7/1/08

Fellow club member, Stephan Tanner gave a talk on diets of Loricarridae & other species of fish in Cincinnati last Sunday. While we were there, we had the great pleasure of visiting Phil Benes' fishroom. Phil is the Chairman of the American Cichlid Association, which is just one type of the numerous species of fish he keeps. Phil also known for keeping a lot of various rainbowfish species.

Also for this week is the addition of a photo of Nannostomus eques. This is one of my favorite species of pencilfish. A very colorful species that swims at a forty-five degree angle. They are completely peaceful & work well with Apistogramma, other tetras & catfish.

The August CAFE meeting had a great turnout for Joe Fleckenstein. Joe brought a lot of live foods cultures for CAFE members to see & buy in CAFE's fundraising mini-auction. Joe brought a small crew of guys with him from Indianapolis, Mike Matthews & Charlie Grimes. It was funny to hear Mike complaining how clean the fishroom was. It was great having everyone in town to talk fish.

More to come!

6/23/08

The Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts held its 1st ever Swap Meet over the weekend. CAFE had to reschedule the event due to a blizzard that hit in March. The event was a huge success, we had a great turn out for the event.

The best part of a Swap, is that you can mingle with fellow fish hobbyist & buy fish at a great price. While I did not have any room for new fish, I was able to see a lot of neat species, one of which was a type of Madagascar rainbowfish that fellow member, Dan Powell & Liz Marchio, picked up.

The Swap had a great variety of items to be found as there were members from the Dayton Plant Club, SWOAPE, the Cincinnati Kilifish Association, the GCKA, as well as breeders such as Brian from Brian's Tropicals, Stephan Tanner of Swiss Tropicals & CAFE members Dan & Liz Powell. One of the neatest tables was the Zerkles'. The Zerkles had a rack system where they would hang bags of fish. This reminded me very much of some of the pictures I have seen in magazines of the Asian tropical fish market. You can just pick a bag, pay for it & leave with that exact bag of fish. A very neat setup that received a lot of attention.

CAFE will be looking at perhaps running this event again next year. Be sure to come, you will not be disappointed with a great selection of killifish, plants, catfish, cichlids, livebearers, invertebrates & more!

Updates for this week are pretty minor. I added a page for the Procambarus sp. "Marble" that were given to me by Mike Matthews. I also was able to get a few photos of some of the fish species in our Fish Species Index. These will be added next week. Happy fish keeping!

6/17/08

Updates for this week include a new Reference Page. Without these references, a lot of the information on AmazonCichlids.com would not be possible. Some of these references can also be found on our Fish Links page, which was also updated this week.

Within the last few weeks, I have received a few new species of fish. The newest species of fish include Apistogramma agassizi Double Red, A. hoignei & an undescribed species of Crayfish. I updated the Master Fish Species Index & added these species to that list.

Also added this week is an article on Apistogramma sp. "Rotpunkt", it can be found with our other articles, in the Other section. Also, now available on our Fish Availability List are juvenile Heros sp. "Rotkeil", also known as the Red Shoulder Severum.

6/10/08

I want to thank the Circle City Aquarium Club for having me as their guest speaker for June. It was great meeting a few new faces. I used to live an hour North of Indianapolis in West Lafeyette. If I was only into fish when I was younger, maybe I would have made it to their meetings & events.

My biggest regret about going to Indy was that I was unable to get any photos while I was there. I ended up being really pressed on time & basically had to take a quick look at the one pet shop I visited, the Reef. This store very much reminded me of an old fish store we had here in Columbus, Byerly's Aquarium Supplies. The Reef has been open for 50 years. They certainly had quite a few saltwater fish I'd love to have, such as a few Flame Fairy Wrasses & a Zonatus Butterlyfish.

I wasn't as impressed by their freshwater fish section as a lot of the tank needed some work. That being said, from what I could tell, the fish looked to be in good condition. Certainly worth a stop if you are in Indianapolis.

Next I was off to the house of Mike Matthews. Mike has a lot of different species of fish and inverts including 14 species of freshwater shrimp, various killifish, Bettas, some dwarf cichlids, rainbowfish & tetras species. Mike provided me with two hermaphroditic crayfish. I don't know a lot about this species yet but they don't seem to develop large claws like some species. I am also told they aren't as aggressive. Mike had a lot of babies of these in one of his tanks, hopefully I can reach that point as well.

After my talk, I was talking with the whole group of the CCAC & being an active member to the Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts, we decided it will be great if both clubs setup an exchange to help one another out. Hopefully both clubs can grow by utilizing each others abilities. I had a great time in Indy, thanks again CCAC!

Updates for this week include the end of the initial setup of the Fish Species Index. I do have a few new fish species to add to this section. I will add these in the coming weeks as well as other pictures, information to the already existing database.

Also new this week is an article on my recent trip to Wiscounsin. I was able to get quite a few photographs, check out the article here - Wisconsin Trip

6/3/08

The initial setup of the Fish Species Index is almost complete. We will finish this section in the coming week & have regular updates in this section. Any updates will be posted right here. Hope everyone can get something out of this section, as it is supposed to be a means of providing information on the various fish species of South America & other fish species from around the world.

Also on the horizon, I will be uploading some new & old articles I have written. These will be posted in the Other section here soon.

5/27/08

A big thanks is in order to the Milwaukee Aquarium Society for having me out for to give a talk for their May meeting. It was fun meeting all the aquarists of the club. Thanks to Ted Judy for hosting me while I was in Wiscousin. If your club is interested in having a guest speaker, feel free to email us at fishboy20@cs.com & we will get back to you as soon as possible.

I managed to take many pictures & will have some of those up very soon. I will probably end up writing a small excerpt from this experience

I also added an article I wrote for the Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts last year. It can be found in the Other section of the website.

Our Summer Availability looks to open up here soon. Look for Geophagus altifrons, Guianacara sp. "Rio Caroni" & Heros sp. "Rotkeil" to be available in the coming weeks. Happy fishkeeping.

5/20/08

I managed to get a start on the Loricarridae section of the Fish Species Index, although not very far. I will update this section more in the coming weeks as time permits.

This weekend I am heading to Wiscousin. I will be unable to answer any emails until I get back on Sunday. Hope to see as many of you there as possible. I will post some pictures once I am back from my trip.

Until I get back, enjoy the new photo to the right of Notropis chrosomus. Thanks to Eric Bodrock for giving me a batch of these to work with. A very beautiful fish with lots of blue and yellow.

5/13/08

Update for this week is the Cypriniformes section is up and running. Its not the final form but a temporary one, I will add more information as I go. No other major updates for this week. Happy fishkeeping!

5/6/08

Finally my Apistogramma hongsloi decided to spawn again. I had lost the original male months ago and doubted I had a replacement male out of the pairs juveniles. Over the last few weeks, one of the males had colored up and it was just a matter of time before a pair formed. They spawned in a flower pot about 4 days ago. Eggs hatched yesterday and all appear to be doing well.

The next step with our Fish Species Index will be to finish up the initial setup of our Cypriniforme section. Look for that update coming soon.

Also this last weekend was Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts Spring Auction. There was a great turnout and lots of interesting fish were to be had for great prices. Looking forward to seeing everyone in June for our Swap Meet.

4/29/08

Lots of updates this week! We have finished with the initial setup of the cichlid section of the Fish Species Index. Final additions to this section will be made in the coming weeks. Also updated is our Fish Availability List for May 2008.

There are some changes to the availability of some species. We have also lowered some of our prices of our larger South American cichlids. I want to note that there is no shipping for the large South American cichlids due to their size & rarity. However, we are still offering shipping on all juvenile fish we raise at AmazonCichlids.com.

Due to a prior commitment, I was unable to attend Ted Judy's talk on West African cichlids for the Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts. I heard we had a record crowd & it sounds like everyone enjoyed themselves.

CAFE has their Spring Auction next Saturday, May 3rd. I will certainly be at this event & I hope everyone can attend. The auction usually brings fish, plants, invertebrates & gently used dry goods. Be sure fish, plants & inverts are double bagged and labeled properly. As usual there will also be a big raffle for this event. And for those that get hungry, the kitchen will be open with snacks and goodies. See you there!

4/22/08

No major updates this week although I did manage to get about 90% of my renovated Geophagus Talk finished. Just a few more pictures & text to add. I will try to post some of the content on the website when I get the chance.

I should also want to note that the Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts has an upcoming meeting this coming Friday at 7:30 with Ted Judy speaking on West African cichlids. This should be a fun filled event with great information & probably some neat fish will be available. Hope to see everyone there!

4/15/08

I updated the Fish Availability List for those fish species that I have sold at this point & added a photo of Geophagus cf. brachybranchus. You can't really see the two lateral spots from the picture but they are there from time to time. I think the fish will show this feature more as they reach adulthood.

Also new this week, I had a new pair of fish spawn. I had acquired them as Pterophyllum scalare "Platinum Angels", they are obviously something else. I acquired them at Midwest Cichlid Association Expo last year in September. At this point I am unsure what I want to do with them. I may try to raise up a batch of juveniles just to see what I get. They are interesting in that they have a gold head, silver bodies and bluish anal and pelvic fins. A photo of one of the males is posted in the next column, take a look and let me know what you think.

Weather is still holding up well. The conditions for shipping are great right now. Please email questions about any of our fish available at fishboy20@cs.com. Seeya next week!

4/8/08

A few new additions to the Fish Species Index this week. We will be finishing up the Cichlid section within the coming weeks. The idea being to have each species having their own page. We will fill in more information as we go.

Additions this time of the year to the website will be a bit slower as I have a lot on my plate right now. I am currently prepping for a talk on Geophagus to the Minnesota Aquarium Society on May 23rd as well as trying to submit an article for a national magazine on Geos. That on top of training for outdoor soccer for the Summer will make extra time for the site harder to come by but I will do my best to keep everyone updated.

The weather has made a change for the better and shipping should be good for the next few weeks. So if you are considering an order, now is a great time. Until next week, happy fish keeping!

4/1/08

Due to the increase in breeding of our angelfish & dwarf cichlid species, it has become necessary to sell off some of our other South American Cichlid species. Due to the rarity of some of the species listed, shipping is not an option. Visit our Fish Availability List or email us at fishboy20@cs.com with any questions you may have, thanks!

We will continue to update the Fish Species Index in the coming weeks to months to provide as much information about South American cichlids as possible. Keep looking for regular updates!

Jeremy Basch AmazonCichlids.com

3/23/08

New this week there are a lot of additions to our Fish Species Index including species profiles for Chariciformes, as well as the following Cichlidae Genera: Apistogramma, Crenicichla & started the Geophagus section.

New spawns in the fishroom include Guianacara sp. "Rio Caroni", Apistogramma cacatuoides Yellow Gold Orange Flash & as an Easter gift, my fishroom yielded my first spawn of Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Lobe". I found the freeswimming fry with Mom and Dad on Easter day. I am eager to raise thesefry and to distribute them amongst West African enthusiasts.

More additions to come!

3/18/08

I guess fish like to breed in waves. I have another batch of Apistogramma nijsseni. Hope the streak continues.

Currently I am looking at seperating out a pair of Uaru amphiacanthoides in my 75 using some lighting diffuser. I am thinking I might be able to get another pair out of the remaining 6, from there I will probably sell off the remaining four. So look for those in the Fish Availability List in the future.

Looks like additions to the website will be weekly, this week is limited to some additions to the Fish Species Index & an article I wrote on Uaru amphiacanthoides for my local fish club's newsletter the CAFE Menu.

3/11/08

Updated Fish Species Index, Master Fish Species Index & Fish Links sections. I also got a new batch of Apistogramma cacatuoides Yellow Gold Orange Flash. More updates to come!

SPECIAL NOTE - Well unfortunately my local fish club, Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts, were forced to cancel their Swap Meet due to the blizzard like conditions we received the night before and the day of the swap. We are hopeful to reschedule this event perhaps for June or July.

3/4/08

I made some more updates to the Fish Species Index Files, Master Fish Species List as well as the Fish Availability List. I had a lot of Apistogramma species and other South American Cichlids spawn within the last few weeks, this should make for a lot in the Fish Availability List during the Summer.

Also can't forget my good friend, Bradd Birmingham, who did our logo, thanks Bradd! Bradd and I go way back having traveled Europe together in 2000. Please visit his site at- Bradd.net

2/25/08

Well after a long wait, AmazonCichlids.com is finally online. It took a while to get the right software as well as the right computer to do this. I am very happy to finally have the site online for everyone to see. We will be working hard over the next few months to get the basics of the site up. The area that needs the most work is the species index. Eventually it will contain the 60+ species that I am keeping. This section is mostly to keep everyone updated on new species that I acquire or species of fish I have spawned. Also in this section I will list any events that I have recently attended. As for availability, right now I have the following species available on the Fish Availability List:

Apistogramma hongsloi

Laetacara dorsigera F-1

Sturisomatichthys sp. "Colombia" F-1

Uaru amphiacanthoides F-2

"Geophagus" sp. "Bahia Red"

Coming Early 2008:

Apistogramma cacatuoides Yellow Gold Orange Flash

Geophagus altifrons "Manaus" F-3

Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Makoure" F-3

Coming Summer 2008:

Apistogramma trifasciata F-2

Apistogramma nijsseni F-3

Apistogramma sp. "Rio Nanay" F-3

Guianacara sp. "Rio Caroni" F-2

Heros sp. "Rotkeil" F-2