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I've heard bushy nose were easy to breed but this is just...shocking!

I posted awhile back about breeding my piebald bushy nose. I decided to go for it but didn't know what sex he was, nor would I be sure to find the opposite sex when I did know.

I was at the LFS today and saw an albino bushy nose the exact same size as my piebald. I say what the heck. Either they will be or the won't be, either way I'll have two great looking plecs.

Now keep in mind, both fish are barely 2 inches, and I have no idea what sex they are, niether have bristles.

I acclimate the albino. I leave the house for two hours and come back. I find the piebald (the skinnier of the two), sitting beside the albino and paying it quite a bit of 'odd' attention. It was NOT fighting. Nothing agressive at all. What the piebald did blew my mind! He swam in front of the albino and fluttered his back fins, then swam to the albinos rear and kind of nuzzled it. The piebald repeated this over and over until they were somewhere under the driftwood where I lost sight of them. The albino would raise it's dorsal fin occasionally, but never chased off the piebald.

Was this some sort of courting behavior? I thought they were too young!

Could you redirect me to some threads or articles about what behavior to start looking for. I was NOT expecting anything THIS early on seeing as I couldn't even sex them yet.

Thanks,

Just an update. It would seem that the piebald is the only one interested in actually doing anything. It won't give the abino a moments peace! I'm guessing from what I've I read through searches that the piebald is the female? It is the smaller of the two, but the albino is broader in the shoulder. I think from what I've read, if I understand it right, the female is the one that courts the male? Hopefully getting him to move from his cave so she can lay eggs? Well, the albino has barely had time to settle in and certainly has not found a cave to hide in yet. If the albino IS the male, should I remove the piebald until the male gets settled in?

Thanks for any replies,

Ok, maybe I'm just jumping the gun. Yay, the fish are opposite sexes. Looks like I still have lots of time to prepare a proper enviroment for the couple.

Let's back up a bit.
How big does a bristle nose have to be to actually be of breeding age?

I would think that you would be looking at 3.5 to 4 inches or so....I don't think it's "totally unheard of" for them to breed smaller, but not very common...david

Ok, I was figuring 3inches at the least so I still have lots of time to get this setup finished. I was afraid they might actually achieve something before I get the tank arranged so that I can do maintainance on it without bothering them.

I hear the male will actually become aggressive towards the offspring once he pushes them out of the nest, so to speak. This will be a planted tank when I'm done with it (with some better rocky ledges than I have now). Will the vegitation help the would be babies avoid injury? Can I expect any threatening behavor from the mother?

And thanks davidkozak.

I'm talking from limited experience, but in my experience(and also what I've read) the male will be an EXCELLENT father....even through all of my shenanigans taking pictures of eggs and wrigglers, he was a great father...so, having plenty of hiding spaces is great, but the male will likely protect the fry...as fra as the mother-I don't know...david

Ok, thanks again!

Do you know what would make some nice, natural, hiding places that the male might like?

Currently I have a couple of peices of light weight slate that I've gathered from the local lake. I would like to get more of this if I knew I could fashion it into a formation suitable enough for the male.

I've made cheap/easy caves out of small clay flower pots<---i cut a hole in the side with a drillbit for drilling aquarium bulkheads...
and also out of coconut shells<---drill a hole in either end to pour out the juice--cut it in half with a saw---and pry out the meat...cut a small doorway with a roto-zip tool and you're set...
david

Cocanut shells huh? Do you need to dry them out good first, after you finished cleaning the meat out? Do they leach tanins?

I would guess they might leach a small amount of tannins...I mean the shell is basically the same as wood...As far as letting it dry, i just rinsed them under the tap and popped them right in the tank after i was done...A couple weeks after I made the first coco. shell caves my B. nose spawned in one...
they've rasped all of the fibre off of the outside(almost look's like polished wood now) with no ill-effects...
david
p.s. here's a pic...
http://img20.photobucket.com/albums/v59 ... dshell.jpg

COOL! Thanks alot David.

Hey all,
I've seen a few pictures of these and they look very interesting.
I've read somewhere they are

probably a colour sport produced by crossing albino bristlenose back with the wild colour form.

Has anyone here been lucky enough to witness offspring that are piebald, from parents which consist of a wild form and a albino?
Does anyone have any idea of what the probability would be of getting piebald offspring?

Also is there anyone that has some pictures of their Piebald Ancistrus to share?

Regards,
Michael.

Post pics? Why certainly! Here's Rusty the Piebald plec when I first got him...or is it her! LOL I need to get new pics. That's Fluffy the betta below him.