Long Finned Ancistrus

[Martin Thoene]

I bought 6 of these little guys from a local breeder for CDN$15. You can see the size by the gravel grain size.



They're growing steadily in a 5 gallon tank. Eventually, they'll probably end up either in a dedicated breeding tank or with this short-finned female who's in with the Discus and Golden Nugget Plecs in the 120.



I hope they grow up to be yellow versions of these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAEQDmTahBo

Martin.

[glenna]

pretty and tiny little things!
Have you ever bred plecos before? I have a male/female pair of starry night plecos, but have no idea what to do to encourage them. They hide, mostly, but will come out for some tasty zucchini well after dark. They are aware of each others presence in the tank, but mostly just avoid each other. You can tell the male easily from the female as he has TONS of long bristles on his nose, and is much bigger.
Really, I would not know what to do with the babies, where they to appear. Breeding fish is part of the "dream for the future".
Seems like you would have gotten a pair out of those GN plecos you got for a steal at Walmart )(didn't you get, like five of them?)!!
That would be the bomb! "I would like $20 a piece for the spawn of my $2.47 fish!" ha!

[Crissyloach]

Great pics! Wow! They are pretty small! Those guys in the video are very nice!

[starsplitter7]

Martin, I look forward to seeing yours grow up. I love these types of fish.

I had a female long fin I raised from about 1.5 to 5". She was beautiful. I have new ones right now. A regular long fin and an albino. I think I have about 6 varietiers right now.

[Martin Thoene]

I've never bred any Plec species before glenna, so any future spawning will be a new experience. I found this pdf you might find interesting:
http://www.freewebs.com/hypancistrus_ze ... 0L-144.pdf

Martin.

[glenna]

Thanks Martin.
That is an interesting link. It is helpful to see someone else's experience. Still, I am a long way away from actually having any sort of breeding set up. I have thought about the many different options for a breeding experiment. Of course, I have bred guppies, but that is like having lightening bugs in your backyard! My sister is a discus fan, and her step son has toyed with the idea of breeding them (a LOT of people think of this as a "winning the lottery" sort of idea). I cannot imagine trying to breed (let alone keep) such a finicky fish. Your discus are amazingly beautiful, but I do not think I have that level of experience.
I am fascinated with some of the dwarf cichlids and read a lot about many of the different types. I am not sure where one would get a "breeding pair" except online. I have a LOT of learning to do before then and will likely start by just trying to keep a pair alive!
We'll see what the future holds!