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Last Thursday, I bought two "spawning logs / caves" from a local importer. By Friday evening, two of my Ancistrus sp. had spawned!

I setup a 20-gallon I had in storage and moved the spawning pair with their log and eggs (careful not to get air on the eggs!) to the 20. I used 100% water from the setup they were in (African Rift Lake) and have done several small water changes to their 20 since moving them. I transferred enough substrate to make about 1 cm coat on the bottom of the setup. I also squeezed a "dirty" sponge into the setup.

I believe all is well in the new setup, but I have one problem - I don't know what species they are! I bought 6 @ 0.75" almost one year ago from the LFS. After a couple of deaths, I ended up with 2 males and 1 female. The fish were labelled, simply, "Bristlenose Pleco". Would you be willing to take a guess at a species ID using these images of my Ancistrus? Please click the thumbnails to open full size images in a new browser window.

Oh! I have wigglers coming out of the log, and holy smokes I never realized they would be this small! I know now that if I had left them in with the cichlids, they would have been lunch in a heartbeat! I've counted about 27 to 28 so far, and there still seems to be quite a few eggs inside the log, but very hard to see inside.

If you have eggs in the cave and fry free-swimming (brown and without egg-sack), I expect that you have two different broods, as eggs take about 2-3 days to turn into "orange wrigglers" and then another few days to turn brown, and about two weeks in total to become "ready to leave the nest").

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Mats

MatsP: I was watching them hatch. It was all for not, as within 24 hours, all were gone. I think either Mom or Dad ate them. No HOB filter running, only a sponge.

would it be OK to see the spawning log? grats on the fry! thanks

Nice lil synos too - what size are they - any joy with them spawning?

I bought a new piece of Malaysian Driftwood that is definitely the "focal point" in this setup, spanning 16" at its highest point, 20" at its longest point, and 12" wide at its widest point.

I want to take advantage of the tannis in this "fresh" wood from the LFS. Also, I bought Tetra BlackWater Extract to attempt to mimic the natural habitat of this species. The fish are already showing better colour than before. Photography will be somewhat difficult in this "black water" setup. ;)

The male is still staying inside his spawning log alot, which is kind of weird. The female has been more active since I did the above changes; she seemed to be hiding alot during the last three days or so.

I will post photos of the setup when I get a chance.

Doing some maintenance this evening, I found a female in the bottom tank of my rack that I *thought* I had, but didn't see her for a long time. It could be wishful thinking, but in my eyes, she even appears to be gravid. I moved her to the 20 with the "pair", which should hopefully become a "trio". Now, the male has two options, which should keep him from tiring one poor girl.

Now, if I added a second spawning log, would it be possible for him to have to separate broods that he would maintain? Keep in mind I lost the original brood, but just thinking for future breeding.

BrownBullhead wrote:Doing some maintenance this evening, I found a female in the bottom tank of my rack that I *thought* I had, but didn't see her for a long time. It could be wishful thinking, but in my eyes, she even appears to be gravid. I moved her to the 20 with the "pair", which should hopefully become a "trio". Now, the male has two options, which should keep him from tiring one poor girl.

Now, if I added a second spawning log, would it be possible for him to have to separate broods that he would maintain? Keep in mind I lost the original brood, but just thinking for future breeding.

The male will stay in one cave and spawn with multiple females either simultaneously or at different times, so you won't need another "log".

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Mats

You do not have to provide this Ancistrus with special water conditions. They are not one of the black water species and are in fact, nearly all aquarium raised and have been for uncounted generations. They spawn just fine in med hard, slightly alkaline tap water like most cities provide us. The wood staining the water will neither help nor hurt your breeding attempts.
I haven't ever had them eat their own eggs. What else is in their tank? Sometimes new breeders accidentally eject their eggs from the breeding cave where they may be eaten by other fish. Elevating the cave entrance is helpful in preventing this from happening.

apistomaster: Nothing else is in the tank. I will be patient and allow them to do their thing.

In fact, my experience is that bristlenoses of the common variety (at least my sampling of them) fair pretty poorly in really soft water.

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Mats

MatsP: Don't worry about that. I live in a semi-rural area and our water is "liquid rock". The driftwood and blackwater extract have had little effect on the water parameters according to the test kits I use (Hagen "Master" Test Kit). However, the Ancistrus seem to be enjoying "eating" the fresh driftwood, as evidenced by their fecal matter. Their colour also seems to be much better, not so "washed out" like in my previous pictures (taken while they were housed with the cichlids).