L128 Sexing

[Cleo21]

Here are my 3 L-128. The largest is around 7 inches approx and the smaller ones are 5-6 inches. I have never actually measured them. Is there a female in this trio? I know that the largest is a male.

[bekateen]

@MarcW

[MarcW]

I can't say for certain but there appear to be some differences, in the first picture the top right fish seems to show differences in snout and ventral fin shape.

With my group I didn't really know I had a female until I saw eggs!

Make sure you have a good variety of cave sizes, and feed them well, I'd recommend Repashy gel foods as a staple, specifically Igapo Explorer if you can get it.

Good luck!

[Cleo21]

I can't say for certain but there appear to be some differences, in the first picture the top right fish seems to show differences in snout and ventral fin shape.

With my group I didn't really know I had a female until I saw eggs!

Make sure you have a good variety of cave sizes, and feed them well, I'd recommend Repashy gel foods as a staple, specifically Igapo Explorer if you can get it.

Good luck!

I have a few different size and shaped caves. The largest is 2.25 inches in width which I think is too small for the largest male. They don’t seem very interested in the caves and just hang under the slate instead. I feed them repashy, fresh zucchini, melons and carnivore/insect tabs and pellets.

[MarcW]

I also found that there wasn't much interest shown in caves, until spawning attempts. My group of young which are just over 4 years old now, the biggest being ~5 inches TL have never shown interest in caves.

If you'd like to try and spawn them I'd recommend adding a few larger caves too, and maybe increase the flow of water, if you don't already have a power head or similar in the tank.

[Cleo21]

I also found that there wasn't much interest shown in caves, until spawning attempts. My group of young which are just over 4 years old now, the biggest being ~5 inches TL have never shown interest in caves.

If you'd like to try and spawn them I'd recommend adding a few larger caves too, and maybe increase the flow of water, if you don't already have a power head or similar in the tank.

I have ordered two caves that are width 3 inches, 2 1/4 inch inside height, and 8 inches long. I found an even bigger cave but they are sold out. I'm finding it hard to find caves where I live, even from online. Should I have a bunch of caves or only a few in the tank? I do have a powerhead but haven't turned it on due to the tetras. I lost a few before.

[MarcW]

I kept 4 adults in a tank with 4 caves, I don't think it'd matter if there were many more caves than fish, but I always provide at least 1 cave per fish as somewhere for them to hide if needed. In addition to that for L128 I have found rock overhangs, to be preferred to caves as you mentioned in a previous post, you found that they preferred hiding under slate too.

If you struggle to find caves, and are fairly handy with DIY, you can make your own from porcelain tiles, or sheets of slate glued together using aquarium safe silicone, I made my own caves for my L128 using slate.

Depending on the tetras you might be surprised with the amount of flow they are happy with, especially if there are quiet spots with reduced flow behind rocks or wood that they can rest in if needed. What type of tetra do you have in the tank?

For more information about the setup I used and the spawnings I had, you can take a look at my thread here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=44245

[Cleo21]

Right now I have 12 silvertip tetras in the tank. I also have penguin tetras and rummy nose in my other pleco tank with L260 and two L264. That tank has no powerhead because the plecos are still too small and I worry that would get hurt. I turn on the powerhead in the L128 tank only when I am in there to get the debris moving.

[Cleo21]

Here are some updated pictures. I have noticed lots of odontode growth on the male and some beginning on the other two.

[MarcW]

You certainly have a male!

Unknown 2 could be a female, but it's very tricky, for me at least, to tell from photos.

They all look healthy, you have some caves, now the waiting starts, hopefully one day you'll see eggs, then you can be sure one of them is a female!

[Cleo21]

Here are some updated pictures