[Killietalk] Epiplatys book -- Wow!

[ROBERT ELLERMANN <ruevenm at sbcglobal_net>]

Hi,
 
    I received the new Epiplatys book as well as the new Beginner's Guide today and I have to say they are spectacular. I've been in the AKA long enough to have started with the original Beginner's Guide in 1969 and then to have acquired all the other editions -- including the commercial one Kordon did for the AKA in 1974 -- and this one is by far the best! (Even if I have a soft spot for the first edition.) This book would make a great commercial product for the fishstores. The photography is excellent; the breeding material is detailed; the chapter on diseases is worth the price of the whole book as it is the real goods and the food section is amazing. Even if you are an old member, this book is worth getting.
 
   The Epiplatys book has to be one of the best killie books ever published -- and I've seen/have most of them! This is a book! It is full of the kind of specific husbandary information that comes only from a master aquarist dedicated to one family of fishes. The breeding suggestions can be applied to all killies and they taught me a thing or two. The photos are gorgeous and hint at the close relationship between the old "Roloffias" and Epiplatys. The amount of material is staggering. I am reading it thinking what a book like this would do for all the old Roloffias or Nothos or Aphyosemions. Many of the photos are by a man named W. Kugelmann from the DKG. Does anyone know anything about Kugelmann? Several years ago I tried to contact him as he had a number of rare Callopanchax populations. Does he still specialize in the old "Roloffias"?
 
   These two books are like the old days when the AKA published an Index and various inexpensive scientific/serious hobbyist publications. It's nice to see that again and to read that the intention is to produce more of these.
 
  One note on the Beginner's Guide. In the suggested incubation times, it is said that Gn. hoignei eggs hatch best at 4 months. This must be a mistake. Even at 82F, hoignei eggs take 6 and 1/2 to 7 months to begin hatching. Now zonatus will hatch at 5 months at 82F and maybe even at 4 and 1/2 months -- with a few bellysliders. The chart assumes a low 70's incubation temperature and that would lengthen Gnatholebias eggs into the 8-9 months range  -- if not kill them altogether. The guentheri, foerschi, palmqvisti, magnificus and boitonei times seem a bit long for a first wetting; whereas, kafuensis times seem a bit quick.
 
   Glad to see Gene Wolfsheimer receiving credit for pioneering the shipment of eggs -- even if his name is mispelled.

In all, everyone should get these books.
 
Bobby


 

 
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