a few variations. I mostly like the ones with the filigree caudalfin-pattern and more prominent snakechest (the one in the second picture).

The Cumana Rainbow also has its own tank. Really nice type and really difficult to photograph and get the colours right!

More magazines!...and snowballs!

Again the mailbox was full of good stuff; the new Amazonas-magazine and the new journal from the Catfish Study Group !

Both (as usual) containing very good and elaborate articles on Otocinclus by Hans Georg Evers and Michael Hardman respectively. Reading those really made me want to try breeding some, but from my partly failed attempt at breeding Otothyropsis piribebuy last year (I had lots of eggs but failed to raise more than a handful of fry) I know that my available time for caring for fragile fry is none existing. I have to only keep fish that can be without attention for a few days if needed.

The CSG-journal also has a good article about the identity of Corydoras arcuatus by Steven Grant...really worth a read!

If you are not a subscriber of Amazonas or a member of the CSG (but interested in anything catfish-related), please do consider to try it!

Christmas as coming up and what is more suiting than some pictures of Snowball shrimps - Neocaridina palmata "White Pearl"...one of the simplest shrimp to keep, but also, to me anyway, one of the nicest to look at!

My set up for these shrimps is very simple; a small tank with tap water and an air-driven HMF-filter, fine sand, a few pieces of wood and some leaves and a clump of moss.

They share the tank with a group of Poecilia wingei. The shrimp population is growing fast, even if the wingei snatch a shrimplet from time to time.

What came from El Silverado...

Earlier, before this blog, I showed a fish in various Facebook-groups:

Here is the continued story of this fish and how it has gone since then:

In late 2013 I got some F1 Poecilia wingei "El Silverado" from Phillip Voisin of fish he caught in early spring the same year.

Really nice fish! The strain has become very popular since they were released into the hobby.
No wonder, really!

I am not aware of other wingei with that pure silver colour. The red, black and green frame just makes it perfect.
Some of mine exhibit red/black dorsal, others completely black dorsal.

In the F2 generation a single fish stood out, displaying snake-chest and a slight differenct in colours in general:

From these (F3 from wild) another one showed up, showing a very faint and different snake pattern and a completely circular black spot on the chest. The dorsals are black and white instead of black and red. Really nice fish too!

I am thinking of making 2 lines; one with snake and one with chest-spot.

Isn't it amazing what can come out of some small silvery fish from Cumana? Next year I hope to have enough to share these with other enthusiasts in the hobby.

Red Tiger and something to read!

Recently I bought some Caridina mariae "Red Tiger" from a German breeder via ebay kleinanzeigen. Really some of the nicest shrimp I have ever had and I look forward to work with them.
I keep them in my tapwater (pH around 7,5 and 10 dH, a TDS around 400), wich is the easy option. I don't have time to play around with too much water preparation and for the time being they seem to be fine. I have previously had good success with Blue Tigers in this water.

I took some pics wich turned out OK.

Notice the red parts on the legs!

Yesterday I also went to the postoffice to pick up Breeders'n'keepers 1+2 and the Wildshrimp China Special-edition.

A lot of good information and already I am already eager to try some wildtype shrimp bescribed in the latter. This is much more educational and useful than a lot of the information online that points in all directions. The people who put these magazines together, Chrus Lukhaup & Co. and all the contributors, really have something to tell. I realise I am a bit late to get my hands on these magazines, but as I have mentioned earlier I have been more or less shrimpless for some years. If you don't have these magazines yet I can only recommend to order them ASAP!

To sit back with a cup of coffee and read these articles is really worth the time.

New variation in San José and a few other pictures.

A new male popped up in my San José tank. Really nice with a peacock dot in the caudal! More males colouring up at the moment. There seem to be no end to the variations in this population when I see the updates on various media.

Along with the shot above I took out 2 males from my Black Peacock 2006 population. There is quite some variation in the tank, so I might do some selection.

Also the Orange Spottes 2004 group needs a bit of work. There is particularly one specimen showing no partition in the spots. It has an orange line. Really nice fish though, maybe something for a sideproject!

Sorting out shrimps!

Apart from my livebearers, the past year has seen more and more shrimps entering my tanks. I used to keep quite a few shrimps years back when Caridina mariae "Blue Tiger" was new and exotic.

Currently I keeps some different Neocaridinas but also Caridinas.

A few evenings ago I spent some time sorting out my Naocaridina davidi "Blue Carbon Rili" and "Black/brown Sakuras". I did some photos, but clearly I nned to work on photographing shrimps. Maybe a good macro lens would help...

The blue carbons really throw a lot of different ones. Of course blue carbon, but also ther blue ones in varying intensisy aling with normal carbon rili and some whiteish ones with a red "cap" on top of the head...

Not  so "rili" but nice blue with darker spots...

One of my original adults from a German breeder...

The same specimen as above, but a different angle.

Notice the "red capped" one on the snail in the middl of the picture.

The whole lot!

Some of the ones that went back in the tank:

Some of the ones that went into another tank to see how they develop:

Next it was time for the brown/black ones. All are from 10 Black Sakuras bought early 2014. These really give me some work. I take out some brown ones and after a while they look black and vice versa. I am thinking of getting some blacks from a  different strain next year to see if I can improve on these.

Black(ish)...

Brown. Nice, really!

 The brown ones that went in a seperate tank...

 The ones that were most black went into another.