Just saying hi! (And help)

[Andyjk]

Hey everyone, just thought I'd say hi and show you some photos of my(what I think are) Ancistrus cirrhosis. Had a read around the forum and that seems to be the closest to what I've got. Not sure if they're male or female but the biggest of the three has some small bristles around the nose only so I'm thinking it's female. They're about 5-6cm in length. If anyone could offer their opinion, that'd be great. Thanks in advance!

[Shane]

Welcome! They will need to grow a bit before we can offer any help.
-Shane

[Andyjk]

Thought that might have been the case. Have I got the type of fish right though?

[Barbie]

Those are definitely some species of Ancistrus, yep!

Barbie

[Andyjk]

Thanks Barbie. One of my plecos is a little bigger than the other two and seems to enjoy chasing the other two away whenever there is food about and they get too close. I'm a little worried that the two smaller ones aren't eating enough. Is this common behaviour?

[Jobro]

This happens a lot with plecos. Just put some food into two or three different locations.

[Andyjk]

Ok good to know. Yeah, I have been placing zuchinni in a few different spots and weighing them down with stainless steel rivets

[Andyjk]

Thought you might be interested in some more photos of my plecos. The largest ones bristles are growing quickly!

[Andyjk]

Hi everyone, I've been growing some algae on a rock in a jar. Just wondering if I can place it straight in the tank for the plecos? Or is there something I need to do to prepare it?

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Hi everyone, I've been growing some algae on a rock in a jar. Just wondering if I can place it straight in the tank for the plecos?

You can put it straight in. The soft green algae (Chlorophyta) you have is eaten by a lot of different fish.

Have a look at <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... ae#p254905>.

cheers Darrel

[Andyjk]

Awesome, thanks heaps mate, much appreciated

[Andyjk]

Put the rock in tonight and they've almost completely cleaned it within 15 minutes!

[Andyjk]

I've tried searching for a general answer but am wondering if it's possible to determine how old my bn's might be. The biggest of the three is approximately 7cm (2.75 in) in length from nose to the end of the tail. Any indications would be greatly appreciated!

[Shane]

It is really hard to say because there can be huge size disparities in a single brood with the most dominant fry growing two or three times faster than the least dominant. However, if the fish were raised under good conditions they are most likely around six months old.
-Shane

[Andyjk]

Thanks for the info mate. They were all basically the same size when I got them but the most dominant one is definitely growing faster than the others. It's bristles are around 4mm long and the other two don't even have any noticeable bristles yet. I put food in separate locations so that they can all eat. Would it be worth while removing the larger one to its own tank for a while until I can upgrade them all to a larger tank?

[bekateen]

They were all basically the same size when I got them but the most dominant one is definitely growing faster than the others... Would it be worth while removing the larger one to its own tank for a while until I can upgrade them all to a larger tank?

Hi Andyjk,
I routinely do that with corys and plecos - I go through the groups of juveniles and look for the largest individuals, then pull them out and move them to a tank with other larger fish. Then, in the tank with the smaller fish left over, typically one or two will again race ahead in growth, and I'll repeat the process a few weeks later - almost like harvesting early fruit and leaving immature fruit to ripen.

Good luck!
Eric

[Andyjk]

Ok brilliant, I'll give it a go and see if there are any results. Thanks for the input Eric

[Andyjk]

Put in some plants and driftwood today. They seem to be taking a liking to it!
I'll try and get a close up of the more dominant one when he/she surfaces from its cave.

[Andyjk]

Managed to get a few shots of the three together. Quite a noticeable difference in size

[naturalart]

It's still a bit early, but it looks that the larger spotted fish under the wood has the earmarks of being a male.

[Andyjk]

Yeah he's definitely a male. Found him guarding some eggs 4 days after transferring to a new tank

Here's the tank:



And the eggs


One of these two is the mother

[bekateen]

Congratulations! I guess that confirms his sex!

Cheers, Eric

[Andyjk]

It had been around 5-7 days with no signs of hatching so I turned the temp up to 25.5 today. A couple of hours later and I have some little wrigglers coming through! I hope a decent amount survive. The tank mates are guppies and kuhli loaches - I should be right with them?

[Jools]

Yes, they'll be fine.

Jools

[Andyjk]

So I have quite a few little BNs swimming around now and wondering how normal it is to have half of the albino and half normal? Given that their parents are both not albino

[bekateen]

Parents are probably heterozygotes - if your parents are the children of an albino parent and a brown parent (i.e., the grandparents of your babies), you should expect that (on average) 25% of your babies will be albino and 75% brown. Of course, the exact ratio will vary, but from spawn to spawn should work out this way if survival is similar for both color morphs.

Cheers, Eric

[Andyjk]

Hmm interesting! Thanks for the info

[Andyjk]

So I have a whole bunch of fry and they all seems to be doing quite well. However, I've noticed the male fanning again the last few days and just noticed some eggs. Certainly didn't want this. Is the best option to remove one (or both) females? If I get rid of the eggs, they're just going to make more yeah?

[nvcichlids]

instead of removing the females, remove the male. If he is fanning, he should be far easier to remove.