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Does anyone has experiences with this ancistrus? It is very rare in this part of the world to purchase. Those arrived refused to eat and died. Is this impossible species to keep?

Hello Mika,

I've never been able to find the species around here. Trust me, I've tried. I have talked to other individuals who have kept it and it seems to have the same requirements as Ancistrus ranunculus L34. This means warmer than usual water, 82-86'F, and a diet of meaty foods such as bloodworm, brine shrimp, and blackworm.

Larry Vires

I've managed to kill 5 of them in two attempts. I think high temperature is key and the fish are often in poor condition due to chilling. Their optimum collect and export time co-incides with cold weather in Europe... I have a pair of A. ranunculus and have no problems with them.

I suspect (mainly due to the colouration) that they are blackwater species and so need hot, black water that is well oxygenated. If I'm right, this is a pleco for the advanced aquarist.

Jools

It seems that they might need to be sent to do some R&R before on forwarding to condition them ready for shipping when things have warmed up
Maybe a west coast US - Europe trans shipping system could be handy
I have used Geoliquid with new arrivals, I can't say it's helped but I haven't had problems either

Regarding the L034 Jools/Larry, can you advise what size they are and if you have had any success with any spawning activity or shown any interest between them
I find them to be slow growing (5'x18"x18" tank 7.2 pH & 27*C) is there anything to boost growth that I can feed like higher protein foods or even beef heart (not a real fan but have heard it will increase growth) or increase water changes and amounts
The tank is running a 2260 Eheim and there are also L177 and L043 with them.... feeding pellets, growth flakes, vegies and shrimp

Larry is your book still available, I tried getting a copy earlier in the year but was told by the seller it was out of stock and then got no replies
L2H

Hi,

my dealer got 20 of this Ancistrus and 10 A. ranunculus in June. There are 6 specimen left (the others are sold) which are healthy. The tank is about 100*60*40 cm, the temperature around 28°C. In the first week they breathed very strong and didn't eat anything. But today there ist no difference to other Ancistrus.

Martin.

Hello,

L-34 is a slow grower. They can be sped up to a degree by increasing the temperature to 86' F and doing more regular, smaller, water changes. Try feeding blood worm, blackworm, diced nightcrawler, and even salad shrimp. They are primarily carnivorous and can be rather difficult to get them to eat their fill in cooler waters. The largest I have ever owned were about 6 inches, but saw a pair that were nearly 8 inches. They were being sold for $80 each, but that was 12 years ago.

You may also want to try putting them in a smaller tank by themselves. Mine were always rather skittish about coming out to eat if there was too much activity. Feeding after lights out, if they are by themselves, seems to help to a degree. I've even lost them to starvation in tanks with smaller plecos.

Larry Vires