Venture a guess??? New clearer pics

[Sue Foster]

Bad cell phone pics I apologise. Looking for the digital camera and will get better when found.

These babies showed up at a local fish store. There were 50 or more at one time. The store didn't know and the person who dumped them there didn't know. The woman who brought them in said she had 4 and they were all a little different with one being an albino. There are a few albino babies but mostly black babies with white spots and white stripe on dorsal and tail fins. You can see a faint stripping on the albinos as well.

Pretty sure its a bushynose of some sort. I have 4 albinos from a breeder. These babies are just a little different.

http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r182 ... ky1/pleco/

I bought 4 black ones so I would have a good shot at a pair.

[MatsP]

Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus

- that's an almost certain, even if your pictures are somewhat blurry.

The fact that they also have albinos mixed in is a pretty sure sign that these are the commonly captive bred species (never mind the fact that if you have something less common, you probably know what it is...)

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Mats

[Sue Foster]

The spots are right but I'm not seeing the white stripe on the ends of the tail and dorsal in any of the pictures.

I'm not looking for anything amazing just a little pleco that's pretty. Pretty sure I have that much. Not that I've seen that many bristlenose but I've never seen that bright white stripe on them before.

It's a college town so actually the kids may have no clue what they have other than potential beer money. They weren't named #8 party school in the country for nothing.

A couple of the baby albinos did have dark streaks on their bodies. Unfortunately they were also pretty starved looking (like too far gone). The last two babies I bought yesterday have been eating constantly since I brought them home. Haven't stopped. Poor little buggers aren't getting enough at the store.

I so want to give the little guys more than an algae wafer but I'm afraid to over do it until they get used to not fighting 50+ others for a bite.

Thanks for looking Matt.

I will find the better camera eventually.

[Unungy]

Ancistrus dolichopterus

?

[Sue Foster]

The fin stripes are right on that one but the spots are wrong. Tge spots are more like the one Matt posted. The fin and tail stripes are very much bright white. The spots are more muted and larger.

I just found the camera. Unfortunately the charger, battery and card are gone. I had hidden it from my teenage daughter. I guess she found it. Grr! the camera had never been out of the box.

Next is a trip to walmart I guess.

Wonder if it's a hybrid between the two? It may be forever a pleasant little pleco with no name.

The common albinos in my other tank are known as Mr and Mrs Piggy. The two younger ones the little pigs. These 4 may only be the piggies 5-8. The ones I've had know I am susceptible to begging. Only a matter of time before the black babies learn.

[MatsP]

Bear in mind that youngsters of the common bristlenose are much "brighter" than their parents, and the stripes on the caudal (tail) and dorsal (back) fins are much clearer than when they are older (this applies to ALL Ancistrus species that have stripes/spots - they get less brightly marked as they grow up).

Here's a picture of one of mine:


A. dolichopterus is fairly difficult to be bred, and it's very unlikely that it would breed in someone's aquarium without the owner making a reasonable effort to breed the fish. I'm pretty sure NH water is fairly hard, which would mean that you need to use de-ionised or rain-water.

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Mats

[Sue Foster]

Nope! Most water from dug wells here is soft, soft, soft. My water is darn near RO. Without me adding handfuls of lime I dissolve snails and shrimp. Wasn't until I got into planted tanks that I figured out why I couldn't keep a snail or a guppy alive up here. The deep artisian wells are a different story and vary depending on the bedrock.

Charging the camera now. Its a glorious day out there and I have plenty of yard work.

[Sue Foster]

Got the camera going. Few more pictures in the album too. Just a sony cybershot so they aren't perfect either. Babies are smaller than a lot of guppies right now so it will take practice to get the perfect shot.

[Martin S]

It certainly doesn't look like an ancistrus at all! Not sure I could venture a guess, but it is a very nice looking 'plec'.

[drpleco]

Looks exactly like an ancistrus to me. Considering there were also albinos available, I can't think of any more likely candidate. Maybe the slightly "off" appearance is due to hybridization or just individual variability.

[Sue Foster]

The young woman that brought them into the pet shop didn't know. She described the 4 potential parents as being all about 4 to 4.5 inches and one being an albino. Said they all looked a little different from the other. The babies were a total surprise and she didn't know which were the parents. There could even be 2 clutches here. There was a lot of size difference in the babies. She had no idea which sex was which or anything.

[MatsP]

Without good clear photos of the parents, it's very hard to even guess. But the fact that you have albinos in the mix means that there are common bristlenoses in the tank, as that is the only (currently known) albino form. It seems fairly unlikely that the owner would have a mix of exotic species and common species without knowing about it - there is a significant price difference, aside from other differences.

Yes, they can vary a bit from one fish to another.

Looking at your new picture, I don't see anythinng that says they are NOT common Ancistrus.

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Mats

[Sue Foster]

Thanks

I was just looking for a small pleco for my tanks anyway. Seems like I got them.
I only paid $2.99 so I did ok.

I haven't kept a pleco since I was 6 years old, I'm 52 so I'm having fun with them. Very amusing to watch.

[MatsP]

Yes, they are lovely fish. Although it's about 6 years since I first bred mine, I still get a bit excited when I see new babies in my tank.

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Mats

[Sue Foster]

When I was 6, Santa Claus brought me a 10 gallon fish tank. Grossly overstocked with angels and neons and a common pleco. I liked that fish but he quickly outgrew the tank. Sort of traumatized me at the time and kept me from ever buying another pleco.

A few months ago I bought some guppies online. The seller threw in an albino busynose. I cringed at first but soon realized he wasn't a tank buster. I bought him a girlfried when I was finally sure I had a male. The seller threw in another 2 small ones. Apparently I shouldn't have mentioned it was a 75 gallon tank.

Then those babies showed up at the pet store. Couldn't resist.

Might have started something........