My pleco tank, inspired by a biotope

[emanuel]

Hyhy, Very nice! Your L200s (are they Baryancistrus demantoides?) look very big, wow! Good luck with the little L397s, they will certainly do well for a while in the small tank.
Also I love Lemon Tetras, I would have liked them too, but my girlfriend insisted on putting Paracheirodon axelrodi.

Keep me updated on what you decide to do with your aquariums, I'm curious! it's always nice to see something other than the usual bare tank with just the clay caves and plecos

[Hyhy]

Hyhy, Very nice! Your L200s (are they Baryancistrus demantoides?) look very big, wow! Good luck with the little L397s, they will certainly do well for a while in the small tank.
Also I love Lemon Tetras, I would have liked them too, but my girlfriend insisted on putting Paracheirodon axelrodi.

Keep me updated on what you decide to do with your aquariums, I'm curious! it's always nice to see something other than the usual bare tank with just the clay caves and plecos

Thanks, yes all 4 of them are demantoides. Picked them because they are slightly smaller and prefer more veggies. Two of them are pretty much gull grown I believe, 16cm~, and 2 are small, 5-6cm~. '

Didn't have the money to buy all large and it's fun to see them grow also heard that the larger ones are almost always male since they are easier to catch but don't know if that's true- also no breeding report on here so might be I don't have much hopes for that though.

I prefer higher bodied tetras in general and they seem to be hardier, kinda wish I wen't with a more redish one for that particular tank though since as it is now it's shades of yellow and grey haha.

Both sizes are in similiary sized tanks(50-70 gal), the tank with lemon tetras in is 90x60x45cm, looks kinda small on the pic though. Will update, perhaps even start a thread myself when I decide it's time to make the tank look good, as long as you do the same.

[emanuel]

Thanks, yes all 4 of them are demantoides. Picked them because they are slightly smaller and prefer more veggies. Two of them are pretty much gull grown I believe, 16cm~, and 2 are small, 5-6cm~. '

It's actually not true that demantoides stay smaller, I know several people who have had both demantoides and subviridis and they all agree that adult size is the same.
I had researched the matter for a long time, because I too wanted the smaller of the two species in my tank. Since they are the same, I chose the subviridis as I liked their color slightly better

and it's fun to see them grow

I completely agree! I also always try to buy small fish, I love to see them grow. Unfortunately with L128 and L200 I waited six months, but I couldn't find them small, so I gave up and bought the L128 adults and the L200 medium size. All the other plecos I bought small. I find it very satisfying to watch them grow.

also heard that the larger ones are almost always male since they are easier to catch but don't know if that's true- also no breeding report on here so might be I don't have much hopes for that though.

Unfortunately I think it's true, I too have the same problem, I had bought 4 L128, 99% were all males, so I immediately sold two of them and in their place I took two medium/small sized H. subviridis, hoping that between there is a female. The specimen of H. subviridis that I already had for six months (unfortunately), turned out to be a male too. The only possibility is the two specimens still too small to be sexed, but I begin to have less and less hope.
It would be great if you were able to reproduce the demantoides, in my opinion it is not impossible. We hope you can have at least one female among your 4.

[emanuel]

Speaking of seeing little plecos grow… These photos show the growth of some of my Hypancistrus L236 in about six and a half months. Curious to see what their definitive pattern will be in a year.

this is my favorite I'm really satisfied with its development

[emanuel]

But even these two whites are not doing badly

specimen 1

specimen 2

[Hyhy]

Ok abit a of a bummer to hear as I would also probably prefer subviridis in that case, also it's cheaper atleast where I live(the large ones cost me a good chunk of money haha). But I guess I might get a female in the end and it's not a huge deal, maybe ill get another tank for subviridis aswell in a year or two.

Awesome pictures as always I think "specimen #1" looks coolest.

Have a nice weekend!

[emanuel]

Another one of my Hypancistrus L236, but this one with yellow/black pattern

[emanuel]

A video where I show my group of Hypancistrus L236
Here instead you can see one of my Hypancistrus L236 which in eight months from black and white has turned into yellow and black. Two of his brothers, on the other hand, remained black and white, and you can see them clearly in the video above

[Hyhy]

Very pretty fish and tank makes it look like almost shot in nature.

[emanuel]

Very pretty fish and tank makes it look like almost shot in nature.

Thank you, now I really hope that the problems that led to the death of three Hemiancistrus are over

[emanuel]

It makes me laugh too much when he falls asleep on his back

[emanuel]

Corydoras sp CW078

[emanuel]

Hypancistrus zebra

[emanuel]

These CW078 are so lively that I can't keep up with them either with the camera

[emanuel]

Happy birthday
Exactly one year ago I started this tank ... In one year the layout has changed a bit ...

[emanuel]

Last night I had a wonderful surprise, to my amazement I noticed tiny L236s among the rocks. I didn't fully expect this, I didn't notice any males in the burrow with eggs, so I don't know who the parents are...
Too bad that now I'm leaving on vacation for at least 12 days, I really hope to find them on my return

[Jools]

Great! I think the young fish will be OK, they have got this far.

Cheers,

Jools

[emanuel]

Great! I think the young fish will be OK, they have got this far.

Cheers,

Jools

Thanks, we hope! it's my first experience with a reproduction of a loricaridae, could you tell me by chance how many days/weeks the babies have in the video?

[bekateen]

Last night I had a wonderful surprise, to my amazement I noticed tiny L236s among the rocks. I didn't fully expect this, I didn't notice any males in the burrow with eggs, so I don't know who the parents are...
Too bad that now I'm leaving on vacation for at least 12 days, I really hope to find them on my return

Beautiful! Congratulations!

As far as age, I can't really tell their size in the video, but a couple of details are obvious: 1) they're free swimming, so they have used up their yolk and they're foraging on their own. 2) Their colors are already apparent, which, again, takes a little time.

My guess is they're 3 weeks old or so, maybe 4 weeks.

I agree with Jools that they should be okay (or at least most of them will be) while you're gone.

Cheers, Eric

[emanuel]

Beautiful! Congratulations!

As far as age, I can't really tell their size in the video, but a couple of details are obvious: 1) they're free swimming, so they have used up their yolk and they're foraging on their own. 2) Their colors are already apparent, which, again, takes a little time.

My guess is they're 3 weeks old or so, maybe 4 weeks.

I agree with Jools that they should be okay (or at least most of them will be) while you're gone.

Cheers, Eric

Wow, I didn't think 3/4 weeks, I imagined less! So if we add a week for the hatching of the eggs, it means that the spawning took place 4/5 weeks ago ... A bit far to remind me of what may have stimulated the reproduction, too bad. Maybe about a month ago I had done a big water change, but I can't remember exactly when I did it. However, it could actually coincide with the weeks you suggest.

Obviously the babies are very shy, as long as a small and harmless cardinal tetra approaches, they run away and hide, so it is impossible for them to go on the food I give to the adults, but apparently they have no problem finding food among the rocks(aufwuch ?), because last night I saw one of the little ones take a very long poop, at least 5 times his body, maybe more

[emanuel]

These instead are two males of L236 (Super Yellow en Basic) ... Neither likes having a cave neighbor and the winner is ...

[Hyhy]

Very cool with the fry! Suppose you don't ship to Sweden? Haha

[emanuel]

Here is the latest purchase, which arrived in the tub the day before I realized I had babies.
An L236 male that was too good looking to be left in the shop

Very cool with the fry! Suppose you don't ship to Sweden? Haha

I wouldn't be able to, but the shop where I buy my fish ships all over Europe and also has customers in Sweden (also users of this forum)

[emanuel]

Yesterday evening I returned from vacation, everything seems to have gone well, I immediately saw one of the babies, while this morning I saw another one, it looked completely white, without black stripes, but the lights were still off, so I could not see the color well .
I'm doing a big water change today

Meanwhile here is a video of my group of Corydoras sterbai, always very active and always ready to fill the tub with fresh eggs, which become a tasty snack for the Hypancistrus

[emanuel]

Here's how the little L236s are after returning from vacation

[emanuel]

Just for a laugh ... I don't understand how such a small fish can make such a long poop where the hell does all that stuff go into its belly is a mystery.

[emanuel]

Babies are growing fast

[emanuel]

Last night I returned after 6 days of absence from home. As soon as I looked at the aquarium, I was immediately struck by how much the babies had grown in the meantime. Early this morning I was lucky enough to find one on the front glass and I immediately measured it: a good 3 cm (1.2 inches) including the tail. Sounds like a great development to me, right? I would say I'm very happy

[emanuel]

I update my diary

I also managed to catch the female Hypancistrus L260, her belly was full of eggs. So now I no longer run any risk of hybridization.
This tank is now almost entirely dedicated to Hypancistrus L236. I also have some Hypancistrus zebra, but it will probably take a couple more years before they reach breeding size, so until then I have no reason to fear hybridization with L236. Also, I think the possibility of them hybridizing is not very high, they have a very different body shape from L236.

Many L236s are getting close to becoming adults, so adding caves was necessary. Furthermore, some specimens of L236 have become very large and no longer fit into the small caves, "Hypancistrus size", but a larger size is needed. Others, however, have stopped growing and are fine in small caves. So I added a total of 6 new caves, 2 large and 4 small. Surely they will be very happy with the new change.
The fry on the other hand are growing well, I counted a maximum of 5, but there could be even more, given that there are so many places to hide, it's not necessarily true that I managed to see them all. Three of them have a "basic" pattern, two are "Super White"

[emanuel]

This week too I went away for five days, last night when I returned it was nice to see all the little ones fit and grown.

Perhaps during my absence there was a new spawning, because the larger female had a side full of bites and a male is inside the cave moving his tail. Unfortunately the cave is in a place where I can't look inside.

Here's a video update.