SO...
If my (straight from the new r/o unit [flushed for 4 hours] is reading +8 pH, my Hannah digital reader should be re-calibrated?
...and I should use my new r/o water as the calibration solution for "neutral-or near enough" pH?

Thanks, racoll...very much, for your response.

Kevin

Theoretically, if r/o water has had everything removed, it should have neutral pH?
Any deviation from 7 would mean there's something else in there creating acidic or alkaline measurements...OR your method for measuring is incorrect?

Thoughts?

No offense intended to Bas Pels.

I wasn't looking for a solution, I was just curious if anyone else noticed the reluctance for Hypancistrus siblings to breed?

I thought I'd refresh myself on the new standard(s) on raising young Hypancistrus. I my case, zebra (yay! scored 4 beautiful F1/F2)
What matters?
What doesn't?

Are pH/hardness/conductivity/dissolved solids real concerns?
I have the food/caves/lighting things figured out :-)
OH..and brown socks once ...

Years ago, I obtained a group of young F1 Queen Arabesque (I expect I got them from BARBIE). I grew them up for nearly 3 years.
They never seemed to have any obvious "sexual" interest, despite being pretty sure both sexes were in the tank.
Disregarding my set up, I'm curious whether anyone has ...

Wow.
I've been gone too long.
There is a post on this subject I wrote 5 years ago or more. I'm not exactly sure what I said, but have just re-entered the hobby by acquiring 8 "snub-nose" zebras. I have dreamt (truly) for years of trying to prove these fish will produce "normal" fry. I see that has ...

The pictures in DATZ seem to show Oligancistrus sp. L20 having a distinct "spot-free" outer margin on the dorsal and caudal fins. This does not seem to be the case in the pictures of L354.
The pictures of L354 here in the PC Cat-elog do not seem to follow this pattern and, in fact, seem to better ...

I'd bet on L229 also...as I have 5 that look just like yours.
They're quite colorful fish in that the red and the marbling seem to come and go with their "moods".

They could chew down a forest if given the chance, too!
Kevin

Thanks Janne...
Do they both retain the same base body color throughout their lives?

I ask because in the last 2 months one of my L264 (I have 8 and they all looked identical} has lost its white tail tips, developed odontal growth on his back half and turn a dirty yellow brown. As far as body color ...

Compare:
Leporacanthicus joselimai
Leporacanthicus sp(l263)

Can these fish be distinguished from each other in a side-by-side "taste-test?"


In other words: Can I be sure of which I own by looking at them?

Kevin Korotev
Milwaukee, WI USA

[Mod edit: Use persistant links (also makes it more ...

I believe you have something [and I may be wrong in the location spelling]known as Hypancistrus sp. "Queen Arabesque" Monte Durado.
There are other folks who can tell you more about them, but that picture pretty much tells the story.
L318?
I don't think so.

Good luck,
Kevin
Milwaukee

I am in the Midwest United States and recently acquired some Ancistrus that are supposed to have come from Germany. They were imported as F1 Ancistrus leucostictus. Do any of you know if this fish is being bred in Germany/Europe or might this be something more commonly confused with leucostictus ...

Newly imported suckermouths, particularly Peckoltia, are often much more yellow/orange than I can keep them in my tanks. I assume this is a dietary issue.
Does anyone else notice this? Any ideas what this ?coloring agent? might be?

Kevin Korotev
Milwaukee, WI USA

Ramon,
I have been breeding the L333 for over a year now. Different pairs from different sources....and at different ages.
I am not as sure you have a pair as some of the other posters believe.
One of my best females would pass for a male if pulled out and compared to a younger male.

Behavior will ...

Thanks Mats.
The whole system becomes suspect now. Too bad so many of us count on it as "real", "truth", "science" etc....through
sheer ignorance of the facts.
I've had my eyes opened and don't like it much.
Kevin

I'm either stupid or stubborn or both.

Why wouldn't/isn't the effort be(ing) made to combine the two systems into one comprehensive list?
What is the value, purpose, good of having two competing
systems, published by two competing companies?

Could someone explain this to me in simple terms?

Still ...

Larry,
In my recently concluded 3 year adventure with F1 L260, I came to believe 2 things for sure:
1)I don't get the belly pattern thing or
2)It simply doesn't always work (for me).

The sexual ID clues were best seen as behavioral differences, supported by
A)Weight/heft/girth behind the ...

I have challenged a few people [and not always politely, I'm ashamed to say] calling the black/white [and always larger]
fish a L333. This may have all started with the AQUALOG picture of something black and white and not yellow/brown.

Please, if the black and white super male actually breeds and ...

Well, sure, you COULD, but not as a single definitive trait. It would need to appear in a list of things.

MatsP,

No. I'm sorry if I misled you.

The "red" was an insignificant characteristic of the fish I had. It was an attractive trait, but not breathtaking.
By the time they're mature enough to spawn, you'll know which is which...assuming you have both!

Kevin

My biggest, fattest, bushiest L333 "Male" became a great egg-laying machine when a younger, slimmer, smooth finned "Female" showed up and took the best cave.

In other words; This fish, more than any Hypancistrus I've had the fortune to witness breeding, can really turn the ID clues upside-down ...

As I revisit the pictures I have and have posted here on PC, I REMEMBER there was a difference...and remember it wasn't real obvious until the fish were mature.
The males were darker, redder (where the Baensch mentions they are) and slimmer. The females pattern is lighter and when gravid, are ...

Jools,
Thanks for the explanations.
My apologies for the 'attitude'.
I do not, however, understand this:

Anyway, it's kind of academic now?

Kevin

Jools,
I oversimplify, but:
Can I/we simply assume that the LDA system is owned/controlled by this one man...now without a publisher, nor the means to keep his system current?
[and, apparently, with an agenda of his own]
Kevin

Thanks,Yann.
Ask Erwin Himself...Perfect!

Jools,
Thanks for the re-link to the article I used to be able to recite!

I apologize for my original question. I should have hunkered down and done a bit more e-legwork.
There is plenty of info "out there" and right here on PC to answer my original question...

BUT
Does anyone know any more ...

Jon,
This almost reads as if they are competing systems. If so, wouldn't each system then yield an L# and an LDA# for every fish? I've never seen this...nor have I seen an LDA 'list' of more than a couple dozen numbers?

I still think I'm missing something.
Kevin

Thanks for the quick response, Dave.
I am having trouble, however, with the link contained in the post you quoted.
Kevin

If DATZ developed the L numbering system, what is the origin of LDA numbers [does this MEAN something?] and why does DATZ not use them?

curious....
Kevin Korotev
Milwaukee, WI USA

Something about the mouth in the third picture bothers me.
Too big for Hypancistrus?
The eyes seem a little small too....
Maybe.

Kevin