Return to Zepkow
Dawn just breaking at 04:30 hours on a Wednesday morning in May 2004. Alarm goes off and is immediately silenced with a swift blow. Up, showered, dressed and a light breakfast. Out to the fish house to catch some fish to go to Germany. That was the start of a sequence of events that was to culminate in a return visit to Fisch Haus Zepkow. Pam Boyle and I decided to make a return trip to purchase further fish from their extensive breeding stock. Prior contact by e mail (which had been the continuance of a year long correspondence) showed that we had fish that were unavailable, or difficult to obtain in Germany. The 07:00 Seacat from Calais was the first leg of the journey. Motoring through (or around) Dunkirk,Ostend, Gent, Antwerp, Eindhoven and Venlo, took us over the border into Germany. There followed seemingly endless Autobahns through Duisberg, Munster and Bremen to take us to Hamburg and thence to our overnight stop at Lauenberg. Suitably refreshed, we continued on the autobahn towards Berlin. Just 100k short of Berlin, we turned off to the old town of Wittstock. From there a short distance took us to Zepkow. Ilse and Guido made us most welcome and within minutes we were sitting around a table drinking coffee and chatting about fish. Prior to our visit, we made up our 'wish list' of fish and in some cases where the stock of young fish was low, these had already been reserved. With 150 tanks to view, containing some 130 different species of fish all 'home bred', there was plenty to occupy our time there. Their latest breeding success was one of the Tatia species. They keep their adult fish in what can only be described as three storey plastic pipes; each pipe housing one fish. They looked quite cute, each pipe with a catfish just showing its head. Another catfish also fairly recently bred was Lophiobagrus cyclurus. Other notable new successes included Microrasbora nana & kubotai and Chilatherina sp. Kali Biru. A recent acquisition is a trio of Rhadinocentrus ornatus. This is a rainbow fish that is rarely seen. They were getting eggs but all were apparently infertile. I was given a large clump of java moss containing these eggs but unfortunately, none were viable. I have no doubt that they will solve the problem in due course. Some of their breeding stock fish are incredible. An enormous pair (probably nearly 150 mm S.L.) of Neolamprologus brichardi age 14 years and still producing fry every few weeks. Similarly a pair of 'daffodil', very large and the male with a large nuchal hump. Most of their tanks are lit by natural light so the fish are always showing their best colours. As with last time we visited, the tanks were all immaculate and there were no signs of sick or deformed fish; indeed, one would be very hard pushed to level any criticism of their fish or set up. We made up our minds on purchases and these were duly caught and double bagged.
It was then our pleasure to present Ilse & Guido with certificates of Honorary Membership of Strood & District Aquarist Society in recognition of their article on breeding Microrasbora erythromicron. They both asked that we thank all club members for the honour and recognition.
Time to depart to the local hotel – which we just got to before they closed for the night at 10pm. Not many hotels I know where the proprietor would help unload the fish boxes, carry them up about 30 steps and then repeat the exercise the next morning! That morning, it was just a case of driving the 650 miles back to Calais. This was accomplished in just nine hours with only the customary delay around the Antwerp ring road.
As with our visit last year, we can only be totally amazed at the knowledge and skill in getting some of the more difficult fish to spawn and then raise the fry. Ilse & Guido are truly dedicated aquarists and it only amazes me that more shops have not beaten a path to their very fine establishment.
What did we take ???
Brachyraphis hessfeldi, B.holdridgei, B.roseni & Carlhubbsia stuarti.
What did we bring back??
Pseudomugil connieae,P.furcatus, P. reticulatus. Chilatherina bleheri, C. sp. Kiri Batu, Melanotaenia eachamensis, M. irianjaya, M. lakamora M.parva, M. pygmaea (eggs),Microrasbora erythromicron, M. kubotai, Lamprologus meleagris, Julidochromis ornatus, Neoheterandria elegans, Heterandria formosa, Moenkhausia colletti ,Danio choprae, Betta simplex, Limia perugiae and last but by no means least, Phyllonemus sp. Catfish. I hasten to add, they were not all for just Pam and I. As last year, we were happy to bring back fish for other aquarists.
© Pete Cottle, 2004.