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Well….here they are…the M. Bentosi (candy cane tetras) with the P. alexrodi (Cardinal tetras) together and oh my, does that tank pop. I’m SO happy.
I’ve found the same, except that they have joined with the metae tetras and spend most time from the middle up rather than lower down. They look a like the metae (which look a lot like black neons ), only a couple have a bit of red on their tails, I’m hoping they will improve as they settle down, at the moment, yes not very impressive and I’ve occasionally seen them nip the pencilfish and ruby tetras…I ended up picking up a group of margrita tetra to evaluate for when i move. So far a bit disappointed unless close to you they mostly look like black neon tetra without the gold stripe given that the blue is rather dark. Also they quickly joined up with the black-neon tetra marking a rather large school of 30ish lower mid level tetra. Definitely not a fish to hang near the top. This might change once they settled in and they probably look nicer in a smaller aquarium where they are much closer (i put them in a 4ftx4ft cube with the cupido).


















Just one??Stopped by my local fish place today and they had a bunch of black cory cats, can't remember what they were called. They were $19 each. They were tank raised by someone local but pretty small [1"?]. Next time i go there i'll get one for my 180 gal community tank.
Here are a few pictures enhanced with a flash light to show their colour - poor quality pictures because well it is hard to hold a flash light and camera at the same timeI ended up picking up a group of margrita tetra to evaluate for when i move. So far a bit disappointed unless close to you they mostly look like black neon tetra without the gold stripe given that the blue is rather dark. Also they quickly joined up with the black-neon tetra marking a rather large school of 30ish lower mid level tetra. Definitely not a fish to hang near the top. This might change once they settled in and they probably look nicer in a smaller aquarium where they are much closer (i put them in a 4ftx4ft cube with the cupido).




I’ve not tried with a flash, mine look pretty much like your last shot, though I sometimes get a glimpse of red on the tails, difficult to get them in focus they won’t stay still…Here are a few pictures enhanced with a flash light to show their colour - poor quality pictures because well it is hard to hold a flash light and camera at the same time
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This shows them without the flash light (note that in both pictures there are black neon mixed in with them)
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What colour is your substrate - i wonder if colour has an impact. I also wonder if weak led light would make them pop more as the flashlight shows they have the colour it is just a matter of how to bring them out without pointing a light at them (weak led light has a uv channel).I’ve not tried with a flash, mine look pretty much like your last shot, though I sometimes get a glimpse of red on the tails, difficult to get them in focus they won’t stay still…
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I know what you mean, my tank is nowhere near that deep but still the fish in the photo above was not very near the front, hence it looks hazy. The substrate is natural river sand but also has some leaves and branches making it look darker, there is not much bare substrate visible really. The light is LED floodlight, I fairly recently changed one side from a 30w to a 20w as I felt it was too bright, but the other side is not changed yet as I can’t find the other 20w light I bought some time ago! I keep meaning to change it though, lower light may be better.What colour is your substrate - i wonder if colour has an impact. I also wonder if weak led light would make them pop more as the flashlight shows they have the colour it is just a matter of how to bring them out without pointing a light at them (weak led light has a uv channel).
For myself they are in a 4ftx4ft cube and so when i move to take a picture they go deeper into the tank and nothing photo graphs well 2 or 3 feet into the water - most of the shots i got from the cupido i've posted before i wait for them to approach me so they are not so deep.








The new one coukd be a bit stressed still or immature? Though I’m sure there are differences between populations too. The two in the second shot look a lot like mine.So this is a better picture of one of the trouble makers - not sure why they are never available these days:
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And this is one of the a. bits:
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It is not quit as flashy as the ones downstairs - probably a different population but anyway ....
(from the downstair aquarium)
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Do you know the catch location of yours? There are different populations and the rio nanay one that the seller was told for mine is known to not be that flashy. I don't think it is stressed but it is immature so it might improve as it gets older.The new one coukd be a bit stressed still or immature? Though I’m sure there are differences between populations too. The two in the second shot look a lot like mine.
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Unfortunately I don’t know the catch location but I suspect somewhere in Colombia.Do you know the catch location of yours? There are different populations and the rio nanay one that the seller was told for mine is known to not be that flashy. I don't think it is stressed but it is immature so it might improve as it gets older.
Of course catch location is always iffy because the catcher doesn't always tell the exporter exactly where they were caught![]()


Definitely a Pygmy Cory! A hitchhiker? Eggs on plants??This is another new fish i purchased a while ago - i want to say around 6 months but would have to rind the receipt - one sec while i look - 5/8/26 so i guess only 5 months - gotta work on that memory. They were quite small the largest maybe 1/2 inch and the other 4 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch.
The larger one on the right is almost certainly a male and the smaller one on the right is a female. The little guy between them i'm not sure - it looks a tiny bit like a pygmy but it isn't - maybe a female neolebias ansorgii and you see two larger n. ansorgii above and in front of the male.
It really does look like a pygmy - i suppose as small as some of the fishes i received it could have been a hitch hiker but i certainly didn't put any pygmy in the aquarium. Hum.... mystery fish. Oh and the grass with the funky pattern (zoom in) is a type of nana val - in the picture the funky pattern really stands out not so much when you just look at the aquarium. Oh yes it is call either leopard or yabba creek. Lucky mine had the better name when sold after all everyone just loves a bit of yabba creek in their life.
I really need to figure out what that mystery fish is and if it needs to be removed - I know i received the allotment of a. pucallpaensis and dicrossus filamentosus (two of the fishes i'm growing out in this 10). Hum... mystery. Oh well that's what i get for taking a picture. No more pictures no more mysteries.
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Not sure - i've only seen one - i have pygmy so if i can net him (ha ha) i have places to move him - if i see a bunch more then the egg thing is possible but not sure if pygmy lay eggs on plants. I'm thinking it got trapped in a net at some point and transfer to the wrong bag when shipped (i don't use nets on catfishes since they always get their tiny barbs trapped). I did order a few pygmy but definitely not with that order but i did order 35 when i received the d. filamentosus - i wonder..... i believe those 35 went upstairs (this aquarium is downstairs); oh well other then being alone i guess it is fine in there - i have to move some things out once they get larger - the d. filamentosus definitely and 3 of the a. pucallpaensis who will go upstairs once i can sex them. Hum.... spring maybe in the spring.Definitely a Pygmy Cory! A hitchhiker? Eggs on plants??
What are the cichlids? They look a bit like Laetacaras but I can’t tell through the bag…So today i got some new fishes - i got some of these:
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(from another angle)
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and some of these:
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and when coloured up
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And an older fish but i don't know that i ever posted them i purchased these 2 years ago:
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12 b. wavrini for a 180. The discus are beginning to age out so when i get down to 3 i will take them to the petshop and reduce the temp to 78 or 80 then get a bunch of cardinals for the upper area to go with the wavrini and call it day. I have 4 more in a 100 and if i can catch them i'll move them downstairs to the 180.What are the
What are the cichlids? They look a bit like Laetacaras but I can’t tell through the bag…
I’ve got green, blue, black and white, different sizes, not noticed any difference in how fish react. I have never seen a red one for sale!Its been my experience that red mesh nets are about as close to invisible that exist.
She definitely doesn't want the black net near her no matter how slow it moves.I have found that blue and black nets work great and that if moved very slowly, fish will sometimes swim into them thinking they’re cover. The key, imo, is the speed of movement, not color because of …..the lateral line. Fish may often rely on the lateral line even more than they do their eyes depending on circumstances.
I tried that (my large one is white and small one is black); the problem is that this is a dwarf cichild tank so the bottom is well structured iwth caves and plants so she does the simple thing and dive low. She is actually orphaned which is why i want to remove her so now and then the critters who own the bottom will chase her out and i gotta get them to chase her into a netFunnily enough I have had most success with a black net, with the help of a blue one. I think it’s because the black one is quite big and I use the blue to herd them in.
They don't seem to be available - i was hoping for the 5 inch version but the only one i could find that might be available was a 2 inch net which seems a bit small for a 3 inch fish.I only have a couple of old, small red mesh nets left. I don't see them for sale very often. Penn-Plax sells them on line.