I have noticed some damaged fins on several of my plecos in different tanks. Mostly the tails but also some pectorals. I don't really see them fight and I don't think they have the ability to chew or bite so I can't figure out how it happens - apparantly at night. The affected ones are: albino ancis...

In that price range I would imagine either a "yellow chocolate pleco" - not sure about the proper name or albino ancistrus.

I recently got a Vampire pleco L-007 which I really enjoy. As I often check pictures on forums and stock listed on the net I have come accross a good amount of Leprocanthicus galaxis which are listed as either of the three L numbers above but often one fish will look exactly like one listed as a dif...

Kostas, I had a similar problem - fast breathing and swollen bellies occur a couple of times on different tanks containing plecos. The tanks were treated differently for the problem: first one developed a problem with 3 L-059s due to a broken heater and temperatures dropping. Swollen bellies and hea...

I'm far from an expert but try checking out the Cat-e-log on the L numbers.
Check L-107 and L-30(I think - peppermint pleco)

Also click on "show all ancistrus species"

Hope this helps a little until someone who knows better can help.

Thanks guys,
it looks like an L-205 indeed.

They guy had one more that looked pretty washed out so I didn't bother.

He also had some listed as L-015 but again they looked quite large (5") and not nearly as colorful as the ones Janne posted pix of,
Thanks again

This one was sold as L-002 - tiger. It's hard to get an idea at the store and even after the fish is in the tank for a while as they tend to change color quite a bit - especially on light background. The facial spotting is throwing me off and the coloring of the fish when set against the wood seems ...

Gold Nuggets IMO are the first to feel the effects of imperfect conditions. They come from waters which are soft and acidic - if your water is neutral or 7+, they will feel an amplified effect of ammonia and nitrites . Usually they exhibit feeling these problems by swimming up and down the glass - i...

IME panaque maccus will fatten up nicley on wood and zuccini. I've been told that ancistrus needs a lot of zuccini to condition them for breeding and it appears that it is helping to fatten up the maccus also. No spawning of maccus yet but so far I have observed them to be a bit territorial - I gues...

Well it's good that things are working out, as I mentioned I think that my otos always seemed calmer in a larger tank and they also seemed to behave more naturally there. With a small tank they seem to freak out when I get too close suddenly.

BTW - I grew up in Taby.

Thanks DrZeb, that is pretty much what I thought. They are in a 30 gal. I thought that 3 caves and a root would be enough caves but apparantly they need at least one per fish so they each have their own home when not breeding, also there are some spots that don't appear very favorable zebra realesta...

Mike, my best results with otos have been in well planted tanks. They seem to feed on the microfilm covering the glass, decorations and even the surface. Twice I had otos grow to an enormous size (for otos :lol: ) about 2.5" / 6cm and they were fat too. I often saw them hug or wrap themselves a...

I think it is a young L-18/L-85. Of the fish I have had, the spots were about that size and sometimes even larger. I have one that is about 5 cm right now and has very big spots - though I am almost sure that it is an L-018/L-085. When young, the spots tend to be larger as they are in many other ple...

I have noticed several of my hypancistrus zebra having trimmed taifins and some even bloodied pelvic fintips. I don't see much fighting during the day though they do seem a bit territorial. I wan't to correcct this problem, do I : - do a number of waterchanges , hoping that fresh water will help hea...

good question! I noticed that when feeding well to fatten the fish up for spawn , the snailpopulation grows dramatically. Someone mentioned that it is actually good to have snails around during spawn as they would eat the moldy and unfertilized eggs. I am a bit leary about them and try to remove as ...

I have a couple L-168s and have found them to be quite elusive. They like a well hidden spot , preferably in or under driftwood. My best guess is that they are omnivoirs as I haven't seen them prowl for food - that I can think. I did notice some interest in zuccini while in one tank and they must ha...

That's great - you really have the QA's down now. Congratulations.

Well it has been about 2 weeks and no eggs yet :evil: THe right side cave has an occupant most of the time - probably male. Middle cave is where I have my hopes, there is a resident male and a female comes to visit a LOT. They get together in there and stay inside, cooking up who knows what but not ...

Hejsan discusion, http://www.forum.planetcatfish.com/viewtopic.php?t=6518 There are pictures of my setup if you scroll down. The tank is 30gal ~ 120 liters and I have 6 zebras in it. I personally think that offering about one cave per male would cut down on any disputes and it seems that the cave cl...

blackmystus, what does the brick look like? Can you post a picture or link ? Thanks 4/22 This morning I snapped a few pics in the new quarters: http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL22/551337/4150916/51762250.jpg This is the tank, there are 3 caves and the two to the right are occupied. The powerheads are...

Thanks doctorzeb, I just moved them to a separate tank - they used to share a 55 gal with 6 L-260s but I have now moved them to their own quarters (30 gal)complete with 3 caves for spawning. The main reason I did this is to have an easier time controling temperature ( now 86 F) and to make large wat...

Janne, do the odontodes stay the same size or do they get longer and later shorter when the breeding cycle fades? The reason I ask is that after reading this thread I looked at mine and the odontodes were average yet I do remember some time ago looking at the fish and seeing enormous hairgrowth on t...

Thanks Janne and pleco farmer, it seems pretty conclusive that 1 & 4 are male and 2 & 6 females . #3 is young and small yet and I did recieve a vote for female and 2 for male on #5. Still if there are at least 2 sure females and 2 sure males then it's just time to get to work and play some M...

I had some that were L-059, they were easy fish to take care of and ate a bunch of veggies and wood. Unfortunatly , once they were big enough to spawn we had a poweroutage and something went wrong with the filter - somehow it led to toxic conditions and I lost them all.

Nice fish though

jd_7655, I am not sure (that's why I asked :D ) but I have been told by someone else that 1.3 and 4 look like males. #3 is still small about half the size of the others so it may be hard to tell. #6 looked a lot like a female when I handled her and from the answers I have gotten and the looks of the...

I moved them today and took the opportunity to snap some pix to try to figure out what I have for sex ratios: #1 http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL22/551337/4150916/51538545.jpg #1 http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL22/551337/4150916/51538583.jpg #2 http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL22/551337/4150916/51538...

Thanks xsu-xsu,
I was just wondering that very thing

And I was also under the impression that TDS = GH which I thought included KH

Thanks pleco_breeder, could you just clarify this - if you use malachite green in a tank , will the tank itself be unsuitable for breeding or just the fish? I'm thinking of using the particular tank for another species but want to ensure that the parasite is completly eridicated before introducing t...

Day 5; Since I'm unable to find much firsthand info on the net I will write down what is happening here. I am still treating with salt, 30% daily waterchanges, darkness and raised temps. It seems that the initial 2 doses of formalin+Malachite green knocked the infestation down. I have been told by s...

Thanks for shedding some light on the thing pleco breeder, I will dose just the formalin, malachite green and salt in addition to raised temp and oxygen. I got desperate since going light (just melafix , raised temp , oxygen, salt and waterchanges) just seemed to increase the problems. Thanks again