LDA08 A Claro advice

[vernonlarge]

I've just picked up 6 A.Claro. They're all just under 1". Will they be ok together in a 14 gallon to grow out or should I separate them, say a trio per 14g? The idea is to grow them out before moving them to a 50g with a view to breeding. Also are there any compatibility issues I should be aware of, i.e. with corys, cichlids, loaches, etc?

Thanks.

[Birger]

To me it seemed these grew fairly slowly, so to get as much growth as possible I would recommend putting them into a larger tank right away. The 14 gal. may be too small but right now they may get lost in a fifty.
Another reason for not using the small tank would be that they prefer slightly more pristine conditions than the more common ancistrus and the smaller tank may be more difficult to maintain in this way.

These fish may be small but still compete with each other very much.There will end up being a dominant male and the dominant female will play a key role as well.

I kept a group of six(I ended up with 2 males and four females) in a 12 x 24 x 16high and had a constant supply of fry once they got going but only from one male.
A fifty will probably work great for you as a second male will get a chance for a territory and will likely be able to produce young as well.
These broods are fairly easy to manage as you do not end up with huge numbers of fry.

These are a great little fish and mostly keep to themselves, I would not keep anything to boisterous in with them or you will miss all the interaction that plays out within the group. I had only kept other smaller catfish together with them myself...microsynodontis and small Synodontis nigriventris but I would not recommend anything that is not smallish and peaceful, I think that would be asking for trouble otherwise.

Birger

[vernonlarge]

Thanks...

I currently have a breeding pair of chocolate cichlids and about a dozen Corys in my 50g at the moment. The chocs are fairly placid with the male only showing territorial signs during breeding, the rest of the time he is focused on his mate. Do you think these would be too boistrous for my LDA08's?

[Birger]

If you mean The Chocolate cichlid (Hypselecara temporalis) putting a 2inch pleco in with a fish that gets to possibly 12 inches seems like quite a gamble no matter how peaceful. The max size for claro in the Cat-eLog is 2.7 inches SL but I would venture to say that is the exception with most(females and subdominant males) staying around 2 inch.

I have not kept this particular species of cichlid...but a cichlid is still a cichlid some just more aggressive than others.
Maybe someone else has experience mixing this one with small plec's.

Birger