DJay

I think I saw a couple of the Hydor ones in the clearance bin near the front of Big Al's in Edmonton a while back. Not sure if they're still around but it might be worth a phone call. DJay

I'm pretty sure they were $19.99 each. DJay

Hi All, A while back I followed a few posts about WT bettas and saw that some people were looking for Betta channoides. I thought I'd give you the heads up that BA's Edmonton had some in when I was there today. They weren't for sale yet and to be honest I only saw one in the tank (but there was a lot of cover), but the one individual I did see looked in decent shape. The price on the tank was $90 a pair. In addition, they had in a bunch of great looking chocolate gouramis. These weren't the "common" variety either (if you can ever call chocolate gouramis common) but were the Sphaerichthys vaillanti species (the Sphaerichthys osphromenoides species are usually seen more often). Anyway, chocolate gouramis are usually pretty sensitive but these looked in good shape. Like some of the bettas, chocolate gouramis are mouthbrooders too. I kept the S. osphromenoides variety a number of years ago and had them spawn (saw the female with a throatful of eggs) but never got any actual fry from them. I might have to try this species! If you're registered on Practical Fishkeeping, there is an article about them here http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...?article_id=322 Hope this interests someone, DJay

Hi All, You'll have to pardon the bad pics but I thought I'd post a few shots of some of my Galaxy Rasbora fry. They're slowly starting to change from super microscopic to just microscopic , which makes trying to get even a half decent shot (with a less than brilliant camera) really tough. Right now I only have about a dozen or so but they've not been difficult to get them to spawn so hopefully I'll have more for the future. Anyway I hope you enjoy them ... really they're in there, look closely . DJay

I used these a number of years back after I contracted Mycobacterium marinum (Fish TB) from one of my aquariums (trust me this is not something anyone wants to go through). They worked well in terms of protection, but after a while I got tired of the lack of ability to manipulate anything delicate like plants in my FW tanks or more fragile objects in my SW tanks so I went back to bare hands (which is what I still use . . . you'd think I would have learned!) DJay

Hi All, A few different pics of some of the weirdest tadpoles you'll ever see. These are Pipa parva an unusual aquatic frog that I have been fortunate enough to get to spawn a few times. Their mouths are the entire width between their eyes, which as you can see are perched on the sides of their heads. Those are the developing hind legs coming out the back. Sorry about the clarity, but these are taken throught the plastic Tupperware that I raise them in. Enjoy, DJay

They were still in quarantine for a few more days I think, but there were plenty of them. They were $9.99 if I remember correctly. DJay

Hi All, Just swung by Nature's Corner (Edmonton) this afternoon and saw that Henry and Gillian have just got a great new shipment in from Germany. In addition to a whack of different Corydoras (gossei, duplicareus,caudimaculatus etc), plus Red Lizard Cats (one of my favorites) they also had in some of the new Microrasbora sp Galaxy. These fish were only discovered about a month or so ago I think and they look awesome! They were already eating frozen baby brine shrimp while I was there and look to be in great shape. Here's a link to a little bit about them (the picture in the article doesn't do them justics) Microrasbora sp. galaxy They also had some Rasbora maculata and some Sparkling gouramis as well. All great for small planted tanks. Great to see some more rarely seen fish in Edmonton! DJay

Snapped a few more dart frog pics the other day. The first is one of my D. azureus (female, I have about 20 or so tadpoles from her right now) and the second is on of my Dendrobates leucomelas (bumblebee dart frogs). Hope you enjoy them, DJay

Thanks a bunch! Now I have to decide if I want to take the plunge. DJay

Whoops! You're right, I meant N. meleagris DJay

Hi All, The local BA's has just got in some Neolamprologus meeli and I'm curious if anyone has any experience with these shell dwellers. I've never really had any African cichlids (other than one brief foray with some brichardis) but these little guys got my attention. I have a 20 gal. that's probably going to be free in the next while ... what do you think? Thanks, DJay

Hi All, A pic of a pitcher plant in one of my dart frog vivariums. The serrations on the pitchers are wild (but not really sharp at all). If anyone knows the type of pitcher plant let me know! DJay

With regards to the platies, I guess my Alberta monopoly is over I've had the bleeding hearts (tiger platies) for a few months and there is a big difference between the males and females as the photos show. By the way Toirtis, I'm sure you'd appreciate the fact that they are in a 20" x 8" x 6" metal frame, slate bottom, betta display tank (it has grooves in the top frame to put glass dividers) that has been in the family for at least the last 40 years. Sorry about the photo quality, the picture really don't do them justice, especially the male, the red doesn't bleed quite so much from bar to bar. The females retain a little bit of the striping but not much. I have about 25 or so fry from a male and three females in the tank. Enjoy, DJay

Hi All, They are a South American species, I believe Venezuela and Columbia is where they originate. The eggs that were sticking on the surface of the females back have fallen off and were eaten, however there appear to be a number that have embedded. Hopefully I'll be able to take some photos with the tadpoles tales sticking out. I've heard that as many as the first ten or so spawns may not make it to term, so that waiting list may drag on for a while DJay

Hi All, Well, after listening to my male call for the last few months my Pipa parva (an unusual aquatic frog that looks a little bit like a cross between an African dwarf frog and a Xenopus, but is infinitely less common and way cooler ) laid eggs today. The eggs get pressed onto the female's back where they develop into tadpoles. Some people may be familiar with their much larger cousins Pipa pipa that also breed in a similar fashion. Anyway, I managed to get one decent picture, hopefully the eggs will end up making it to the point where they are released. I noticed that some of them haven't adhered too well to the females back so we'll have to see. Anyway, enjoy. DJay

Hi All, I thought I would post a couple of picture of my baby newts. These are Cynops ensicauda popei or Japanese swordtail (or gold dust) newts which I am lucky to have had some success breeding. These are closely related to the "firebelly newts" that are often seen in the fish stores around town. Not all of the babies that I have produced have been this colorful but these holdbacks will hopefully end up adding to my breeding stock down the road. Hope you enjoy! DJay

Hi Canadbis, To be honest, all I ever used to filter the water was an air driven sponge filter which I put in after the eggs were laid. I never did filter the parents water, I just made sure I made regular water changes. I would think that the power filter might end up bouncing them around a little too much. DJay

I was fortunate a number of years ago to breed firebellies on a fairly regular basis. Most of the time I moved the parents, as this was easier than moving all of the eggs. The tads were very easy to raise, crushed and powdered fish food (as mentioned) were the staple. I made a conscious effort to use a color enhancing fish food as the toadlets bellies never were as red as the parents. I think that if you tried some cyclop-eeze this might help. The biggest problem was feeding all of the toadlets once the morphed out onto land (don't make the assumption that you'll lose all of those eggs, they really aren't hard to get to the point where they're ready to come out onto land). Then you will need a huge supply of live food ... be prepared! I used blackworms at the time, in a shallow dish, but flightless fruitflies or pinhead crickets (real pinheads, 7 days old or less) should be easier to get and easier to culture (the flies especially) if you go this route. As for leaving the eggs with the adults, I did this a few times and still got toadlets, but you have to get them out anyway as the adults will grab at the toadlets at feeding time and injure them, plus you need to get the babies alot of food if they are going to grow. I found it way easier to just take the adults out. I should also mention when you do get toadlets make sure that you have a lid that covers even the smallest opening as the will escape through even the tiniest hole (I learned the hard way, there's nothing worse than coming home to find a trail of 20+ dried-up toads leading away from the aquarium.) Hope this helps, DJay

If you like unusual bettas, Big Als (Edmonton) just got in some Betta simplex. There aren't as spectacular as the imbellis etc. but they have a subtle beauty and they are mouthbrooders! I think they were $27 a pair. I came very close to picking up a pair but couldn't figure out where I was going to put them (the usual dilemma!). DJ

Just saw that Big Als Edmonton had got some Corydoras robinae in, $19.99 a piece. Hadn't ever seen them before "in the flesh," pretty cool. Nicer than all the lasers (green or gold) IMOP. DJ

Definitely a Cryptocoryne . . . probably a variety of wendtii. DJay

Good call Albert. Perch family? I've forgotten. DJay

Just thought I'd let those who are into dwarf cichlids know that Big Als in Edmonton has two species of more unusual dwarfs in stock. They have some young Taeniacara candidi as well as Badis badis burmanicus (I know, not SA's) that look pretty good. Neither of them are cheap (I think around $19 a fish if I remember correctly) but I haven't seen either of them around for a while. They also have a couple of types of Apistos in, some A. cacatuoides (orange I think and some triple reds), some A. nijsseni (one of my favorites) as well as some nice A. hongsloi. DJay

Looks Great. Was curious as to what type of moss you're getting to make your "lawn" and where you were getting it. DJay