Hi Kcat!
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I already have platties, and some are kinda bossy. At least when there are females, even guppy females.
I'm looking for something different, and I'm not in a hurry.

Your S.nigriventris are great.
Cheers,
João

Hi Allan!

1. S. nigrita fought a bit when there was a change in decoration, they and the corys uprooted the 'forest' of H.polysperma, but now they are settled in their new resting/hidding places, up-side-down.

2. I never found anything on nigrita and nigriventris living together, just thought that S. nigrita are always in the bottom and S.nigriventis could be happy hanging under large leaves, floating plants and a wood arch. So they wouldn't bother each other.
I don't know what S. nigrita do at night, I only see they 'sitting' in their places and scouting the floor once in a while. I don't have young from the livebearers in that tank (platties and mollies) but they don't need any help with eating their young.
Do you know if I can put the S. nigriventris with the guppies in case of emergency??? (I don't have space for another tank, only if I take out the cupboard or the office desk)

3. I love them, all.

4. Congo tetras are a bit big, and I won't have fancy lights, only 1-2 regular kitchen ceilling lamps -- 36 or 72W of daylight T8.
I'll think of that later. Cardinals, rams, neons are of different pH. Can put swordtails but that would be livebearers again. Can put C. pigmeus, they use the all tank too, but don't add colour....

5. I bought the sand they use in the bottom of bird cages, it's silica but I don't know if it is too fine, it is soft and the baby C.aeneus loved it.

6. They have a 3" 90º angle PVC, smaller S. nigrita on top and corys throught, and a clay pot, bigger nigrita. These are going into the new tank. Got another clay pot that is 7" long and 4" in diameter. I haven't seen those clay pipes for years, can use roof tiles that are half pipes.

I had an idea, what do you think of using rought cork (bark of the cork oak) to selter and shade the S. nigriventis. It floats, I can plant some moss on it, that would drop along the hedges, it has a beautiful brown/grey colour and it doesn't fungus altought it can get algaefied.
I think it may tint the water a bit at first, but I don't need blue water, only clear one.

Thanks for your answers.
João

And a great 2008 to you all.

João

That's great Allan!    I'm always late with water changes, my weekly schedule takes about 2 weeks to fulfill .
I'm always checking if anyone is in trouble   .

Ottos are very fun to watch, since I have 12 in a 70cm tank, they seem to be all over. And it's funny to try to spot as many as we can. We've actually seen the 12 of them at the same time, once.

S. nigrita are beautiful, with those striated lateral fins and the slowly wiggling tails, big whiskers and big eyes.

Weather is kinda crazy, one day is 3ºC and dry, the next is 10ºC windy and rainy. But that's normal here.
BTW we had 3 flakes of snow on Jan 29, 2006. Over fifty years since last time.

Have a good...everything.

Thanks clunk!
I'll check her first, and i'm thinking of putting her in a smaller tank, only with endlers and a male cory, before returning to the 'big tank'

João