Platystacus Cotylephorus

Yes... this is not a cichlid, but I am gonna to put it here in my Blog as well.

It was a rare opportunity to own one of this here and I was not going to miss it. Much thanks to Daniel from Aquahobby, who hand carried them from Japan.

I was lucky to be the first to get my hand on them, managed to pick out a pair (hopefully it is a male/female pair). Date : 8th Feb 2011

Both cats currently measure at 8 inches. My initial worries about thier diet was unfound as they were simply crazy over the Hilkari Carnivore Pellets.

My first pick was male ( I think ), since it has a more extended dorsal ray compare the the rest of available cats. Plus base on textbook knowledge - males tends to exhibit more molted patterns. My other pick was a light brown gal....... hopefully



Some close up shot of them with my Canon Ixus 300HS.

Apistogramma Cacatuoides

As usual, I succumbed to the beauty of yet another fish. This time round, it is an Apistogramma Cacatuoides ‘Super Red’. Not just another triple red with intense colored fins, this fellow is a quadruple with both the pelvic fins showing red and black markings.

Plus there was also an equally nice looking quadruple female lurking in the same tank.

These fancy colored cacas are from selective breeding. Wild cacas do not possessed such intense color.

Cacas are great entry level apistogramma as they are hardy and least expensive. Also they have great finnage and color. Soft water with typical PH of 5 to 6, temperature around 28 degree celcius would make a comfortable setting for these South Americian dwarf cichlids.