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not sure

Posted: 20 Feb 2010, 03:18
by reeferman 1
I have a couple of L144 albino long fin.That have spawn a few times with a mix of long and reg but now i have few of them that are dark gray with some white on them. As anyone seen are heard of this. thanks steve

Re: not sure

Posted: 20 Feb 2010, 03:40
by Suckermouth
Interesting, I'd like to see some pictures of those young, which might help us figure out what this is.

Re: not sure

Posted: 20 Feb 2010, 04:27
by Shane
I moved this here where it will get more attention.
-Shane

Re: not sure albino L144 .4 with gray spawn

Posted: 21 Feb 2010, 01:23
by reeferman 1
I took some pic. but I need someone to help me post them.They are about 3/8 in long the tails are round with looks like 2 light spots.There are 4 of them 3 look as i just describe and 1 is almost black.Hope to have pic tomorrow.

Re: not sure

Posted: 21 Feb 2010, 04:24
by apistomaster
The L144 is not a well defined species. Almost all of those being sold presently are actually Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus.
Others have reported getting normal or pigmented fry when they have crossed long fin and short fin albino rather than getting all albino as one would normally have expected. This could explain the occurrence of some pigmented fry among your fish's spawns.
Basically the genetics of this group of Ancistrus is a mess. Among my own I have albino, albino long fin and heterozygous normal fin, normally pigmented fish. From time to time a spawn is released into their community setting and i get about 50/50 normal and albino; what you would expect from a cross between an albino and a normal that is heterozygous for the recessive gene for albinism.
This is perhaps among the simplest of possible combinations. I have not delved deeper since they are of little commercial value to me but they are the best all around utility algae eaters so I do retain the capacity to breed more as needed. I like using a few small juveniles as algae eaters in each of my mated pairs of Discus breeding tanks. I remove them by the time they are 2 inches and replace them with smaller specimens.