Just got back from Emma's

[mickthefish]

sorry mark i still have to disagree, i still don't see the point i have over 30 tanks going at the moment and still find i have'nt got enough room for the vast amount of wild caught fish that i see in my part of the country.

as far as the development and temperament of these things, who cares.
now if you were talking about a new wild caught sp, then i would certainly be interested.

and to shops still getting them i know of one shop in buxton who closed down through getting fish from the czech republic,

i also know many aquarists that won't go to shops selling czech fish.

cheers
mick

[Emma Turner]

Come on guys, lay off a bit. It's Mark's choice! At the end of the day, it is highly unlikely that these hybrid Botia are going to breed (we don't even know if they would be fertile even if we did unlock the 'secret code') and I for one am glad they have gone to a great home.

These were unknowingly ordered in by another branch (new store new to fish ordering at the time and unaware of the situation with some of the fish from Czech), and it only came to light when I was there taking photographs and those instantly caught my eye. We did an internal transfer of stock to bring some to our shop for when Mark was visiting. Although I don't like what the Czechs are doing with certain catfish and loach species, they are one of the best breeders in the world for Malawi cichlids, so to say lots of people avoid shops stocking Czech fish is completely untrue with the amount of rift lake enthusiasts out there! It is a case of being aware and knowing what to look for.

Emma

[mickthefish]

hi emma
it's not a personal attack on mark, it's just my point of view.
ive been in this hobby for 45 yrs now and in my short time in the hobby ive seen alot of changes most are great ,
but there is this thing about hybrids which if not controlled will ruin this great hobby of ours.
and as to the rifts my mate who is chairman of both manchester cichlids club and northwest cichlid group said that the fish coming out of czech are cross bred with a few exceptions, and that a lot of rift keepers are giving up on keeping them, plus the fish coming over are predominently males anyway.

sorry for bringing this subject up, but i feel very strongly about it.

mark
having seen your tanks and pics of your fish i know you are a damn good fishkeeper, and no way is this an attack on you personally mate.
btw the other fish you got from emmas are superb.

cheers
mick

[Graeme Robson]

Yeah! I was most upset with not having my Norwich City coffee mug! All in all, i was a great day. Steve let me catch my own Vaillantella cinnamomea and with my surprise a little chap jumped into the bag all by it's self! I wonder how?

No decent pictures as of yet. Just these two for now, i'll let them settle in more before i try to capture some more pictures.





And one of the Yasuhikotakia lecontei. A male.

[Whitey_MacLeod]

Lots of great looking fish. I'm determined to make it down there at some point, but right now I can't really even afford the train fare.
On the question of hybrids, I don't really have a problem with healthy, good condition hybrids. The fish doesn't know it's a hybrid, it's not suffering any more than a normal fish bred under ther same conditions. I don't like hybrids which lead to the fish suffering through congenital deformities, but that goes for fancy goldfish and long-finned varieties as well, and isn't the case here. When it comes to captive bred fish, the only reason any of them exist is for our entertainment, so I don't see a great moral difference between hybrid and true bred fish. I can understand that some people feel very strongly about them, but while I'm not really saying they're a good thing, I'm more concerned with all the fish that are kept in unsuitable conditions or in tanks that are way too small, because the fish actually suffer in those circumstances.

[Emma Turner]

Very well said, Whitey.

Love that first photo, Graeme!

[piggy4]

I see this topic is a bit touchy for most people here ! but as a democratic site , i suspect a little enthusiasm wont be seen as a bad thing ?
As for hybrids i'll give you my main reservations, in a way these hybrid Botias are,nt a million miles away from the true wild ones !and that for me is the most worrying thing , unless shops are fully truthful in their naming , i suspect any future wild discoveries will be viewed with suspicion , as are the Synodontis cats these days !

[helen nightingale]

very nice, both of you. Mark i am envious of your stocking space for rasboras.

[Mad Duff]

very nice, both of you. Mark i am envious of your stocking space for rasboras.

Unfortunately I am rapidly reaching maximum occupancy

I only have 16 species of Rasbora, there maybe enough space for a couple of smaller species though

[helen nightingale]

ONLY 16

you know how to make my 5 seem like not very many at all. at least if you are lacking in smaller species, small tanks dont take up so much room.

[Graeme Robson]

Yeah, just the 16 species of Rasbora?

[Mad Duff]

Actually it is 17 species, I forgot my lone Rasbora borapatensis

[Blue]

Actually it is 17 species, I forgot my lone Rasbora borapatensis

I feel jealous of ya, Mad Duff!

[Emma Turner]

The scissortails look lovely but the tail markings are strange, there were a couple of normal scisortails in the tank with these and they had normal tail patterns, I do remember some years back a few scissortails turned up with this type of tail pattern and they came into the country as Rasbora stigmatura

Hi MD,
I've checked with my very helpful supplier who informs me that those scissortail Rasboras were caught in Johor state, Malaysia. Coincidentally, he's got another batch in, so I've got more on order for next week.

Emma

[Mad Duff]

Thanks for the info Emma

It will be interesting to see if their tail patterns are identical.

I had actually forgotten about those scissortails so that's now 18 species of Rasbora