wanted hoplo catfish

[Ben]

i am after young hoplo catfish in the melbourne area.
(Hoplosternum thoracatum)

ben_muhr@hotmail.com

[Ben]

These are the little fella's i am after!
they might make good discus companions?

[chris]

Yep these guys are fine with Discus be prepared they get pretty big.
I could possible find one for you in SA, although I havent seen them in the LFS for a while :P

[Ben]

cheers, chris!
keep an eye out for me!
i used to breed them over 10 years ago, but they dont seem very popular these days...

i have seen old, odd, large ones in some aquarium shops in and around melbourne, but no young ones.

cheers,
Ben

[chris]

Hey Ben I didnt know they were that hard to come by,
I was talking to one of my lfs owner he said they were illegal; to sell in SA, because they can live in most water conditions.
So if they get into our water ways they will survive, but in other states not
Then talking to my other LFS owner he wasnt aware that they were illegal in SA he was stocking them at that time, he also said they were from germany and used to live in there sewar systems

[Ben]

Hi Chris,
Its strange with all these funny laws with fish in every state. in victoria we are not allowed to have koi carp, but its fine in NSW, go figure?
As for the hoplo's, is it the Hoplosternum thoracatum species? i wonder if there is a web site that can tell us what's allowed and whats not allowed in different states?

because they are not allowed in different states, does that make the price go up?

i guess that could be why they are harder to find these days...........

[kevkoi]

Hoplos are almost always on one of the 2 major wholesalers lists.... Seriously if you want them, approach a good sized aquarium and they should be able to make a special order for the fish for you. They aren't all that hard to get.... In Sydney, I could get them for you pretty easily.

Kev

[Ben]

hey guys, i finally picked up some hoplos!
They are a pair, less than 2 years old. I have been feeding them live blackworms and there loving it!
Its amazing how they can dig deep in the gravel.
will keep posted when i breed them!