The 6th MCH Meeting
The 6th MCH Meeting
Written by Sunday, 14 September 2008 00:00
Foreword
It is likely that none of us who arrived in Belgium on August 2006 was aware we’re going to face a “primary earthquake” in MCH terms at least in the way we knew it. We knew were going to have the annual (or so) meeting discussing cichlids, tanks, and the rest, having a quick sight-seeing of the surroundings, meeting nice people, having few (well, not so few) beers and so on, but … But the “primary earthquake”? What about it? Of course I refer to the switch form the “old” MCH to the actual “Portal”, exactly the place where you all happen to read these notes …’Nuff said, let’s go ahead …
The actual meeting begins …
Upon our arrival (George and Marina where coming from Greece) after a fair flight we met at Brussels airport. When we collected our baggage I found one piece was leaking (how strange we were travelling with fishes, isn’t it?) and I immediately remembered (that time I was taking back fishes to my place in Italy of another “leaking bag” … we hurried to the lavatory to check the situation and just in case add water (please not: what about chlorine?). Luckily only a minor spill was detected and we decided (as the fish were in good shape) to move quickly to the first scheduled visit, which was Luc's place.
The fishes that arrived from Italy were four Geophagus crassilabris for Frank and three Paretroplus damii (darker silhouettes in the photo) for George. The damii were to travel on to Athens after the meeting.
Visiting Luc and his outstanding “New World” cichlids tank.
Luc (and his family) is a nice fellow deeply involved in keeping large / extra-large Central American Cichlids: these fishes do need a large / extra large tank, and their needs are (here) fully met, as the image (below) clearly shows …
A “close-up” will focus our attention on the high-quality fishes he keeps …
Luc’s was kind enough not just to have us in his house and show us around; he further offered Leonardo new toys to play with and, of course, my son hasn’t missed the opportunity of an “extra-session”, which took place in Luc’s living room.
Frank’s Amazon Tank.
When we arrived at Frank’s place (we’ve been his guests during the whole stay, so once again Frank, thanks a lot!) a rather uncommon tank – al least in a place where an 100% genuine “Malawi cichlidiot” is supposed to live) got my attention: a large eye-catching “Amazon tank” – or at least not a “Rift-Valley Unit”!!! – in the very centre of the living room.
The aquascaping is simple and the whole tank is carefully set-up: bogwood and Vallisneria plants on a “tiny grained” pale sand substrate, large filter, added power-head to increase water movement and two 58 watt lamps (the tank is slightly underlit but the effect is calming and attractive). All in all an excellent setup; I’m pleased to know that my (former) Geophagus will enter that tank, the capacity of which is roughly 750 liters.
A wise selection of guests makes up the list of this tank’s inhabitants: a group of Heros sp. “Rotkeil” from Perù consisting from a pair which Frank got in one of AFC meetings we attended in the past and their youngsters, is sharing the tank with various catfish. These include L046 Hypancistrus zebra, L081 Baryancistrus “Golden Nugget”, L029 Leporacanthicus galaxias, L027 Panaque nigrolineatum, Corydoras sterbai (and various others) and finally four outstanding Sturisoma panamense (adults: 15/18 cm each). Do check following images for details!!!
In the image above you can see Frank's Corydoras sterbai, one of his Panaque nigrolineatus and a Hypancistrus zebra L046.; regrettably during our stay the loss of a female has been confirmed.
Let’s have a look at Sturisoma panamense, an impressive fish (above) whose long “edges” of fins require large tanks, “soft/rounded” aquascaping and cool tankmates.
Finally here are the Geophagus crassilabris (at the bottom, close to rounded stones) patrolling their new home. At the front a juvenile Heros sp. “rotkeil” born in the tank is happily swimming around.
Moving Around in the “Fairy Country” …
I feel strange, but really comfortable, moving around in the part of Belgium where countless number of small houses with carefully serviced gardens reminds me of a sort of a fairy tale country. In these places everything seems to flow without a hurry and even the respect of the “hard” speed limits seems to be not that hard (but God bless the “speed control” of Frank’s car).
A few more details, grabbed here ’n there …
A beautiful blossoming Passiflora (above) and two attractive details from a garden (below):
I’m not yet aware of the fact but we’re heading – yes, right now – to the real “cichlidiots” dream-land …
Staf and Linda's “Fish Room”
This place is completely devoted to Malawi cichlids (with very few exceptions). It can be briefly described as follows:
- Completely underground (no windows at all) but with an excellent air-flow which means there is no humidity whatsoever.
- Fully equipped to stand even the coldest northern Europe winter.
- Serviced with hot/cold water and pipes for water drainage. None of the pipes are in sight.
- Equipped with phone, computer, work bench(es) and other – specially designed – pieces of furniture.
- The whole area is serviced by a ”central heating system” heating the space as well as the tanks.
- All the tanks (about 11 tons of “Malawi water”) are designed and managed with a view to reducing the risk of hybridization to (virtually) zero. In this regard it’s worth adding that almost all tanks – at least those were breeding groups/pairs are kept - are dedicated to a single given genus or species.
- There are 36 tanks in all, including two display tanks of 1.000 liters each.
- It’s been decided by the master (and I agree) to keep and breed M’buna and Haps focussing on exotics species but, at the same time, avoiding too big, too aggressive ones and “hard-core” piscivores,
- Last but not least the whole area is as clean as a surgical room.
In addition to Malawi species there are also three Tanganyika “shelldwellers”, two large fresh water crabs (Sesarma sp.?) and few – very few since you can count them on the fingers of one hand - loricariids (such as L114, Pseudacanthicus leopardus).
The quality of the fish as well as their condition was superb. A couple of species really caught my eye. I couldn't resist them so I got some of them to enjoy in my tanks.
And now … some photos of Staf and Linda's set up:
The two images above should clearly depict where we are. Things are “kept-on” (here) in a really serious way. Let’s – now – go into a few details …
A breeding group of Placidochromis phenochilus “Tanzania”. Their bright colours are a clear sign that fishes are doing well.
These Nimbochromis linni (part of a large group of sub-adult specimens) are among the few exceptions to the “no-piscivores” rule indicated.
Another piece of evidence, above, of a correctly kept environment: the spawn of this Protomelas teniolatus “Boadzulu” pair is “on the go”.
And, eventually a shot (I couldn’t resist taking a photo) of the mysterious, “fruit-eating” crab from Nigeria, Cardisoma Armatum.
At the end of the visit, on our way to the exit the “summit of excellence” of Staf and Linda's plant caught my eye: this carefully planned and constructed fry-raising multiple tank unit is outstanding. The different tanks allow for new arrivals to be offered a space according to genus, species, colour morph and size.
My current malawians, I mean the ones I keep in Rome (Protomelas sp. “Taiwan Reef” and Copadichromis “Mloto Midnight”) come from here. No wonder than their doing well, brightly coloured and spawning like rabbits.
Back to the “basics”: Frank’s Malawi Tank.
This tank is huge (1500 liters) by the standard of a home aquarium and is dedicated entirely to Malawi Haps. The set up of this tank pushes the idea of “planning” to the very upper limit. Dealing with this amount of water (roughly 1,5 tons) each and every aspect of maintenance has to be carefully considered and planned in order to ensure that in the long run the tank will be manageable. That is exactly what Frank did. Let's have a look:
General view of the tank (above). The tank itself is located in the kitchen but all the “techie stuff” is hidden in a compartment behind it, which is accessible from the corridor.
A view of the “service area”: the huge “wet-dry” filter and part of the piping. The yellow pipe, which is the thinner one, is linked to the central heating system of Frank's house. Thus the temperature of the fresh water during changes can be regulated. The grey pipes are used to empty the tank. Using this system Frank performs a water change of about 1000 lit in about half an hour (this water change takes place every three weeks). The image below clearly shows the excellent shape of the fishes living in this tank.
And now, let’s go “pro”: browsing in a local fish shop. We visited importers, shop, distributors, retailers and more. For the sake of being “not too long” I will focus on two of them …
Verduijn cichlids (Zeverhuisen, Olanda)
I’ve been there for the very first time in 2001. During this visit I got the clear impression staff remembered me and that was a great feeling.
A group of Cichla ocellaris juveniles (common south-american name: Tucunare) welcomes you while you are looking at the large tank hosting them: 1.700 liters, close to the entrance. Let’s enter the fish room.
Wandering around one can see a lot of nice fish:
“Noblesse oblige”, let’s begin with those Paratilapia sp. (no other info supplied) juveniles.
Another fish (above) I literally dream about: Osteoglossum bicirrhosum. It shares the tank with some Cichla ocellaris, which however we didn't manage to see.
“Wild-caught”, expensive, sud-abult specimens of Ciphotilapia frontosa (with a marked blue hue in their livery). Their price is “hard-to-imagine”, trust me!
Another shot … another wild, large specimen, this time it happens to be a Panaque nigrolineatum (reported to come from Colombia).
Pseudotropheus sp. “Gold Kawanga”, is – at least in Italy - virtually unknown or at least “hard to find” ...
This tank made me think a bit. Juveniles (many of them) of Pseudoplatistoma fasciatum (a.k.a. Tiger Shovelnose) were hosted in it. Don’t “trust” them at all, neither rely on their “cute” appearance. They will, in time, hit 70 cm (and possibly more) in T.L. and turn into the fascinating, fearless, strictly nocturnal prowlers “ruling” the water of the Amazon basin.
Hustinx Aquaristiek
This shop has dramatically grown up (in size) since my last visit, greatly broadening its business beyond Discus (its original line) but still, mainly, focussing on the import of South American fishes.
The sign below clearly states there’s still a chance to legally import fishes from Brasil, even though it isn’t that easy. Legal imports and following the rules is possibly the only way to safeguard fishkeeping in the long run. Never forget that and always “support” wholesaler / retailers who walk on this path.
I had a nice chat with the shop owner who gave me some interesting news. Requests for loricariids and generally speaking all catfishes are in decline by comparison to what they were four or five years ago. The reason for this is the higher prices they now command. This is particularly true of L046 Hypancistrus Zebra: a single juvenile will cost you a small fortune. Similarly, the demand for wild caught Discus is also low mainly due to the import of different “colour morph” from the Far East. On the other hand there’s a rising demand for small fishes (such as characins and/or livebearers). Let’s now enter the fish-room.
Nice fish labelled with the rather fancy, admittedly, name of “Lemon Spotted Green Pleco” (L200). May God bless “binomial naming” and its use!
These, on the other hand, are clearly identified: Pseudanthicus leopardus L114 (juveniles).
Large (extremely large, see above) is the supply of young (mainly silver) Arowanas. Are people aware (of course they are, I’m just kidding!) of their final T.L? It’s close to 1 meter (100 cm / three feet)!!!
Two shots showing the beauty (images are worth a thousand words!) of those wild caught Pterophyllum altum (possibly from Venezuela).
Nobody is perfect. The shop also sells the “ugly” Red Parrot Cichlid (below), much to my disappointment. At any rate, considering the beauty of all the other fishes on show / sale, the matter is anything but grave. Let’s put it simply (do you remember the movie?): when buying … DO THE RIGHT THING?
Leonardo’s contribution
In the huge marine section of Hustinx’s fish house we saw, amongst others, the fish below: an Antennarius commersonii (possible common name: Giant frog fish).
To my surprise Leonardo (who was at the time three and a half years old) upon seeing it cried out (loudly): “Mamma, guarda … un Antennario!!!” (translated: “Mom look, here we have an Antennarius!!!”). Yes he used the “scientific name”! He spoke in Italian but all the people standing by the tanks understood him well and great was the general surprise, mine above all. I’m aware I talk to him a lot (possibly too much, perhaps exaggerating a bit) about fishes, seas, dives, fish-trips and not only but – this time – I have to admit Leonardo left me in astonishment!!!!
Last, but not least …
the report you’ve been so kind to read has been, beyond being based on what I remember almost one year later, strictly “fish-oriented”. It cannot end without at least one photo of my team-mates: Stefania, my better-half, and Leonardo, my joy and pride, having a snack in Antwerp. Without them by my side everything would be dramatically different. Thanks a lot for the “support” (and, sometimes, for bravely putting up with my excessive passion! … THANKS A LOT; AS USUAL!!!
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