Breeding l411 Hypancistrus.

[Cory Ben]

Hi all.

I am a complete novice when it comes to breeding hypancistrus, in fact plecs I'm general accept the bristlenose so I have a few questions.

I currently have one l411 which I suspect is male but I'm not certain. I'd like to add more to make a group to attempt breeding, what is the best ratio of males to females for hypans?

Also am I correct in thinking they need a snug fitting cave?

Any other tips are welcome, as so far I have just bred Corys.

Many thanks, Ben.

[Jools]

Hi Ben,

Have a read of some of the Hypancistrus breeding articles in the reproduction section of Shane's World. They cover the basics and a lot more!

Cheers,

Jools

[Thomas]

Hi Ben,

They prefer a fitting cave that's true.
If you have the possibility, try 3M/2F or 3M/3F

Good luck

Thomas

[Cory Ben]

Great, thanks guys.

I'm not sure I'll get 4 more to be honest but maybe a couple.

I've had a read through a few articles on Shane's world. One was for l260 Queen Arabesque which is a similar fish. There was in interesting part in that, that suggested that the females have white stomachs whereas the males are more patterned. I know they are different species but being similar, would this be a way of guessing the sex? I've only ever had one hypancistrus and juvenile plecs so I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at when it comes to odontodes. Is it obvious? I was thinking I had a male, but with the white belly theory, if that was accurate of course, would suggest it is a female.



Many thanks.
Ben.

[bekateen]

There was in interesting part in that, that suggested that the females have white stomachs whereas the males are more patterned. I know they are different species but being similar, would this be a way of guessing the sex? I've only ever had one hypancistrus and juvenile plecs so I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at when it comes to odontodes. Is it obvious?

Hi Ben,
I haven't sexed 411 before, but I'd be inclined to think that your white belly idea will only apply to select species and will not be a genus-wide rule. The CLOG for

L411

states

Males have cheek and pectoral odontodes to a larger extent than females, as well as overall body shape shows females as fatter around the mid-section when in good condition.

The body shape difference is pretty straight forward. Unfortunately there are no good photos of the cheek and pectoral odontodes of L411 on its CLOG page, but you can see a really clear photo of the cheek and pectoral odontodes of

L128

here: http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/ima ... ge_id=6366. Granted that fish is a Hemiancistrus and not a Hypancistrus, but I think you can see the odontodes on the cheeks and pectoral fin really well. The odontodes are the spikey, hairy extensions near the gill operculum and along the pectoral spine (the leading edge of the pectoral fin).

Cheers, Eric

[Cory Ben]

Ah, that is very obvious. Mine doesn't have that. Ive had the fish for 18 months now, so I assume if it is a male then it wouldn't need a female to bring them out? I only suggested that there may be a similarity between the two species as they are to my move eye quite similar accept the l260 striped are more pronounced and I think l411's seem to often be sold as l260's near me.