Boston Aquarium Society Message Board

I got new fishies !
Specifically, I got a sweet bag of barbs at the TFSRI auction yesterday.
8 large (maybe 2-3" and very robust) wild "mahecola barbs". It looks like they are probably Puntius filementosus:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.ph ... id=180#top
although if the colors change a wee bit after they settle in, they might be Puntius assimilis instead.
The males have a nice tall dorsal fin with long feathery extensions of the first rays, and the colors are pretty sweet - they have a bit of red, but the body itself has the same kind or irradiance as mature congo tetras (or mother-of-pearl) -- kinda blue/greenish.

I put them in my 125g tank (which I pulled 3 large severums and two tilapia out of yesterday) - and they seem to be enjoying the high flow (I've got a 2000gph powerhead in there )
This morning they gobbled up some Omega One First Flake once they saw the other fishes eating it.
And I just couldn't beat the price - it was late in the day - I got all 8 for $10 !!!!!


I also picked up some not-so-new-to-me fishes -- Pseudocrenilabrus nicholsi -- one of my favorite little mouthbrooding cichlids.
Unfortunately, I didn't realize the bag of 7 was 6 males and one female - but I still got them for a great price. I put two of the males in one of my 55g tanks, I put the female in a breeder trap in the same tank (she looks kinda skinny and I want to target feed her for a bit), and the rest of the males went in the same 125g as the new barbs.
If I can find some more females, I may try to pair off the other males or give them to friends to breed - but for now I think I'm going to see if I can make some room for a new tank, and setup a nursery tank for the female (with lots of java moss and caves). Then once she looks good and happy, I'll introduce a male, and remove him once she's "holding" some eggs.
(the last time I had these fish, I tried breeding them in a community tank, and got very few fry surviving to .25" ).
This is where having lots of sponge filters and java moss comes in handy - now I just need more physical space for the tanks !

_________________
Rich
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Its new, its improved (its still a work-in-progress)
its http://redpaulhus.com !

I really like these fish
I don't have any pics yet, but Sam Jaffe over at UNFF took a good shot of this species when Ned had them in stock last year:
http://www.unclenedsfishfactory.com/Bul ... php?t=3843

(Sam takes awesome photos - if you haven't looked thru the photo threads on Neds site (or seen Sam's catepillar photos) you really need to check them out)

_________________
Rich
-- ---------------------------------------
Its new, its improved (its still a work-in-progress)
its http://redpaulhus.com !