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MODERATOR'S NOTE: This thread is a continuation of a thread ID'ing this species in the What is my catfish? forum: Ancistrus ID please?... And they spawned.


After the big water change and (what I thought would be a stressful) video and photo shoot yesterday, the spawned overnight! Hooray!

Cheers, Eric

Ancistrus sp. Rio Ucayali First Spawn 15-April-2018

I believe your Ancistrus had this condition
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=45822&hilit=Shane+Maryland

Especially as you have seen it before in your area and it appears localized to certain shops.
Glad to see they recovered back to normal. I have avoided picking up plecos with this condition for fear it was irreversible.
-Shane

Hmmm. Interesting possibility. These Ancistrus were from the same shop as the Hemiancistrus in the thread you cited, Shane. This idea makes a lot of sense, particularly for the orange female; I just figured her colors might be an extreme stress coloration. But I didn't consider that for the other fish. I can't imagine what they are treating the fish with to cause this - I know they treat some diseased fish with old fashioned Nox-Ich; I don't know what they use as a dechlorinator (I suspect it's SeaChem Prime) or if they use other water treatments.
I'd also considered the possibility that the colors were due to being kept on black gravel and being fed live black worms (I don't know what other foods he uses besides live worms, but live black worms are a staple for almost all fish in his store).

I will talk to the owner about his water treatments.

Thanks Shane.

Cheers, Eric

Dang, on Tuesday (day 3 of incubation), I observed the egg mass (photo) and noticed that some eggs had turned white. Wednesday morning I discovered all the eggs gone and dad fanning an empty cave. I suppose this isn't a surprise, since I've seen many first spawns turn out bad. Not sure if it's bad eggs, bad sperm, or bad technique (either dad or mom), but no matter. Hopefully they spawn again soon.

Yay! They spawned again! Hopefully this brood hatches!

I have no clue if it's the same parents, but this spawn comes 17 days after the first spawn. Back when I kept a breeding pair of s, the female could produce a new clutch of eggs every 18-19 days. I wonder if this timing will hold for this Ancistrus species as well.

Cheers, Eric

Came from work to see the cave empty. The eggs failed again.

When they spawn next time, I may take the eggs and try hatching them in a tumbler.

Others have suggested my water chem might not be right for good fertilization rates. Maybe too alkaline?

I hope they breed sooner this next time so I don't have to wait so long to try new things.

Keeping a stiff upper lip!

Cheers, Eric

Yay, I thought all the eggs from the two spawns had fungused or failed but apparently that's not the case! This little fish is about 3/4"-1" TL. I hope there are more in the tank.

Cheers, Eric

Good news Eric, will keep my fingers crossed that more are hiding!

Thanks, Chuck.

The lone baby was out again today after a WC.

I found another juvenile in the tank, thus doubling the number of fry that developed from the eggs in the first two spawns. And yesterday I changed out the old fluorescent light fixture for an LED I picked up a while ago at a club auction. The new light really gives the fish a good look.

Cheers, Eric

Third spawn occurred overnight last night. From the first two spawns, only two babies developed and rest of eggs failed. I can see one bad egg already in this photo. What's with all the bad eggs?

With 13-14 adults in the tank and trapping occurring overnight each time, I have no clue as to which female/females is/are involved. I've learned to expect some bad eggs or even a whole bad spawn from females on their first spawn, but are these eggs from a repeat spawning female? I'll never know if I don't catch her in the act.

Cheers, Eric

Eggs hatched today, between 80 - 87 hours after being laid. As with previous spawns, the eggs started failing quickly, some turning white within hours of being laid. On the second day, I transferred the egg mass to a Cobalt tumbler. I tried to pick the bad eggs apart but they were really stuck to the mass, so I simply tried to destroy them in place.

As of now, I can count about 25 fry, which I think is about 1/5-1/4 of the whole mass. These babies are small!

Cheers, Eric

Congratulations on the new batch Eric...… sometimes all you can do is hope they figure it out and try your best to do what you think is correct.


Chuck

Thanks Chuck. Yeah, I feel the same way. But I still wonder if water conditions are to blame for all the eggs lost.

Here's two pics while playing with my phone macro lens.

Cheers, Eric

Could be, you could try messing with the water a little. Not sure what you are working with but some tannins wouldn't hurt... and makes your water a nice tea color! lol Adding some Oak branches or leaves would add tannins and easy to get around my yard anyways.


Chuck

The tank has manzanita, but it's so old that I suspect most of the tannins are out. Maybe time for fresh wood.

Cheers, Eric

Four day old fry, just finishing their yolk sacs and starting to feed.

Ancistrus sp. Rio Ucayali, 6 days post-hatching. So far I've had 100% survivorship of the fry. They're developing nicely.

Cheers, Eric

Very nice, look to be doing well. Keep up the good work and look forward at seeing them grow!

Chuck

Ancistrus sp. Rio Ucayali, 2 months old

Ancistrus sp. Rio Ucayali, 10 days post hatching.

Picture updates of babies and adults. Babies are 15 days old and eating their first Brussels sprouts. They stripped two sprout leaves down to their veins in just 12 hours. Male photographed without flash, female photographed with flash to show her fin colors. She's still a seven pointer.

Cheers,
Eric

What a bizarre pose - sitting very still in cave with the pelvic fins flared out and up... No fanning, just this flare on display.

Cheers, Eric

Oldest babies are 3 months old and already 38mm SL. Dang they grow fast!... Way faster than my L201!

Another Ancistrus sp. Rio Ucayali spawn found yesterday. Since I've had such poor survival of eggs left with dads (2 fry from 3 spawns) but a better result with the Cobalt egg tumbler (about 43 fry from one spawn, roughly 25%-33% of the egg mass), I pulled the new eggs this morning.

Good luck, hope you gets lots this time!

Thanks Chuck.

After this picture was taken, I added a few drops of Methylene blue to the tumbler. It diluted out into the main tank very quickly, but some stuck to the eggs' jelly coats, so I hope this is just enough to enhance egg survival and hatching above what I got last time. Maybe the meth blue wasn't necessary this time because this batch of eggs looks pretty good on the second day (compared to white eggs appearing on day 2 in the last clutch) and those eggs hatched quickly last time I had them in the tumbler (three days to hatching, if I recall correctly, so they might start hatching tomorrow or the next day).

Cheers, Eric

About half or less of the eggs failed, but the rest are hatching yesterday and today. In spite of the lossed eggs, this will be a bigger cohort of fry than the last spawn.