A:  I took that picture back in 2005.  It took me about two years to sell the half dozen climbing perch I had at that time.  I decided not to stock them any more.  Anyway, I haven't seen them on the various inventory lists for a while.  Anyway, we don't ship fish.  LA

A:  I would suggest checking with your local independent fish store.  LA

LA Definitely a female.

A:  Females are pretty obvious when they reach egg laying age.  Even then it's impossible for me to tell when they'll begin laying eggs.  By the way, your males "hands" will turn black.  LA

LA
Hurricane lamp chimneys let black ghost knife fish hide in plain sight.

A:  Absolutely normal.  Take out the coral and he'll find a new hidey-hole.  Give him a tube and he'll move in instantly.  Hurricane lamp chimneys make the best caves for viewing.  LA

A:  I be fine.  No way can I tell what your organisms are.  The images are too small.  The little critters are wiggling around like mosquito larvae.  Argulus move very slowly and rarely unhook from their host (fish).  They will not infest your shrimp.  Any remedy you try will also kill your shrimp.  Argulus look like a quarter-inch tail-less horseshoe crab.  LA
PS  If you want to get rid of your un-identified bugs, just net them out.

A:  The same way I knew you were from Mauritius.  I guess you're just famous.  LA

A:  Excellent deduction Dr. Watson.  LA

A:  It took some time.  I wrote a lot of it way before Al Gore invented the internet.  I've been involved in various aspects of the pet industry (especially the wet pets) for several decades.  I started hanging around fish stores when I was about ten years old.  There used to be about 20 times more independent fish stores a couple decades ago.  I traveled around the U.S. for a while judging fish shows and giving presentations.  So I met and hung out with other fish judges and lots of experienced hobbyists (and still do).  I wrote several articles for various hobbyist publications.  I took over 10,000 35mm slides before digital was invented.  I rented out 35mm presentations to aquarium clubs a few decades ago -- long before Mr. U invented utube.  I just had to convert several trays of slides to digital and learn the new technologies.  Piece of cake.
We do breed some of the critters and fish we sell.  I (and the government) have owned Aqualand for 38 years.
Now for the advice -- apprentice yourself to a local fish store or a local fish club.  There are currently 24 aquarium societies in Texas.  LA

LA
Vampire crabs -- about 1 inch across the carapace.

A:  I had very little success keeping the vampires alive.  They don't mix well even with each other.  I would not mix most species.  Most crabs like to war with each other.  Big crabs will usually kill or dismember smaller crabs.  The ones that get along best in groups are the minis and the fiddlers.  And remember to give them access to land.  LA

A:  If your 44g tank is new, it's very likely suffering from the "new tank" syndrome -- basically an ammonia spike.  Usually this would affect all your fish, not just the parrots.  You can start by testing your water.  You can counteract ammonia with a SeaChem product called Prime.  If you have no way to test your water, go ahead and add the Prime.  LA
PS  Your pictures were too large for my computer to display.

A:  Rather than me trotting back to work, writing all the species down, coming back to my computer, then typing the info and emailing it back to you -- it would be so much easier to just call us and ask for the info.  LA
PS  What game were we playing?  Don't I get extra points for having a winning attitude?  I prefer to look at it as I finished in second place and you came in next to last.

A:  Thank you for your fascinating explanation of the game.  I now declare a thumb war.  I'm appointing Kellie as my champion.  She'll be at work tomorow.  And don't think about losing.  LA

A:  You may find this hard to believe, but it looks like I made a mistake back in 2007.  You are 100% correct.  I had a spot-free record until now.  Thanks a lot.  LA

A:  The photo caption was a mea culpa on my part.  I added your correction below my photo.  The non-kid comment was made by the guest author of that particular page.  LA

LA

A:  Start by passing up the crocodile fish.  They are not a community fish.  Second, most ich cures will kill pictus catfish quicker than they will kill ich.  Gouramis make good mixers, ditto swordtails, barbs, and other fishes at least half the size of your pictus.  LA

LA
2-inch rainbow geophagus, Gymnogeophagus balzani.

LA
1.5-inch firemouth cichlid.  Most are not this colorful at this size.

A:  Both these cichlids fit into the mild mannered category.  Both will mix with your African knifefish which I covered in Knife African  You can find the info on my Table of Contents page.  LA

A:  Probably not.  I've done a partial on Firemouths.  You can find it in the right hand column of our Table of Contents page.  LA

LA

A:  Well, Aqualand comes to mind.  We receive 500 feeder goldfish every Wednesday and every Friday.  We're running a bit low today because several customers picked up 50 and 100 lots this weekend.  You might want to wait until Thursday if you need a large quantity.  If you just need a dozen or three, we can handle that.  LA

LA

A:  Male golden wonder killifish, Aplocheilus linneatus, standing on his head in the corner.  More info @ Killies, Golden  LA

A:  I doubt they're cannibalizing each other.  I would suspect bad water as the culprit.  In a small container with uneaten food, their water goes bad fast.  I'd recommend a 100% water change (with aged water) every two or three days.  Then I'd covert them to flake fish food.  They like it much better than algae.  LA

A:  Yes.  It should still work just fine.  LA