Animals
Bunnies
Bunnies II 
Cat-N-Around Cat Club
Cat-N-Around Cat Club 2007 Annual Show
Hawkeye Cat Club 2004
Hawkeye Cat Club 2005
Chinchillas
Degus
Ferrets
Ferrets by BOB
Gerbils
Ground Squirrels
Guinea Pig
Hamsters I
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Hamsters IV
Hamsters V
Hedgehogs
Kittens
Kids & Kittens
Mice
Mice Pets II
Parasites
Rats I
Rats II
Rats III
Rats, Hairless
S-T Opossums
Siberian Chipmunks
Sugar Gliders
Sugar Gliders II
Water Bottles

Bugs
Crabby 500
Crab 04 Results
Centipedes
Cray/Lobsters
Crayfish II
Crayfish III
Cray, Yucatan
Fiddler Crabs
Shrimp, Algae
Shrimp, Aqua
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Shrimp, Red
Shrimp, Flower
Shrimp, Ghost
Shrimp, Rudolph
Hermit Crabs
Hermit Crabs II
Madagas Roach
Mantids
Mini-Clams
Mini-Crabs
Patriot Crabs
Giant Millipedes
Red Claw Crabs
Reiman Butterfly
Spider, Black Widow
Snail, Apple
Snail, Colombian
Snail, Land
Snail, Malaysian
Snail, Mystery
Snail, Trapdoor 
Scorpions
Tarantulas
Tarantulas II
Tarantula Night 2006
TarantulaWeen VII
TarantulaWeen 9
Walking Stick
Misc. Bugs
Misc Bugs II  

Birds
Breeding Tips
Button Quail
Canaries
Cockatiels
Dove, Diamond
Dove, Ringneck
Finches
Love Birds
Parakeets
Pelleted Foods
Quaker Parrots
Parrot Pictures
Parrot Pix II
Parrot Pix III
Dave's Parrots

Lizards
Alligators
Anoles
Bearded Dragon
Beardies II
Calotes
Chamel, Jackson
Chamel, Panther
Chamel, Veiled
Crested Geckos
Gecko, Golden
Gecko, House
Gecko, Leopard
Gecko, Tokay
Horned "Toads"
Iguana New
Iguana Dragons
Iguana Q&A I
Iguana Q&A II
Iguana Training
Iguana Update
Cool Iguana Pics
Knight Anoles
Monitors, Nile
Monitors, Savana
Monitors, Water
Salmonella
Skinks
Skinks Blue-Tongue
Tegus
Uromastyx maliensis
Water Dragon
Misc Lizards
Misc Lizards 2
Misc Lizards 3
Misc Lizards 4
Misc Lizards 5
Misc Lizards 6
Misc Lizards 7
Misc Lizards 8
Misc Lizards 9
Misc Lizards 10


Snakes
Anacondas
Boa, Rosy
Boa, Red-Tail
Corn Snake
Garter Snake
Green Snake
Kids/Corn Snakes
Kids/Red-Tail Boas

Kids at Pet Expo 1

Kids at Pet Expo 2

Kids at Pet Expo 3

Kids at Pet Expo 4

Kids at Pet Expo 5
King & Milk
Python, Ball
Python, Burmese

Snakes Alive
Snakesgiving
Snakesgiving II
Misc Snake Pix
Misc Snakes II
Misc Snakes III  

Turtles/Tortoises
Box, Asian
Box, USA
Races
Snapping
Spiny

Sulcata
Water
Western Painted

Live Foods
Blackworms
Blood Worms
Br Shrimp I
Br Shrimp II
Crayfish 1
Crayfish 2
Crayfish 3 
Crickets
Dandelions
Daphnia
Earthworms
Feeder Goldfish
Fruit Flies
Ghost Shrimp

Glass Worms

Grindal Worms
Infusoria
Mealworms
Microworms
Rosy Reds

Super Worms

Wax Worms
White Clouds

Decorating
Bubbles
Driftwood
Gravel
Plastic Plants
Rocks
Slow Growing Plants

Miscellaneous
Bob's Acclimation

How to Start
How to Add New Fish
How to Keep Healthy
Which Fish Get Along?
10 Questions to Ask
What is Ich?
Under Gravel Filters

Sponge Filters
Cloudy Water
Cool Water Tanks
Gravel Vacuums
Preventing Disease
Feeding to the Max
Frozen Foods
Green Water
Nasty Chemicals
Overfeeding
Power Filters
Rift Lake Salts
Quarantine Tank
Mini-Tank
2nd Av Bait

Pet World Visit
Dandelions

Aquatic Plants
Amazon Swords
More Swords
Sword Plants III
Anubias
Anacharis
Aponogetons
A. boivinianus
A. fenestralis
A. ulvaceous
Aquarium/Bog
Banana Plant
Bolbitis
Bunch
Bunch Plants II
Cryptocorynes
Crystalwort
Dwarf Lily
Grassy
Grassy II
Hornwort
Hygrophila
Lace
Java Fern I
Java Fern II
Java Fern III
Java Fern IV
Java Moss
Moss Balls
Onion
Vermiculite
Watersprite
Different Watersprite

 
Local Clubs
Cat-N-Around Cat Club 2006

Cat-N-Around Cat Club 2007
Hawkeye State Cat Club 2004
Hawkeye State Cat Club 2005
CIWGA -- Central Iowa Water Garden Association
Iowa Herp Society
MACBS -- Mid America Caged Bird Society
Iowa Aquaria Association
IAA 02.05.05
EIAA -- Eastern Iowa Aquarium Association
MAS 75th Ann. Show
MCA Expo 2006 -- the Fish
MCA Expo 2006 -- the People

Prologue:  Maybe five years ago, we saw our first Garra -- the Garra pingi -- not an attractive fish.  However, it was an algae eating fish that mixed well with African cichlids.  In addition to being plain, they were fairly pricey.  They looked like a strangly shaped Chinese algae eater.

LA
2005.  Traded in as a Pangean logroller.  (As my ears heard it.)  Looks like a northern hog sucker. 
Correction from Jim Sours:  This is a Pingean logroller,  Garra pingi pingi.  They come from Eastern Asia and grow to five inches.  
Thanks for the help on this, Jim -- especially considering this is such a crummy picture.  This fish only knows two tricks -- hiding and jumping out.  We'll get a new (better) picture if he stops jumping out.  It still looks like a northern hog sucker to me.  LA.

LA
Same guy "hiding" in a cave created by leaning a slab against the front glass.

LA
Got him at last.

LA
2006.  Four-inch Garra pingi.

LA
2008.  3-inch Garra pingi -- an algae eater from India.  Often used with African cichlids.

LA
2-inch Garra gotyla.  About 80 Garra species have been IDed so far.

LA
Same guy munching on a French-cut green bean.

LA
Garra gotyla, May 2011.

LA
Ditto.

LA
2009.  7-inch Garra pingi -- eats algae.

LA
2011.  2-inch Garra flavatra (from Myanmar) for eating algae in African cichlid tanks.

LA
Another 2-inch Garra flavatra.  These guys like to jump out.

2011 -- April 17:  Paul tried a few of these guys in his home Tanganyikan tank.  He raved about them -- said his colored up very nicely.  We were only able to get small quantities for a while.  Then this year we went crazy and ordered ten "banded  Burmese loaches."  They were listed under Algae Eaters so we weren't really sure what they were. .We got nine.  They are not loaches.

LA
Nine 2-inch Garra flavatra.

LA
Their new home -- a 20H with 24-hour lighting and lots of algae.  April 15, 2011.

LA
April 16, 2011.

LA
April 17, 2011.

2011 -- April 17:  Much of the algae was gone the next morning.  One guy had bailed.  We netted him and returned him to his new home and lowered his water level three inches.  By April 17 the glass was algae free.  Just as significant -- the little guys also cleaned off the gravel substrate.  (Doing the work that most algae eaters won't do.)  They even scraped off the nerite snail eggs stuck to the gravel.

LA
Sort of plain in the face.

LA
The working parts.

Special Mouth:  Garra flavatra mouths are built to hang on in fast flowing water as well as eat algae.  They come from fast-moving streams with lots of oxygen.  They appreciate a powerhead (much like the hillstream loaches aka Borneo loaches).

LA
As mentioned earlier, they clean the alga off the gravel.

Preferred Foods:  Obviously Garra flavatra love algae.  Few people can farm raise enough algae for their hungry herd of Burmese banded algae eaters.  They readily accept small cichlid pellets.  They eat kelp pellets but grudgingly.  We tried the kelp pellets to bring out more color.  They ate them sort of grudgingly but they devoured the cichlid pellets.  Banded Burmese algae eaters are not picky eaters.

LA
Attempted shot to catch them rooting for food.

LA
Paul says the red on his three Garra flavatras is much more developed.

LA
Burmese banded algae eaters get along together.  Some like to school.

LA
Most male egglayers have more color.  No details on this yet.

LA

Breeding Info:  Not available at this time.  We will crack the code and report back at a later date.  Evidently they are breeding in Myanmar or Indian fish farms. 

LA
So much for sheet algae, now for a test on filamentous algae..  We added nine banded algae eaters April 18, 2011.

Filamentous Algae:  Will Garra flavatra eat filamentous algae?  We'll find out this week.  These guys may be the algae-eating champions of the world.  They better like algae.  They get no more food pellets for at least two days.  In the meantime, we increased the water flow and decreased the water level.

LA
Plenty of free range algae pasture for the nine head of Garra flavatra to graze upon.

LA
Burmese banded algae eaters like to flock together.

Rambunctious Rascals:  This particular herd liked to bunch up in the corner and take turns finding out how far up the glass they could swim.  I didn't see them actually jump, but I watched them "swim" up the glass and bounce off the frame three inched above the water.  Some would adhere to the glass momentarily.  I lowered the water level another couple inches.

LA
The lower water level should keep them down on the farm, but it doesn't stop them from trying.

LA
Here's most of the happy herd of Burmese banded algae eaters at play.

LA
Here's some of the less clubby holdouts.  Those white objects are nerite snail eggs.

Six out of Nine Bailed Overnight:  When 2/3 of them bailed I decided to put a Plexiglas cover on their tank.  Luckily three landed in nearby tanks.  Three were evidently on their own in fish heaven.

LA
Even with the new cover, they still tried to escape.

LA
They spent their spare time wiggling at the surface,

LA
Then suddenly, one would wiggle up the glass.  Occasionally it would stick there.

Part Salmon?  I watched several of them bounce off their new Plexiglas cover.  Moral of the story:  Keep your Burmese banded algae eaters well covered or you won't keep them long.  Garra flavatra make eager algae eaters and olympic qualifying leapers.  They never touched the filamentous algae in this tank, so I moved them to a tank with sheet algae.

What Once Was Lost and Now Is ...  Four rows lower I found one more leaper.

LA
Their new tank after re-locating the Garra flavatra.  Some peacock cichlids were already there.

LA
No algae the next morning.

LA
One Burmese banded algae eater zipped down each filter tube.

LA
Time to change the elbows on the filter stems.

Filter Stem Corrections.  I took the filter tubes apart and freed the two errant Burmese banded algae eaters.  I added new elbow guards to prevent a recurrence of this behavior.  Then I ramped the air stems to full blast.  The two in the tubes were probably attracted to the turbulence in the tubes.  Once they scour the algae from the gravel, they will be moved to a new algae-covered tank.  LA

LA

April 27, 2011.  New algae-covered 20H home.

© 2011  LA Productions
aqualandpetsplus.com

Jaguar Spawning II
Jewel Fish
Keo's Flowerhorns
Keo's Flowerhorns II
Kribensis
Odd Couple Spawn
Oscars 1
Oscars 2
Oscars 3
Oscars 4
Oscars 5
More Oscar
More Oscar II
More Oscars III
More Oscars 2007
More Oscars 2007.5
Oscar Spawn
Peacock Bass
Red Devils
More Red Devil
Red Parrots
Red Parrots Spawn
Red Parrot Spawn II
Pikes
Pink Tilapia
Rams
Red Bay Snooks
Red Bay Snook Spawn
Roger Stephen's Cichlids
Severums
More Severums
Severums III
Tanganyikans
Texas Cichlid
Texas Spawning
Texas Spawn II
Uarus
Misc Cichlids I
Misc Cichlids II
Misc Cichlids III
Misc Cichlids IV
Misc Cichlids V
Misc Cichlids VI
Misc Cichlids VII
Misc Cichlids VIII
Misc Cichlids IX

Livebearer  
Guppies
Half-Beak
Mollies
Moons/Platys
Swordtails

Minnows/Tetra 
Barbs
Barbs, Black
Barbs, Gold
Barbs, Rosy
Barbs, Tiger
Barbs, Tinfoil
Danios
Danio Egg Saver
Distochodus
Fathead Minnows
Headstanders
Killies, Econ.
Killies, Golden
Killies, Peat
Killies, Plant
Misc Mini-Fish
Pacús 
Piranha, Black
Piranha, Red
Rainbowfish

Rainbowfish, Dwarf Neon
Rainbowfish, Irian
Silver Dollar
Tetras, Larger
Tetras, Smaller
Tetras, Spawn
Tetra, Vampire
White Clouds

Pond Fish
Carp
Channel Cat
Gold. Comets
Gold. Fantails
More Fantails
Gold. Oriental  
Gold Oriental II 
Gold. Spawn
Kloubec Koi Farm
Koi
Koi II

Koi III
Oranda Spawn
Plecostomus
Shubunkins

Oddballs  
Af. Butterfly
Af. Lungfish
Af. Mudskippr
American Eel
Archer Fish
Arowana
Bichirs
Borneo Suckers
Brackish I
Brackish II
Brackish III
Brackish IV
Brackish V
Michael Troung's Pix
Butterfly/Wasp
Chameleon Fish
Chromides
Chin Alg Eater
Crazy Fish
Crocodile Fish
Datnioides
Dojo
Dwarf Puffers
Electric Cat
Electric Eels
Elephant Nose
Exodon paradoxus
Flounder
Gars  
Glassfish
Goby Bumble
Goby Butterfly
Goby Dragon
Goby Misc.
Half-Beak
Knife African
Knife Clown
Knife Ghost
Loach Botias
Loach Clown
Loach Kuhli
Loach Weather

Longear Sunfish
Moray Eel  
Peacock Gudgeons
Polypterids
Puffers
Ropefish
Scats
Siam Algae Eater 
Spiny Eels 
Snakehead
Stingray
Stonefish
Wasp Fish
Wolffish
Wrest Half-Beak
Misc Mini-Fishes
Misc Odd
Misc Odd II
Misc Odd III
Misc Odd  IV

Misc Odd V
Misc Odd VI

Sharks  
Bala
Black
Bull
Chinese Hi-Fin Banded
Iridescent
Red-Tail
Siam Algae Eater

Pond Info 
Blank Park Zoo
Bob Humphrey's Ponds
Cattails
Maffett Reservoir
DMACC's Pond
D.M. Botanical Center
D.M. Water Works
Dr. Ervanian's Garden
Duckweed
Dwarf Lily
Ewing Park "Pond"
Jan & Chris's Water Garden
John McDonald's Pond
Hall's Four Acres
Klines' Water Garden
Landscaper Effects
Mini-Pond Pics
Pioneer Corn's Pond
Pond Fish Predators
Pond on 38th Street 
Pond Pics
Pond Plants
More Pond Plants
Pond Plants III
Reiman Ponds
River Scenes
Riverview Island
Selin's Water Gardens
Selin's Japanese Garden
Tom's Used Cars Pond
Urbandale Duck Pond
Water Hyacinth
Water Lettuce
Wild Ponds