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I have just got myself these cute little babies. Will you be able to sex them with these poorly taken photo? They are anout 2-2.5inch SL.

Group photo:


No. 1


No.2


No. 3


No. 4


No. 5


In fact, I have got another 5, which are already in the main tank, thus no photo of them. But I am pretty sure I got 3 male in the 1st batch.

BTW, are they L201? Have been reading about them and I am confused as to what they really are. The last I know is they are L201, Hypancistrus Contradens. Am I right about this?

Males have bigger interopularodontodes, more stings on the body and the head is bigger.
So Iwould say: No 1 female
No 2 male
No 3 in the middle female, right female
No 4 in the middle and left male, right female.
But Im not sure. Just look at them yourself!!!

And to the ID question: L201 and H. contradens can be told apart by a good shot of the mouth [or so I'm told].

--
Mats

fischkringli, I sure hope you are right man. This will assure me of some females.

Hey Mats, according to the Cat-elog, there're 3 species which looks similar to me. They are the Hypancistrus Sp (L201), Hypancistrus Contradens (no L number), and Hypancistrus Inspector (also L201, aka Snowball Pleco).

I am a little confuse as to which I am having. The adult size of each are different.

I agree with mats on the sexing, i thought the only single male was #2 and the same with #4.

Based on the pictures, I would guess H. contradens, but don't quote me on that one.

I also think these are Hypancistrus contradens but I wouldn't hazard a guess as to their individual genders until they are a bit larger or more settled in.
The guesstimates of sex already given are about as good as can be done for now.
If what I have are also H. contradens, then the spots are light yellow-white on a dark field like your specimens. Some other Hypancistrus spp. have pure white spots on a dark field. H. contradens seem to be one of the easier Hypancistrus spp to breed and tank raised specimens have become fairly common.
I think they are an excellent choice for those wishing to try breeding a more challenging Pleco than common Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus.
Mine are extremely shy, even by Hypancistrus standards, so I don't see mine often. I happened to have a chance to see mine today because I sold some Betta sp. "Mahachai", another extremely shy species. Many were hiding under a sponge filter so I caught 5 of the 8 F1 Hypancistrus contradens along with 9 of the Bettas by holding the net under the filter then lifting it out of the water. I see they have grown quite a bit since I last saw them. They are almost a year old and 2 inches TL.

Several non-Hypancistrus are often called Snow ball Plecos in the trade. Many grow to large sizes. Another good example of why common names are so useless.

apistomaster wrote: If what I have are also H. contradens, then the spots are light yellow-white on a dark field like your specimens.
I think they are an excellent choice for those wishing to try breeding a more challenging pl*co than common Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus.
Mine are extremely shy, even by Hypancistrus standards, so I don't see mine often.

As far as yours, I do believe yours are contradens Larry, because you mentioned you got yours from Plecoboy, which is where I got mine as well and they are contradens.
As far as their shyness, how is your tank set up? mine are out a lot hanging on the driftwood and rocks. Just wondering if maybe it has to do with structures available?
Oh and about the common bristlenose breeding... HA! I cannot breed those to save my bum.. my male has killed 7 females to date without breeding with them. I am sticking to the harder to breed plecos rather than the easy ones because the easy isn't so easy for me

I'm keeping my H. contradens in one of my bottom row tanks. Most fish are not very happy near the floor and act much more shy than those in the middle and top row. I use the bottom row as storage and fry grow out tanks because few of my fish seem to be willing to breed in these except some Sturisoma and Corydoras sterbai breeders.

When I had a group of 6 small wild H. contradens in one of my living room wild Discus tanks along with some Hyancistrus L66 and Peckoltia L134, they were the most reclusive. That tank was well planted and furnished with drift wood at that time and the height of the stand is 44 inches off the floor. The H. contradens were the smallest pleco species in the tank so that probably contributed to their shyness.

While I have never had problems breeding Bushy Noses, I have often had more trouble spawning some of the so called beginner's fish than I have with supposedly more difficult species. For example; I had more difficulty trying to breed White Clouds than Black Neons, Glow Lights, Ember or Black Phantom Tetras, although I did eventually manage to raise a few hundred White Clouds. I still haven't been successful raising Neon Tetras although I have had them spawn nearly every time I set some up. Either their eggs disappear or the larvae died before or as they began going fry swimming. I will keep trying Neons from time to time until I figure out how to raise them. I have tried them several times over several decades. Fish breeding is as much an art as it is a science. Luck is no small factor as well.

These are 201 and IMO, a bit too young to sex reliably.

nvcichlids wrote:Oh and about the common bristlenose breeding... HA! I cannot breed those to save my bum.. my male has killed 7 females to date without breeding with them. I am sticking to the harder to breed plecos rather than the easy ones because the easy isn't so easy for me

Sounds like it's time to put your male on algae patrol and recruit a new stud for breeding.

drgold wrote: Sounds like it's time to put your male on algae patrol and recruit a new stud for breeding.

Lol its a little too late, I lost every female I tried to put with him, he is the lone ranger ABN in the balzani breeding tank.