Collecting in the Rio Los Lotes

[duanes]

We had planned to go to, and collect the Rio Indio yesterday (Saturday), but my guide, Daniel Atencio, had heard that, due to the extended dry season, the river was essentially waterless.
So I suggested we go back to the Rio Los Lotes again, the trip there 2 weeks ago had been so successful, we thought it might be worth a try.
This day went just as well.

Although the river has receded at least 20ft from inside its normal banks, leaving large sections dry, plenty of fish could be seen.

My target cichlid was Isthmoheros tuyerense, we had caught only 2 previously, so even though we did catch many Andinoacara, they were all released.

Beside the 4 newly caught Isthmoheros, we did kept 3 Ctenolucius beanii, half dozen rubber lip plecos, (Chaetostoma), and 2 Awaous gobies,

The plecos, were only caught in rocky areas, where the plethora of stones created a kind of riffle effect




Saturday we netted and criss/crossed about a half mile of the Los Lotes, within that stretch, only 2 species of cichlids (genera Isthmoheros and Andinoacara), there were thousand of tetras in multiple species, 2 goby types, the 1 species of Pleco, and the 1 species of gar/Characin.

 

[duanes]

48 hours in the tank, all still good.

Above Isthmoheros, below with Andinoacara

A chorus of plecos

below Ctenolucius

 

[cockroach]

below Ctenolucius
View attachment 1540149

Are these hujeta?
Also, do you have any habitat pics where you caught them as it is not easy to find online?
PLANKS (PLease and thANKS)

 

[duanes]

Are these hujeta?
Also, do you have any habitat pics where you caught them as it is not easy to find online?
PLANKS (PLease and thANKS)

I believe they are Ctenolucius beanii, the Central American close cousin to S American C hujeta.
They were always netted in the shaded, deeper areas, along the far banks.

Water temps in the low 80s F, pH 8.2, and with no detectable nitrate.

 

[cockroach]

That nitrate thing still gets me.
All water I have checked here, even algae ladened sluggish water that I would not put one of my fish in, usually turns out to be nitrate free.
People under estimate how beefy their filtration needs to be.

 

[duanes]

That nitrate thing still gets me.
All water I have checked here, even algae ladened sluggish water that I would not put one of my fish in, usually turns out to be nitrate free.
People under estimate how beefy their filtration needs to be.

I believe we aquarists have been lulled, or bamboozled for decades, about the reality of nitrate toxicity, because nitrate is the end result of a successful cycle.
When the reality is, it is a chronic toxin (although not as acute as ammonia or nitrite) but a chronic toxin nonetheless, and causes disease and stress in fish.
In many cases it is dismissed the problem, because many small fish have normally shortened lives naturally, and
Its chronic effects often take @ 3 years to become apparent.
But we often see these long term negative results, in posts in the disease section, occurring in 3 year old oscars, severums, and other sensitive soft water species, as HITH,
or in hard water species as chronic bloat.
Because the bacteria that cause these diseases are most virulent in elevated nitrate concentrations, where not enough water changes have been done in closed systems to hold nitrate levels below 5 ppm (close to natural water levels).