It's not a pro camera or anything (Olympus X-21) but it's better than my old one so I'm practicing with it to get to know the features and capabilities. To start...

...I wanted to spawn Bristlenose catfish so when I saw a tankful of albinos about an inch long a the lfs for $4.99 each, I bought three figuring I could get a pair. After a few months, one completely disappeared. For the following several months I watched the remaining two grow and became fairly certain that I had 2 females because neither had "bristles". Then after realizing that they were growing quite well I decided to measure the bigger of the two, and "she" came out a legitimate 8 inches. I was ecstatic! I thought to myself "I must be the first person in all the world to grow a world record sized female Albino Bristlenose!!"

Then, realizing that my first reaction isn't always the best, I wondered about the fact that even female BNs should at least have very short bristles. So, I closely examined the dorsal fins, the tail fins, the nares, and realized that much to my delight I actually have two albino gibbiceps! I'm thinking that the lfs would not be pleased to know they'd labeled a tankful of these as BNs! They're a solid shop though so thins was a rare error. I'm not upset about it, gibbiceps has long been a favorite pleco of mine and to have an albino is a sweet deal.



I've also got a Royal Pleco (nigrolineatus) about 4 inches long and when I saw it hanging out with the Peppermint pleco (P. nudiventris I believe, though the fish at Planet Catfish with that name has fewer and larger spots, it was the closest match I could find after thinking it was L-030 forever but discovering that the head shape matches nudiventris. Thing is, I can't tell if it's ventris actually is nudi 'cause it hides most of the time and never ever have I seen it on the glass) I hadda get that picture!



Hmmmm...judging by how quickly I'm approaching the size limit for this post I'm gonna need to practice size adjustment too!

This is my L114 Leopard pleco. I wanted one of these for years and when I came across this guy, just about 1 and a half inches long, at a lfs I had to get him. He was $25 which just kills me considering the price at which I am seeing them sold online now. (MUCH more) In this pic taken just a few weeks ago it's about 5 inches long. This guy was even more secretive than the Peppermint. In fact I never saw it completely away from cover, and when I did see it I usually saw just a glimpse of it's side through a small hole in the wood, or it's tail wagging as it shifted positions. It hid constantly yet was growing at a good pace so I didn't worry, but I was bummed at never being able to see it.

So you can imagine my excitement when I saw it out in the open. I had read that they have maturing behavior somewhat like a dovii cichlid; when small they're extremely retiring, when they hit a certain size everybody better get out of the way. I was elated thinking it's finally reached this point and just in case it changed it's mind I quickly grabbed my camera for a couple of shots.

When I noticed that two of my Cardinal Tetras had dropped I didn't pay a lot of attention because I was so happy to see this cat, and because my tetra school is older than dirt and I frankly can't believe they're still alive. Being all the same age and because the school has been slowly dwindling anyway I figured it was age. Imagine my frustration when I looked in the tank the next day thinking a whole new age had begun and found the Leopard dead! I pulled him and one more Cardinal, did a massive water change and everything seemd fine, at least I didn't lose anymore fish.

So at least I have this record of a beautiful pleco!



I visited the local conservatory last week (Phipps Conservatory) and one of the new features they've added is a huge Amazonian Room which taught me that my love for Amazonia must be instinctive: I love the fish and as I learned by going through that room I love the plants too! As it turns out, most of my house plants are Amazonian. Anyway, they have a sweet setup where a stream travels the room from one end to the other, being carried downward by gravity. The stream emptied into this large pool of big Comet goldfish. It's a really nice setup and crystal clear. The front of the aquarium is about 3 - 4 feet high.

Stunning plecos!... and sweet deal on the leopard.

those are enormous goldfish.... dang...

Here's a shot I took from a walkway above the pool.

Nice! I need a new camera as well.

Orchids fascinate me...are Pitcher plants in the Orchid family? These aren't the pitchers, I was just wondering.



This is one of my favorite shots from that visit...I love the look of a closeup with blurred background.


Cicadas look neat on a tree, and tying flies to imitate them during a hatch brings even the biggest, most wary trout and smallmouth to the surface of the stream all day long, but my yard is now dotted with half inch wide holes. No vengeance in this case, I let this emerger go free.

When is the last time you saw a Blue Ram developing a nuchal hump? This little guy was trying his best to drive the gibby off "his" piece of wood.


Damselfly love was all over the lake last week. Everything floating in the water was subject to becoming a "love nest".