Diadophis punctatus (Linnaeus, 1766)

my new project: Crenicichla celidochilus

After almost 60 hours in a bag, these three guys made it to NC from Uruguay.

Floating in their quarantine tank, minimal setup so it's easy to keep clean. I had a huge issue with external parasites (Ich) with the fish I brought home from Uruguay last December, so the pump runs a UV sterilizer to eliminate that problem. Simple sponge filter, no heater. Change 25% of the water everyday. Parameters: pH 7.2, TDS: 69 micro siemens, temp: 78* (only while in quarantine, then lower, 70-72* range). No chemical parasite treatment, only salt.

In Uruguay it was 10 degrees celcius, and in those conditions they do not eat, so these guys are quite thin, but very healthy. They get live black worms everyday, and already accept vegi-flakes, but no interest in pellets yet.

These pictures are from the day after their arrival, so they are ragged and stressed out still, but are settling in well, and fattening up too.

I imported three (7-9cm), hopefully one of them is a male that this female will fancy. I brought her back from Uruguay last December. She is 14cm, so it will be 3-4 months before the others can be put with her. They have some growing to do first, otherwise she might view them as lunch instead of potential mates.

In the wild they grow to 22cm, and are only found in the Rio Cuareim, that forms the border between Uruguay and Brazil, and a few of its tributaries.

They are in quarantine for 4 weeks, then into a 180g tank. I'll do an update on that, in the mean time this will have to do. Maybe with a little luck and cooperation, I can be only the third person to breed them in captivity.

cheers,

Ed

long overdue update: some wildlife pics

Notothalmus viridescens, Wildcat Lake, Bannerl Elk NC

Crenicichla celidochilus female, 14cm. I brought two (m/f) of these back from Uruguay at 8cm last December, I just imported three more (7-9cm). They are my new project, only two people have bred them in captivity. They are found only in the Rio Cuareim drainage, that forms the border between Uruguay and Brazil.

Tyrannus savana, forked-tail flycatcher, Artigas, northern Uruguay

Geophagus sp. "Tapajos Orange Head" male, 16.5cm

Satanoperca leucostica female, 15.5 cm

the long drive from NC to Colorado

Some choice shots from the Mill Pond

above: female Mallard Duck (Anas platyrhynchos)
Above and below: Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Female Mallard preening with maybe a little scratching
Male Mallard Duck
Fishing male Mallard Ducks

Variety pack

Above: Thuglife, we've been playing intramural basketball, currently #1 seed with 6-2 record. Unfortunately it gets pretty serious haha, but it's a lot of fun. We could probably give out actual basketball team a good run, literally.

Below: A chavito, the only way I survived Uruguay, it's their version of a cheeseburger. It has a strip of steak, a strip of ham, egg, bacon and cheese on it. Absolutely amazing! 
This was in downtown Montevideo, outside of a bank. This guard was just chilling with an assault rifle right out on the sidewalk. Pretty intense!
My little cousin, posing with one of my fish tanks. 
All those tiny specks are 20 dollar bills. 
The Burress family has been growing quite a bit.
Their papa.
Sweet seat! 
This is the 6th one of these I've broken on the mtb, none quite as significantly as this, I wasn't messing around I guess. Somehow, I managed not to crash and luckily I wasn't too far from school. I don't fully understand how the leather cover ripped so perfectly?

Annabelle, chillin' by the fireplace, she's the most cold-natured dog I've ever known.

Photos from Uruguay, crash course in aquatic and avifauna

above: a cowbird (brood parasite) being fed by its foster mother, a Hornero (Furnarius rufus)

below: Great White Heron on the Rio Uruguay
Below: Rhea, very common in the north of the country, near the border with Brazil
Cabeçita negra (Chloris magellanicus) male
Juvenile Pirañha 
 male Gymnogeophagus sp. "san borja" from the Rio Yi
Rio Yi, department of Duranzo, central Uruguay
Gymnogeophagus sp. "paso pache II" (ex-meridionalis) male
unidentified frog
The massive Rio Uruguay, along the border of Uruguay and Argentina
Gymnogeophagus balzanii pair, male above, female below
Green Hoplias sporting some wicked teeth
A huge Pirañha 
Forked-tail Flycatcher (Tyrannus savanna) male
Churrinche (Pyrrhocephalus rubinus) male
Rio Masedo, every stone in this river is a geode! The locals refer to it as the Rincon de Pache ("river of jewels")
Rio Cuaro
Corydoras cf. paleatus "rio cuaro high dorsal"
Rio Cuareim, department of Artigas, northern Uruguay. Uruguay is the right bank, Brazil is the left bank
Juvenile Crenicichla celidochilus, the rarest pike cichlid in the world, only inhabiting the Rio Cuareim
Rio Cuareim
Crenicichla scotti from Aquas Blancas in the south east region of Uruguay
Great Blue Heron, on the Rio Uruguay
Dorado fishing on the Rio Uruguay