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Hey all!

I have got three ancistrus species in my tank, but i don't know which exactly..

Perhaps one of you could help me?

I always give them a 'normal' name, because I don't know all the scientific names.

If have got pictures from all of them:

Ancistrus No. 1 - named 'Zwoelie'





Ancistrus No. 2 - named 'Yellow'





Ancistrus No. 3 - named 'Ciske'







And perhaps someone could tell me which one is male or female? I think No. 1 is male and No. 2 is female.. not sure about No. 3 because he/she is very young.

Thanks already!

Hi there,
I would say your first one is Ancistrus Claro and a male. Your second one is L144 and depending on the length of the caudal fin its either a long fin or the common version (I got both types. How long is s/he? They can take various amounts of time to bristle up, but at present she looks like a female (short snout too). Third one - could you get some clearer pictures?

I think all 3 are Ancistrus sp 3 (I call those Ancistrus domesticus) or Common Bristlenose, and NOT a claro.
the second is albino (L144 has no light spots and blue eyes, not red!) but all 3 are the same species and will breed when mature.

it has the telltale caudal fin with the light edges; a Common too can look quite nice with the light spots.

The second fish you have is not L144, but Ancistrus albino

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/lo ... ru/5_f.php


L144 looks like this

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/lo ... /905_f.php

Yup, Sid's got it [why shouldn't he ]

for the two brown ones and is probably just albino version of the sp(3) but it's listed separately on this site for the time being.

As for genders, first one is definitely male: bristles and ridge in the middle of the face.

The albino does look like a female. You could cross this with the male and you'd get brown babies [unless your brown one is half albino, in which case half the babies would be albino]. This is probably a bad idea tho', you want proper brown ones for breeding...

No 3 is either female or young male, depending on size. It needs to be about 5cm or bigger to be able to guess with some accuracy (and it can still be wrong at that size, it depends very much on whether it's grown quickly or not). Generally, on sp(3)'s, there will be bristles on the head when they are getting to 5cm if they are male, and no bristles for females that size. A ridge in the middle of the face will also help satisfy that it's a male.

--
Mats

Thank you very much for your answers!

Here are the sizes of the ancistrusses:

Zwoelie (no 1): about 7 or 8 cm

Yellow (no 2): about 6 cm

Ciske (no 3): about 4 or 5 cm

Ciske is starting to get some bristles on his nose. But still very very small and i heard that some females can have that too..

So when your ancistrus has a short snout you can tell its a female or not?

I'll try to make some sharper and better pictures from my third ancistrus.. i just got him/her, so i didn't got the chance to make a lot of pictures!

And one last question.. are ancistrusses hard to breed or easy? Thank you!

Oh! very last question here!

That ridge in the face what you are talking about.. how can i see it? (i'm not that good in seeing those things).. perhaps you can copy one of my pictures and color the ridge red or something?

thanks!

Evelientjeh wrote:And one last question.. are ancistrusses hard to breed or easy? Thank you!

The ones you have i would say is easy, just get them sex. mature first, then add a cave of some sort, and change water, a couple of degres colder...and wonders about to happend:)

In Ancistrus sp(3), the female won't have nearly any bristles, even when quite large. Mine is 4 inches (10cm) and it's definitely bristle-free.

I just got Kathy Jinkings book [found in a aquatic shop in Austin, TX], and she clearly states that some species, females get no bristles, in other species females will have smaller bristles.

The ridge will be in the middle of the face. See this photo:


But either way, the little one of yours is almost certainly a male.

--
Mats