Live caught Ancistrus, breeding possible ?

Harley · Post by **Harley** » 28 Nov 2003, 15:08

Hi

I have found a nice pair of Live caught Ancistrus, which i am thinking about buying.
How hard will it be to get these ancistrus to breed compared to the "normal" ancistrus that you get in the stores ?
I am curently breeding these, normal ancistrus with good succes.

I have tried searching for answers in the forum but found none...

One more thing, will they do fine together with some bulldog plecos ? (aprox 222liters tank.)

btw, great site and forum, i visit and read alot even though i dont post very often.

/cheers , Henrik from Sweden

Post by **Barbie** » 28 Nov 2003, 16:55

I'm assuming you're referring to wild caught ancistrus, as live caught would have to apply to all the fish in the hobby, or they'll be a bit hard to sell at the LFS...

There are a few commonly bred types of ancistrus, but also many types of wilds have been spawned in captivity. You should check out the Shane's world reproduction articles, and the internet Ancistrinae lecture in the iCOSA section of Planet Catfish. Both of which have great information about types and methods of breeding.

Barbie

Harley · Post by **Harley** » 30 Nov 2003, 11:35

thanx Barbie!
Ofcourse i mean wild caught !
And i have read those articles once before. But it was a while ago.

Do you guys know if there is any value in selling, offspring from wild caught ancistrus compared to "normal " ancistrus ?

How much do you have to pay for a wild caught specimen were you live ?

Post by **Shane** » 30 Nov 2003, 16:18

Harley,
I have collected myself and spawned three species of Ancistrus: A. brevifilis, A. sp. "Chirgua," and A. triradiatus. They are not much more difficult to spawn than captive bred Ancistrus. I am not sure that they would be worth more money unless the type you were breeding was more attractive than what was already available in the local pet stores. I do not pay anything, I just catch them. Local pet store price is about 30 cents US.
-Shane

Harley · Post by **Harley** » 04 Dec 2003, 18:28

thanx for the info Shane !
The specimens im thinking about is A. Tamboensis. They are quiet large, 7-8cm. I dont think they are any more good looking than my "common" ancistrus.

Here they want 155kronor for one fish, thats abaout 20dollars. So your 30 cents sounds alot nicer

Since i wont get much more fore any kids from these then my commons i doubt that its worth it...

Fish Soup · Post by **Fish Soup** » 05 Dec 2003, 02:45

Harley, Consider mixing your pairs to include one wild with one domestic. Fresh blood is always a good thing! You would then have two bloodlines of unrelated fish to offer. Sell it right and you could get a better price for pairs. Also helps keep genetic diversity in the next generation. Responsible breeding!

Don

Post by **Barbie** » 05 Dec 2003, 02:51

OK, I missed it, where did he say that these two types were the same species of fish?

Barbie

Fish Soup · Post by **Fish Soup** » 05 Dec 2003, 02:58

Opps, Assumed so. Of course, only if the same.

Don

Harley · Post by **Harley** » 05 Dec 2003, 14:22

Barbie: you are correct. My current set of ancistrus are obviusly NOT A.Tamboensis.

Fishsoup: if they were the same, it would have been a verry good idea =)

I will probobly not buy them... but who knows what santa is up to theses days

thanx for the answers !