Keeping different types of pleco L# together

[huffmagx]

I am fairly new to keeping anything more exotic than a regular bristle nose pleco in my tanks but I have fallen in love with several different species/types of plecs. lately. I have done some preliminary research here and a few other sites great info. BTW. What I really want to know is what types can I mix in my tanks without a fear of interbreeding or killing each other?

For example I already have the more common Albino bristle noses in my 55 can I add in a L052 or an LO66 or both?

I know in generally terms that most fishes from the same sub species will breed together like albino and brown ancistrus and you will get some albino babies and some brown babies. Will the hypancistrus breed together as well? I assume they will but don't know for sure and if they do what do you get.....anyone have any experience with this?

[Mod edit: Remove "big text" tags --Mats]

[MatsP]

Before I answer your post properly, can I ask if you have some sort of vision problem? If so, perhaps it would be better to adjust your settings on the browser, rather than making the text bigger in your post. If you don't have a vision problem, PLEASE don't make your entire post using big text - this feature is there so that, if needed, someone can put headers and other such formatting into a post, not make your posts have bigger text all over - it just makes it harder to read because less of the post is visiable on the screen.

Now for the answer to your questions:
So, the main rule to avoid interbreeding is "Only one species of each genus" - so don't mix two types of Hypancistrus in the same tank - those in particular are well known to interbreed. By the way, your example of albino and brown Ancistrus breding together - these are the SAME SPECIES, so strictly speaking it's not cross-breeding - it's just different phenotypes - like breeding a white rabbit with a brown rabbit (subspecies isn't really used in fish taxonomy), where cross-breeding, forming hybrids is similar to a zorse (zebra crossed with horse).

As to killing each other, that's a more difficult one to give a concrete rule for - basically, don't mix agressive ones with less agressive ones, but it is definitely not quite so easy to determine before you put them in the same tank together what will work with what.

The other factor to take into account is the diet of the respective fishes. You don't want to keep fish that need a lot of meat in the diet with fish that do not tolerate meat.

Sorry, it took a while to get this answer written - a friend from Sweden called, and we had a bit of a chat...

--
Mats

[huffmagx]

Thanks for the fast response Matt.

[racoll]

It can be quite a big jump from keeping common bristlenose plecos to the "exotic" L number species.

These can be a lot more demanding in terms of water conditions. Species of

Hypancistrus

and

Dekeyseria

need much warmer water than your "average" fish, at above 27C. This can conflict with other inhabitants liking cool water.

They also require much higher oxygen levels, so good aeration and water movement is essential.

Unlike the hardy, tank-raised bristlenose, wild caught exotics can be in poor condition when you buy them, as there are not many pet stores that have the expertise to care for them correctly upon import. Buy sick stock to start with, and they are likely to die.

Regarding hybridisation, it is my opinion that it is fine to keep a variety together, but if you do get a spawn you must be prepared to cull all the fry (unless of course you saw the actual spawning take place and know for certain who the parents are, which is not very likely).

However, as tempting as it is to start "collecting" plecos, you will probably get more long-term satisfaction from keeping a decent sized group of the same species, as they will behave more naturally, and be more likely to breed for you.

Providing you have provided lots of hiding places, aggression shouldn't be a problem in a 55g.

[MatsP]

Racoll makes many good points. Particularly agree that keeping several of the same species is a much better choice than keeping one or two of several species.

Providing you have provided lots of hiding places, aggression shouldn't be a problem in a 55g.

Assuming some sense is used when selecting the fish - large, agressive plecos like

Leporacanthicus

and

Pseudacanthicus

will be too large for a 55g tank. If you are novice aquarist, you probably think that a 55g tank is massive, but if the fish are a nearly foot long, then the tank is way too small - and a fish of that size will have a territory that is larger than what a 55g tank will allow.

--
Mats

[racoll]

Assuming some sense is used when selecting the fish - large, agressive plecos like Leporacanthicus and Pseudacanthicus will be too large for a 55g tank. If you are novice aquarist, you probably think that a 55g tank is massive, but if the fish are a nearly foot long, then the tank is way too small - and a fish of that size will have a territory that is larger than what a 55g tank will allow.

Of course. Thanks for pointing that out Mats.

I was assuming the poster was interested in the smaller varieties such as the Hypancistrus and Dekeseria mentioned.

[huffmagx]

Thanks all! I am interested in the smaller species like the L333, L066, L052 , L134 ect I do have several tanks not just the 55 and have some of the species listed but currently have each group separated by type but of course I WANT MORE!!!

The easy answer would be "get more tanks" but my significant other has put the kiebash on that so I was looking for creative ways to expand my collection without risking my fish or interbreeding. I have interbred guppies but I don't want to do that to my plecs.

I do have albino bristle noses and L201's in the same tank and currently have a spawn of the albinos. All my tanks are fairly well planted and have multiple caves/hidey holes for each fish so no issues with aggression so far.

[huffmagx]

So just to see if I am understanding all of this correctly if I have in my tank several members of the family Loricaridae but of different genera say ancistrus my albino bristle noses and hypancistrus my L201's for instance then ..

Can I still add from the genera peckoltia or panaque for instance assuming adequate space for them and similar habitat requirements without the risk of them inter-breeding with the albinos and the 201's?

Is this right? Am I on the right track here?

[racoll]

Can I still add from the genera peckoltia or panaque for instance assuming adequate space for them and similar habitat requirements without the risk of them inter-breeding with the albinos and the 201's?

Yes. Shouldn't be a problem.

It is perfectly fine to keep different members of the same genus together. Breeding is probably unlikely in the "community" tank anyway, and hybridisation more unlikely.

That said, it can happen, so be prepared to have to cull the fry, or at the very least NEVER pass them on to anybody else in the hobby.