Author: Jeremy Basch

Posted on

Collecting Ancistrus sp. “Upper Rio Negro”

So excited to start sharing video with you guys on our trip to Colombia. We had an incredible time and found some potentially new species. While Ancistrus sp. “Upper Rio Negro” has been imported previously, it was only ever imported to Europe.  The photo of this fish hardly does it justice as compared to the fish we caught.  Perhaps the fish we collected is a better color morph or perhaps the species exhibits better coloration in the wild? We will just have to find out as it swims now in our home aquaria.

Check out the video below and watch how the species was collected. Just check out that flow! Thousands of gallons of water just going by every minute. And this water was dark with tannins just like some of the other rivers we visited during our trip. I wish we could have spent more time here. Who knows what other treasures there are to behold? Check out the photo of Ancistrus sp. “Upper Rio Negro”, what I am calling, the Royal Bushynose  Pleco.

Ancistrus sp. “Upper Rio Negro”

Posted on

We Are Back From Colombia

We had a great trip to Colombia! We saw so many fish, plants, inverts, insects and other animal life. The people of Colombia are so welcoming! They made are stay so enjoyable. I hope to share some of our adventures on our website.

Right now we are gearing up for a speaking engagement in Raleigh, North Carolina for the Raleigh  Aquarium Society (RAS). Putting together a new talk takes a lot of time and patience to get things looking professional. As a result, we will not have much time to work on the website. For now, the easiest way for us to post, is through social media. Please stay tuned and visit our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/133731800111727.

Posted on

Have You Checked Out Our YouTube Channel Yet?

Have you checked out our YouTube Channel yet? We have been adding content to our channel and are looking to share our knowledge with you. With over twenty-five years of experience, we want to pass on our knowledge to other avid aquarists and the next generation.

A lot of how we keep our fish is not difficult to replicate but what sets us apart is our passion. Our tanks are set up sparsely often with sand, driftwood, river rock, oak leaves, a sponge filter, heater and light. We feed our fish nothing but the best foods including frozen, live and prepared foods. Water changes are typically one to two times per week especially for juvenile fish.

Our YouTube Channel will showcase a lot of our successes and how we maintain our fish. We want you to be successful with the fish you purchase from us. As they say, if you want to be the best, learn from the best. Stay tuned and check out our YouTube Channel at:  AmazonTropics.com YouTube Channel!

Posted on

Midweek Update

We provided an update last week on our fishroom. We are well on our way with providing some new and interesting fish. All of which I should mention are tank raised! We take high quality stock and provide the best conditions possible in the hopes that our fish will spawn in our aquaria. So far, we have had a lot of success however we still want more!

For now, we want to make the most of what is regularly spawning for us including: Wild Hisonotus aky, F-1 Hypancistrus zebra, F-1 Hypancistrus sp. “L-345”, F-1 Hypancistrus sp. “L-333”, Wild Tatia intermedia, F-1 Tatia strigata, Wild Centromochlus perugiae, Wild Centromochlus schultzi, Wild Corydoras duplicareus and F-1 Corydoras panda. We do have other species reproducing but catfish are the current focus. We are still working with other species like killifish and lampeyes. And the Geos spawn from time to time. Eventually we will spread our fish out even more in the hopes of being able to offer even more tank bread species. We will share more about these other species in the near future.

Recently we have acquired some new fish. We will share these with you in time but for now they are growing and being conditioned. Some of these species may take a few years to reach maturity to spawn but this hobby is a thing of patience. Enjoy this update!

Posted on

Centromochlus schultzi, First Reported Spawning in the World?

It is with great excitement that we announce the first potential spawning and successful fertilization of Centromochlus schultzi. We are probably setting ourselves up for some sort of disappointment but so far so good. The eggs are now approaching 48 hours old and appear to be developing right on schedule with the first development being noticed.

What is interesting is how many eggs were laid. The female measuring between 3.5-4″ laid over 200 eggs! She physically looks emaciated after laying that many eggs. Most Auchenipteridae almost balloon up while incubating eggs and return to a more normal weight and look after laying them. So far this has not happened with my female Centromochlus schultzi. She has laid eggs previously which were either infertile or the water quality was not quite right for the development of the eggs. After laying this clutch of eggs, she also looked emaciated.

You may recall that we also had the first spawning of Liosomadoras oncinus, the Jaguar catfish. Since the first spawning in 2014, we have had one other spawning event that also ended with the eggs being infertile. In the near future, we will start seriously working with this species again.

In the meantime, we have had success with several other species of woodcat including: Centromochlus perugiae, Spinipterus acsi, Tatia intermedia and Tatis strigata. All of these will be available through out website next year. Some species will be limited in number but we are working towards trying to keep tank bred fish regularly in stock.

Centromochlus schultzi is endemic to the Rio Xingu and could be at risk due to a new damn that recently went into operation on the river. All the more reason for us to be super excited to see eggs in our aquaria. Stay tuned for more details in the near future. For now, enjoy our new video of Centromochlus schultzi eggs.

Posted on

Columbus Killifish Group (CKG) Extravaganza

I hope everyone had a great time at the CKG Extravaganza. A big thanks to the CKG for putting on a top notch event this past Sunday. We had no less than 20 killifish enthusiasts from as far away as Detroit, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Cleveland! There were over 100 pairs of killifish available along with plants, inverts, live food cultures and killifish journals and magazines. The fish themselves were from all over the world! There was literally something for everyone!

Great job guys! Below are some photos from the event. Stay tuned for details on next year’s event! For more details, visit the CKG website at: http://columbuskillifishgroup.org

Posted on

Welcome to AmazonTropics.com!

A big warm welcome to AmazonTropics.com! With over twenty-five years of experience, we are a trusted authority on freshwater tropical fish. We specialize in fish species from Neotropical and Afrotropic zones. Our goal is to provide a premier website for purchasing and referencing information on South American fish.

You may be familiar with our blogspot, AmazonTropics.blogspot.com. Over the course of the next few months, we will be moving over the information from our blog to our new website. This way, all of our content is located in one convenient location. Please allow us some time to move over this content. Very soon, we will have a full list of available South American fish along with other species.

Posted on

July Update

From: AmazonTropics.blogspot.com

Dated: Monday, July 15th, 2013

Recent spawnings in the fishroom also include: Centromochlus perugiae, Sturisomatichthys sp. “Colombia” (photo below), Otothyropsis piribebuy Pseudomugil furcata, P. cf. paskai, P. ivantsoffi, Melanotaenia praecox “Pagai”, Aphyosemion elberti “Diang Yellow”, A. exgoideum “BWW 00/2”, A. amoenum “Sakabeyeme” and Fundulopanchax fallax “CI98”. This should set us up well for the fall!

Posted on

Sturisomatichthys sp. “Colombia” Wild Pair

From: AmazonTropics.blogspot.com

Dated: Thursday, June 27, 2013

We recently had a spawn from our Sturisomatichthys sp. “Colombia”. Here is a photo showing a female with a nice red coloration and the male behind. The fry require constant water changes and feeding for the first month but we think they are well worth it!