Ancistrus sp. (L213)

[fredmir]

Hi

I`m looking for some info on how to breed these Ancistrus sp. (L213)

Tanks size, how many do I need, ph hardness etc

Thanks

George

[racoll]

The black spotted

Ancistrus

are hard to differentiate, and I only tentatively identified the fish I kept as

Ancistrus sp(l213)

.

Jools has them now, and now that he has studied them for a while, I wonder if he agrees with this ID?

I kept them in hot (29C), acid (pH 6), very soft (~50 µS) water with discus. There was also a lot of organic material in this tank (wood) too. They did not thrive in this environment. I recommend a temp of about 26C, slightly harder water and a neutral pH to start a breeding programme. You can alter this if the results are not forthcoming. What is your tapwater like?

A 36"x15" tank footprint with about six Ancistrus and a few dithers would be a good start. Decorate with lots of round river stones, breeding caves and the odd piece of wood. Provide a moderate current and an external power filter to deal with uneaten food scraps.

In addition to your question about water parameters George, I would also ask "what and how much do I feed them to get them in breeding condition?". I feel this is more important than exact water conditions.

Lots of vegetables, live/frozen and dried foods would be a good start. Keep the diet varied, feed generously and keep the water clean with regular, perhaps bi-weekly water changes.

Hope this helps.

[fredmir]

Hi

My lfs just got in a bunch of wild one in . Haven`t got any yet

I`m trying to sex them,looks like mostly males to me?? I`m looking at the bristle`s around the mouth, any other tips on sexing them

My tap water ph 6.6 hardness 60 ppm

Thanks for the info

George

[young1nj]

Aweseome! This is exactly what I was looking for. I just purchased a group of these off aquabid that were labeled L213 Ancistrus sp.**Snow Spot**

My summer goal is to breed them.

I asked the seller about these and he told me that they are from Germany, and should be of breeding size. They are WC from Brazil. I haven't measured them, but I was told the largest was 4.5 inches and were of breeding size.

I have 4 of them and have had them for almost 2 weeks now. They are currently in a 20g tall tank by themselves with 2 slate caves, that are occupied with 2 air driven sponge filters, a HOB filter and a flower pot. They pretty much stay in there chosen hiding spots for the most part.

They took a good day to get accumulated and to start eating as I didn't see any fecies, but now they are eating. I am feeding some tetra bit tablets that I ordered from kensfish. active ingredients are egg bits, earthworm bits, spirulina bits, and color bits.

In one of there first few days I put some raw zuchini in there and it went un touched. Maybe I should try again?

They are in my natural tap water that is very hard with about 20 KH and a PH around 7.8 and currently 82 degrees F. I'm thinking I should turn the heat down a bit.

Hopefully this week I can get a chance to take some pictures and post them in here, it might be tough with college finals. I'm not too sure on there sex as all 4 of them have bristles. I sure hope I at least have a pair. I haven't examined them too well close up.

I Intend to move them to a 20L tank where they will have a little bit more room with a 30 x 12 footprint.

PS here is an image of the fish from the aquabid pic.