Sexing L260 (QA)

LitosCBR · Post by **LitosCBR** » 29 Dec 2005, 08:53

Could someone help me?

Thanks a lot!

Litos

laurab5 · Post by **laurab5** » 29 Dec 2005, 12:28

i think you have 2 females

pturley · Post by **pturley** » 31 Dec 2005, 05:38

Litos,
You have a pair.

Give them good food, water, caves and current and keep us posted.

Laurab5, based on what? The shape of the head and bodies of the two fish are clearly different. Why do you think it's two females?

Oscar · Post by **Oscar** » 31 Dec 2005, 14:44

Hi Litos.

I think the big fish it's a female, and probably the other a male.

Regards.

laurab5 · Post by **laurab5** » 31 Dec 2005, 15:15

If anything the big one is male and smaller female. But i am going on the head shape and pectoral shape. But, now that i look more closely, i think it is a pair. Sorry, but i just want to be able to sex plecos better when i get more female for my L066 and L260. Pturley, i hope you understand. If i am wrong then it helps me become better at this. The big one i was unsure of.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » 01 Jan 2006, 02:25

The larger one appears to be a female for me.

WhitePine · Post by **WhitePine** » 01 Jan 2006, 03:23

It also looks like you have bga in with them. You might want to stay on top of your water quality for a while.

Cheers, Whitepine

Post by **Barbie** » 01 Jan 2006, 04:06

I too think the larger fish is female and the smaller one is male.

Again, please do NOT offer advice if you aren't sure about your answers laurab5. This is what, the 6th or 7th time I've asked you this? Most of us feel you're old enough to have learned your lesson on this subject, and no longer need continual warnings. That leaves me with the option of giving you some sort of time out or asking you to PLEASE think before you post one more time. While I think the enthusiasm for the subject is a great sign for the future, the constant need for me to read and correct your posts is a waste of time. Please just stick to what you know and actually have experience with. A guess is NOT helping people. It's not a crime if noone knows the answer to every problem. Bad information can be a very big problem.

Barbie

Jon · Post by **Jon** » 01 Jan 2006, 05:39

I don't mean to offend anyone here, but all laura was doing was offering her honest opinion. Is that really deserving of "time off" or such a serious relay of words? A simple "I disagree; I'm under the impression that the two fish are a pair" would suffice. Have we not all made our mistakes? Reprimanding someone for trying to help isn't exactly bolstering any confidences and convincing her to continue her pursuit of aiding others/the hobby in general, and is really, IMO, unnecessarily harsh. Last I checked, every time I gave a wrong ID or perhaps wasn't specific enough, the subsequent poster would just respond with a correction or addition of information, no quesitons asked. Just my 2 pennies on the matter.

"It also looks like you have bga in with them. You might want to stay on top of your water quality for a while. "

BGA can carry on in absolutely pristine water conditions (it only takes one quick slip in the phosphate dept and BAM, cyanobacteria is afoot, and remains there even as the photoperiod and nutrient levels nosedive).

pturley · Post by **pturley** » 01 Jan 2006, 08:36

Jon,
There is an old proverb: A man has two ears and only one mouth, therefore, he should strive to listen twice as much as he speaks...

...Laurab5 has obviously never heard that one before!

Read back over his posts, you'll see what I mean.

pureplecs · Post by **pureplecs** » 01 Jan 2006, 13:36

Barbie wrote:I too think the larger fish is female and the smaller one is male.

Again, please do NOT offer advice if you aren't sure about your answers laurab5. This is what, the 6th or 7th time I've asked you this? Most of us feel you're old enough to have learned your lesson on this subject, and no longer need continual warnings. That leaves me with the option of giving you some sort of time out or asking you to PLEASE think before you post one more time. While I think the enthusiasm for the subject is a great sign for the future, the constant need for me to read and correct your posts is a waste of time. Please just stick to what you know and actually have experience with. A guess is NOT helping people. It's not a crime if noone knows the answer to every problem. Bad information can be a very big problem.

Barbie

Hi, I just noticed this thread as it is posted on another forum as well... I too initially would have thought they were both females because of the shape of the snout area as it was my understanding that the males have more rounded area around the snout and I really don't notice any odontodotes....I thought males were shaped more like this.... http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/lo ... /229_3.PHPand then I began to wonder if it was actually an L260 because of the markings although it could look like that due to stress (although mine do not look like that when stressed, it made me think of that other species that has yet to get an L number that looks simular to the queen but bigger)... help me understand why the smaller one is male. Thank you! Happy New Year!

laurab5 · Post by **laurab5** » 01 Jan 2006, 14:07

I am just trying to get them right, that way i can become better at sexing.
EDIT:
After comparing the pictures pureplecs, these are L260. They are stressed. I can see resemblance easily in photos of stressed and non-stressed fish. Barbie, you always have to make mistakes to become better at it. I have had experience breeding Ancistrus sp.3 and Peckoltia L134, i think this is alot more experience than most people.

pureplecs · Post by **pureplecs** » 01 Jan 2006, 16:42

Well perhaps mine are just really laid back... I have several adults and juvies (which juvies came from Barbie and they didn't even look stressed like that after their long trip from Washington to Florida!) I suppose that does not mean that these ARE NOT L260's, I only meant that I had wondered if they actually were. Where is the original poster anyway????

bedwetter · Post by **bedwetter** » 01 Jan 2006, 19:04

what are the differences in head shape b/w males and females of L260? Is the difference seen in the lateral aspect or a dorsoventral aspect? I personally don't see too much of a difference in these pics from the dorsal view.

jeff

Post by **Barbie** » 01 Jan 2006, 19:18

While I do agree that we all make mistakes, this is a mistake that I've specifically asked laurab5 to work on frequently in the past. If he had been the only person to respond to this thread for some reason, the original poster would be operating under completely incorrect information. He didn't ask for a shot in the dark, he asked for help.

There is NO shame in saying "I am not sure" or "I don't know". We strive to keep PC as accurate and informative as possible. While this thread specifically can be attributed to an honest mistake, they aren't all.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming, or more accurately, the topic at hand please!

The smaller one is male due to the shape of his head, larger anal fins and all around shape of his body in relation to his fins. These fish are definitely just stressed. Adults also don't tend to keep the vivid coloration all of the time. Hope that helps

.

Barbie

pureplecs · Post by **pureplecs** » 01 Jan 2006, 19:44

Thank you Barbie!

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 01 Jan 2006, 21:03

Pureplecs

How their color since you put them in the tank, do they look like other QA or are they all the time paler??

Cheers
Yann

pureplecs · Post by **pureplecs** » 01 Jan 2006, 22:17

yannfulliquet wrote:Pureplecs

How their color since you put them in the tank, do they look like other QA or are they all the time paler??

Cheers
Yann

I am not the original poster...

If/when I move my Queens they may get a little pale but somehow they don't get the stripes as shown in the orignial post. I know that mine are definitely Queens...

Yann

...jamie

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 02 Jan 2006, 13:45

Sorry!

I made a confusion!!! LitosCBR... how your QA look like now in the main tank? Still paler??
Cheers
Yann

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 02 Jan 2006, 16:48

The smaller one is male due to the shape of his head, larger anal fins

Anal fins?

I don't mean to be pedantic and pick up on typos, but this sp. only has one anal fin.

Did you mean to say pelvic fins?

Just thought i'd clear it up, as i'm a little confused.

Post by **Barbie** » 02 Jan 2006, 18:42

Yes, I did, sorry, it had been a long day ;).

Barbie

laurab5 · Post by **laurab5** » 02 Jan 2006, 18:51

Hey barbie, this is off topic, but you breed tangs don't you. You should check out africancichlidforum.com. I am a member, and they need a good moderator for the pleco section. It is very laid back there. You should go check it out. Kind of like your fishaholics.org site. The admins there are thinking of putting me moderator for the pleco section, but i have experience with really only 2 species, BN and L134.

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 02 Jan 2006, 19:55

laurab5 wrote:It is very laid back there.

That's nice for a change, isn't it?

laurab5 wrote: The admins there are thinking of putting me moderator for the pl*co section

Make my day

laurab5 · Post by **laurab5** » 02 Jan 2006, 23:02

I would like to, but i don't know nearly as much as tons of people on here do. It is kind of like taking something you don't deserve, i am not experienced enough. Once i get my L260 spawning i think i would be ready. Yes, it is very fun over there, you should check it out

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 02 Jan 2006, 23:22

Well, you're young. And maybe it doesn't go as fast as you would like it to go, you still have plenty of time to learn a lot more about your hobby.

laurab5 · Post by **laurab5** » 02 Jan 2006, 23:36

Yes, i know i have time, and plecos need time unlike most african cichlids that i breed. Mbuna are so much easier to breed. If only zebras were like mbuna, spawning every month with 25-50 fry....

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 03 Jan 2006, 00:03

laurab5 wrote: If only zebras were like mbuna, spawning every month with 25-50 fry....

Mbunas will breed anyway, with or without you. Zebras are pretty more demanding, and that's where your skills and knowledge come in. And it's so much more rewarding to breed a very special species (mind you, I'm not talking about money here

).
But we're getting more and more off topic. Good luck.

laurab5 · Post by **laurab5** » 03 Jan 2006, 00:45

yeah, i know, i have bred over 15+ species of mbuna, they are my specialty. I was being sarcastic, that would be awesome if zebras bred like mbuna. Plecos are much more rewarding when you get a spawn. I can't wait till i get a L260 spawn. They have been in the tank for 8 months together, so i am pretty sure they will spawn by the end of 2006. I also want to become one of very few who have manage to spawn L104. I am raising my 4 up from 2 inch juvies. I really think that growing up plecos together can influence spawning. I think raising several zebra would be easier to breed then putting 1 and 2 together and creating a colony like that.

LitosCBR · Post by **LitosCBR** » 09 Jan 2006, 08:15

Thank you very much (I was on Christmas holydays last days, with no log-in possibilities).

So, I should conclude:

1.- The bigger one is a female.
2.- The smaller one is likely a male.

Of course, I keep them in the better conditions I can (BGA are related to low nitrate, I profited the water change for cleaning the BGA accumulation).
They are together for 8 months (came from different LFS), I expected a faster growing in the male, but I think it is a question of patienceâ?¦ well, I will fix my objective in getting â??somethingâ?? by the end of 2006 (as Laurab

)

Pureplecs,

my L260s (if they are) show several differences with yours (which are really beautiful): mines are lighter and the reticule is more â??arabesqueâ??. However, I can find fishes labelled as L260 QA on the net which are similar to yours, to mines, or with intermediate characteristics. Maybe is it related to local variations?

Yannfulliquet,

They always looked paler in the main tank, which was a highly planted and illuminated aquarium. The day I took the pics I changed them to a specific aquarium with moderate illumination, and they show darker colors (but still paler than pureplecs pics).
Stress bars of mines are usually marked (but not always), at the beginning I was quite worried.

Litos

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 09 Jan 2006, 15:00

Hi!

Litos:
From what you said, it highly makes me believe your fish are no L260 QA but pretty more likely to be L318 coming from Monte Dourado... they look very similar to L260 in term of body pattern but the overall coloration is always paler even in the best condition possible!!

Cheers
Yann