From the Congo River basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) originates Distichodus sexfasciatus. This in the aquarium to approximately 30 cm growing characin is a pronounced herbivore. This has to be regarded for the basin setup, since most smooth leaved plants are regarded as food. Some hardy plants as Anubias- or […]
From the Rio Sao Francisco originates this with Serrasalmus brandtii closely related species. They are quite aggressive and as young fish they can be held as a shoal in the species aquarium. Adults with a size of over 30cm length need then naturally very large tanks. At first freshly imported Piranhas accept usually only living […]
This small characin is a very attractive fish and a fast swimmer as well. It could be determined as a representative of the Hasemania genus, because it misses the characteristic adipose fin, which is one of the features that determine characins. Up to now we used to have only one species belonging to this genus, […]
This scientifically undescribed ground tetra originates from Peru. This is a peaceful species also when housed with delicate fish. This is a medium size tetra fish, which probably does not grow larger then 5 cm. If more then one male of this ground tetra inhabits the tank then they can become somewhat territorial and therefore […]
The fish in this picture shows the beautiful A. agassizii colour morph from the Rio Abacaxis, which lies in the middle part of the Amazon River in Brasil. Recently a number of new varieties are introduced to the hobby, originating from breeding as well as import of local colour morphs. We can only hope that […]
July 2005: During the night from Sunday to Monday it was about time: We got three babies. About five weeks ago we had received a female from Pantanal River and we immediately noticed on arrival that this fish was not alone: It was pregnant. After five weeks now of intensive care, these three babies were […]
March 2005: Freshly arrived: Beautiful German breds of L 173. For the first time we can offer thereby more than a “handful” of these wonderful rare pieces. The large variability of their pattern is remarkable. The bluish glow is common in all the white of their fins. (Photo & Text K. Diehl)
Pseudancistrus spec. L 259 originates from the surrounding of the city Pimental at the Rio Tapajos. As all Pseudancistrus species the males of L 259 show a characteristic “beard” of Odontodes (dermal teeth) during the spawning season. Contrary to the popular Hypancistrus species L 259 are vegetarians. Therefore Zucchini, cucumbers and further vegetables should be […]
June 2006: Freshly arrived and very beautiful. From South America reached us few Mata matas. Their in jungle waters protruding camouflage lets it appear remarkable and bizarr in the aquarium.(Photo F. Schäfer, Text K. Diehl)
Betta prima originates from South East Thailand and Cambodia and is a member of the Betta pugnax group. They are found foraging along the dense vegetation of brooks, swamps and calm rivers. B. prima is a small species, they can reach the size of about 6 cm. They like well planted, and since they are […]
This species, which became well-known as Badis sp. SCARLET is still enjoying great popularity. This dwarf badis can be kept very well along with dwarf rasboras. It is is quite easy to keep and to breed, which was succesfully done several times already. (Photos & Text Dieter Bork)
Red Cichlids of the species Hemichromis are generelly regarded as aggressive, but this prejudice is based on past years, when 160 ltr tanks were considered to be bathtubs and you mostly had to be satisfied with 60 ltr aquariums. To keep them in pairs, an aquarium of this size is in fact sufficient for Hemichromis […]
From Pelvicachromis taeniatus are numerous variants and local forms existing in the western parts of Africa. One of the most beautiful variants is surely Pelvicachromis taeniatus „Lokundje “(a river in the south of Cameroon). At the moment we can offer very beautiful breds from the same breeder as the already introduced Apistogramma agassizi „Fire Red […]
This cichlid, which is growing up to approx. 20cm is living along the catchment area of the Orinoco, whereit mostly lives in slowly flowing or even standing waters. You often find it right in front of the shore, where it inhabits the upper water layer. Regarding the nutrition M. insignis is totally uncomplicated, because these […]
July 2006: From the Amazon area we could import an rarely imported Macrobrachium species. Macrobrachium brasiliensis has a large area of origin from French Guyana to Peru in the basins of the Amazon and Orinoco. There they inhabit predominantly small creeks full of leaf litter. They feed mainly on detritus and are an important member […]
An amazing variety of crustaceans can be found in tropical fresh- and brackish water areas. Only few species however are imported regularly. Recently this species was imported which comes from Sri Lanka, as one could guess from its name. O.ceylonensis is a pure freshwater species, with a carapax width of 6 cm and a colour […]
Leptobarbus hoevenii the Cigar Shark or Mad Barb is a giant within the barbs. With a length of approx. 1 m and a weight of up to 10 kg the Cigar Shark already places a very special requirement: It needs a lot of space. For the maintenance of adults one should own a tank of […]
April 2005: These beautiful animals where imported from Columbia. The literature however give Peru and Brazil as their place of origin. For more then 125 years ago these fish were described by Günther and since then hardly ever imported. The characteristic features of this catfish is the extreme long dorsal fin of which the first […]
With an overall length of 3 – 5 cm the Cauca Molly (Poecilia caucana), originating from Colombia and Venezuela, belongs to the smaller living-bearers. Remarkably is the yellow – orange coloured dorsal fin and a violet metallically shining longitudinal line. The water equivalents (pH values of 8,2- 8.6, LF 360 and 420 Mikrosiemens/cm), based on […]
In the last years some quite difficult to classify new species of characins arrived from Paraguay. Usually they belong to the genera Creagrutus, Hemibrycon and Piabarchus. As a common characteristic a high swimming activity can be called for all species of this relationship. They need thus tanks, with a large free swimming area. Thus long […]
The Spatula-barbeled Catfish, endemic for Lake Tanganyika, has a very special way of reproduction for catfish: they are biparental mouthbreeder. This small catfish is the only representative of its genus and can be easily distinguished by the long barbels on both sides of the upper jaw, which are ending into a spatula form. The total […]
The Yellow Tetra originates like its close related Von Rio Tetra from coastal rivers in southeast Brazil. With its pretty yellow basic colour it forms a beautiful contrast to it and other reddish characin species. As a schooling fish the Yellow Tetra should be kept only in larger swarms. Particularly in not too brightly lit […]
To an unusually large about 200 species comprehending genus belongs Schistura nicholsi the Redtail Zebra Sand Loach. It originates from the Mekong basin in Thailand and Laos, where it inhabits fast flowing waters on a stony ground. This is to be considered during its aquarium maintenance. In order to ensure a high oxygen content and […]
March 2007: Freshly arrived: Beautiful German breds of L 173. For the first time we can offer thereby more than a “handful” of these wonderful rare pieces. The large variability of their pattern is remarkable. The bluish glow is common in all the white of their fins. (Photo F. Schäfer, Text K. Diehl)
April 2005: Only one fish of the albino form of the well-known „Titanic Catfish“ was imported from Belem (Brazil). L 273 is normally extremely variably coloured from fish to fish. As well as splendid specimens with contrasting dark grey/yellow plus orange colouration there are also individuals that are predominantly mouse grey with black dots and […]
If you are interested in a larger growing fish, the mud carp Cirrhinus molitorella originating from Southeast Asia, could be the right thing for you. In the list of fishing world records it is quoted with a length by 1 m and applies in Thailand under the name Pa Keng as a strong fighter at […]
Labeo calbasu the Orange-fin shark is a real king sized labeo. In its homeland (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and South West China) it is a fish for consumption and therefore of importance in the asiatic aquaculture. With a size of up to 1m it is not a fish for the “normal” aquarium. Aficionados […]
The species Microphis lineatus inhabits the (sub) tropical coastal waters of the American continent. This pelagic pipefish grows up to 22 cm lengths and has a very long slender snout with red spots and blotches. The body is brown or greenish above and pale below. There are very small white spots on the body and […]
December 2006: At present we can offer a very beautiful, strongly red coloured variant of Nandopsis (Cichlasoma) salvini to you. They origin from South Mexico, Belize and Guatemala, where they live in to the Atlantic ocean heading streams. Like most Central American cichlids they are very easy to keep in middle hard water at pH […]
Vieja (Cichlasoma) maculicauda the Blackbelt Cichlid is one of the larger Central American cichlids. Males can reach about 35 cm overall length. According to its size one needs voluminous aquaria, where their interesting social behaviour can be observed. In their distribution area (Atlantic slope, from the Usumacinta River drainage in Guatemala to the Chagres River […]
Over an enormous range, that includes nearly the entire Indo Pacific those first as Macrobrachium “White Fingers” designated Palaemon concinnus can be found. Their bright white “shear-fingers” are very remarkable and give this from Sri Lanka imported species a special attraction. It is about a rather delicate, smaller species, thus one could try to socialise […]
This strongly at Barbus callipterus reminding barb reached us from the tropical west Africa. Whether it is a variant of the Clipper barb B. callipterus or a near related species could yet not be clarified. The further information refers to the general maintenance conditions of bigger barb species.They are social swarm fish, which should be […]
Danionella translucida would have earned an entry in the Guiness book of world records. The largest measured individual was only 12mm long, thus acts it with this species around the smallest vertebrate anima. Apart from their extreme smallness the absence of sheds, as well as the high transparency of the dwarves are noticeable. They origin […]
March 2003: Some weeks ago we received a few pieces of Corydoras baianinha. This extreme rare Corydoras only occurs in a little number of small streams in the south of Brasil. The population of Cordoras baianinha is very much in danger, because its living space was already largely distroyed by environmental pollution and forest clearing! […]
This is one of the most spectacular representative of the Corydoras genus recently imported. For us this is the ultimate Corydoras. Its closest relative is probably Corydoras panda. The body pattern is similar to the recently described Corydoras tukano. This species was caught by the authors in September 2004 in the riverine system of the […]
This prettily drawn representative of the genus Characidium reached us over Rio de Janeiro, its actual occurrence area is unknown. A classification of the more than 50 Characidium species is difficult, for orientation we here adopt the numbering of the Aqualog photo collection. As natural biotope small clear watercourses are to be assumed. The water […]
It was illustrated on the homepage of Canadian fish exporter “Below Water” and designated as “Kitty” Tetra (“a new Hemigrammus-species, caught in Mato Grosso in November 2000). It is presented as Hyphessobrycon loweae in the February/March-issue of “Aquaristik Fachmagazin & Aquarium heute”. According to Dr. Géry there are “good correspondences” with Hyphessobrycon loweae (Costa & […]
