Sexing wild Ancistrus

[seb47]

Hello all,

A store near me had wild Ancistrus claro, which are at the top of my wanted list. When I got there they had 4 left out of their original shipment, all 4 being around 2" +/- 0.5". I know they're probably too small to sex but is there any (semi)reliable way to sex them?

All 4 had bristles around their lips, none had any along the top of their face and they all looked a tiny bit "bristly" all along their body, which I assumed to be odontodes. None looked particularly plump either. there was 1 that was an almost black grey vs. the other ones that were light grey but is that just natural variation?

I've never seen them around my area before, but since the plan is to breed them I don't want to impulse buy a group of 4 males.

Any help is appreciated

[Shane]

Unfortunately there is no reliable way at that size. As many of us have learned the hard way, either commit to buying the entire group in hopes of getting a pair or pass them by. Buying just two and hoping for the best rarely works out.
-Shane

[seb47]

Unfortunately there is no reliable way at that size. As many of us have learned the hard way, either commit to buying the entire group in hopes of getting a pair or pass them by. Buying just two and hoping for the best rarely works out.
-Shane

Ok thank you. I'll see if the store will give me a discount for buying all 4 and might bite the bullet and take them.