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Hey all,
yesterday I went to an LFS nearby and came home with four of these small Hypancistrus (1,5-2" in size at most) - for 18,75 euro's a piece.
I alreday have an idea what species they are, but would appreciate you peeps' opinion on the matter as well. So, please go ahead and fire at will.
Here are all four of them, being acclimatised in the bag:
And two shots taken two hours after release (they seem to settle very well!):
Suckers really aren't my thing these days but there's no denying these are stunning fish - really nice & i look forward to hearing your progress with them
I'm going to "hazard" a guess. I can never remeber which is the spotted form L399 or L400. If I remember correctly, the accurate definition would be L399.
Larry Vires
Impossible only means that somebody hasn't done it correctly yet.
the proportion between the diameter of the eye to the lenght of the head leeds to some very attractive Hypancistrus spec. L-174. One of the smallest Hypancistrus with "small" eyes. I have 4 of them and they are lovely creatures.
L174 was also my initial guess, as, like some of you say, they have very small eyes (something which only a few Hypancistrus spp. have, if I'm not mistaken), and also, despite the fact that they're just 4-5cm. in size, some of them already have rather prominent odontodal growth, so are probably already sexually mature (something I would expect to happen to other, larger species such L399 and L400, when bigger).
They're lovely fish indeed: pretty active, not shy, and already eating within a few hours after release.
Another question: I know that L174 (if they are), being one of the, if not the smallest species of Hypancistrus, can be housed in very small tanks. I currently keep mine in a 25 gallon tank (80x35cm.) - do you think keeping them in that 25 gallon tank together with 3 mature (3-3,5") L020 Polka Dot Pleco's would be too much?
In theory they make excellent tank mates, as both hail from the Rio Xingu near Altamira, and filtration (slightly less than 450 gallons per hour), aquascaping and amount of hiding places should be more than suitable for 7 small Loricarids... But what do you peeps think?
They are for sure L174 Hypancistrus sp and nothing else. If your goal is to breed them I would not recomend to keep them together with your other L20, L174 is not only one of the smallest species they are also much more "delicate" to breed.
Janne wrote:They are for sure L174 Hypancistrus sp and nothing else. If your goal is to breed them I would not recomend to keep them together with your other L20, L174 is not only one of the smallest species they are also much more "delicate" to breed.
Janne
Well,breeding them is not my primary concern - that would be keeping them healthy and content. But I'll definitely keep that in mind when and if I want to give breeding a try.
Are they also more delicate in general? And how do they compete with slightly larger Loricarids such as L020? I would kick myself if I'd loose one of these pretty little things...
They are more delicate then all other Hypancistrus species, your aquarium is not so big just around 100 L so they can have problem with the more robust L20 to compete with food and hiding spots. You can try for a while to see how it works, I have very little experience of L20 but keep an extra eye on them the first weeks.
Janne wrote:They are more delicate then all other Hypancistrus species, your aquarium is not so big just around 100 L so they can have problem with the more robust L20 to compete with food and hiding spots. You can try for a while to see how it works, I have very little experience of L20 but keep an extra eye on them the first weeks.
Janne
Oh ya, I'll watch them like a hawk!
The L020's are calm and peaceful (amongst themselves as well as towards other fish), and so far they seem to coexist peacefully, even sharing hiding places. Maybe the difference in size and clear differences in pattern/colors makes them see the L174 less of a competitor (although they settled within just a few days, and have already shown that they have a very healthy appetite). But I'll keep my eye open.
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