Fischhaus Zepkow

It is rare, indeed, when one is privileged to visit such an establishment. Partners Ilse Lass and Guido Hoener set the 'Fischhaus Zepkow'¹ up five years ago with the express intention of breeding rare and unusual fish. To say they have succeeded would be an understatement!

Chris Cheswright and I had both been scouring the Internet for information on the more unusual and newer Danios. Chris happened upon the site and passed it on to me. Not only were Ilse and Guido keeping and breeding a number of them, they were also breeding many other interesting and uncommon species of fish. Many, of which, have never seen in the UK. After making contact, and thanks to a 'special offer' on a three-day return ticket for the ferry, Pam Boyle and I decided to make the long journey. First contact to departure took just five days. The prospect of 650 miles each way was a bit daunting, but it was worthwhile. Naturally, some other aquarists were contacted and shown the lists of available fish. Within a very short time, we had to call a halt on orders, as there would have been little or no room to drive the car. As it was, we had six large boxes of fish stacked in the back of Pam's Peugeot 307.

Zepkow is a very small village about 200km east of Hamburg and 100km northwest of Berlin. Most maps do not even show the village, so we had to rely on an 'Autoroute' map to find it. The front part of their house is devoted to the fish. They use about 150 tanks for breeding and raising fry – not including the numerous jars and plastic containers for hatching fry. We spent over eight hours chatting about fish, their care and breeding. Some of their ways of achieving spawning were new to us and vice versa. One, in particular, was completely new to me. To spawn Rainbow Fish, they use plastic pot scourers suspended one below the other in the tank. The fish lay their eggs in the scourer and are then unable to touch them. After a few days, the scourers are removed and placed in a hatching tank. After hatching, it's a simple job to remove the scourer and sterilise it before re using.

The variety of fish being bred is fantastic. Visit their web site¹ to see a list.

We brought back the following: Melanotaenia papuae, M. parkinsoni orange, M. kamaka, M. trifasciata Wonga Creek, M. exquisite, M.parva, M. praecox, M.boesemani, Pseudomugil cf. signifer Ross River, Danio roseus, D. maetaengensis, D.choprae, Inlecypris auropurpureus, Microrasbora kubotai, Macropodus erythropterus, Girardinus metallicus (black chin), Priapella intermedia and P. olmecae. Pam was also fortunate in being given a spawning mop with (hopefully) eggs of Glossolepis pseudo incisus, and Quirichthys stramineus. The pseudo incisus had only recently arrived so they were unable to pass on any pairs.

If the idea of visiting Ilse & Guido comes to mind, you will not be disappointed. Their knowledge and expertise, which they willingly share, is unrivalled. It is a long way to go but the fish are worth it. Having made the journey once, we will certainly try to return.

Question: What is the genus of the mouth brooding catfish and where does it come from? Clue: it is not listed in most books! Answers available by e-mailing info@stroodaquarist.co.uk No prizes except for an honourable mention on our web site!

REFERENCES

http://www.fischhaus-zepkow.de (It is possible to obtain a complete translation of the text by searching http://www.google.co.uk )

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