I initially acquired a group of four small fish about one inch long and too young to distinguish their sexes. I wanted to be sure to get a male and female of the same species (of which there are many!). I raised them in a seventy gallon tank with a large pair of angels which also raised a large spawn of around 500 fry without any problems. These fish are not aggressive to other fish, fry or aquatic animals. They thrived and grew to maturity. I got one male out of the four fish. Males are distinguished from females by the presence of bristles around and on their snouts.

I placed a couple of short PVC tubes in the tank for shelter of the fish and hopefully a spawning site. Nothing happened for a long time- until I’d given up actually. At the time, we were planning to move from Pense to Regina and I had a lot of packing and planning to do so it was just as well that I didn’t have any extra fry to try do care for. I swear they were eaves dropping and heard us say we’re moving because three days before our possession date in December, they spawned. I discovered a large cluster of yellow-orange eggs in the small piece of PVC tubing that had been lying on the bottom of the tank. The male was diligently watching over the eggs and fanning them with his ventral and pectoral fins. Of all the times to spawn! Then, the eggs all hatched on our very cold and blizzardy moving day. Fortunately, the fry just hung around the inside of the tube while their father watched over them. The male worked really hard keeping the fry away from the edges of the tube.

After much consideration and discussion with my friend, Shara Lee, I decided to remove the tube of fry to a smaller 2 1/2 gallon tank for the move. When the fry hatch, they just look like an egg with a wisp of a tail wiggling about. They live off their yolk sack for the first few days so feeding isn't an issue till then. Together, we submersed the little tank within the large tank Then, I placed a net on each end of the tube to keep the fry and the male together and carefully lifted the tube into the little tank. Once released, the male was really frantic but calmed down when I darkened the tank with a towel. The male resumed guarding and herding his fry. I added a small airstone and kept the tank dark. We drove into town with the 'nursery' beside the car heater because there was a bad blizzard in progress and the car was not very warm due to the wind.

Once at the new house, I filled a 10 gallon Rubbermaid container with fresh dechlorinated water at about 22 degrees. The little tank was then floated inside for about 30 minutes and then gently mixed with the new water. Then, I removed the tube and laid it on the bottom of the larger container. So far, so good, no fatalities!

Following Birgit's expert advice (another fish friend), I added a piece of clean driftwood, a sponge filter with marbles glued to the bottom so fry can’t get trapped underneath, and a leaf of blanched Romaine lettuce. Over the next few days, the fry zipping about everywhere and the leaf of lettuce became riddled with tiny holes. I also began feeding brine shrimp nauplii. Once the fry were everywhere, I removed the male and returned him to the group of females.

The fry darken in color over the first weeks and are completely brown by the end of two weeks. Water changes are essential; these little fish eat alot of lettuce, brine shrimp and driftwood so, produce alot of waste. I use a ½ inch piece of tubing as a syphon. Inevidably, some of the fry get sucked up. I drain the syphon through a green net so most of the waste goes through but it catches the fry. They can then be returned to the tank unharmed.

By the time they are 60 days old, they are about ½ inch long or better and resemble miniature plecos. At this age, if Romaine lettuce is unavailable, very expensive or just, inconvenient, algae wafers are readily taken.

Literature suggests they like a pH of 6.5-7.0, hardness of 4-10 degrees general hardness, and a temperature of 23-27 degrees Celcius. Mine did fine in unmodified (dechlorinated) Regina water.

They come from the fast flowing tributaries of the Amazon. They can attain a maximum size of 13 centimeters but 7 centimeters is more common for aquarium raised fish. They can change their color from solid dark brown to marbled off white with brown blotches depending on their mood. Their eggs hatch about five days after spawning and will darken slightly before hatching.

They are an excellent, unintrusive addition to any planted community tank as they don't eat healthy plant matter, will graze on surface algae on the glass and on the leaves of plants, and will help clean up leftover food that makes its way to the bottom. Sinking pellets should also be fed so they don't starve. Most fish won't bother them either.

Try a few!