Ancistrus SP. L279

[abcdefghi]

Can anyone tell me the requirements of the L279? Are they compatible with a regular BN pleco (not sure on the L number, but its the ones typically sold by LFS)? In a 29G with a single angel, and a single BN pleco how many L279's could I add?

Thanks.

[MatsP]

The ones common to LFS' do not have an L-number, but it's listed on this site as

Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus

.

I have no experience in keeping L279 - it comes from the Peruvian part of the Amazon/Maranon river system, and I'd expect it to like the cooler range of pleco temperatures - around 25'C/77'F.

I don't see any problem with keeping with the common bristlenose, aside from if you keep a single male with a single female of another species, you MAY find yourself with hybrid off-spring. If that happens, you need to make sure they do not get distributed - there are already enough different species out there without creating new, artificial ones.
--
Mats

[abcdefghi]

The ones common to LFS' do not have an L-number, but it's listed on this site as

Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus

.

I have no experience in keeping L279 - it comes from the Peruvian part of the Amazon/Maranon river system, and I'd expect it to like the cooler range of pl*co temperatures - around 25'C/77'F.

I don't see any problem with keeping with the common bristlenose, aside from if you keep a single male with a single female of another species, you MAY find yourself with hybrid off-spring. If that happens, you need to make sure they do not get distributed - there are already enough different species out there without creating new, artificial ones.
--
Mats

Thanks for the reply, I have a single female BN at the moment, so would not want to end up with any hybrid off spring.

How many L279's could I add into a 29G with only the female BN and a male angel already housed there? Its a planted tank, water change is 50% weekly, filtration is a Cascade 700. I believe they max out around 4" or so.

[MatsP]

I guess about 3-5.

--
Mats

[MatsP]

By the way, if you get some, please take some photos and submit to Planet Catfish - we only have a single picture. It would probably be prudent to verify the ID on the "What's my catfish" section first, as it's hard for me or one of the other Cat-eLog updaters to validate species, and the fact that it's not having more pictures usually indicate that it's not that common - so it may be a case of "labeled incorrectly" in your shop.

--
Mats

[abcdefghi]

Will do, if I get some I will try to take as many pictures as possible from top, bottom, sides etc.

[jeff@zina.com]

My first thought was that you probably don't have any L279's available.

I wouldn't expect these to be too much different from more common Ancistrus, and if you want to breed them I'd use a lower, wider aquarium like a 20L or a 30/40 breeder. A 29 wastes about half the water capacity as far as these go. Or maybe just lower the water level by a third to half. I wouldn't expect issues with a half dozen in the tank until they are sexually mature, then some scraps among males might happen if you don't have enough caves/holes/etc. Or if the sex ratio is drastically one way or the other. But you could pull any that don't behave and leave a breeding trio if that works best.

Good luck, and yes, pictures please.

Jeff

[abcdefghi]

Thought I would update this with some pictures. The pics are not the best, but the fish is still somewhat shy as I have only had them for a couple days. I have a male in the tank with a good set of bristles, and am hoping this one is a female. The male is far more shy during the day, but out and about at night. Will try to get some better pictures once they have settled in some more.

[abcdefghi]

Adding 2 more pictures.

[abcdefghi]

A couple pics of the male, and one more of the (possible) female. I checked against the pic of the L279 on here, and they look identical. Hopefully once they are settled I can get some better pictures.

[MatsP]

Without any good indication as to where these were imported from, I'd say they are "Common". There is NOTHING in those pictures that indicate they are NOT

Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus

. Of course they could be at least a dozen other species - depends on where you bought it and where it was imported from. If it came from captive breeding it is certainly the "common" variety.

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Mats

[abcdefghi]

The thing that makes be believe they are L279 is that if you look at the picture here see the white markings on the tail fin? mine have those exact same markings. I can't get those markings to show up yet in my pictures, but will keep trying to get better pics.

[Mod edit: Insert picture directly --Mats]

[MatsP]

I edited your post to show the image directly.

The white border on caudal (tail) and/or dorsal (back) fin is fairly common in Ancistrus species. I don't see anything in your pictures that says MORE that your fish is L279 than it says "it's a common" - and there is a big difference in availability of those two species... There are 455 registered populations of the common, there are 2 registered populations of L279. Do you have any other reason why we should think that you are the third owner known to this site of a very unusual fish, rather than the 456th owner of a common fish?

For example, did you get this fish from a shop known to sell very unusual fish? Did you pay a lot of money for it? What country was it imported from - if it's a rare fish, this should be available from your LFS if they are at least a little bit good (and any other LFS wouldn't bother with getting unusual fish that looks almost identical to a common fish that costs half or a third of the price!)

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Mats

[abcdefghi]

I got mine from a breeder, will try to find out some more information about where the parents are originally from, but do know that he has been to Peru collecting fish.

[MatsP]

Collecting in Peru does not mean collecting in the specific region where L279 comes from.

If the fish (or it's parents) is wild-caught, we need to know exactly which river (and which larger river that flows into).

There are several Ancistrus known from Peru.
Madre de Dios/Madeira basin: 4 species.
Ucayali (including Hucamayo where L279 was found): 5 species.
Putumayo: 1 species.

9 Species have Peru in the type location, but there are also L-numbers from those regions.

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Mats

[abcdefghi]

Collecting in Peru does not mean collecting in the specific region where L279 comes from.

Oh, I know, however I also know that on the tank they came from is labeled with "Haucu Mayo"

[jeff@zina.com]

The thing that makes be believe they are L279 is that if you look at the picture here (Pic Removed) see the white markings on the tail fin? mine have those exact same markings.

I have a number of "common" ancistrus with those markings, including a longfin with about half the tail white. But I'm not capable of making an ID based on those pictures so I can't say you're wrong on the L279 designation.

Jeff

[MatsP]

As I said, a white margin on the tail of the fish is very common in Ancistrus. And like Jeff says, it's almost impossible to tell the difference between your fish and the common variety. If the breeder collected the fish from Huacamayo, then it's possible (but not guaranteed) that it's L279.

It is far from a common fish in the trade.

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Mats

[abcdefghi]

Next time I speak to the breeder I will try to find some information about where he got the parents from, the only other information I have at the moment is that the adults only grow to around 4" instead of the 5" of common bristlenose. Either way, will try to find out some more information.

Also, are there any areas I can look at or try to picture in order to help with getting a better ID?

[andywoolloo]

some of my commons had the white edging too.

[Shane]

Oh, I know, however I also know that on the tank they came from is labeled with "Haucu Mayo"

I'll bet this is clearly a misunderstanding of the word "guacamaya" which means "macaw." Guacamaya is commonly applied as a description to any colorful fish.

-Shane

[MatsP]

There are certainly a body of water called Huacamayo in Peru, that connects to the Ucayali - whether the name originates from Guacamayo or not, I'm not sure - of course, it could be that the fish's origin is still a misunderstanding!

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Mats