I have been the treasurer of the Catfish Study Group for the last 13 years, and on the committee for 32 years.
I have been keeping and breeding Ancistrus sp. for approximately 40 years amongst other Loricariidae. Like many aquarists I dreamed of one day visiting South America to see where our fish live, but had to wait until I retired from work. In 2009 and 2011 I visited Northern Peru, and in 2014, 2016 and 2018 Porto Maldonado in the east.
My talk at this years event concentrates on the Ancistrus species of the Madre de Dios, Peru, showing the varied biotopes of the species we caught. I will also show the pattern changes of the wild fish as they grew, eating, and breeding habits.
The biotopes were very varied from a small stream to a wild river as shown below.
To date I have bred three species we caught, and I am growing and photographing a further four species, hopefully new to the hobby.