Hellooooo

Hi - just joined the forum.

I'm Colin and I live in Ferryhill. I've been keeping fish on and off for 35+ years but had a long break till recently. Previously I kept, bred and showed Central American Cichlids in big tanks but now live in a smaller place so have stepped into the world of 'kind of' community fish. I'm also trying to get going my first ever semi planted tank so will probably be asking for help there lol!

Currently I have 2 tanks.

The bigger is a 260l Rio Vision which is overstocked but healthy and has a lot of filtration and frequent large water changes. It is inhabited by:

12 Giant Danios
15 Corydoras sterbai (was just 6 but I got an offer I couldnt refuse and didnt have another tank to put them in lol!)
4 Puntius Denisonii (Red Line Torpedo Barcs) and am hoping to add another 3-4
3x L106 Spotted Orange Seamed Pleco
2x Chocolate Zebra Pleco (I think they are L270 but have been told they might be L199 if anyone can help with that?)

The smaller tank is a 'Fishbox 120' which I believe is made by Interpet. It's classed as 120l but its more like a 100l tank. I've set this up to eventually house a trio of L260 Queen Arabesque plecos so have chosen tankmates which are all black or white (apart from 12 pair of fish for colour). It has:

12 False Penguin Tetras
20 Black Neons
7 small Corydoras trilineatus
1pr Apistogramma aggassiz 'Red'
and of course to arrive when the weather improves my trio of L260!

Anyway, looking forward to discussions and chats!

Hi Colin and welcome to the Forum and thank you for your great introduction
I have been looking for a group of Sterbai for a while now but everyone seems to want silly money for them so If you want to make me an offer I can't refuse then go right ahead lol
Enjoy the forum and I look forward to reading your posts.

i agree moggy nice introduction colin
an we are glad to have you on board

Nice to meet you hun

Thanks for the great welcomes :-)

Moggy I bought a set of 6 F1 sterbai from S&C Aquatics for around £25 and then bought a breeding group of 9 privately for £22.

in comparison the F1 are much browner and more highly coloured with clear markings and bright orange pectorals whereas the commecrially bred ones are a lighter more black/white markings with much paler colourings in the pectorals. Both are lovely looking fish though.

Since adding the new ones to the tank my original F1s dont seem to be as gregarious and visible which is a shame, but I have a feeling they are constantly laying eggs at the back of the tank where I cant see. So it looks like I may have 2 breeding groups.

If I ever manage to get any of them out of the tank and into somewhere more private I might stand a chance of saving some eggs lol!

Hi Colin welcome

Would be a nice breeding project if you ever get it going, Im sure there would be no end of takers for the fry.