Hi!
I have a 30 galons tank, 100cm x 40cm x 40cm aprox.
And I am not sure if I can mix differnt kind of plecos, in present I have 2 Hypancistrus L-270 2 farlowellas spawning, and a new L-134 peckoltia, there are too logs and place to hide. Iwant to bay another L-134, but I dont sure about it....
I would say that you should be fine. I have a 46 gal that has 4 x L340s, 3 x L104s, 2 x red ancistrus (when I allow the male and the female to be together to spawn), 2 x farlos, and a 4" L240 that is growing out to join the adult colony. I have had them together for well over a year, and the 340s spawn all the time, and there are no issues. Good luck.
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Interests: African catfishes and oddballs, Madagascar cichlids; stoner doom and heavy rock; old school choppers and riding them, fantasy novels, travelling and diving in the tropics and all things nature.
Like sidguppy, I would dedicate a tank of this size to your spawning group of Farlowella. It looks like you are having good success with raising their fry. Only a few of us have been so fortunate. And I am not among them.
I hesitate about mixing different Hypanscistrus species together because they seem to hybridize easily.
In the coming years we want to avoid creating and distributing hybrid Hypancistrus or we may lose many distinct species eventually. This sort of thing is what appears to have lead to the creation of the common Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus and perhaps L10a Red lizard Whiptail cats.
Therefore, I would recommend keeping a collection of plecos of reasonably small sizes in such a small tank.
Ten specimens would be about the most specimens I would try to maintain in your 30 gallon tank.
Ok than you, don´t worry about mixing different Hypanscistrus species because I only have 2 hypancistrus L-270 and the other ones are peckoltias L-134 and farlowellas... so in this case is impossible making hybrids...I also disagree with hybridations in our tank...if they don´t do it in the nature!
I would like to show you more pictures of my farlow!!!!
I did note you only had the two L270's and your proposed collection posed no chance of creating any hybrids. I merely mentioned this in case you were considering adding other Hypancistrus. The mentioning of this had more to do with helping all our members aware of a problem which is to be avoided.
Even immature plecos of the same species often get into fur balls and especially when competing over some food. These are mostly interesting behaviors which rarely result in any damage. I see these frequently in my L333 colony where at any given time there are almost 200 fish in the tank of every size from new fry to the wild adults and every size in between.
I consider these mock battles part of their range of interesting and entertaining behaviors.
Thanks!
And sorry! I was wrong! the catfish are not L-270, are like yours!
L-333, and later I will ask how to know the sex of the L-333, because I have two ... to see if I have luck and are a couple ...
Your L333's appear to me to be too young to sex.
I think many breeders of L333's and their relatives use a variety of clues to try sexing their adult L333's.
First they should be at least two years but preferably three years old and in excellent condition.
If you place them in a white container and view them from above the females often have a slight bulge to their bodies at and just behind their pectoral fins.
Males often appear to have a more "V" shape from above than the females.
Males often have thicker pectoral fins than females of the same age and size.
When any Hypancistrus is in breeding condition the males will have more obvious odontodes, the little spiky points covering their pectoral fins and often this is seen along the length of their bodies especially from their dorsal fins to the base of their tail.
Less reliable but an additional factor to consider is that if there are fewer caves than the total number of L333's the males tend to commandeer the available caves and the females will often use pieces of wood and or the under sides of a pedestal style sponge filter as hiding places. I usually only provide three caves for a group of nine fish or two caves for a group of six fish.
The 30 gal tank is barely large enough for six adult breeding L333's. They usually reach 4 to 4-3/4 inches with the females tending to be the slightly smaller sized adults.
It isn't likely that a female will be able to keep males from taking control of a limited number of spawning type caves.
Females interested in spawning tend to gather near the male occupied caves.
These are most of the things I use to try to sex my plecos but in truth, I do not try sexing mine and limit the number of caves so there is more competition between the males to occupy them and then competition among the females for the attentions of the dominant males. If you provide several pieces of wood the females and the fry use them for cover. There is no problem with leaving the fry in the breeding tank as the adults do not harm them and even when a tank is over run with fry and various sizes of juveniles, the adults continue to breed. Once L333 begin breeding they spawn frequently and are not much different than breeding common Bush Nose Plecos. They are an excellent beginners choice for a pleco more interesting than common Bushy Noses. Adult L333 regularly produce 35 to 50 fry per spawn. Their fry grow rapidily and can reach more than 2-1/2 inches in under one year.
