Publication2 med aquascape Publication1cs complete | Page 174

Rusty is a big fan of the
Thorichthys complex as
they are regarded as only
mildly aggressive species.
Thorichthys are highly rec-
ommended if you’re inter-
ested in keeping Centrals.
Thorichthys socolofi
Thorichthys callolepis
I feed Cobalt flake and pellets to my labs. I under-
stand that pro biotics is excluded and on the hit
list for foods prepared in Europe. Supposedly, pro
biotics was accidently left off the regulations list in
the UK so the manufacturers had to pull it as an
ingredient. That is a shame if it is true?
Water quality is also very important with this spe-
cies. In the wild they come from desert springs
supplying continuous water changes with very
high mineral content. In fact, the minerals are so
high that one finds it easy to float in the water,
thus, and in addition to the warm water, it is a
common place to find the locals swimming in the
waters. In the aquarium, large frequent water
changes are necessary. I do not add any salts and
have found they just need consistent clean hard
water.
cichlids.
One last question Are there any new hard to find
cichlids and new populations not currently avail-
able to the hobby that maybe offered in the near
future?
Uruguay is certainly full of some new cichlids but
new is difficult to define. Many of the new types
often will be just geographical variants of fish we
already have. Most likely, a few new Herichthys
types are still coming out of Northern Central
Mexico as well as some Thorichthys and Para-
theraps from Southern Mexico. Certainly, there
are a few new fishes still out there!
I once heard that when you retire, you plan to
build a huge aquarium based on a particular eco
system. Could you share a little more information
on your future planned project?
Thanks Rusty!
When the fish house was constructed I added
some extra concrete footers in the floor to handle
the potential weight of a large display to be built
later of 30000 gallons or more. I have always
wanted a super large indoor tank housing a partic-
ular river including all the fishes of that river from
the catfishes, to the tetras , livebearers and
All Photography © Rusty Wessel
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