L129. People never think to look at the head shape on these things.

Larry

I won't make a habit of this, but got curious when one of my BN males started kicking eggs this weekend. This was this males first spawn, so hopefully he'll get better. Anyway, I placed a few of the eggs in my A. claro tank with a male already fanning a clutch. I was hoping he would act as a surroga...

Or a Hypostomus off the south coast of Ghana ;) There's a Harttia in Norway as well.

Larry

Apparently these fish are more scarce than even I originally thought. I just finished responding to several emails and PMs either asking for pics to verify the species or just wanting to see my fish, another way of saying "I don't believe you have the real thing" without having to say it t...

Normally, when eggs are kicked out in small groups like this, I use a turkey baster and kick them back in. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but it's definitely better than I could ever do. My hatching record without a male watching over them has been terrible.

Larry

I'm sure that something can be worked out to get you a seat. Aside from myself, you're the most active catfish person in the club. BTW, just so this gets at least some attention from the PC community, I'll announce that I'll be bringing at least a couple groups of fry of my most requested catfish sp...

I'll exemplify the caveat by giving my "horror story". I'm rather comfortable around the use of chemicals. I use several potentially unsafe mixtures in the fish room with no ill effect because there are safeguards in place to prevent accidental spills. At any given point, permanganate, ble...

Hello, L182 is a definite possibility, and the size adds even more credibility to this. However, as I'm sure everyone on here has read in the past, spotted Ancistrus (without at least a type locality or even country of origin) are rather difficult to ID, and usually not even possible to venture a gu...

Hello all, I just wanted to take a minute and let everyone know that I've been scheduled to lecture in Phoenix, AZ in March. I haven't done any lectures in over 10 years, and have been working on the program for a couple months to get my ducks in a row as to how to approach the information. Although...

I'm going to go against the grain on this one. I've used bleach in the fish room daily, for years, and have only had one major incident. That was due to my own negligence, and not the chemical being used. You're not going to beat it for sterilizing, but it is definitely necessary to make sure it's r...

I don't know of any live pics of A. minutus. There is a pic of a preserved specimen on Fishbase. The description on that page states brownish with numerous small whitish spots. Probably not going to be much help, but here's the link:

http://www.fishbase.us/summary/Ancistrus-minutus.html

Larry

I agree it's L201. However, the fish is female. This group is notorious for long odontodes on both male and female with the males having them in much greater quantities. The easier way to sex these is the shape of the head in relation to the body. Males have a more bulged area just anterior of the i...

I may be a bit off, but both pics above appear to show females. The top pic is definitely a mature female based on the vent. Male L205 have truly amazing odontodes along the back half of the body and extreme thickening of the upper caudal ray once they mature.

Larry

I use a dremel with the fiber reinforced blades for the cheap dollar store pots. For the more dense stuff, I usually start a rough outline with a drill and masonry bit. Important to keep the piece cooled while drilling. For that, I normally just support it in a shallow container of water and drill s...

...I use vertical caves made from either PVC or terracotta pots making sure to leave a lip below the entrance to keep eggs from getting kicked.... Larry Vertical or horizontal? I'm having a tough time imagining a vertical cave. The easiest way to explain this, is the ones I use for common Ancistrus...

I'll second they'll eat whatever is offered. However, when I was raising them I normally fed mostly decap brine, with the occasional pellet thrown in, till they were one inch SL just for the growth.

Larry

What a coincidence...I look like me too ;)

I have a female that's about 5 inches with the caudal fin, TL. They grow rather quickly compared to a lot of other species though. She was less than 3 inches when I got her as a wild import in March.

Larry

I use both PVC pipe, and PVC "jug shaped" caves for most plecos with no problem. For most Ancistrus species, I use vertical caves made from either PVC or terracotta pots making sure to leave a lip below the entrance to keep eggs from getting kicked. The males will keep the cave clean regar...

Possibly female, but is too small to tell for sure. Should be easy to tell when it's grown another inch.

Larry

Definitely Peckoltia, and my best guess would be .

Larry

I'm not so much concerned about them being called bronze. I'm fairly confident that most of the fish sold as bronze are a mix of multiple species. I still wouldn't pass along known, or suspected, hybrids. My concern lies more with the lasers since those are still primarily WC fish. If they fry start...

All of the cory eggs I've ever collected, including all the laser types, look the same aside from size. As for the lasers spawning, it's likely still too early for any females to have matured enough. I don't know when they mature, but they wilds I've kept usually took several months after getting th...

Just a note, but albino aeneus are true albinos. Two albino parents can't produce normally colored fry. The genes just aren't there. I would think a large portion of the eggs being infertile could come from either of two options, or both. First, lasers seem notorious for a high rate of infertile egg...

I've used Metro multiple times to treat new imports with no ill effects provided the fish aren't too far gone when treating. A lot of rumors about medications get started because someone waits till the last moment, when the fish is already knocking on the great porcelain portal to the other side, be...

Likewise, been working on developing it here, and do have fry. However, they're not the quality I'm looking for in the line and will be outcrossing one more generation next fall to improve color a bit before any commercial release.

Larry

Definitely not L270 and the caudal appears to be too long for L333. It's somewhere in the L66, L399, L400, lower Xingu complex. As to where, I have no idea.

Larry

They are the same fish commercially sold as red whiptail. I won't get into splitting hairs here. As to sex, it's two males and one female. One of the males has a malformed head. This is also rather common in US lines due to excessive line breeding and rarely outcrossing.

Larry

I had also noticed about the head shape, but didn't want to say anything because possible camera angle. However, I looked back at the other thread, didn't realize there was one, and have to agree. I believe what you've got is Ancistrus macrophthalmus . They look very much like my pairs aside from a ...

Still yet another male. When looking for a female, L034 , you're looking for a lot less dense bristles. When viewed from above, at least to my eye, females appear to have three groups of bristles. One will be on each side near the gill openings, and the other on the front. This gives the appearance ...