What other fish with Peppered Cory's?

NewFishKeeper · Post by **NewFishKeeper** » 19 Feb 2005, 12:21

I have recently been given a 144 litre tank as a gift, containing 2 peppered cory, 4 neon tetra, 3 Danios (not sure which!) and 2 african dwarf frogs.

Im wondering what else i can put in that will be happy? More corys would be great but i would also like a plec of some kind.

Any suggestions from you guys would be just great!

Post by **corybreed** » 19 Feb 2005, 14:37

You can cormfortably house 6 more Corys and a small Peckoltia or Ancictrus. Check the Cat-elog ther are many options available to you.

Mark

Post by **Birger** » 19 Feb 2005, 15:16

Definately second the Pekoltia or Ancistrus,right size,affordable,care is fairly simple and plenty of character.

Birger

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 19 Feb 2005, 15:32

Peppered's love more Peppered's!

NewFishKeeper · Post by **NewFishKeeper** » 19 Feb 2005, 17:46

thank you all

Will let you know what we decide

Any more advice and ideas appreciated!!

The Ancistrus, how big do they get to? and are they algae eaters?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Feb 2005, 10:31

Ancistrus size depends on the exact species, but around 5" total length for the "common bristlenose", which is the one that you'll find more easily in the shops. Costs about a fiver or so.

Most of the peckoltia's grow to about that size too.

Ancistrus is a pretty good algae eater, and they aren't expensive either (because they are easy to breed. I've got 25-30 little ones swimming about in my tank at the moment, with the male sitting on a clutch of eggs for another week or so, for the next batch of 30).

You can keep two Ancistrus in your tank without problems. Just make sure they have plenty of hiding spaces (the more hide-aways they get, the more likely it is that you see them out, because they feel safe if they are able to hide quickly).

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Mats

NewFishKeeper · Post by **NewFishKeeper** » 21 Feb 2005, 10:34

oh cool thank you!

My dad bought me a common plec on the weekend, he always kept them in his tanks and they never seemed to get to be monsters! lol

The shop have said once it gets too big for the tank they will take it back, as they are keen plec keepers, so im happy about that

Which ones do you keep? so cool that they are breeding too!

Do you sell them? I might have to keep an eye on that, i think they are pretty cool fish

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Feb 2005, 10:46

Note that Common Pleco and Common Bristlenose ARE NOT the same thing. They may look somewhat similar (they are both Loricariid's).

Common bristlenose is dark brown (going to almost black on young ones) with lighter spots (almost white on young ones). Males will have bristles on the front of the head (hence the name), and sometimes the females have them too.

Common pleco will have a brown base colour with a darker spot/line pattern (of course, common pleco is used for about 6 different species, so it's hard to be specific onthis).

The common pleco will grow to large (12"+) size if it's given good care (like good water quality and food). Also, once it grows a bit bigger, it's not such a great algae eater.

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Mats

NewFishKeeper · Post by **NewFishKeeper** » 21 Feb 2005, 10:48

i see

Thanks for the info, very helpful indeed.

Will keep the plec for the moment, its good that i can take him back at any time, im rather attatched to him already hes gone into the tank and is just a great character already!

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Feb 2005, 11:43

Oh, all Loricariid's (the whole family of about 600-1000 species) are great characters, all in their own way, from the ones that grow to just over an inch to the ones that grow to over 3 feet...

I realize I missed a couple of the answers to your questions: Mine are what the cat-elog describes as "Ancisturs sp(3)", which is a specie of ancistrus that are commonly tank-bred, and seen as "the guppy of the Loricariid's". As long as the tank is reasonably well-kept, you get a male and a female, they'll spawn. Unfortunately, the first spawn failed due to "greedy fish" (i.e. Freia the goldfish ate the babies...).

I'm hoping the ones that I've got now are going to grow big enough to trade in the fish-shop for a couple of fish or a portion of live food, or whatever it may amount to. I'm by no means a professional breeder, but there are some on this forum (found in the Loricariid section) that do professional breeding of "Common bristlenose".

As the young bristlenose sell for about 3-5 quid in the shop when they are about 1.5-2" long, and mine are currently shorter than an inch (about a month on from coming out of the cave), I don't think I'll make any money on keeping them for three months and then selling them...

Just buying the vegetables to feed them will cost as much as I'll get for them, I'm sure. They currently go through a slice of courgette or sweet potato a day, plus one or two algae wafers.

But with a potential of about 60 of them at 1.5" in a few months, I'm sure I'll have to get rid of them someway. Eventually all your friends that have a fish-tank will already have one, and it's getting difficult to keep them all... I'm already having to plan for how many I can keep in which tank, as I don't have a specific "grow-out tank".

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Mats

NewFishKeeper · Post by **NewFishKeeper** » 21 Feb 2005, 12:03

Just looking at a picture on the catelog, its a beautiful cat

Shame your too far away i would have nabbed 1 or 2 of em for myself!

I have pregnant danios at the moment, looks like 2 of em are. But i'm not trying to breed anything so ill let nature take its course with them i think

Thanks again for taking the time to reply, i'm learning so much from this site!

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Feb 2005, 12:08

My bristlenose tank have danios in it. They are unfortunately pretty good at eating their own eggs about the same rate as they are producing them. Mine spawns (at least they behave like they are spawning) all the time, but no fry yet after about half a year of spawning at least twice weekly... That's pearly and zebra danios.

The "Common bristlenose" is not hard to get, every fish shop has them (or can get them), so if you want some, you should be able to get them from your local.

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Mats

NewFishKeeper · Post by **NewFishKeeper** » 21 Feb 2005, 12:13

think mine are pearly danios, how long does it take for them to lay their eggs? One seems about ready by the size of her!

Can i keep a brittlenose as well as a plec? Will they be ok together or is that a no no?

Thanks

NewFishKeeper · Post by **NewFishKeeper** » 21 Feb 2005, 12:25

actually on closer inspection i dont think my danios are pearl!

They arent zebra either, possibly leopard? but i cant get a decent pic!!!

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Feb 2005, 12:33

Here's a thread about Danio's spawning...

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Mats

NewFishKeeper · Post by **NewFishKeeper** » 21 Feb 2005, 12:46

thanks, i think i read that before!

Im wondering how long they have the eggs in their tummies before they spawn?

Very technical of me isnt it!

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Feb 2005, 14:51

They will carry eggs until they meet a suitable father/sperm donor that does the right dance routine... Highly technical answer to highly techie questions, eh?

But honestly, they will look quite fat (the technical word for this is "Gravid") for a long time if they don't meet "the right guy". On the other hand, if you have any male in there, that should be sufficient to satisfy the "right guy", they aren't supposed to be very picky...

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Mats

NewFishKeeper · Post by **NewFishKeeper** » 21 Feb 2005, 14:54

well i have 2 fat females i think and one very slim what i presume is male!

Im so new to this i have NO idea! lol

I'll just see how they go for the moment, they have all been acting very strangly over the last day or 2, the 'male' has been chasing the bigger female everywhere, bashing through the neons and scattering them!

I thought this may have been the 'dance' but maybe not!

Oh this fish keeping is hard work!