Some of Oliver Lucanus' fish at his place

[Francisco_Borrero]

Hi All:
This may or not be the most appropriate place for this post (Photo Gallery may be more fitting), but it is here so that it is next to Oliver's interview by Ralph.
I had the fortune of visiting Oliver at his Montreal home (wish it had been the Amazon), talk with/get to know him, admire his fish and frogs, purchase some fish, and take some pictures.
In light of the recent thread "Photo Policy for SimplyDiscus" I must make the following statements.
1-All fish I saw at Oliver's were in my opinnion very good to excellent.
2- The tanks/setups are NOT displays, but holding tanks.
3- Many (most) fish had very recently arrived, and so were not fully acclimated and not showing their best. Some show the normal nicks from partial predation (piranha) and travel.
4- Some fish were very young, thus not showing their full potential.
5- Many tanks did not have lightning and the basement rooms are dark, partly on purpose. Taking acceptable quality pictures was at best a challenge. Some pictures are bad, but we have no better.
[Combining 1-5] most pictures shown here DO NOT make justice to the fish, but are shown only for the enjoyment of those who wish to abide by the "disclaimers" 1-5. Most fish looked much better than seen in the pictures. You may or not believe this, but please don't ignore it. I took some of the pictures, and Oliver took some. I hope you like them.

It seems appropriate to start with some Jatapu fish.

[Francisco_Borrero]

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[Francisco_Borrero]

...This was actually the 1st picture I took, with flash. Mistake.

[Francisco_Borrero]

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[Francisco_Borrero]

... A very large Jatapu that measured over eight inches mouth to end of tail.

[Francisco_Borrero]

several large Jatapu and a single young Curipera blue (second from right)... and I will have to continue later with the remaining pics.
Cheers, Francisco.

Alright Francisco!

You trying to get me to dump all of my current stock (Minus Cary's of course), just to head to Montreal?

Oliver you are such a tease in disguise!. :)

[Francisco_Borrero]

some more...just for Julz

These are a beautiful young Curipera blue (upper center) and two young Tefe RedSpottedGreens (probably 4"). Notice the beautiful pattern on the small RSG at left; lots of small dots! On the background at right, a Unini Heckel.

[Francisco_Borrero]

A young RSG. Cute little fish.

[Francisco_Borrero]

Curipera, playing on the output of a large filter. Fish is showing "reverse stress bars" appearing lighter than the background color. All discus are able to change coloration depending on their mood. Curipera blues appear nto be the "chamaeleons".

[Francisco_Borrero]

...another with less blue in forehead.

[Francisco_Borrero]

...other Curipera that had been a few days longer at Oliver's (about 2 weeks total if I recall correctly)

[Francisco_Borrero]

...yet another Curipera at a different tank. I would say a little fish with tremendous potential.

[Francisco_Borrero]

This is a fish that I ended up liking a lot, yet it was promised as a gift for someone else. It is a wild Madeira x Heckel hybrid. Oliver did not care much for it, as it is not a good fish for breeding. I just like it and so excuse me for showing it several times. JimmyL bought some (a couple ?) of hybrids much like this one and has shown some at DAAH.
Small, young looking fish.

[Francisco_Borrero]

At least one of the hybrid fish JimmyL got has a complete "heckel' bar, not interrupted as the one here, so it is much more attractive. Of course, it is now very red, like some of the Madeira fish.

[Francisco_Borrero]

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[Francisco_Borrero]

That's about all I have for Discus. Oliver had many more amazing tanks and fish. I saw many fish that I have only seen in books before, and quite a few that are not in books yet, as they are undescribed species. Many of these were small to medium tetras, pencilfish, zillions of different Apistogramma, plecos, stingrays, Crenicichla pikes, African cichlids from both lake and river habitats, and australasian fish. Perhaps one the most attractive to me was a 180gal tank with a gaggle of about 10 young adult Uaru fernadezyepezi, the first time I see this fish in real life. I am an Uaru keeper (U. amphiacanthoides), but yepezi's are quite another story. What a sight!. No pictures please...Oliver is attempting to breed them and will likely succeed.
In addition, he is a collector, breeder and dealer of Central and South American poison arow frogs (3 Genera in the family Dendrobatidae: Dendrobates, Phyllobates and Colosthetus). I was pleased to see among his prize frogs some from my country, Colombia, and to hear him talk with great interest about one of the most prized species, a small frog named after my former Herpethology professor, Dr. Philip Silverston. His frog habitats were beautiful, with healthy orchids and bromeliads from which to harvest tadpoles. Some froggies for you (I hope you don't mind...they are not fish, but they are cold blooded)

[Francisco_Borrero]

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[Francisco_Borrero]

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[Francisco_Borrero]

...and the last one. Adios !

Thats it!... Whats Oliver's phone number? :P

Don't let Weezy see the frogs. She just may dump all fish for them!. Kid you not! lol

:)

[Francisco_Borrero]

I don't know the city code for Tefe. Or is it Leticia, or Manaus, or Belo Horizonte....he left on the 11th. Many people would love to know what's to come this time, but no coins to buy with.

[Ralph]

That would be a tough visit for me with my present financial situation.

Thanks for posting the photos, Francisco, really good job.

[Smokey]

A wonderful journey into Oliver's world.
Thank you.

Smokey

[Jeff]

You did an excellent job with those pics. It looks like you enjoyed your visit. Thank you for sharing them with us. :D

[ChloroPhil]

Oliver is going to be speaking at the Atlanta Aquarium Society's meeting on April 12th. Just thought you might like to know..:)

[BLUEKNIGHT]

HI Francisco_Borrero Did u take pics of olivers other fish like apistos or sting rays.

[Francisco_Borrero]

sorry but I didn't take more pictures than the ones I showed and others that didn't come out. I spent several hours talking, choosing my fish, taking pictures, Oliver was a great host/sport, but then he had other things to do and I also had to go. But mostly, many tanks were too dark for pictures, and in some he did not want pictures taken.
I didn't know about the talk in Atlanta. I wish I could go, it should be great.

A couple more people (JimmyL, Jim Shedden and others??) are going up in February, after Oliver's return from Brazil/Venezuela(?). I bet he would have fantastic stuff then, and hopefully they will share pictures with us.
Several people have visited David Webber in NYC. Would you care to share some pictures. I hear he has excellent stuff, and lots of it.
Cheers, Francisco.