Ancistrus temmenckii pair

[Tanglefoot]

Hi, I have a couple of bristlenose cats, male and female in quite a small tank (40l). Originally had the female plus another male in a 100l tank, but have had to downsize considerably. Whilst in the bigger tank the male died quite young and subsequently the female moved to the small tank. I then introduced another male who was a bit smaller than her and she kept him on his toes (or fins ha ha) putting him in his place but without any problems. After some time, when the male reached the same size as her I decided to add a couple of breeding caves (the slate tunnels you can get) and this is when the problem seems to have started.

The dominance the female had over the male has gone and now she hides away behind the heater whilst he guards a breeding cave (which is empty, definite no breeding has happened!). The male can now swim wherever he wants to, whereas before he kept away from her.

It's got to the point where I'm thinking of splitting them up as she is certainly not interested it is clear, plus she is displaying a very pale colour and her dorsal fin has splits in it.

I removed the caves yesterday to try and quell the males intention (I assume) and I want to add some hiding places back into the tank but not ones that the male would not think were perfect breeding caves.

Any thoughts from folks appreciated, thanks.

Oh and I keep the temp at 26 deg C, there are also 5 black widow tetras and a ruby shark in the tank. I just use colour strips for testing water, so can't supply figures for other water conditions, sorry, water is on the soft side. There's a large piece of driftwood in the tank, very fine rounded off gravel and an air-stone and internal filter/pump.

[Jools]

Are you sure you've got a male and female. Are you sure they're the same species (they're not

Ancistrus temminckii

BTW) and, finally, are you sure it's not the shark causing the discord?

Jools

[Tanglefoot]

The male has very bushy "bristles" and branches, my female does not. I was quite confident they're the same species, but why not temminckii you say? That is what they were sold as. The shark doesn't bother them in the least, when they move he skips out of the way sharpish if he's anywhere near them.

[Dave Rinaldo]

...why not temminckii you say? That is what they were sold as.

From the link Jools posted.

Identification ____

What is identified as A. temminckii in the aquarium trade and some hobby literature nowadays is possibly A cf. cirrhosus but the true origins of that fish is unclear. The real A. temminckii may have shown up in the trade in the past, but is almost never imported nowadays. A. temminckii can be distinguished from A. cf cirrhosus by the absence vs. presence of a dark spot at the dorsal fin base, between the first and second ray.

[Tanglefoot]

Oh right, thanks for that, I'd never heard that before, I guess the pet shop hasn't either!