Ancistrus an aufwuchs grazer?

[wijnands]

I transferred my three Ancistrus this morning and noticed they immediately went grazing on the leaf litter and not on the pebbles with algae.





They do seem to appreciate the sand and the increase in swimming space. They were back on colour in minutes and are all over the tank now.

[wijnands]

Well, the pattern continues. They now touch some algae but are all over the leaf litter during the day. I've also noticed my biggest fish in close proximity with the medium sized one for periods as long as 30 minutes. In the previous tank any encounter resulted in a territorial chase.

[DutchFry]

I think there are two things to say about this right now:

1. your fishes recently moved tanks and territories still need to be made
2. they are probably taking advantage of some sort of food source they find in/on the leafs. most Loricariidae eat wood and those that haven't got the dentals to do so get small bits of wood from the many different sorts of pl*co tabs available. i guess your fishes are getting something from the leafs, wood particles or fresh aufwuchs maybe. Could be just the case the algae in your tank are a bit older and from what I've read they onlyu like the fresh parts or even ignore algae completely but get small crustaceans or other organisms from it.

but as always, i could be very far from the actual truth!

[wijnands]

As two #1: Good point.

As to two... I've got two good sized chunks of wood in there, one new, one quite old. Also this is a new tank and almost all algae is fresh. I really do think they get something out/of the leaves. Wonder what. They also seem interested in those few areas on the new wood where that typical white fungus often pops up.

[pleco_breeder]

I don't keep leaves in my tanks, aside from a couple shrimp, cory, and tetra tanks, but have wondered a couple times whether something about the tannins may be helpful to digestion. I've seen it mentioned in the past, but have never found any research with a tangible conclusion. It could also be as simple as them being drawn to the carbohydrates being synthesized from the decomposing plant bacteria.

I've also noticed that most Ancistrus like to feed on that "white junk" from fresh driftwood. However, they don't really bother with the wood itself much. I've been under the assumption they're drawn by something being produced from the bacteria/fungi producing on those areas.

This is all speculation, but until we see something solid it's all we have.

Larry

[wijnands]

Well... I can't generalize but these Ancistrus Claro do seem to enjoy leaf litter a lot more than I expected. They also roam over the wood, especially looking for all the new sorts of algae. I dropped in the first hikari tab yesterday. It was eaten but certainly not with the ravenous attitude I saw in the old tank.

I do like their colour changing abilities as well.



and the same fish 10 minutes earlier.


DSC_6025c by j_wijnands, on Flickr

[naturalart]

I am glad to see your claro's thriving. Don't know that you should breed 'brother and sister' together but maybe if you find a few more fish you could build a breeding group?

[TwoTankAmin]

I have noticed a similar behavior from my Altum angels. I add catappa leaves (aka Indian Almond leaves) to the tanks. I added about 20 new small Altums this past August and I noticed in the Q tank that they were often picking at the catappas. I also noticed there was a sort of cloudy slime which would form on some of the equipment and they also seemed to like eating this.

Many years back when I set up my very first tank I purchased a red tailed black shark. I also had wood in the tank which began to get a similar whitish coating. The rtbs made very short shrift of the stuff and managed to clear the entire tank of it in short order.

I am not sure what the stuff is exactly, but it appears as if many fish consider it a treat to eat and I see no reason this could not apply to plecos as well.

[wijnands]

I am glad to see your claro's thriving. Don't know that you should breed 'brother and sister' together but maybe if you find a few more fish you could build a breeding group?

I bought these in a shop, no way of knowing if they are related.

In this country there is a single dealer who infrequently imports these from, according to him, some small breeder in Germany somewhere. I'm aware of that lady in Norway who breeds them and she has offered to send me a few if I end up with a same sex group. However, the stress of delivery is not something I'm keen to subject them to (suggestions welcome). so.. not much option to work on the gene pool unfortunately.
If I do find these fish locally on our version of craigslist there's a good chance they are from the same dealer.

Having said that, I noticed this for the first timn today.

[Barbie]

Could you take some more pictures of these guys from above with a ruler in with them? I'm not sure they truly are A. claro, after looking at these shots.

Barbie

[wijnands]

I can try. I think I've got a plastic ruler somewhere I could put in. Why, what makes you doubt the identification?

When I just got them I posted these pics: http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 13&t=36590