Considering to buy Leporacanthicus triactis

[Haavard Stoere]

My LFS has had 3 Leporacanthicus triactis going in one of their tanks for almost a year.They have not been sold because of the high price. As I spoke with one of the shop clercs today on the phone he told me they were priced down to half the original amount. They are totally healthy fish measuring around 15 cm.

I asked if it was ok for me to take them out and examine them before deciding on a purchase. Luckily he was ok with that. I will try to pick out one of each, unless two of them are female. In the latter case I will buy all 3. If they are all males I will buy one, and wait for another opportunity. I will be given a shallow plastic container to study them in.

Are these fish difficult to sex at this size (tl around 15cm)? What features are most telling?

Thank you in advance

[Haavard Stoere]

I actually just found out that a friend of mine photographed one of the fish in the shop in February 2007. The fish is held by the shop owner:

Photocredit, and copyright Bjarne Sætrang. Thank you Bjarne


Later this evening I can post more detailed pictures of the fish. Just have to wait unntil Bjarne can send me the files.

[Haavard Stoere]

Here are higher res. pictures borrowed from Bjarne... The poor fish actually fell to the stone floor during the photosession. The fish is one of the 3 I consider buying. Is it possible to sex it from these photos? Almost a whole year has passed, so the fish should have matured some. All opinions are appreciated

Here are some more photos from Bjarne Sætrang for those of you who are interested in aquarium and fish photography... Bjarnes homepage:
http://www.aquadigital.net/

[jopbgon]

I will buy the 3 , whatever they are(male or female), long time since your last post bro

[Janne]

It's not easy to sex them even if this one looks like a female, they have just reach maturity and the easiest way but still difficult is to compare them side by side, their genitalpapilla is not so well developed before the have bred the first time and can look similar. Look for a longer snout with well developed odontodes around the point of the snout, thats a male and the female is more compact in her body with barely visible odontodes on her snout, odontodes on the pectoralfin is similar sized until the male is in really good breeding condition.

Janne

[Haavard Stoere]

Thanks a lot, Janne:) I will give it a try, or maybee just buy all 3 like jopbgon suggests, and take it from there.

[Haavard Stoere]

I bought all three

14cm fish:


17cm fish:


20cm fish:


Pectoral fins:

14cm fish:


17cm fish:


20cm fish:

[Haavard Stoere]

Heads

14cm tl fish:


17cm tl fish:


20cm tl fish:


Genital papilla:

14cm fish:


17cm fish:


20cm fish:

[Birger]

holy cr#p Haavard these are tough ones....all I can see is the second papilla looks different compared to the others in these pictures
As Janne suggests you may have to wait for them to mature
Good pictures as well
Good luck with these

Birger

[Haavard Stoere]

Thank you Birger

While we wait for the fish to mature we can enjoy some "eyecandy" The fish look a lot better when not in a plastic bucket

This is the tl 20cm fish:




This is the tl 17cm fish:

[andywoolloo]

damn that's a nice looking fish, all of them!

Was he ok after he fell to the stone floor!!! I mean obviously he is still alive but damn! And how long can they breathe out of water?

[Haavard Stoere]

Don´t know how long they can manage in air, but I wouldn`t keep a fish out of water for more than 30 seconds to be on the safe side. Fish gets traumaticed by this sort of treatment, so it should not be done to often or without a good reason. I wasn´t there when the fish fell to the floor.

They are definetely among the best looking fish I have ever had.

I hope someone can share their opinions on the sex of these lovely beasts. I have studied Jannes photographs in cat-elog, but can´t get a real feel for it.

[MatsP]

Whilst I fully agree with Haavard, I have by accident when moving tanks from one house to another, left a male Ancistrus sp(3) in a piece of bamboo for about 2 hours, with no apparent ill health to the fish. From what I have read, they used to export large plecos from South America to North America and Europe wrapped in wet newspaper. This works along the principle of "as long as the fish doesn't dry out, they are able to breath oxygen from the air".

--
Mats

[Bas Pels]

I once came into the room I lived in, and found a 20 cm+ dried out pleco on the floor. it was even a bit dusty. Not wanting to admid having lost it, I put it into the 'big bucket' again, and it started swimming after half an hour.

The eyes were gone, but the fish might still be alife - although this was before 1990 . It was due to be sold (but as I was not sure it would survive, I did not ask anything for it) so I don't know more. I only know it survived it's first week

So, some species can stay out of the water a long timg

[Haavard Stoere]

I have experienced that my largest and finest Hemiancistrus subvirides had a really hard time recovering from an out of water photosession that maybee took a minute or two. I almost lost my large female Baryancistrus demantoides after the same photosession. Since then I have become more careful. Other kinds of stress combined with the "out of water" experience may be just as dangerous. I don´t know, and I ...

About the L. triactis... Jannes headshots of both male and female shows very apparent differences. All my three fishes looks identical conserning odonts along the sides of the head. My guess is that the 20 and 17cm fish are the same sex. Brobably even the 14cm fish.

On females the odontes on the sides of the head should be barely visible. Through my camera lens they are very visible indeed, but with my naked eye they are barely visible.

I will post a picture of my 14cm fish too. Just have to remove dust and snow from the picture. It takes hours

[Haavard Stoere]

The whole group... I didn´t bother to clean snow from this photo. Looks kinda like a starty night :


14 cm tl fish:


Snout:

[jopbgon]

Nice I know you will get the three , very nice fin colors they had!!! , where did you put them in the L-200 tank or in the other one(the discus tank)

[andywoolloo]

Impressive fish. Handsome too. And lucky to live in one of ur gorgeous tanks.

[Haavard Stoere]

These fish are easy to fall in love with. At the moment they live by themselves in a 200 liter tank with only two rocks and sand. I haven´t yet decided what their permanent home will be. They can grow large, but certainly not overnight... I hope to be able to sex them so that I know whether or not I should be in the marked for more.

[Kostas]

Hi Haavard!
Very beautifull Leporacanthicus you got there
To me the 20cm fish looks like a female and the 17cm like a male... Have you placed suitable caves for them to see what they go about?

About falling on the floor,it has happened twice to me(although it wasnt my fault that the fish fell in neither case,they fell at the shop while the shop owner tried to transfer them from the net to the bag...it happened twice with two different fishes and in different times...),once with a Leporacanthicus L241 and once with my Hemiancistrus subviridis...The first fell from about a meter by ''swimming'' his way on and out of the net,falling somewhat softly on the stone floor while the other fell from 1 and a half meters and landed with its belly making soung on the floor(it had water in the place and made a splash sound like when you hit water with an open hand...).Although both had no ill effects from their fall,i had from my anxiety...Couldnt sleep for two days,especially with the second Kept checking the fish trying to see its belly for a week before i calmed down a bit...

[Haavard Stoere]

Hi Haavard!
Very beautifull Leporacanthicus you got there
To me the 20cm fish looks like a female and the 17cm like a male... Have you placed suitable caves for them to see what they go about?

About falling on the floor,it has happened twice to me(although it wasnt my fault that the fish fell in neither case,they fell at the shop while the shop owner tried to transfer them from the net to the bag...it happened twice with two different fishes and in different times...),once with a Leporacanthicus L241 and once with my Hemiancistrus subviridis...The first fell from about a meter by ''swimming'' his way on and out of the net,falling somewhat softly on the stone floor while the other fell from 1 and a half meters and landed with its belly making soung on the floor(it had water in the place and made a splash sound like when you hit water with an open hand...).Although both had no ill effects from their fall,i had from my anxiety...Couldnt sleep for two days,especially with the second Kept checking the fish trying to see its belly for a week before i calmed down a bit...

I keep them in a 720 liter tank for the moment. Later this evening I will receive two more L. triactis from Oslo. They are 22 and 16cm tl. I am really looking forward to photographing the new arrivals. It may very well shed some light on the sex of the other three.

About the 17 and 20cm fish... I certainly hope you are right. The overall shape of the head and body suggests so. Looking at the new arrivals may be the key

Thank you Costas

[Haavard Stoere]

The new fish has arrived. I am so excited

[Haavard Stoere]

Here are the new arrivals:

16cm tl fish hopefully a female:


21cm tl definetely male:


Pectoral fin of 16cm:


Pectoral fin of 21cm:


Head of 16cm fish:


Head of 21cm fish:


Head of 16cm fish:


Head of 21cm fish:

[Haavard Stoere]

My conclusions so far .....

Snout of 20cm female and 21cm male:

[Birger]

I have experienced that my largest and finest Hemiancistrus subvirides had a really hard time recovering from an out of water photosession that maybee took a minute or two. I almost lost my large female Baryancistrus demantoides after the same photosession. Since then I have become more careful. Other kinds of stress combined with the "out of water" experience may be just as dangerous.

I did lose the female Ancistrus ranunculus that I photographed a couple of weeks ago, was fine until then...and the largest male had a hard time as well but seems to be okay now... I will be much more careful next time...I didn't even have them out of water for long at all

Birger sounds very norwegian....

Norwegian name (a Norwegian, Birger Ruud, who won the K90 Olympic gold medals in 1932 and 1936.) that is where they got the name from
Parents came over from Germany
Indo-Fijian girlfriend
Slightly multicultural here

Birger

[Haavard Stoere]

A lot of diversity in Canada

I have been lucky with my purchases. The two largest is a pair, and mature or close to mature. The smallest one might turn out to be a female. I will therefore keep "her"

I believe Costas is right about the 17cm fish. It is probably a male. Since it is about the same size as the 16cm fish they should be fairly easy to compare.

16cm fish and 17cm fish:



Head of 16 and 17cm fish:



Is it a pair or two males?

[pramirez]

Haarvard, hi.

You're deffinitivaly, a lucky man. Fantastic five individuals. You´ve very good eye sexing they.
Congratulations.

Regards.

[Haavard Stoere]

Haarvard, hi.

You're deffinitivaly, a lucky man. Fantastic five individuals. You´ve very good eye sexing they.
Congratulations.

Regards.

[Kostas]

Beautiful new arrivals you have there Haavard!!!
Yeap,the 20 and the 21cm fish are a pair for sure,and more fitted than the 20 ad the 17cm fish...
The 17cm fish is for sure a male,however i am not completely sure about the 16cm...Can you take a lateral photo of it in the tank,like the one you have of the 17cm fish?It would help me a lot to decide...

[Haavard Stoere]

I have little photo opportunity in the tank they are currently staying.