Pre-Spawn Activity on Acanthicus (?)
Posted: 15 Oct 2008, 13:09
Hello to all.
As some of you already know i have collected some large Acanthicus in order to try on breeding them.
After the disaster on identifying the Species between what is Hystrix and what is Adonis, i concluded that my largest and 'marbled' fish (50cm TL) is Adonis and the smaller (35cm TL) is or falls under the the so called Hystrix group.
When i introduced both of them in the tank 'all hell broken loose' and the fish where trying to kill each other and they confirmed their 'Acanthicus' reputation.
That was the biggest catfish fight i have ever witnessed.The fish where destroying the tank and they even moved some large rocks that weight more than 5 kilos!!!
I immediately separate them and after 2 weeks they healed up and the damaged fins where almost in good condition.
In the meantime another 35cm+ TL fish was imported by an LFS in Athens as Adonis and as you may understand i had to buy it.Unfortunately currently i have no pics of the 'new' fish but i will try to get some during the next days.
So i 've decided to introduce the new fish in the tank with my big guy and try to record their behavior, but to be honest i was expecting the same disaster as the previous time.
To my surprise after introducing the new fish nothing bad happened!No fights at all and their behavior among each other where as friendly as the common Bristlenoses!!!!
After 5 weeks now their behavior has changed to what i considered to be 'better' or at least interesting.....The big fish is always together with the new without hurting it, always trying to block the other in a cave (?),they have no problem eating together and making all the pleco-mating 'rituals' that we know......
In addition to that i think that the new fish is starting to fattening up....I am not sure though as it was very malnourished when i receive it.....
I will try to monitor their 'activities' and update with the results but i wanted to know if anyone has ever witnessed such behavior on Acanthicus or on any other similar sized Loricariidae????
Thanks in advance,
Jim
As some of you already know i have collected some large Acanthicus in order to try on breeding them.
After the disaster on identifying the Species between what is Hystrix and what is Adonis, i concluded that my largest and 'marbled' fish (50cm TL) is Adonis and the smaller (35cm TL) is or falls under the the so called Hystrix group.
When i introduced both of them in the tank 'all hell broken loose' and the fish where trying to kill each other and they confirmed their 'Acanthicus' reputation.
That was the biggest catfish fight i have ever witnessed.The fish where destroying the tank and they even moved some large rocks that weight more than 5 kilos!!!
I immediately separate them and after 2 weeks they healed up and the damaged fins where almost in good condition.
In the meantime another 35cm+ TL fish was imported by an LFS in Athens as Adonis and as you may understand i had to buy it.Unfortunately currently i have no pics of the 'new' fish but i will try to get some during the next days.
So i 've decided to introduce the new fish in the tank with my big guy and try to record their behavior, but to be honest i was expecting the same disaster as the previous time.
To my surprise after introducing the new fish nothing bad happened!No fights at all and their behavior among each other where as friendly as the common Bristlenoses!!!!
After 5 weeks now their behavior has changed to what i considered to be 'better' or at least interesting.....The big fish is always together with the new without hurting it, always trying to block the other in a cave (?),they have no problem eating together and making all the pleco-mating 'rituals' that we know......
In addition to that i think that the new fish is starting to fattening up....I am not sure though as it was very malnourished when i receive it.....
I will try to monitor their 'activities' and update with the results but i wanted to know if anyone has ever witnessed such behavior on Acanthicus or on any other similar sized Loricariidae????
Thanks in advance,
Jim
How are things today? Dare I ask.....eggs?? This is very exciting! Good luck!