PlanetCatfish.com

Hello all!

This is my new little catfish! I have her for 2 weeks now (at least.. they sold me the catfish for a she ;) i always find it hard to tell if it's a female or male when they are young!).

I have bought her for an ancistrus, but actually, i'm not quite sure that she is!

Here is a picture of my little catfish called 'Cissy':



Thanks already!

Not Ancistrus. .

Thank you!

I was already doubting it, because of her pattern and her body..

Is it a he or a she? I don't know if you can see that?

And another question: does it go fine with ancistrusses? I hope so, because i've got two ancistrusses.. (and i actually hoped to have a female ancistrus :S)

But I love my little cissy!

I hope you could answer these questions for me!

I think it's a Pterogoplichtys. Try to get a photo that shows the rays in the dorsal fin. Ancistrus (and most other genera of Loricariidae) have 7-8 rays, whilst Pterogoplichtys would have 11-13.

Unfortunately, I can't see clearly enough in the picture in this post.

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Mats

Another question for me.. i'm not quite sure that she is that species..

Her pattern is more different and her fins aren't so large..

What else could she be?

The dorsal fin.. which one is that? The one on the top?

(i'm not from England or so.. so i'm not that good in those kind of words..)

I'll look for another picture of Cissy!

The dorsal fin is the fin on top.

Anyway, the color pattern on P. pardalis is somewhat variable. Overall look matches, so I'd go with that.

I've found a picture from the top.. so you can see more of her side-fins.

I'll try to find a photo of her dorsal-fin!



P.s. the spots are not a disease.. she had just got out of the sand and was covered in sand!

I don't have another photo of her dorsal fin, but i have put the larger version of the photo on the internet so that you might have a better look on her fin!

http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/7251/image69pe.jpg

Is Cissy's kind nice for ancistrusses and other fishes or not? Perhaps someone knows a bit info on this kind?

I think Silurus is spot on. When I said to count the dorsal fin rays, it's more as a confirmation of the look of the fish, and if it's got 11+ rays, then it's confirmed as a Pterogoplichthys. I'm less expert than Silurus in spotting the individual specie, but I'd say that if he says P. Pardalis, then that's what it is...

If you read the link Silurus sent, it will tell you some about the fish. They are OK with other fish, but can be agressive towards conspecifics, i..e fish that are similar to it's own specie.

One MAJOR difference between it and Ancistrus is the size. Ancistrus grow to about 12-15cm, whilst your fish will probably grow to 40-50 cm if you look after it well. If it was sold as Ancistrus, and you want an Ancistrus, I'd say take it back to the shop and ask for your money back, then find a REAL ancistrus. Unless you have a really big tank (1.5-2m long and 60-80 cm on the shorter sides)

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Mats

Yes, i already thought of bringing her back to where she came from..

Sadly enough, my tank isn't large enough to keep her, so i want to give her a nice life and bring her back and hope she will get a beautiful large tank to live in!

(i keep saying she, because i thought it was a she).

Does every shop take a fish back or not? And what if they don't?

Shops SHOULD take fish back if they are sold under the wrong name, just like if you buy a packet of corn-flakes in the supermarket and find that it contains something else...

There's no guarantee that they WILL take it back, but if they are a good shop they should... And technically, you'll have a good case for taking the shop to court for selling something under the wrong description. If they don't take it back, I'd recommend you talk to your local consumer advice bureaue [whatever that is called in your country] and get their advice on "What can I do if I was sold something that isn't what I was told it was?". But call the shop first, stating that you were told this is an Ancistrus, and it's not, and you'd like to take it back as it's not what you actually asked for...

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Mats

Ok! Thank you very much for your help!

Only one last question.. i wanted to have a female ancistrus.. Do you know how to recognize them if they are very young and small (i guess about 3 or 4 cm)? Otherwise i might come back with another fish that is not an ancistrus.. and i hate to harm the fish by putting it in a tank that is too small!

Are you asking how to recognise an Ancistrus, or figuring out if they are male or female at 3-4cm? The latter is difficult. Given a bunch of them it may be possible to see a difference, but it's hard. Much better to wait until they are bigger... Or buy 4-5 of the small ones and sell them back to the shop when they're 5-8 cm and show well which is male or female...

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Mats

Well.. i have got 2 ancistrusses.. one a sp 3, and a albino sp 4.

I just think that i'll ask the shop for a female ancistrus.

Perhaps you could tell me how to recognize an ancistrus species.. because i'm afraid that i might come home with another kind..

Thanks!

Ok, so the first step is to rule out "Common pleco". The ancistrus will be differnet body shape (no big ridges on the sides), and it will also have 7-8 rays in the dorsal fin, not 11-14 as the Pterogoplichthys we discussed above.

And anything for sale at around 3-4cm is very likely to be Ancistrus, especially if the shop says that they bought them from a local breeder (as there are probably no local breeders of large pleco's around where you live , as they need fairly large outdoor WARM ponds).

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Mats

No, we really don't have those here ;)

It's a small and freezing cold country... brrr... but kinda used to it!

Ok, so every catfish with 7 or 8 rays and looks like an ancistrus should be one?

And yes.. the most of them are about 4 or 5 cm. I bought my other ancistrusses when they were about 1,5 cm.. very cute!

Well, i'll try to bring my dear Cissy back and hope to find a female ancistrus!

Thank you so much for your help!

Oh, one last question..

I just called my boyfriend and he thought that i should keep Cissy..

We are going to move in together within a half year and then we are going to buy a 2 meter aquarium..

Perhaps i can keep her then? I don't think she will grow much in a half year and she is only 3,5 till 4 cm..

But how large will she get? because i read here that she will be 25 cm, and on other sites i read that they will be 40 to 50 cm.. can you help me out?

Thanks!

And do they go with ancistrusses or do you think that it doesn't go together?

First, I don't believe in keeping fish that you don't OWN the tank to keep them in... [What if you split up from your boyfriend before you move in together, or you find that the cost of a 2m tank isn't within your reach when you live together, or the house can't take a 2m tank due to structural issues, etc, etc]

Btw, a 200 x 80 x 80 tank is 1280 liter, so it would probably load up around 1600 kilo on a 200 x 80 cm floor-space. Check that the floor will hold the weight before installing... [1600 kilo is roughly how much a VW Passat weighs].

Second, my personal opinion is that, these aren't really good aquarium fish, since they do grow quite large. Definitely more than 25cm, even if you count standard length (i.e. not the tail). I've seen ones in my local shop that were definitely more than 30 cm SL.

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Mats

I have a common pl*co at home in a 40g tank and he is fine. On average they grow to about 1ft(30cm) but given the proper space they will grow to a 1ft 6inchs(40-50cm). They usually only get larger than a foot in a pond or very large tank. They also don't move around too much so I don't think you need the so called proper tank size.IMO

I also have an albino common that is 1ft aswell in the same tank and he has no problems.

Well, i think that i'll bring her back then and get a female ancistrus instead of my little pardalis.

Thank you all very much for your help!