It’s that time again, time for the Ohio Cichlid Association (OCA) Extravaganza. We have been attending this event for over 20 years straight and we refuse to miss out on this year’s convention. This event has everything from speakers to hobbyists selling fish from their hotel rooms. It is also a very affordable event for new and old aquarists alike.
Speakers this year include Ad Konings, Paul Loiselle, Les Kaufman, Luiz Tencatt, Eric Bodrock and Charley Grimes. There is a vendor room, be sure to swing by PlecoCaves.com and mention we sent you. In addition, there is a Saturday Swap, a Cichlid and Catfish Show, a Dry Goods Auction and a Sunday Cichlid and Catfish Auction. Aside from that, there are hobbyists from all over North America and beyond. It truly is fish, friends and fun all under one roof. For more info., visit their website at: https://www.ohiocichlid.com/extravaganza/extravaganza-info Also be sure to check out our Fish Availability page Hope to see everyone there!
We had a fabulous time at last week’s Cataclysm in Madison, Wisconsin. It was a great turn out even despite the recent rise in Covid cases. Our talks were well received with one talk on the Rio Caqueta region and another on updates to the catfish family Auchenipteridae.
A special mention is due to a budding woodcat enthusiast. His birthday wish was to come to Cataclysm and listen to our talks! At only 12 years old, he already knows what he wants to be when he grows up, an ichthyologist! It was certainly the highlight of the trip! We were just amazed by his knowledge at such a young age. Obviously we hooked him up with fish and gear. We hope he continues down that path and we will stay in contact with him on his future endeavors.
Next up is the Ohio Cichlid Association Extravaganza. We will be able to offer only presales for this event. Please visit our Fish Availability page for details.
We are now less than 50 days from this National Convention! Have you registered? It’s okay if you haven’t, you still have time. Follow this link https://catfish-cataclysm.com/ to register. The food deal actually sounds fabulous! We are looking forward to food, fish and fun! Stay tuned as more details are announced!
We continue to draw closer to Cataclysm. This event is a must for any catfish nuts! We will share a few talks but also plan to bring some fish along. This event presents a rare opportunity to meet with and discuss some of our favorite groups of fish. And for the first time, to our knowledge, Duringlanis altae will be made available. These little gems have incredible pattern and no two fish are exactly the same! But if you want a chance at these, you will need to attend this magical event. For more information on this species, please click the link here to PlanetCatfish.
Are you ready? Ready for Cataclysm that is! We are just over 100 days until this amazing event. What could be better than fish and friends? AmazonTropics.com will be on hand and presenting not just one talk but two! One talk will share some of the species of catfish we have collected in Colombia while the other talk will try to sort some of the complex groups of catfish known as woodcats.
The event also will host various vendors, a Saturday cookout, raffles and a rare catfish auction. And to celebrate, we are sharing tonight that available in the rare catfish auction will be four first generation Liosomadoras oncinus, the Jaguar Catfish. First generation meaning that the parents were from the wild. This is likely the first time tank raised specimens have been made available ever! Check out the photos below along with this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8uO-vMnehs Be sure to register for this event today at: https://catfish-cataclysm.com
F-1 Liosomadoras oncisnus JuvenileAdult Liosomdoras oncinus male
Hello everyone! Earlier this week the temperatures were very spring like. We took the time to do some hiking. Photos of some of the areas we visited are below. This is likely the last week for spring like temperatures as summer is finally here. Many of our counterparts in the west are certainly feeling the summer heat with temperatures well over one hundred degrees.
As we move into summer, the hope is that fish events will start up again. The next major event will be the American Cichlid Association (ACA) Convention in Saint Louis. We currently plan to attend so there will be a chance for folks to preorder some fish. Also on the horizon may be the chance to travel outside of the US. We are still a ways away from planning anything but we have our fingers crossed!
Lastly, we want to remind everyone that we will be at Cataclysm in October. We are just over 100 days away from this big event. As a special announcement, I would like to share that we will be offering, likely for the first time ever, F1 Liosomadoras oncinus, the Jaguar Catfish. There will be a total of four fish available as part of the Rare Catfish Auction. More exciting rare catfish will be announced soon so stay tuned!
We are cautiously optimistic as things stand right now. While the number of people vaccinations in the U.S. has dramatically increased over the last month, COVID numbers are again on the rise. Chances are this can be contributed to the change in weather along with families on spring break. We hope everyone is staying safe during these times and please consider getting the vaccine.
On the horizon, there are many upcoming fish events including: the Greater Pittsburgh Aquarium Society Inc. Swap, the Northeast Council (NEC) Virtual Convention, the Youngstown Area Tropical Fish Society (YATFS) Auction, the American Killifish Association (AKA) Convention and the American Cichlid Association (ACA) Convention. Only the NEC event is virtual so you now have a chance at attending all the other events in person! Fingers crossed that these events can proceed.
Lastly, a few folks have asked about shipping. Right now it just is impractical to offer this service. If you wish to obtain fish from us, the best way is by meeting at a fish event or porch pickup. Please feel free to email us if you have further questions. Thanks!
It is almost the end of February, where is the year going? It is starting to feel like spring. Just within the last week, temperatures are pushing near 60F! With the amount of snow we have had this winter, it is a welcome change. Hopefully things continue to change and improve with a third vaccine now available. We are hopeful that the worst is behind us.
Speaking of which, today marks six months since Jeremy’s appendicitis operation. The operation did not go quite as planned. It has been a long road to recovery. There are still a few issues but the worst is hopefully behind him, fingers crossed!
With spring approaching and virus numbers coming down, we are glad to see some fish events that have been planned. That said, we still believe that online meetings will continue to be the norm until the vaccine is widely available. From there, we hope that things will begin to slowly open up including, perhaps, the opportunity to travel. Only time will tell and we must all continue to play things safe and follow the guidelines that have been laid out.
Perhaps the largest event coming up the Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society’s (GCAS) Swap Meet. All of the tables for this event are sold out! While we did not secure a table, we hope everyone enjoys this In-Person event. For details, please visit the GCAS website: http://www.gcas.org. Unfortunately, a few In-Person events have been cancelled including L Number Days in Germany and InterZoo. We hope that other events towards the end of the year will still happen but things are not overly promising at this moment.
A quick moment about Facebook. While many would state that there is a lot of misinformation on the website, it also has provided perhaps the most up to date information on new species being described by scientists and in some regards, real time scientific discoveries. We hope to continue sharing such discoveries on our Facebook page. For the most current updates, I would recommend visiting our Facebook Group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AmazonTropics
Lastly, many have asked for an updated fish list. Due to the weather conditions, shipping delays and healthy issues, we feel it best to continue to offer porch pickup only. In time, we hope to start attending fish events again. So stay tuned and stay safe! In the meantime, here are some photos of plants from our 2010 Peru trip to Madre de Dios.
Happy New Year! Or at least we are hoping for a better year than last. And while this year has had a rough start, there is reason to be hopeful for the future. While these are trying times, there could be stability soon enough.
It has been a month since our last post and we thought it was time to share some updates. Hopefully, if all goes well, we will see everyone in WI for the catfish friendly event Cataclysm. There we hope to share details from our last trip, some new thoughts on woodcatfish and so much more! We are also planning to bring some fish including some special rarities. More details will be forthcoming so stay tuned to here and visit the Cataclysm webpage at: https://catfish-cataclysm.com/
One last update before we go, we have been having some success with the raising of several woodcats. We are happy to report that we have F1 Duringlanis altae, D. perugiae, D. romani, Tatia reticulata and F2 T. strigata coming up. With any luck, we will have some others soon. The hope is to start producing enough to get them into the hands of other avid aquarists. While everyone is crazy for plecos (we are too!), it is nice to see some other cats in our aquariums. We leave you with a sneak peak of one of the offspring coming up.
Happy Holidays everyone! While this year draws to a close, there is a lot to be thankful for despite all of the challenges. A big thank you again for those that reached out to us. While still on the mend, we continue to become stronger each day.
At this point, we are looking forward to 2021 but know there is still a long road to recovery for the nation and the world. With the potential of a vaccine, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We hope this brings relief especially to those that have the highest chance of contracting virus. We also hope this will offer us a chance to travel in the second half of the year. Only time will tell but for now, we all need to sit tight and continue to quarantine.
Below are some recent photos of some of our fish including: Tatia musaica. Hope everyone enjoys the photos and the holidays. Take care and we will see you in 2021!
